College Hoops: NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 and 2

[cabbageboy 0]

Hell, Dama. I've badmouthed the Pac 10 as well this year, but ironically enough I do have some of the teams advancing. UCLA is in my FF in fact, mainly because they don't even have to leave the state to do it (I have UCLA over Pitt in that regional final....the refs will flat out screw Pitt to keep them from stinking up a FF if need be).

 

I have Cal losing to NC St. but that could go either way. I picked NC St. because I've at least seen them some this year, whereas Cal seems like a nonentity. I have Washington going to the 2nd round and losing to Illinois, though I thought about the 5/12 upset with Utah St. And I have Zona over Wisconsin mainly because I want an actual decent 2nd round game (Zona/Nova) rather than have to endure the Baders making another unwanted March run.

 

I've talked about the MVC in here quite a bit but when it came down to it only had the balls to have 1 MVC team advance, and that would be Bradley over Kansas. The MVC is just a bunch of JTTS type teams, and I think even a Big East jobber like Seton Hall can take the MVC reg. season champ Wichita St. I might be wrong, we'll see.

[Guest]

There's a difference between the Pac 10's suck, and the Big 12's suck. The players out West are insanely talented, yet have no coaching. When you get guys like Olson and Howland out West, they put the teams together. The Big XII has the great coaches, but not the best talent. With Floyd at USC, the West is starting to get some of the good coaches, but they're far behind in that aspect.

 

This year, the Pac 10 was a big pile of shit, as was the Big XII, but the bottom teams in the Pac are worse than the ones in the Big XII.

 

On a side note, I'm starting to get a little bit anxious. I'm ready for this thing to get underway.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Dude, my brother is actually taking Oral Roberts over Memphis. I tried talking him out of it, but he seriously picked it. You know what's insane? He's not alone! Today on Cold Pizza, Skip Bayless also predicted Oral Roberts over Memphis in the first 1/16 upset.

Doesn't say much for your brother.

[Gert T 0]

We have state standardized tests this week, so there's no way the boss man was going to let me "be sick", which sucks with St. Patty's day on Friday as well. But I'll only miss the Noon games on both days.

[Hawk 34 0]

Speaking of which, I am on spring break right now so I don't have to worry about class. However, I'm scheduled for work during the first two blocks of games, but luckily I'll be able to watch the game since my boss is a fanatic and he figures if he has a tv playing the game but on mute, he won't have to worry about sudden illness's spreading.

 

Is anyone else doing anything to skip class/work? Traditionally I would skip class. I never cared how obvious it was.

[Alro 0]

I signed up for that free webcast thing on Sportsline, so hopefully I can watch from work like I did with the SEC tournament. I'm a little skeptical about their waiting in line for system though.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I used to skip class every year since the 6th grade. At least for the Thursday games. Work isn't so accomodating. Damned responsiblity.

[Guest]

Is anyone else doing anything to skip class/work? Traditionally I would skip class. I never cared how obvious it was.

Some of my teachers are just putting it on all day, so that we can watch it together instead of people leaving. If they weren't, I'd just stay home.

[Damaramu 0]

Luckily OU is playing at 11:25 tomorrow and I don't have to be to work until 3. So I can watch that game and watch the wonders of OU not scoring.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Good block of games at ~10:30am...

 

Wichita St. vs. Seton Hall

Oklahoma vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Boston College vs. Pacific.

[cabbageboy 0]

Dama, I'll be watching that OU/UWM game here in Louisville...not sure why we're getting that one, but we are. I'm torn....should I root for them for your sake or root against them for my bracket's sake?

[Guest Princess Leena]

I really need UWM to win... I picked them in all 13 of my pools.

[Guest]

Boston College vs. Pacific. My best friend's cousin is playing in that game, Mike Webb is his name. Yeah, that's the game we get, and it's on during classes that I share with said friend. Good.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Dama, your school better not let me down, I took them straight up in my parlay against UWM tomorrow.

[Hawk 34 0]

These are the games, I am getting according to the info guide

 

Oklahoma/Wisc. Milwaukee

Alabama/Marquette

Gonzaga/Xavier

Indiana/San Diego St.

 

Two of those games, I'm actually interested in. I got Wisc.-Milwaukee in virtually every bracket. 'Bama/Marquette is your standard meaningless 7/10 game.

 

Just in case no one knows the schedule for tomorrow, here it is (ET, of course)

 

12:20 pm Seton Hall Wichita St.

12:25 pm Wis.-Milwaukee Oklahoma

12:40 pm Pacific Boston College

 

2:40 pm Alabama Marquette

2:40 pm Winthrop Tennessee

2:45 pm South Ala. Florida

3:00 pm Montana Nevada

4:55 pm Belmont UCLA

 

7:10 pm Iona LSU

7:10 pm NC-Wilmington G. Washington

7:20 pm Xavier Gonzaga

7:25 pm Air Force Illinois

 

9:30 pm Southern U. Duke

9:30 pm Texas A&M Syracuse

9:40 pm San Diego St. Indiana

9:45 pm Utah St. Washington

[Guest]

12:40 pm Pacific Boston College

4:55 pm Belmont UCLA

7:20 pm Xavier Gonzaga

9:45 pm Utah St. Washington

Lots of potential for upsets in that little area. That's my schedule, and I'm leaning toward Utah St. in that 5/12 game.

[Hawk 34 0]

12:40 pm Pacific Boston College

4:55 pm Belmont UCLA

7:20 pm Xavier Gonzaga

9:45 pm Utah St. Washington

Lots of potential for upsets in that little area. That's my schedule, and I'm leaning toward Utah St. in that 5/12 game.

 

I actually pulled the trigger on the Utah St over Washington "upset", I have two 11's and 2 12's advancing in most pools. The lowest, I have is #14 Xavier in a couple smaller ($) pools and #14 So. Alabama in another.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Utah St. beating Washington would most certainly be an upset. Washington was playing good ball at the end of season before that Oregon loss. And Utah St. is basically a 2-man team that I doubt will be able to handle UW's fast break style. And doesn't have the size to dominate UW's smallish lineup.

[Guest]

Utah St. is the white guy team that you wouldn't think is athletic, but is. However, they can run the court, and Jaycee Carroll can be lights out. I'm sure that they'll give the Huskies a game.

 

Plus, I like the 80 year old guy that goes to every game dressed up as the Pope. He's a riot.

[Hawk 34 0]

I figure it's safe to go for a couple upsets in the first round because first round pts aren't that much and as long as you balance it correctly and have a realistic and accurate bracket from the elite 8 and beyond, you can make up for those meaningless one pt losses you suffered by taking a upset.

 

Trying for ALL upsets is a dumb move and expecting an upset to go into the S16 or beyond (as in #10-16) is stupid unless they have a really good match-up.

 

Be smart and practical. Winthorp isn't going to reach the S16, no matter your gut thinks they will. Double seeded teams rarely reach the elite and trying to be the perfect picker and nailing it, you end up just choking yourself in the process.

[Guest]

My only crazy pick is Wichita St. in the Elite Eight. The bottom of that bracket won't go according to plan, but I'm not saying Winthrop's beating Tennessee.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I disagree about how athletic those "white guys" are. There's a reason they always play zone. Their guards can easily get beat off the dribble... and they have stiffs in the middle with Session and the big Brazilian guy. Hell, Fazekas was easily taking them off the dribble, and driving at will.

 

Now, put Brandon Roy, who's amongst the quickest players in the country and can slash against anyone, against that. I'd be surprised if he doesn't put up at least 30.

 

Not that Utah State doesn't have a chance. They're one of the many live or die by the 3 teams out there. But, it's really unlikely. It's a great matchup for UW.

[Guest]

I meant more athletic than anyone probably expects them to be. Especially considering their look. Roy's going to get his points, no doubt, it just remains to be seen if Utah St. can live by the three and force Washington into a half-court style game. It'll be difficult, but it's within reason.

 

UCLA's only going to go as far as Farmar can take them, that's why I have reservations about penciling them in for the Final Four. In fact, I have Marquette beating them.

 

This is why I love the tournament. So many different playing styles, and so many of the teams have a chance to steal a game if they get hot. The seedings brought all kinds of odd matchups into play, so I can't wait to see how it plays out. Every year, I start to get more pro-playoff for college football.

[Damaramu 0]

Dama, your school better not let me down, I took them straight up in my parlay against UWM tomorrow.

 

Oh they will. Everyone knows that Michael Neal is the only outside scoring threat on this team therefore they'll double him and then they'll collapse on Gray and Bookout when needed and Everett will continually turn the ball over.

[Guest]

Where are douchebags Nantz, J. and Packer, B. going to be for the first weekend?

[Bored 0]

Trying for ALL upsets is a dumb move and expecting an upset to go into the S16 or beyond (as in #10-16) is stupid unless they have a really good match-up.

You know the last time no double digit seeds made it to the Sweet 16? 1995. Hardly a dumb move. In fact you have to go back to 1996 to find the last time a #10 seed didn't make it to the Sweet 16. Now it's a bit of a crapshoot picking which one will get there. Besides playing close to the vest is boring.

[Guest Princess Leena]

UWM probably won't double Neal... they'll press all the time. And with how 'Nova killed OU late in their game with that, that could be a big issue. Neal should be able to get looks, but he's seemed to disappear late into the season.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Trying for ALL upsets is a dumb move and expecting an upset to go into the S16 or beyond (as in #10-16) is stupid unless they have a really good match-up.

You know the last time no double digit seeds made it to the Sweet 16? 1995. Hardly a dumb move. In fact you have to go back to 1996 to find the last time a #10 seed didn't make it to the Sweet 16. Now it's a bit of a crapshoot picking which one will get there. Besides playing close to the vest is boring.

 

Upsets are stupid to pick, because most people are absolutely clueless on the lower seeded teams... and base their selections on "Oh. I saw this 5 seed once. They blow."

 

The key to picking those games is finding the perfect matchups.

[Damaramu 0]

UWM probably won't double Neal... they'll press all the time. And with how 'Nova killed OU late in their game with that, that could be a big issue. Neal should be able to get looks, but he's seemed to disappear late into the season.

 

Yeah just like the team he goes on hot/cold runs. But instead of them happening in the game, much like the team, they're over stretches of games.

They didn't have Neal against Nova. They might've been able to pull that one off b/c they were close for a lot of the game and actually had a double digit lead at one point.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Neal did play against 'Nova, sillypants. I meant more how 'Nova's press wore OU out and killed them late in the game.