NCAA Tourney Talk

[TrueblueCATfan]

Good team. Hit a gazillion 3 pointers against RI. Very capable of beating us. Hot team on a little roll, like us.

If if we play like we did this weekend, we're golden. If we revert, we go home.

Thanks Bob

[Lighthouse]

I figured Davidson would have some shooters, most of the so called lower level teams do, and because they don't have an all american type player they have to concentrate on running an offense efficiently.

[thughes]

I was with a bunch watching the bracket show tonight and most of them didn't even care......they are all pumped about their women's team playing first 2 rounds at the Yum bucket

My family is all for Louisville, I am the only Kentucky fan. They were wanting Louisville to turn down the NIT invitation. They want Ricky back and Padgett gone. They could careless if Louisville wins or looses that first game.

[teamchemistry15]

I saw somewhere Davidson is ranked like 306 in rebounding. I could be wrong though. If that's the case and JV plays he might get 15 boards. They shoot the heck out of the ball, but we have the nation's number one three point defense and, although I haven't looked at their schedule, I'm sure they haven't faced the overall length we have. Defense wins championships.

[KevinHall]

The biggest complaint I have is that the NCAA never takes into consideration how team is playing at the end of the season. The last 10 to 12 games should be a big factor in the selection of at large teams. Oklahoma,Syracuse and Arizona State should have never been in this tournament. USC,OK State and Middle Tennessee should be in. Of course Oklahoma is all about Trae Young and trying to max out the TV ratings. For me I would rather not see someone shoot the ball 30 times and miss 20 of them. That isn't good basketball to me.

[Catsrock]

^^^I agree Kevin but never is a strong word. There have been years when Duke or UNC have struggled in mid-season but finished strong. In such years it's been important to finish strong because it effects the "eye test.". In other words they seed them higher because you can tell by looking that they deserve it.

Other years strength of schedule, RPI or any other criteria are what become important. Basically you put them where you want them then decide what the formula was in a given year. Only thing that can help consistently is having good buddies on the committee and not having a Calipari as coach.

[KevinHall]

^^^I agree Kevin but never is a strong word. There have been years when Duke or UNC have struggled in mid-season but finished strong. In such years it's been important to finish strong because it effects the "eye test.". In other words they seed them higher because you can tell by looking that they deserve it.

Other years strength of schedule, RPI or any other criteria are what become important. Basically you put them where you want them then decide what the formula was in a given year. Only thing that can help consistently is having good buddies on the committee and not having a Calipari as coach.

I can think of no instance in which a team end their season losing 8 of 10 and being kept of the tournament in which the NCAA has said a bad finish kept them out. I don't think they consider that at all which just boggles by mind.

Oh well, its off to find TruTV on my TV dial. This is literally the only time of year I even think about that channel.

[TrueblueCATfan]

My family is all for Louisville, I am the only Kentucky fan. They were wanting Louisville to turn down the NIT invitation. They want Ricky back and Padgett gone. They could careless if Louisville wins or looses that first game.

I hope they lose in the first round so we can make fun of them like they did us when we lost to Robert Morris......will never understand why anyone would want Pitino back after all that has gone down

[Joneslab]

Pretty cool video going around of the moment Arizona St. learned they got in. They all run out and jump in Bobby Hurley's pool.

I hate Duke like every sane human but always kind of liked Hurley.

[KevinHall]

Pretty cool video going around of the moment Arizona St. learned they got in. They all run out and jump in Bobby Hurley's pool.

I hate Duke like every sane human but always kind of liked Hurley.

I like Hurley because he wanted to kill Lattener.

[Joneslab]

Video of said celebration:

https://twitter.com/TheSunDevils/status/972965551755599872

[Joneslab]

A couple more observations about the bracket:

* Clearly ESPN's "Champ Week" and the Selection Committee are out of joint. If you want to sell college basketball as a pressure-packed, single-elimination thing that's completely predicated on MARCH (!!!), then tie in the conference tourneys to the NCAA Tournament. Make the conference tournament matter. What you notice historically is that the Big 10 Tournament (for some reason) and the ACC Tournament and the old Big East have really been the only ones that mattered one wit. Everything else came down to teams' full "body of work."

Fans hate Cal's deal about the SEC Tournament, but Cal's right. Why do we play in the SEC Tournament and then not have it matter? I'm not sure why college basketball, which is all about single-elimination in the NCAA Tournament, becomes so determined to just look past a run through a conference tourney. If you want those tournaments to matter, weight them.

* North Carolina got a gift. In the weakest bracket, they start out in their home state. With 10 losses. With a loss to Wofford at home. That's crap.

* Duke, surprisingly, got a tough run. If they come out of the Bracket o' Death they'll have to earn it.

* Like everyone else I hate the Arizona draw. Ayton's liable to murder everyone we have and smile about it. BUT what you have looming in the second weekend is Atlanta. And that's big. If we could somehow work through the first two rounds and make it to the Sweet Sixteen, interesting things could happen. That's our city. I think Virginia is probably the best team, but the best team this year is relative. Not much separation all the way around. And we possibly get two coaches--Miller and Bennett--who've never had much March success. I'm ready.

[40bill]

I just hope everybody......players, coaches, fans....quit talking about Arizona and focus on Davidson. I believe most of us remember UK opponents in tourneys with names like UAB and MTSU that eliminated some UK teams with far far far more experience.

Season is only six games long now. Everybody counts.

[KevinHall]

A couple more observations about the bracket:

* Clearly ESPN's "Champ Week" and the Selection Committee are out of joint. If you want to sell college basketball as a pressure-packed, single-elimination thing that's completely predicated on MARCH (!!!), then tie in the conference tourneys to the NCAA Tournament. Make the conference tournament matter. What you notice historically is that the Big 10 Tournament (for some reason) and the ACC Tournament and the old Big East have really been the only ones that mattered one wit. Everything else came down to teams' full "body of work."

Fans hate Cal's deal about the SEC Tournament, but Cal's right. Why do we play in the SEC Tournament and then not have it matter? I'm not sure why college basketball, which is all about single-elimination in the NCAA Tournament, becomes so determined to just look past a run through a conference tourney. If you want those tournaments to matter, weight them.

* North Carolina got a gift. In the weakest bracket, they start out in their home state. With 10 losses. With a loss to Wofford at home. That's crap.

* Duke, surprisingly, got a tough run. If they come out of the Bracket o' Death they'll have to earn it.

* Like everyone else I hate the Arizona draw. Ayton's liable to murder everyone we have and smile about it. BUT what you have looming in the second weekend is Atlanta. And that's big. If we could somehow work through the first two rounds and make it to the Sweet Sixteen, interesting things could happen. That's our city. I think Virginia is probably the best team, but the best team this year is relative. Not much separation all the way around. And we possibly get two coaches--Miller and Bennett--who've never had much March success. I'm ready.

I have always felt like the conference tournaments should be incorporated into the NCAA tournament. The two teams that make the finals of the conference tournament advance on to the national tournament. Sort of like how the state of Kentucky does by letting the district tournament finalist advance on to the region. It would make those conference tournaments that much more meaningful and pretty darn exciting.

[catfaninin]

Agree that UNC got a good draw. But that 2nd game for them will be no cakewalk. I watched Providence twice over the weekend. Beat Xavier, then missed a shot at the buzzer to beat Villanova before losing in OT. And if it's A&M they can be dangerous as well.