[RuralFan]

I think the "relief" vs "joy" reaction all has to do with expectations.  Even though no one admitted it beforehand, I think most of us expected to beat Arizona given that we had beaten them twice before by comfortable margins.  So beating them by a little bit felt more like relief than joy. 

I think I would have felt differently about the game if our opponent had been UConn.  Even if the game was identical and we held on to beat UConn and Paige Bueckers heaved a three point shot at the end that missed, I think I would have felt more joy because my expectations of beating UConn are different because we have not played them this year.

I think the pressure of expectations and how they can weigh you down is a real thing.  On the men's side Gonzaga was playing with the expectations of a historic undefeated season and I think that hampered their play in their loss to Baylor.

My reaction to the last seconds of the Title Game was very similar to the last seconds of the South Carolina, I thought we were really fortunate. What I didn't see in our last three games was the incredibly skilled, highly talented, and cohesive team that I saw some during the regular season. I didn't see passes flying around the court to open players for three point shots.  I didn't see defensive rebounds leading to fast break points at the other end. I sort of saw my team in the first quarter of the Arizona game, but that was petty much it.  Against Louisville, we were pretty bad until Ashten Prechtel just took over the game.  Against South Carolina we were up eight early in the second half and just hung on to win. Against Arizona we had a wonderful five minutes and then just hung on for thirty-five minutes on to win the game.  Maybe I'm not wired for Final Fours, but just hanging on is okay but hardly my expectation.

In any case congratulations to the players, coaches, and fans.  Twenty-nine years is a long time.

[RuralFan]

I think the "relief" vs "joy" reaction all has to do with expectations.  Even though no one admitted it beforehand, I think most of us expected to beat Arizona given that we had beaten them twice before by comfortable margins.  So beating them by a little bit felt more like relief than joy. 

I think I would have felt differently about the game if our opponent had been UConn.  Even if the game was identical and we held on to beat UConn and Paige Bueckers heaved a three point shot at the end that missed, I think I would have felt more joy because my expectations of beating UConn are different because we have not played them this year.

I think the pressure of expectations and how they can weigh you down is a real thing.  On the men's side Gonzaga was playing with the expectations of a historic undefeated season and I think that hampered their play in their loss to Baylor.

My reaction to the last seconds of the Title Game was very similar to the last seconds of the South Carolina, I thought we were really fortunate. What I didn't see in our last three games was the incredibly skilled, highly talented, and cohesive team that I saw some during the regular season. I didn't see passes flying around the court to open players for three point shots.  I didn't see defensive rebounds leading to fast break points at the other end. I sort of saw my team in the first quarter of the Arizona game, but that was petty much it.  Against Louisville, we were pretty bad until Ashten Prechtel just took over the game.  Against South Carolina we were up eight early in the second half and just hung on to win. Against Arizona we had a wonderful five minutes and then just hung on for thirty-five minutes on to win the game.  Maybe I'm not wired for Final Fours, but just hanging on is okay but hardly my expectation.

In any case congratulations to the players, coaches, and fans.  Twenty-nine years is a long time.