NCAA Tourney Talk

[Dwight Schrute]

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.

I agree with this. If you're a bubble team or in one of the non-power conferences, the tournaments can help but if you were already in, they're meaningless. Xavier getting a 1 seed? Bullcrap. I love Xavier, but they got blown out twice by Villanova and lost the conference tournament.

I'm not sure I agree with Duke getting a tough run, though. Michigan State will be tough, but I'd bet Kansas chokes before the Elite 8, and there's nobody else that's really gonna stand in their way.

I hate our draw. If I'm not mistaken, Virginia only had 2 conference losses in a league that got 9 teams into the tournament. That's scary - and that's if we get past Arizona. Deandre Ayton might eat our bigs alive. If somehow we were to beat Arizona and Virginia, Cincinnati will be tough.

Still, I'm surprised we didn't wind up in a bracket with Duke, UNC, or Wichita State.

[Joneslab]

Virginia is so tough because they just don't give you anything off the drive, and they play the ball screen to perfection.

The second won't hurt us as much because Kentucky doesn't ball screen a ton. But if Shai can't get into the lane then it will be very hard for us to win (if we play them).

They're the best team I've ever seen at containing dribblers. They just don't give an inch. Whoever beats them will have to play 40 minutes of virtually mistake-free basketball, and Virginia would have to get behind early and be forced to play fast. The problem is they just don't get down and are comfortable pretty much all the time.

[Dwight Schrute]

Yeah, they don't score a ton, and teams that don't score a lot can run into trouble in the NCAA tournament. But their defense is scary, scary good. Of course, all this assumes we can get past Arizona, which itself is going to be a very, very hard task.

[KevinHall]

I think I saw that UVA had not given up 70 points in a game this season. That is just amazing! Still, until they actually advance past a regional I'm not a big believer in them. Sort of how I felt about Villanova up until two years ago.

[KevinHall]

I htink my Final Four prediction is going to be:

Gonzaga
Arizona
Villanova
Duke

I don't think Duke's run is all that tough. Mich State could be a tough one but I saw that Izzo has only beaten K one time in quite a few meetings. So K has his number.
The Zags have flew under the radar this year and they have the experience to know how to get back there. That's the weakest region too IMO so its anyones guess who might come out of that one.

[Catatonic]

A few thoughts and predictions for this year's tournament:

• We have 10 losses. I always find the whining about our bracket annoying, but it's especially silly this year.

• That being said, the NCAA has set us up to be eliminated by an Arizona team with an ineligible player in a game that will almost certainly be vacated.

• Not too concerned about Davidson, especially if Vanderbilt is back in action.

• North Carolina will find a way to blow it even if with their easy path.

• Virginia won't win it all.

• U of L won't win the NIT, and will replace Padgett before the NCAA concludes.

[UK8STL11]

Cal says Vanderbilt won't be playing this weekend. That's a big blow, especially against Arizona.

[J.Jennings]

Cal says Vanderbilt won't be playing this weekend. That's a big blow, especially against Arizona.

See i don't understand this. If the kid feels he's ready to go and can play, why not? Is his ankle really that bad?

[Joneslab]

Cal says Vanderbilt won't be playing this weekend. That's a big blow, especially against Arizona.

Did Cal actually say this? In the Rivals article this quote doesn't appear to be in there. Cal looked pretty undecided to me.

[UK8STL11]

Did Cal actually say this? In the Rivals article this quote doesn't appear to be in there. Cal looked pretty undecided to me.

Kyle Tucker‏ @KyleTucker_SEC
Calipari says he "just can't see it" playing Jarred Vanderbilt this weekend. If UK makes second weekend? "Maybe, maybe."

[KevinHall]

Did Cal actually say this? In the Rivals article this quote doesn't appear to be in there. Cal looked pretty undecided to me.

From what I read Cal says Vanderbilt is about 90% but won't play him until he's 100%. My guess is we have seen the last of Vanderbilt in a UK uniform on the court actually playing.

[Joneslab]

From what I read Cal says Vanderbilt is about 90% but won't play him until he's 100%. My guess is we have seen the last of Vanderbilt in a UK uniform on the court actually playing.

Where's Vanderbilt going to go?

[Joneslab]

Kyle Tucker‏ @KyleTucker_SEC
Calipari says he "just can't see it" playing Jarred Vanderbilt this weekend. If UK makes second weekend? "Maybe, maybe."

I wouldn't buy a word of what Cal says about Vanderbilt right now. He'll play it cagey all week if I had to guess.

But it's also true that Cal is super conservative about injuries, and honestly if I'm the father of a player I'd want him to be. Particularly with Vanderbilt's history of injuries.

[KevinHall]

Where's Vanderbilt going to go?

I just don't think he will come back. He and his entourage are dying to go pro just like Diallo's gang, and they will go pro. I'll be shocked if he is back next year.

[Joneslab]

A few thoughts and predictions for this year's tournament:

• We have 10 losses. I always find the whining about our bracket annoying, but it's especially silly this year.

Ten losses is kind of an arbitrary marker. It doesn't really factor in what kind of conference you were playing in; also doesn't get to how well you were playing at the end of the season.

Kentucky had 9 losses in 2000 and they were a 2 seed. North Carolina has 10 now and they're a 2 seed. So it can happen.

Kentucky has really no bone to pick with regards to seed; that they were sent to Boise and have one of the hottest teams in America as their 4 is a little disconcerting.

But this is not even close to the biggest screw-job Kentucky has gotten. That would be 2011. There's never been, and never will be, anything like that to ever happen again. This field is a masterpiece compared to that.