There is a time-honored maxim in sports that begins, “On any given day.”
If Mississippi State’s women’s basketball team had a theme for tonight’s Final Four semifinal matchup against four-time defending champion Connecticut, that would be as good as any.
On any given day, an “unbeatable” team can be beaten. Even a novice sports fan can cite examples: Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson, the Jets’ win over the Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl, the U.S. Hockey team beating Russia in the 1980 Olympics to name just a few.
In fact, if unbeatable teams were, indeed, never beaten, sports would lose much of its fascination.
Connecticut, which carries an unprecedented 111-game winning into tonight game in Dallas, certainly qualifies among the ranks of “unbeatable.”
Thursday, three of its five starters were named first-team All-Americans after the Huskies rolled through the season unbeaten and have now reached the Final Four for their 10th consecutive year.
The last time UConn failed to reach the national semifinals, the four seniors on the MSU team were still in elementary school.
Sure, Connecticut has had a couple of close calls — a 2-point win over Florida State in its first game of the season and a 3-point win over an moderately decent Tulane team in February. Whatever solace that might provide is muted by the knowledge that Connecticut’s average margin of victory in the 10 games since that last close call is 36.6 points.
What’s more, the Huskies always seem to be at their best when the stakes are highest, as four straight titles and six of the last eight will attest.
Then there is one matter that the Bulldogs cannot dismiss: In last year’s NCAA Tournament, Connecticut humiliated MSU, 98-38.
Granted, Mississippi State is a more mature, more diverse, more confident team than the group that slinked out of Bridgeport, Connecticut, a year ago. It is widely believed that, as good as they are, this year’s Huskies are not as good as that team from a year ago.
But is that enough to close a 60-point gap?
Not likely, according to the odds makers, who have installed UConn as a 21½-point favorite tonight.
For MSU, the first challenge will be whether they can compete with the Huskies. There are reasons to believe they can. But being competitive is not why anyone plays the game.
The question is, can the Bulldogs possibly win?
Before midnight, we’ll have that answer.
MSU will either have posted the biggest upset in women’s basketball history and play for the national championship Sunday or will leave Dallas disappointed, certainly, but recognizing that it has just completed the most successful season in the history of MSU women’s athletics.
Tonight’s outcome will not alter that.
A win is unlikely, improbable, almost incomprehensible.
But, as the history of sports reminds us, it is not impossible.
On any given day …
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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