NCAA Talk

[JaoSming]

i agree with that, but I do like the play-in game because it's interesting to see those teams play knowing the winner is about to be raped by a #1 in a few days.

[Rip32]

There are 347 schools in Div I, so having almost a third of them qualify doesn't seem very smart, it's like rewarding mediocrity. I like it the way it is now, sometimes that first play-in game is pretty exciting too

[benji]

There are 347 schools in Div I, so having almost a third of them qualify doesn't seem very smart, it's like rewarding mediocrity.

That's the entire point. March Madness is a cash cow for schools. For many schools, them making the tournament pays for their entire basketball team.

[Rip32]

True, but shouldn't the point of playing for a championship and the funds that would go toward the school be something earned? If there were over 100 teams in the NCAA Tourney we'd be seeing 6-7 win Big conference schools in there, which doesn't make sense to me.

All that considered, I don't know if you support it or not benji, if you do then I argued against no one, but as a so-so school I'd like the idea, but as fan I don't.

[Oznogrd]

It was immensely satisfying to watch my young illini team bull the upset tonight. Sorry about that rip but...man...that felt good. Got me ready for march madness

[Rip32]

Haha, yeah dude it was a great game. I mean, with Kalin.... it may have rolled our way, but the Illini have the potential to get back to the Brown-Williams-Head level with the young guys they've got (and are getting).

[Oznogrd]

yeah that mccamey kid is a monster. I used to have class with our starting C: he looks good in bursts. I like they're all young and none of em look good enough to bail early. Weber and Izzo are both one of the best coaches in the biz, its always fun to watch the development of their programs and their yearly clashes. Hope Illini pull 1 more upset or they'll be home for the tourney. Not that i expect them to get out of the first round but a guy can dream.

[The X]

Some more coverage on the 65 to 96 debate. This guy says expansion to 68 (4 play-in games) max. I think it should just be 64, as small schools who have earned their spot shouldn't have to play-in. Even if you had only at-large teams in play-in games, still not fair on number 1 teams to have to play a team that is comparable to a 10 seed in the opening round. They should bring back to 64, it was a disgrace they put it up to 65. I know they had one extra auto bid to account for, they should have just taken away one at-large bid.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/ ... ortCat=ncb

[Oznogrd]

im ok with the current play in game...its a nice little "are you ready" game to kick off the 'season' that is march madness. I dont understand why they keep trying to fix it though. I dont know about the rest of the world but stats show march madness is one of the least productive work output weeks of the year. isnt that a sign you're doing well?

[The X]

I love the opening 2 rounds of March Madness when the Cinderella's are having their shot at the big boys. You see stars like Ben Woodside of North Dakota State absolutely killing the big boys. Games are won & lost on big shots. By the time it reaches Sweet 16 my interest has fallen off slightly. By the time it reaches Final Four it's usually just the big boys so I don't really care much, but still watch nonetheless. I just don't want those first 2 rounds to lose their appeal.

[Rip32]

I just don't want those first 2 rounds to lose their appeal.

Exactly. I mean, while there will be worse teams in the tournament there will still be upsets. I just love how there will always be the dreaded "5-12" upset and all the big mismatches on paper.

[The X]

You can just imagine under a 96 team system, there would be auto bids for conference champions & conference tournament champions & at-large bids for the rest.

The top 32 teams who get the 1st round bye are from big conferences (outside of your Butler's & Gonzaga's), so you'd have all your small conference schools having to play against big school teams with very poor records (i.e. North Carolina, UCLA etc). Given the athletic discrepancy, the crappy big schools would advance more times than not. I'd expect the good mid-majors to beat them but not the small conference schools.

It all just takes away from the importance of the conference schedules and conference tournaments. I love seeing the conference tournaments almost as much as the Big Dance. That's where the mediocre teams get their chance to gel & make up for a bad season or play themselves off the bubble.

[Rip32]

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins brought up a new perspective on this whole "expand the tournament" discussion:

Huggins proposed that the top 110 teams would make up the "1-A" Division and the remaining 224 teams would fall into "1-AA". Huggins then swung back the other way once again, suggesting that all 110 top-tier teams would play in the season-ending tournament.

It's different, but not necessarily a good change. There are a lot of small conferences in college basketball, but those are the same schools we see pulling the big upsets (George Mason '06) on the big boys. This is how American College Football is, and from a competition standpoint it's worked out well, but again the teams in football are a lot different then basketball. Personally, I like it the way it is, but if it's going to be changed this idea can possibly be a building block.

[The X]

Great to see Saint Mary's dancing again. They were absolutely robbed last year when the Committee snubbed them, but great to see them finally get by Gonzaga in the WCC Conference Tournament

[Oznogrd]

conference championship tourneys this weekend...Watching michigan Ohio state right now and wow...I wish college bball was like it is during tourneys all year.

If the NCAA insists on expanding its going to kill these david v goliath matchups that are so much fun when david wins.


EDIT Evan Turner with the quarter court buzzer beater...holy fuck

[The X]

A few bubbles have been bursting today. Houston's big upset of UTEP steals a bubble team's spot. The Golden Gopher's dismantling of Purdue after taking down the Spartans has surely tied up a spot in the Tourney, regardless of whether they get by Evan Turner (& the Buckeyes). Surely Georgia Tech has shored up their berth by getting to the ACC Tournament Finals. How about Mississippi State, who has beaten Flordia & Vanderbilt to advance to SEC Finals against Kentucky? They probably need to win to ensure they are in.

How do you feel about Illinois' chances of getting the final at-large berth. They gave Turner (& the Buckeyes) all they had but just fell short. I'm guessing it depends on results of other games, but I'm really not sure, they're 50-50 & are the definitive bubble team.

I think Memphis, Florida, Ole Miss etc are all NIT-bound.

Gotta love March Madness

[Oznogrd]

Yeah today's pretty insane. Tomorrow's the big day (for anyone who gives a flying fuck: Selection Sunday starts at 6 PM EST with coverage on CBS and ESPN.) and I'm anxiously awaiting seed announcements so i can start analyzing the bracket and then realize i might as well just throw wet spaghetti at it and where noodles stick is who i pick.

To the question at hand: If Illinois isnt in after upsets of supposedly good teams Wisconsin (2 times), Clemson, Michigan State, Vandy, i'd be a little amazed. its by the skin of their fucking teeth...but they didnt just lose to OSU today, they fought and scrapped knowing damn well the committee was watching. Do I think they'll get very far? barring ridiculous games out of McCamey, I think they will get to maybe the second round.

Purdue is fucking done without hummel. They're going out early. OSU will go down the first game Turner underperforms, Michigan State will play 1 bad game against a team they're supposed to decimate and go down. So all in all a usual tournament for the BIg Ten.

[The X]

Depending how the games go the next day or so, I think the Illini are either the last in or last out

I'd agree with you that Purdue are pretty much done.

[Oznogrd]

I still think they're in. They have more quality wins than alot of the other bubble teams

Yes they have some losses that made no sense: But fucking Kentucky lost to South Carolina. I dont see anyone bitching about that.

[Rip32]

Illinois will be close, if they don't get in their for sure one of the top seeds in the NIT (the biggest fuck you in postseason basketball lol).

The Mountain West screwed someone out of a spot too. That was supposed to be another match-up between BYU and New Mexico, but with them already being in, San Diego's win bounces someone.

That makes me think Illinois wont get in, I watch the Big Ten a ton and they are the biggest enigma in college basketball. They did hang with OSU today, but they also let OSU go on a 20-0 run at the end of regulation and the inability to get ANY shot up at the end of regulation/OT1 might hurt them just because of how sloppy they played.

[benji]

Good to see Cousins and Turner in the top five almost everywhere now. I've decided to ignore anything negative and declare them superstars.

Of course the lottery teams are going to screw this up instead of sending Turner to the Timberwolves and Cousins to the well...I don't know. (PISTONS. SO HE CAN SIT ON THE BENCH FOR THREE YEARS!!!!!)

by Rip32 on Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:59 am

Which school?

[Rip32]

Which school?

[Oznogrd]

EDIT: If you want in on the NLSC March Madness group check out the fantasy sports forum.

[The X]

Wow!!! What a great opening day to the NCAA Tournament. This is the reason I'll always rate college hoops over NBA. Skill level might not be as high, but you can't override the drama, intensity, heart & team play of college hoops.

As for the games, loved the Racers getting the win. Shame Robert Morris couldn't hold on against Nova, but they did themselves proud

[Oznogrd]

Wow!!! What a great opening day to the NCAA Tournament. This is the reason I'll always rate college hoops over NBA. Skill level might not be as high, but you can't override the drama, intensity, heart & team play of college hoops.

As for the games, loved the Racers getting the win. Shame Robert Morris couldn't hold on against Nova, but they did themselves proud

Lets not forget the epic fail of the big east in general yesterday

to start a chant

OVER-RATED
OVER-RATED

Surprised we didnt hear that at all yesterday.