Today is a special day. The UConn women tip off their march to the Final Four with an opening-round NCAA Tournament game today in Norfolk, Va. (noon, ESPN2). Their opponents, the 16th-seeded Jaguars of Southern University, the SWAC champions, are hopelessly overmatched.
Now, I know that many of you find the UConn women a bit tough to watch, especially in a game that is all but certain to be a blowout from the opening tip. So in order to spice things up a bit, we're requiring anyone who comments in this thread to add 40 points to Southern's score at all times.
Think of how interesting it might get if UConn leads by, say, 37 in the waning minutes. Will the backups put them over the top? Will we be heartbroken as Jacqui Fernandes dribbles around in the backcourt to end the game with UConn "trailing" 101-100? Will a meaningless Meghan Gardler 3 send us into rapture as UConn "escapes" with a 90-89 victory? Will UConn be "leading" by halftime? The possibilities are endless.
Sunday's game is pretty much a foregone conclusion; barring the Southern players discovering a mind ray that renders its victims unable to play basketball, UConn will roll to its 73rd straight win. So let's try and make this game a little more palatable.