SEC Women's Basketball leads the way again! Congrats to the Tennessee Lady Vols for winning their 2d straight and 8th overall NCAA Women's College Basketball National Championship!!.
The Southeastern Conference dominated 2008 March Madness (again), going 13-4 in the tournament (and one of the losses was by LSU to Tennessee). And, of course, Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols won it all again. Our latest article explains why the Vols' 8th national championship clearly established Pat Summitt as simply the Best Coach Ever. Check that out when you get a chance.
And, you can read more about UT's women's basketball team at Tennessee Lady Vols.
SEC basketball was well represented in the lady's version of March Madness. Here are the bids we got to the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament:
Tennessee -- #1 (Midwest)
LSU -- #2 (South)
Vanderbilt -- #4 (West)
Auburn -- #11 (East)
Georgia -- #8 (South)
Overall, SEC Women's Basketball led all conferences with a 13-4 record in the 2008 NCAA Women's B-ball tournament.
Also, the WNIT selected Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi State for their tournament. So, 9 of the 12 SEC Women's basketball teams made post-season tournaments.
NCAA Women's B-ball player of the year, Candace Parker, keyed the Lady Vols Championship. Parker was named "Final Four MVP" for the second year in a row. Only 3 other players have ever done that.
Prior Discussion (not updated to reflect 2008 March Madness results):
If you are reading this page, you probably already know that SEC Women's Basketball dominates the women's college basketball world.
You can save yourself a lot time by simply accepting this truth and moving on. But, if you need substantiation, here you go.
Last season (2006-2007), SEC women's basketball teams went 158-48 (.767) against non-conference opponents (in the regular season). And this was not unusual. In fact, the SEC has never had a non-conference winning percentage below .728. Ever.
In the post-season, NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the SEC went 15-4. The Southeastern Conference had the most teams in the Sweet 16 (4); Great 8 (3); and, Final Four (2). And, of course, the SEC's Tennessee Lady Volunteers won it all – again.
Speaking of which, the 2006-07 National Championship, was the 7th National Championship the Lady Vols have won under head coach Pat Summitt. That's more National Championships than any other women's college basketball program in history.
Again, last season was not unusual. There have been 26 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournaments. At least one SEC team has been in 24 of the 26 Final Four's. At least least one SEC team has been in the NCAA Championship Game 15 times! No other conference can match any of these records.
Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball boxout for rebound.
Thanks to majorvols at flickr.com for the picture .
The 7 Championships the Lady Vols have recorded are more NCAA Women's Basketball Championships than the totals from any other conference!
Thanks to utsports.com for photos 1, 2, 3, and 7 above. Thanks to ukathletics.com for photos 4, 5 and 6 above. All rights are reserved for these photos.
OK, so the SEC is #1. But, Women's college basketball is really coming into its own. You can see that from the great games happening all the time. For instance, #1 Tennessee's last second win against Rutgers (see Tennessee Lady Vols) was notable, partly because Rutgers was just coming off a 73-71 upset of previously #1 Connecticut and nearly became the first team to ever beat #1 teams in consecutive games. And, the loss to UT was the second Rutgers loss this season on last second (literally) free throws. Their earlier loss was to Stanford.
Anyway, all that to emphasize that while SEC women's basketball is #1, the sport is becoming more and more competitive with many great teams. Other conferences are moving up. Here's our rankings of the other women's college basketball conferences.
ACC -- Second to SEC in nearly every historical statistical category (i.e. NCAA Apearances, Titles, Wins, etc). The ACC also tied the SEC with 5 teams in the Final 2007 USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll. UNC made it to the final four before losing to Tennessee.
Big East Historical record edges out the Big Ten for third. Also, of course, the Big East has UCONN and now Rutgers – who are powerhouses in women's college basketball. The rivalry between Connecticut and Tennessee is legendary – and controversial.
Big Ten Very solid historically – and had a winning record against the SEC (7-5) in the regular season last year.
Big 12 Hey, 5-4 vs the SEC in regular season last year. Not bad.
PAC-10 Stanford beat Rutgers earlier this year -- that's impressive. Not much else to say about Women's B-ball in the PAC-10.
Here's our current ranking of 2008 SEC Women's Basketball teams. Please click on the link on the team name to go to its team page and read lots more about the team.
Tennessee Lady Vols The Lady Vols are the reigning national champion and have a good shot to repeat. Junior Candace Parker was MVP of last year's NCAA tournament and looks likely to be Women's College Basketball's Player of the Year this year. Pat Summitt has often said that star players are the key to winning championships. The Vols have one in Candace Parker. And, she's just a junior. Of course, Candace can't do it alone. And she won't have to. Alexis Hornbuckle, Shannon Bobbitt, and Nicky Anosike will be key to the repeat Championship run -- Congrats to the Tennessee Lady Vols for winning another SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship -- and another NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!
LSU Tigers LSU will challenge Tennessee for the SEC Championship, and indeed, the NCAA Championship. [Indeed they have already, beating UT in Knoxville, but we still rank the Vols higher...at this point.] They had some coaching turmoil last year, but it didn't seem to bother the team too much as they still made it to the NCAA's Final Four. The Lady Tigers are a very, very seasoned team having been to the national semi-final game 4 straight years. The team is led by senior, Sylvia Fowles, and has a talented and experienced supporting cast. Update: Congrats to LSU for winning the SEC Women's Basketball regular season title.
Georgia Bulldogs The Lady Bulldogs will be led by senior forward Tasha Humphrey who could be a Player of the Year in any other conference. But not in the SEC. Still, Georgia looks to be very strong and will go far in the NCAA tournament.
Auburn Tigers Auburn has made the most improvement of any team in the SEC (from last season). They have a strong group of juniors – led by All-SEC guard DeWanna Bonner. Look for Auburn to score some nice upsets this year and end up near the top of the SEC.
Vanderbilt Commodores Always a strong women's basketball team. Will be strong again. But, SEC womens basketball is just so tough…. Still, look for another NCAA bid and a couple March Madness wins.
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SEC - Do you hear a train coming?
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When EDD joins CT, they may need to look at the WNBA for competition. Yea, she's that good now, and getting better with every dribble. Your reign is over,...
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