College Hoops: NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 and 2

[Guest Princess Leena]

Oral Roberts is that type of team. But, this year, almost all the small conferences had their best teams win. Although, Belmont probably should have got the 16 seed, instead. But, I'm an A-Sun mark, so I won't complain.

[Damaramu 0]

Well hopefully Oral Roberts does something. Someone has to rep this damn state.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Just saw 5 Good Minutes with Bruce Pearl on PTI. Tennessee lucked out--what a solid dude. I really enjoyed seeing a coach who could actually assess his team realistically, and not take all the seeding drama too seriously. Got a good future, those guys do.

[Damaramu 0]

It's weird how you can feel these brackets out and then get a result where you're like "what the hell?"

I filled my bracket out and had the NC game as Boston College over LSU.

I was like "What?" So I went back and played with some things and now I have Nova over LSU in the national title game.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

My mind was wanting to pick the homer team so bad.... so I got Memphis going to the finals, but losing to Villanova. Probably not a great pick for a final, but oh well... it's a stab in the dark for this whole fucking this anyways.

[SilverPhoenix 0]

And the first game in the NCAA Tournament is Through.

 

The Monmouth Hawks BLOW OUT The Hampton Pirates 71-49.

 

Wow...Hampton really shouldn't had shown up for this game.

[jwpeer 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons

 

 

Best sports guy article ever maybe. Even if you don't like him, you'll like this, as he doesn't do any of the writing at all (to my knowledge, he might have reworded stuff for added affect)

 

He goes to his mother and wife for bracket picking advice, some of the comments are HILARIOUS, and it's worth it. Just solid stuff

[Guest Princess Leena]

To be fair, Hampton was at a pretty big disadvantage with the scheduling, like the Monmouth coach said.

 

I didn't find that Simmons thing funny. But, then again, the overplayed "stupid female always wins March Madness pools" isn't funny at all to me. (I'll make the joke easy for you... since I've finished top 3 in money pools for the last 6 years) Plus, those picks were so formulaic. The real clueless people make a bunch of strange first round selections.

[jwpeer 0]

To be fair, Hampton was at a pretty big disadvantage with the scheduling, like the Monmouth coach said.

 

I didn't find that Simmons thing funny. But, then again, the overplayed "stupid female always wins March Madness pools" isn't funny at all to me. (I'll make the joke easy for you... since I've finished top 3 in money pools for the last 6 years) Plus, those picks were so formulaic. The real clueless people make a bunch of strange first round selections.

 

 

I just liked some of the reasoning for the picks, because it sounds exactly like my mother making her picks.

 

No joke, she was asking me "Which teams wear red...wait I don't like Ohio State, any other teams wear red...I see red"

 

 

It's just funny

[teke184 0]

It's weird how you can feel these brackets out and then get a result where you're like "what the hell?"

I filled my bracket out and had the NC game as Boston College over LSU.

I was like "What?" So I went back and played with some things and now I have Nova over LSU in the national title game.

 

Heh... and I thought *I* was the huge LSU mark.

 

 

I only have them losing in the Final Four to Kansas.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I had LSU in the elite eight, as well. It's one of those situations where you look at matchups, and LSU looks so good... but, you know they're not good, because they're a slow team and will probably lose to crap.

[teke184 0]

I had LSU in the elite eight, as well. It's one of those situations where you look at matchups, and LSU looks so good... but, you know they're not good, because they're a slow team and will probably lose to crap.

 

LSU has the horses to run with anyone, even taking UConn to the buzzer earlier this year on the Huskies' home court.

 

 

The problem is that, to say the least, they're consistantly inconsistent.

 

They could go all the way or they could lose in the first round and I wouldn't be surprised either way.

 

 

 

 

I just take it in stride and say "They're a young team, PG Tack Minor is going to get another year of eligibility due to a medical redshirt, and they'll be a power to be reckoned with next year no matter what."

[iggymcfly 0]

I love Bill Simmons, but that wasn't funny at all. Ooh, some women don't understand basketball very well. Big fucking deal.

 

And you can all forget about LSU. They're losing to Iona, bank on it. The MAAC always represents in the NCAA tournament.

 

Oh, and one more thing. NO ONE'S BEATING DUKE AS LONG AS JESUS CHRIST REDICK'S AROUND. He'll score 50 against UConn if he has to.

[Damaramu 0]

It's weird how you can feel these brackets out and then get a result where you're like "what the hell?"

I filled my bracket out and had the NC game as Boston College over LSU.

I was like "What?" So I went back and played with some things and now I have Nova over LSU in the national title game.

 

Heh... and I thought *I* was the huge LSU mark.

 

 

I only have them losing in the Final Four to Kansas.

 

I have them beating KU in the final four.

[Guest]

Oh, and one more thing. NO ONE'S BEATING DUKE AS LONG AS JESUS CHRIST REDICK'S AROUND. He'll score 50 against UConn if he has to.

Why don't other people understand this?

[Guest Princess Leena]

Only Manhattan wins games in the tourney. Iona always comes close, but loses. And the WNY teams get their ass kicked hard.

[Bored 0]

So what games is everyone getting locally as the featured games on Thursday and Friday? Here's what I'm getting.

 

Thursday

Pacific vs. Boston College

Montana vs. Nevada

Belmont vs. UCLA

Xavier vs. Gonzaga

Utah State vs. Washington

 

Friday

Wisconsin vs. Arizona

Southern Illinois vs. West Virginia

N.C. State vs. California (this will be my online On Demand viewing part of the day unless the State is killing Cal)

UAB vs. Kentucky

 

After having both days originally scheduled off I end up having to work Thusrday so I'm gonna miss the first half of the day but I ain't getting off the couch most of Friday.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I have off Thursday, but have to work Friday and Saturday.

 

I guess I get the same games in Arizona. I don't know where to check. Besides, hopefully I can watch all the games online.

[cabbageboy 0]

Iggy finally said some stuff that makes sense to me. LSU is one of the singularly most unimpressive 14-2 teams from a major conf. I've ever seen. These guys lost to friggin Houston and Northern Iowa at home, struggle to beat total gimps like Ole Miss, etc. Look deep into this....can you guys REALLY see JJ F'N Redick's last college game being a loss to LSU???

 

Beware of Iona in that game, I'm telling you. Steve Burtt is the #3 scorer in the tourney behind Morrison and Redick. It's a hell of an upset pick.

 

Also, I don't get this love for Kansas. They beat Texas in a pointless conf. final about an hour before the committee announced the bracket. I'm just trying to figure this out. The Big 12 is shitty this year, I trust no one from it to go anywhere. Though oddly enough I have A and M in my Sweet 16, since I have them vs. Iona in round 2, haha. I have OU and KU both out 1st round, and I have Texas out to WVU in the Sweet 16.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Kansas is the team that causes me to put 10 brackets in my pools. They're so young, that you know you can't rely on them. They looked so bad in Maui... and even though they've grown, they're just not this great team that should have dominated the Big 12 in the 2nd half of the year. And I don't see the great potential out of the Chalmers-Rush-Robinson guard combo.

 

But, in that Oakland region... which is deep, but with many just "good" teams who are all inconsistent and/or unproven... how can you not go with Kansas after this great stretch they've had?

 

I hate that damn region. But, I'll love watching every game there, probably.

[cabbageboy 0]

Here's why: Even if Kansas gets past Bradley (which even though I have Bradley as a joke, KU should get past them) they'd likely get Pitt the next round, and they ain't winning that one. Pitt is far too physical and experienced...hell they'd send someone from Kansas to the hospital.

[Damaramu 0]

Most of the Big XII teams got better as the season went along. Like Kansas. They were young and once they figured it out they got better.

Someone to the hospital? That's just stupid hate.

And Texas is good but I think they've already played their best basketball. They got killed by Duke then they started playing well and beat Nova and Memphis but towards the end of the season they tapered off and who knows which Texas team will come to the tourney.

[cabbageboy 0]

It's not stupid hate, Dama. Pitt DID just send Allan Ray to the hospital in the Big East semis.

 

How many quality wins does Kansas really have? I know they beat Texas in the Big 12 finals, but they also got smeared by 25 in the previous matchup. Most of their wins have been beating up on a bunch of Big 12 jobbers. I know for a 100% fact that they won't blow Pitt out, and do they have the experience needed to win a close one?

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah that was an accident. You act like they're going to yank a KU player off the rim during a dunk and break his arm.

It does come across as stupid hate when you bad mouth the Big XII like that about being shitty and what not.

Yes they aren't as good as some of the other big conferences but they're not shitty. Just down. And if they are shitty then the Pac 10 is the worst piece of shit on the planet b/c it's worse than the Big XII.

[mike546 0]

I love Bill Simmons, but that wasn't funny at all. Ooh, some women don't understand basketball very well. Big fucking deal.

 

And you can all forget about LSU. They're losing to Iona, bank on it. The MAAC always represents in the NCAA tournament.

 

Oh, and one more thing. NO ONE'S BEATING DUKE AS LONG AS JESUS CHRIST REDICK'S AROUND. He'll score 50 against UConn if he has to.

 

 

He might have to if Duke plays UConn. Do you really think Sheldon Williams is going to do anything against Armstrong, Boone, Gay and Adrien inside?

[Guest Princess Leena]

How many quality wins does Kansas really have?

 

One can say the same thing about Pitt with their annual joke of a non-conference schedule. And they didn't have any truly big wins (the home win vs. WVU was a brutal game on both ends) until the Villanova win.

 

You make a good point about how Pitt may be too tough and experienced for Kansas, though. The only team they played like that was Oklahoma. OU really punished them inside, and KU only won because OU has no shooters.

 

I can't write off KU, though. Against everyone until possibly UCLA, they have the talent advantage at guard. And hot guard play is the key to getting far in the tourney.

[Damaramu 0]

OU has a shooter.....his name is Michael Neal. The only problem is that he's hot/cold and everyone knows he's OU's only shooter.

[iggymcfly 0]

Here's why: Even if Kansas gets past Bradley (which even though I have Bradley as a joke, KU should get past them) they'd likely get Pitt the next round, and they ain't winning that one. Pitt is far too physical and experienced...hell they'd send someone from Kansas to the hospital.

 

Exactly, Pitt's got a game that's tailor-made for march, and they're not losing until they run into a great shooting team. They're way better than Kansas or Indiana, and the experience of playing Nova/UConn type teams week in and week out is going to serve them well against Memphis who hasn't played a Top 30 team since December. (I mentioned Indiana because they're going to blow through those shitty Western teams in Davis's last season and reach the Elite Eight.) Kansas is the token team that gets hot for their conference tournament, wears themselves out, and then is shocked when they make an early exit. I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose to Bradley.

 

And as for an eventual Duke/UConn game, yes of course I think Williams would do well against Boone and Armstrong inside. It's not like UConn's got an Okafor-type shot blocker around to shut him down. They've got a bunch of scrappy power forward types who get a lot of rebounds and play solid position defense. Shelden won't go off against them, but he should get his 15 and 10.

 

I just don't see who UConn has that's going to hit that big shot when they need it at the end of the game. Anderson's a good shooter, but he can't really create his own shot, and Gay's been practically invisible in crunch time this year. If the Devils are down by 2 with 5 seconds left, I'd feel about 90% confident that Redick's going to make the big 3, and there's no one I'd even feel 40% confident about from UConn in that situation.

[mike546 0]

Here's why: Even if Kansas gets past Bradley (which even though I have Bradley as a joke, KU should get past them) they'd likely get Pitt the next round, and they ain't winning that one. Pitt is far too physical and experienced...hell they'd send someone from Kansas to the hospital.

 

Exactly, Pitt's got a game that's tailor-made for march, and they're not losing until they run into a great shooting team. They're way better than Kansas or Indiana, and the experience of playing Nova/UConn type teams week in and week out is going to serve them well against Memphis who hasn't played a Top 30 team since December. (I mentioned Indiana because they're going to blow through those shitty Western teams in Davis's last season and reach the Elite Eight.) Kansas is the token team that gets hot for their conference tournament, wears themselves out, and then is shocked when they make an early exit. I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose to Bradley.

 

And as for an eventual Duke/UConn game, yes of course I think Williams would do well against Boone and Armstrong inside. It's not like UConn's got an Okafor-type shot blocker around to shut him down. They've got a bunch of scrappy power forward types who get a lot of rebounds and play solid position defense. Shelden won't go off against them, but he should get his 15 and 10.

 

I just don't see who UConn has that's going to hit that big shot when they need it at the end of the game. Anderson's a good shooter, but he can't really create his own shot, and Gay's been practically invisible in crunch time this year. If the Devils are down by 2 with 5 seconds left, I'd feel about 90% confident that Redick's going to make the big 3, and there's no one I'd even feel 40% confident about from UConn in that situation.

 

I'm sorry, but Hilton Armstrong isn't just "scrappy power foward." The guy has been ridiculous this year, hes had atleast 5 games of 7 blocks or more including 9 against Louisville. UConn leads the nation in blocks and afnd its basically impossible to score inside on them. I do agree with your big shot statement though. I think in that situation, the best thing UConn can do is penatrate with Williams and him trying to dish to someone inside. That, or give the big shot to Denham Brown, who really has been their best player lately and already hit that big shot against Gonzaga in the Maui tourney.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Kansas is the token team that gets hot for their conference tournament

 

They finished the year winning 15 of 16. They're not exactly Syracuse this year.