There have been six games and six blowouts so far today, all in favor of the higher seed. The closest game of the day thus far was 16 points, a 65-49 win for 8 seed USC over 9 seed Louisville. After watching Louisville in the Lady Griz classic, I felt Montana could have beaten them by double digits. I was suprised they received a 9 seed. While they have some big wins, they also have a couple of pretty bad losses (East Carolina 213).
Eastern Kentucky was a fellow 12 seed against 5 seed Arizona State and the got beat bad, 87-65. At first it worried me seeing a game that had the same caliber teams as the Lady Griz game tonight, but after a little research I feel pretty good again about Montana's chances tonight.
1) The game was in Fresno. So ASU travelled about 600 miles while EKU had to go 2300 miles. Montana is going 475 miles to Seattle while Vanderbilt went almost 2500 miles.
2) ASU played 15 games against tournament teams, going 7-8 against them (all teams 50 or higher in the RPI). VU played 8 tournament teams, compiling a 2-6 record (one of those wins was against St. Francis, RPI of 102).
3) ASU has 8 wins against teams in the RPI top 50, 3 against top 25 teams. VU has 5 top 50 wins, one against top 25 competition. Four of those wins were against Florida and Auburn, neither of whom made the tournament.
4) EKU has played only 2 games against opponents ranked in the top 100 since December 19th (SE Missouri State 97). UM has played 8 in the same span.
5) EKU's best win was over SE Missouri State (97). After that is drops to Georgia Southern (164) and Jacksonville State (192). After that, every team they beat was ranked outside the RPI top 200. Montana has 10 wins against teams ranked inside of 200, including 5 top 100 wins.
6) EKU lost three games by 15 points or more coming into their game against ASU. UM had two losses of 12 points or more, but were within at least 8 points in the rest of the games they dropped.
I know it appears that #6 isn't that big of a deal, but its actually the most important stat.
Two of those double digit losses for EKU? Florida State (70-53) and Northern Arizona (85-64).
Eastern Kentucky was a fellow 12 seed against 5 seed Arizona State and the got beat bad, 87-65. At first it worried me seeing a game that had the same caliber teams as the Lady Griz game tonight, but after a little research I feel pretty good again about Montana's chances tonight.
1) The game was in Fresno. So ASU travelled about 600 miles while EKU had to go 2300 miles. Montana is going 475 miles to Seattle while Vanderbilt went almost 2500 miles.
2) ASU played 15 games against tournament teams, going 7-8 against them (all teams 50 or higher in the RPI). VU played 8 tournament teams, compiling a 2-6 record (one of those wins was against St. Francis, RPI of 102).
3) ASU has 8 wins against teams in the RPI top 50, 3 against top 25 teams. VU has 5 top 50 wins, one against top 25 competition. Four of those wins were against Florida and Auburn, neither of whom made the tournament.
4) EKU has played only 2 games against opponents ranked in the top 100 since December 19th (SE Missouri State 97). UM has played 8 in the same span.
5) EKU's best win was over SE Missouri State (97). After that is drops to Georgia Southern (164) and Jacksonville State (192). After that, every team they beat was ranked outside the RPI top 200. Montana has 10 wins against teams ranked inside of 200, including 5 top 100 wins.
6) EKU lost three games by 15 points or more coming into their game against ASU. UM had two losses of 12 points or more, but were within at least 8 points in the rest of the games they dropped.
I know it appears that #6 isn't that big of a deal, but its actually the most important stat.
Two of those double digit losses for EKU? Florida State (70-53) and Northern Arizona (85-64).
