Join GABA's Women's March Madness Pick 'Em Contests: Gamecocks Placed in Tough Bracket with Stanford Cardinal

I have two bits of news to share here. First of all, I started a bracket group for the women's tournament. You can join the group here; let me know if you have any problems. Second of all, if you haven't already done so, please join our men's tourney group. As always, if you have any questions or have problems signing up, let me know.

And if you're asking, yes, I did pick the Lady Gamecocks to go to the Final Four, losing to eventual champion Baylor. That's probably not terribly likely, unfortunately. If we escape the first round game against Eastern Michigan out of the MAC, we get to take on Purdue, winners of the B10 conference, which isn't really a power conference in women's basketball. I think this is a good matchup for Carolina. The Gamecocks are most vulnerable against teams with strong post play, and Purdue is a guard-heavy team that relies on strong shooting. I think this will be a good matchup between two teams with excellent backcourts, with Carolina getting a win and a berth in the Sweet 16.

The problem is that if we get that far, we're stuck in a bracket with Stanford, generally considered to be the second-best team in the nation. Stanford's only loss occurred way back at the beginning of the season, on the road to UConn, another one seed. We would play the Cardinal in the Sweet 16. This would, needless to say, be a tough game for Carolina. Speaking of teams with great post play, Stanford boasts superstar sisters duo Nnemkadi "Nneka" and Chiney Ogwumike. These ladies have both player for Team USA and are the female equivalents of Anthony Davis-type talents. Elder sister Nneka is averaging over 20 ppg on approximately 55% shooting. Yikes! These two will give Carolina fits, and I have trouble seeing how we're going to get past them--but since I'm such a huge homer, I'm picking us to win! If the Gamecocks were to work magic in that game, an Elite Eight game against Duke, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, or St. John's would likely await.

Whatever the turnout may be, our ladies deserve our applause for the successful season they've had. Show them your support by paying a bit more attention to this year's women's tournament.

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