College Basketball: March '09

[Bored 0]

POLL! What do you think of conference tournaments? Personally I think they are the reason why many don't pay attention to the college basketball regular season. What's the point of the scheduled conference regular season if every team in a conference can still win their title going into the final two weeks of the season? I view conference tournaments as nothing more than made for t.v. events that only accomplish in weakening the overall field of 65.

 

Full TV Schedule for Week of 3/2 - 3/8

 

The Games Most of You Can See

 

MONDAY

#11 Villanova at Notre Dame, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

Baylor at Texas, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN

 

TUESDAY

#8 Michigan State at Indiana, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

Kansas State at Oklahoma State, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2

Auburn at Alabama, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN

 

WEDNESDAY

#2 North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

#13 Marquette at #3 Pittsburgh, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2

#9 Kansas at Texas Tech, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2

 

THURSDAY

Tennessee at South Carolina, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

Providence at #11 Villanova, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2

#23 Illinois at Penn State, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN

Dayton at #17 Xavier, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2

California at Arizona, 10:30/7:30 PM, FSN

 

SATURDAY

#1 Connecticut at #3 Pittsburgh, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS

Michigan at Minnesota, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN

California at #21 Arizona State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS*

Kentucky at Florida, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS*

#15 Missouri at Texas A&M, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN2

Oklahoma State at #4 Oklahoma, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC*

Oregon at #20 UCLA, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC*

Maryland at Virginia, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC*

Texas at #9 Kansas, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS

Big South Championship, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN2

Washington State at #16 Washington, 5:30/2:30 PM, FSN

Atlantic Sun Championship, 6:00/3:00 PM, ESPN2

OVC Championship, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

#6 Louisville at West Virginia, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN

 

SUNDAY

#19 Purdue at #8 Michigan State, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS*

Alabama at Tennessee, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS*

MVC Championship, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS

#7 Duke at #2 North Carolina, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS

#18 Clemson at #10 Wake Forest, 6:00/3:00 PM, FSN

WCC Semi-Final: #14 Gonzaga vs. TBA, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2

WCC Semi-Final: St. Mary's vs. TBA, 11:30/8:30 PM, ESPN2

Edited March 3, 2009 by Bored

[Gert T 0]

Agree with you Bored. I hate about hearing how a bubble team is not in yet, but if they win 2 games in their conference tournament they can play their way in. They have had 28 chances already to prove themselves.

 

I think conf. tourneys only benefit the BCS schools.

 

 

[cabbageboy 0]

I voted for the hate option with some reluctance since on one hand I do find this an enjoyable time of year but it's a phony sort of feeling compared to the actual Big Dance that follows. It's awful for the smaller conference teams that work for a 16 game reg. season and then lose 1 single game and their season is over. I recall one year Austin Peay was undefeated in the OVC but lost to Murray St. in the finals, so Murray got the bid. When it comes to the auto bid leagues then these tourneys are unfair and the tourney should take the actual regular season winner. The Ivy League is the only conf. to do so, being geniuses and all.

 

Sometimes this stuff is exciting though, like the 2006 Big East tourney with Syracuse making that wild run through UConn, Pitt, etc. It was exciting BS though since Syracuse simply lost in a 5/12 upset the next week, showing that the conf. tourney was a fluke and that they didn't belong.

 

I think that's what irks me most, the absurd seeds that some of these bubble teams get. I recall Maryland one time won the ACC tourney mostly due to Duke and others choking, but Maryland ended up with a ridiculous 4-5 seed. No doubt this year some mediocre team will get hot and win a conf. tourney and then the committee will cream themselves and give that team an overinflated seed based on 3-4 games rather than an entire year.

[RepoMan 0]

I love conference tournaments because they're fun to watch, esp. for one bid leagues where the chance for just making the Tourney makes it like the Super Bowl, but I hate them in that winning a regular season conference title is way more of an accomplishment. At least it means an auto-bid to the NIT for schools where any sort of post season play is a big deal, but in my College B-ball utopia, regular season conference champions and conference tourney champions get an auto bid. I hate mediocre major conference schools that feel that the Selection Committee is obligated to invite them for going .500 in conference play. Everyone controls their own fate.

[cabbageboy 0]

Okay Bob might get pissed at me for saying this, but why in the hell is Memphis getting first place votes in the coaches poll? Seriously, UConn has 27 this week and Memphis actually got 4. For doing what exactly? Beating the mighty UAB? Here's that entire poll:

 

Coaches Poll (March 2):

1. Connecticut (27) 27-2 769 2

2. North Carolina 25-3 711 5

3. Memphis (4) 26-3 698 4

4. Pittsburgh 26-3 667 1

5. Oklahoma 26-3 653 3

6. Louisville 23-5 630 6

7. Duke 24-5 597 7

8. Michigan State 23-5 557 9

9. Kansas 24-5 509 15

10. Wake Forest 22-5 480 14

11. LSU 25-4 420 18

12. Missouri 24-5 377 8

13. Washington 22-7 346 21

14. Gonzaga 23-5 339 17

15. Marquette 23-6 327 10

16. Villanova 23-6 324 12

17. UCLA 22-7 295 19

18. Xavier 23-5 260 22

19. Clemson 22-6 219 13

20. Purdue 22-7 211 16

21. Arizona State 21-7 189 11

22. Butler 25-4 168 23

23. Illinois 23-7 107 20

24. Florida State 22-7 67 25

25. Syracuse 21-8 37 NR

 

[Gert T 0]

It should be interesting with the No.1 seeds if Pitt beats UConn this weekend, and UConn then wins the BE tourney. Does Memphis get a #1 seed due to the winning streak? (Assuming that UNC and Oklahoma would get a #1 for winning their conference tourneys)

 

 

 

 

[Bored 0]

Bracket Matrix Update

 

Last Four In

Maryland

Penn State

Kentucky

Texas A&M

 

Last Four Out

Providence

Virginia Tech

Miami

St. Mary's

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Damn good game between Duke and fsu tonight. Duke came alive in the 2nd half to pull off the great win.

[Gert T 0]

Huge losers tonight of the bubble teams were Cincinnati and Georgetown.

GTown lost at St. Johns tonight and UC lost to 9-20 South Florida.

 

Ohio State was probably the biggest bubble winner tonight, winning their final road game at Iowa.

 

 

 

 

[Damaramu 0]

I see bracketology has OU listed as a No. 1 seed still. I think if they lose tonight to Mizzou they're obviously out of that spot.

 

I heard someone say that if OU and KU run the table and meet in the Big XII tournament finals then that game could be for a No. 1 seed. However, I just can't picture KU as a 1 seed at this point. I'd think someone like Memphis would get it first if OU goes down.

[Damaramu 0]

Well OU goes down to Mizzou and falls to #3 in the Big XII and loses out on the No. 1 seed. Ouch. Things really spiraled out of control for this team after the Blake Griffin injury and they haven't been able to get it back on track. This is a bad time of the year to not have your shit together.

[Guest Czech please!]

DePaul is going for an 0-18 conference season, and they'll still make the Big East tournament this year! Awesome.

[cabbageboy 0]

U of L took care of the pesky Seton Hall tonight to avenge a hideous loss from last year. I do like the improved offense since that ND game. Now it's WVU on the road Saturday for the league title, at least a share of it pending UConn/Pitt and possibly the outright league title.

 

UK lost to Georgia tonight. Say hello to the NIT, Cats fans!

[Gert T 0]

UK lost to Georgia tonight. Say hello to the NIT, Cats fans!

 

 

And my soon to be father-in-law is feverishly leading the online campaign for the dismissal of Billy G

 

An even though there are no Heavyweights playing tonight, it is a great night of national games, all with bubble or seeding implications.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I voted for it, but that's mainly because I like the small conference tourneys where it's win or have your season end, as opposed to the big conferences where there's a good shot at a final/semifinal/quarterfinal loser getting an at-large bid.

 

Other than the occasional little conference tourney I won't tune into anything until Selection Sunday, at which point I'm pretty much going to schedule out what games to watch and go from there.

[Gert T 0]

South Carolina is getting OWNED at home against Tennessee. Does anybody on the bubble want to get into the Tournament?

 

 

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Oooh! Oooh! PICK ME! PICK ME!

[Bored 0]

South Carolina is getting OWNED at home against Tennessee. Does anybody on the bubble want to get into the Tournament?

Penn State did their job with a big win over Illinois in a last second thriller.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Cornell Big Red (20-9, 10-3 Ivy, 118 RPI) have clinched the Ivy League regular season title and are the first team to qualify for the tournament.

[RepoMan 0]

The Cornell Big Red (20-9, 10-3 Ivy, 118 RPI) have clinched the Ivy League regular season title and are the first team to qualify for the tournament.

 

 

[naiwf 0]

I wonder if some of these voters are going to put UConn ahead of Pitt again after this loss.

[Gert T 0]

I hope not, but it should be interesting to see who is Number 1. The UNC and Memphis votes were close last week. May just depend on if all of the UConn voters make Pitt #1.

 

And in what should be a surprise to nobody, Michigan goes and wins on the road at Minnesota to make the Big Ten race even cloudier.

 

 

[MFer 0]

Yeah, that was a must-win game for Michigan. They probably need to win their 1st-round Big Ten Tournament game (either against Iowa or Indiana) to solidify their NCAA tournament spot. It'll be interesting to see how many Big Ten teams ultimately get in, because as many as 9 teams have a shot (even Northwestern, who's never been to the Big Dance). I'm guessing 7, but we'll see.

[Gert T 0]

I am interested to see if the No. 7 and No. 8 teams will get penalized if they lose in the quarterfinals to Michigan State or Purdue. Certainly they have a tougher draw than the 3-6 or 4-5 matchup.

 

This is why I dislike the "have to win games in conf. tourney" theories for invites.

 

 

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT. What an insane dunk from Blake Griffin.

[Bored 0]

Creighton was blown out by Illinois State in the Missouri Valley semi-finals today which could cause a bid to be stolen by the winner of Illinois State/Northern Iowa tomorrow in the finals. Creighton was projected as high as a 9 seed going into today but some also had them as low as a 12 so this might have cost them an at large bid.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yes! U of L barely survives at WVU and now the Cards are the outright Big East champs. Thanks, Pitt. Terrence Williams took a few years off my life there at the end with those missed FTs though, I was practically yelling for someone to foul WVU to prevent a 3 point attempt. This is great though, now U of L gets to avoid Pitt and UConn until a potential BE tourney final.

 

Oh, and Morehead actually won the OVC tonight, beating Austin Peay in double OT. That's just....awesome.

[Mik 0]

UNC beats Duke again to sweep the series for the second year in a row.

 

Sorry, Cowboy!

 

#1 going into the tournament again - hopefully it works out better this year.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

UNC beats Duke again to sweep the series for the second year in a row.

 

Sorry, Cowboy!

 

#1 going into the tournament again - hopefully it works out better this year.

 

 

Shit is not cool.

[Bored 0]

There will be no Stephen Curry lighting it up in the NCAA tournament this year as Davidson was bounced in the SoCon semis today. They have almost no chance at an at large bid.