Women's College Cup 2017

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Such an idiotic take. These teams dont play the same schedule. Its SINGLE elimination. to think we have parity because there are varied conferences in the eltie 8 is so dumb. All it tells you is that the brackets are well put together. UVa a 3 played Pepperdine ( higher ranked) and then UCLA ( higher ranked ) in California. Destroyed Pepperdine with as one sided a game as you will see between two top 12 teams and then lost to a very good UCLA team in the 89th minute after a dubious red card and a blatant offside goal. Does that mean they are worse than Penn State? Of course not. FSU had to go to Stanford and lost to the better team. They had a spotty season, but again, bit harder than beating WSU . these takes are idiotic. Baylor vs ND. I would fancy many teams before those 2.

People who draw conclusions on teams from single elimination events with seeding and draws are not paying attention.

All this yapping about conferences is nauseating, becasue they are all just teams. ACC ahs many good ones. No great ones this year.

UCLA dominated UVA after the first 4 minutes

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The first Princeton goal was a fluke. The second was a counterattack after UNC pushed everyone forward on a corner in desperation. My question is why couldn't UNC score 3-4 goals on a team like Princeton with all that talent? They turned the ball over constantly and engaged in a lot of individual ball hog stuff. Very pedestrian soccer. Princeton didn't win that game, UNC lost it. They weren't playing like a college cup team. If Princeton hadn't finished them, UCLA would have.

My honest answer, they are a poorly coached team. Dorrances reaction to his kick and rush style getting eaten up by Kadeisha B was to draw a line thru may of his players and bring in 2 English developed kids - Russo and Wubben Moy. They are both excellent player, but in that environment, they are wasted. if UNC could possess the ball and move Princeton around to exploit them, tey win easy.

Dorrance had his time and he took full advantage of it. His on field methods are dated and not relevant to this era. No coach has done less with more in the last 5 years.

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Elite Eight

So now let's turn our attention to them.

Upper left bracket.

Penn St vs Stanford

The Nittany Lions usually dominate the BIG 10 but this year struggled as a handful of teams all challenged to be on top. There was no clear replacement at the top, a sign of parity. Penn St. ran the table to win the BIG 10 title and win three so far in the NCAA's, including a defeat of top ten WVU, reversing an earlier season loss. They also beat UNC but lost to UVA in the ACC. No taste of the west this season.

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So now let's turn our attention to them.

Upper left bracket.

Penn St vs Stanford

The Nittany Lions usually dominate the BIG 10 but this year struggled as a handful of teams all challenged to be on top. There was no clear replacement at the top, a sign of parity. Penn St. ran the table to win the BIG 10 title and win three so far in the NCAA's, including a defeat of top ten WVU, reversing an earlier season loss. They also beat UNC but lost to UVA in the ACC. No taste of the west this season.

Stanford is the tournament #1 seed. Some amazing stats:

19 game win streak
Goals 82 GA 7 for the season
Unbeaten in the PAC 12

The only mystery is a 3-2 loss to SEC Florida.
The Gators scored two late to pull the upset.
Should the Cardinals win they may get a rematch.

Have seen them play. Only team I saw this season that looks better is Duke.

Stanford seems the obvious choice here. PSU is on a roll and Stanford hasn't been challenged much this season, so if PSU can stick around, perhaps they might steal one. Not likely

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Elite Eight

Lower left bracket

SEC Bracket

This is one of the conferences driving parity.
South Carolina
Coach Smith, a Vermont native and UVM, has been there 20 seasons and has been enjoying increasing success in the last ten. The Gamecocks are becoming the regional power and are making the elite eight quite often now, but the bus seems to stop now when Stanford arrives. She has some National caliber players and this is likely her best team ever. Next match is against an even newer arrival to the National scene in fellow SEC Florida. Should they win they will likely earn another shot at Stanford.

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Lower left bracket

SEC Bracket

This is one of the conferences driving parity.
South Carolina
Coach Smith, a Vermont native and UVM, has been there 20 seasons and has been enjoying increasing success in the last ten. The Gamecocks are becoming the regional power and are making the elite eight quite often now, but the bus seems to stop now when Stanford arrives. She has some National caliber players and this is likely her best team ever. Next match is against an even newer arrival to the National scene in fellow SEC Florida. Should they win they will likely earn another shot at Stanford.

The Lady Gators have been playing soccer for 23 seasons. They have been successful regionally but have been pretty quiet on the National stage until now. As a sign, this decade they lost three straight to rival FSU, but have now won two of the last . Progress. A win over Stanford was this season's highlight. They are unlikely to top that. Congrats to them on making the elite eight. Their ride likely stops here.

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Stanford is the tournament #1 seed. Some amazing stats:

19 game win streak
Goals 82 GA 7 for the season
Unbeaten in the PAC 12

The only mystery is a 3-2 loss to SEC Florida.
The Gators scored two late to pull the upset.
Should the Cardinals win they may get a rematch.

Have seen them play. Only team I saw this season that looks better is Duke.

Stanford seems the obvious choice here. PSU is on a roll and Stanford hasn't been challenged much this season, so if PSU can stick around, perhaps they might steal one. Not likely

Duke are not as good as Stanford imo. Duke are experienced and tactically clever, but I have seen them get bossed many times this year for long periods to then get a break, a bounce or fortunate passage of play. I also dont trust the GK.

Stanford are prohibitive favorites to win it all.

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The Lady Gators have been playing soccer for 23 seasons. They have been successful regionally but have been pretty quiet on the National stage until now. As a sign, this decade they lost three straight to rival FSU, but have now won two of the last . Progress. A win over Stanford was this season's highlight. They are unlikely to top that. Congrats to them on making the elite eight. Their ride likely stops here.

two teams who are draw fortunate. A worse draw and they could well be bounced already. SC are reliant on one player. Florida have a player in Seiler who can neutralize her a bit. I think Fla in an minor upset.

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Duke are not as good as Stanford imo. Duke are experienced and tactically clever, but I have seen them get bossed many times this year for long periods to then get a break, a bounce or fortunate passage of play. I also dont trust the GK.

Stanford are prohibitive favorites to win it all.

Agree with you. I like the way Duke plays but that doesn't mean they will win big games.

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two teams who are draw fortunate. A worse draw and they could well be bounced already. SC are reliant on one player. Florida have a player in Seiler who can neutralize her a bit. I think Fla in an minor upset.

The Duke GK is a much better shot stopper than you are giving her credit for. She was defensive player of the tournament 2 years ago. Not her fault the defense is so good and she doesn’t have to make a whole bunch of circus saves.

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The Duke GK is a much better shot stopper than you are giving her credit for. She was defensive player of the tournament 2 years ago. Not her fault the defense is so good and she doesn’t have to make a whole bunch of circus saves.

With a couple of local girls on the team, I am routing for Duke. Not sure if there are any other local girls with teams still in the tournament.

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Elite Eight

Upper Right Bracket

This bracket quickly lost the 2/3 seeds, so Duke is going to have a cake walk to the College Cup. They are undefeated this season against all teams not based in Chapel Hill. Their out of conferences schedule was not strong with a big Vs West Va, and only Utah for a team out west. I like their style of play, but have seen high energy teams disrupt their flow. It looks like Duke likely has two PAC 12 teams standing between them and the crown.

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Elite Eight

Upper Right Bracket

This bracket quickly lost the 2/3 seeds, so Duke is going to have a cake walk to the College Cup. They are undefeated this season against all teams not based in Chapel Hill. Their out of conferences schedule was not strong with a big Vs West Va, and only Utah for a team out west. I like their style of play, but have seen high energy teams disrupt their flow. It looks like Duke likely has two PAC 12 teams standing between them and the crown.

Now for Baylor. Oops, a pretender snuck through. Duke will attend to that.

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TDS Ranking

1) Stanford
2) UCLA
3) Duke
4) Princeton
5) South Carolina
6) Penn St
7) Florida
8) Baylor

I'm a Princeton fan, but that looks a little high for them.

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Elite Eight

Lower right bracket

Alright, I haven't seen UCLA play this season. I'm dubious this is a SM type UCLA. The one that had a handful of dazzling players that waded through the best teams UVA and FSU ever built. But I digress. This year's edition features the meteoric rise of HM from the volleyball court to soccer defender to forward and PAC 12 leading scorer. This happens in CA. Is this the next Alex Morgan or is there more to it? I will tune in when they play Princeton.