Just how bad a beating did your bracket take?
Brutal. Both of my pools were effectively over halfway through the Sweet 16. And no, I didn't win either of them. The only two things I can hang my hat on this year are picking Murray State to beat Vanderbilt (Three teams won 30 games this year. The other two were Kentucky and Kansas) and getting the West Region right through the Sweet 16 in my Yahoo pool.
Was the Big East overrated after all?
Yes and no. I don't fully buy into the idea that you can determine the real strength of a conference by how its teams do in postseason play, though it's probably a little easier in basketball than football now that every football team in America runs the spread these days. On the other hand, I'm still a bit baffled at how Notre Dame and Marquette, after widely being considered bubble teams going into the Big East tournament, both ended up pulling No. 6 seeds. Georgetown just didn't show up against Ohio. The Hoyas are wherever Luke Harangody and Scottie Reynolds' shot are.
What happened to Temple?
Cornell couldn't miss. This was a classic case of my "three S's" theory of a few years ago making a comeback. The three S's are shooting, size and seniors, and if you're a lower-level team that has all three, you're never really out of any game. Also, somebody had to eat the 12-5 bullet (and both teams were probably seeded too low anyway.)
Who did the committee leave out of the field this year?
Virginia Tech raised the biggest stink, but the Hokies' 12-1 nonconference record is a bit deceiving. They didn't beat a good team all year. You could make a case for Mississippi State, but not a very strong one. Honestly, the correct answer is "no one." Every team in the field of 65 should have been. Well, except Florida.
Speaking of...
Expansion. For or against?
AGAINST. The only reason this is even being considered is because the "C" in NCAA actually stands for "cash". Why else would you mess with perfection?
The one expansion proposal I would even consider ties in to something that regular readers know I've been complaining about for years: I've always hated the fact that the "first-round" game consists of the lowest two automatic qualifiers, leaving one of them out of the main bracket. An automatic bid should be just that - an automatic bid.
So what I would be in favor of is something like the following: The tournament is seeded as normal except for the last four at-large spots. Then the selection committee takes the last eight at-large teams and matches them up in four play-in games. Play two games at two sites on the Tuesday that the play-in game is now and we settle this bubble business once and for all.
Exactly how large are Ali Farokmanesh's balls?
IMMEASURABLE.
What did we learn that can help our brackets next year?
Well, we can officially add "be wary of high-seeded teams with double-digit losses" to the rulebook. When I say "high seeded," I mean seventh or better. Just... be careful. Especially if their first-round opponent only has single-digit losses.
Also, Kansas is probably back in the "not to be trusted past the first round" camp.
Can Butler actually win this thing?
Sure, why not?
Showing posts with label March Madness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March Madness. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
OSN
- Stupid Florida. I was done in all of my pools by the time Saturday ended.
- I wonder if Afflalo said "I hope we're teammates next year" when Brewer hugged him after owning him for the second year in a row.
- Really impressed with Brewer, by the way.
- Luther didn't always sing "One Shining Moment", right? It was James Ingram for a long time, wasn't it?
- Take this to the bank: Donovan's not going anywhere.
- I wonder if Afflalo said "I hope we're teammates next year" when Brewer hugged him after owning him for the second year in a row.
- Really impressed with Brewer, by the way.
- Luther didn't always sing "One Shining Moment", right? It was James Ingram for a long time, wasn't it?
- Take this to the bank: Donovan's not going anywhere.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Continuations
- Somebody please make a free throw.
- So Louisville's down by one point, Pitino calls a timeout to set up the last shot, and the best they can come up with is a freshman point guard tossing up a fallaway three-pointer from NBA range, with plenty of time to spare to boot?
- I've got no butterflies for Vanderbilt/Washington State since I didn't have either team getting this far in the first place. And seriously, ever since Vandy got rid of its athletic department a few years ago, they've been on a steady rise sports-wise. The women have always been good, but now the men are winning, the football team's getting respectable ... maybe more schools should try it.
- That block on Byars in the last minute of regulation was sick. Carter came from halfway across the court.
- Looks like Tyler Hansbrough was right about his face mask messing with his head. You know who's good is Ty Lawson.
- Drew Neitzel shot 9 for 27. That's Iverson-esque on a bad night.
- Georgetown and UCLA cut it much too close for my liking. What was with the halftime score for UCLA/Indiana being 20-13? That's a high school halftime score.
- So Louisville's down by one point, Pitino calls a timeout to set up the last shot, and the best they can come up with is a freshman point guard tossing up a fallaway three-pointer from NBA range, with plenty of time to spare to boot?
- I've got no butterflies for Vanderbilt/Washington State since I didn't have either team getting this far in the first place. And seriously, ever since Vandy got rid of its athletic department a few years ago, they've been on a steady rise sports-wise. The women have always been good, but now the men are winning, the football team's getting respectable ... maybe more schools should try it.
- That block on Byars in the last minute of regulation was sick. Carter came from halfway across the court.
- Looks like Tyler Hansbrough was right about his face mask messing with his head. You know who's good is Ty Lawson.
- Drew Neitzel shot 9 for 27. That's Iverson-esque on a bad night.
- Georgetown and UCLA cut it much too close for my liking. What was with the halftime score for UCLA/Indiana being 20-13? That's a high school halftime score.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!
- The one thing you don't hear (or, at least, I haven't heard) as much about Greg Oden is how well he runs the floor. You don't see guys who are as good in the post as he is with that kind of mobility also.
- I'm amazed that Xavier's even in this position considering Lavender and Burrell haven't arrived at the arena yet. It's because of their bench and their other wing players knocking down three-pointers.
- They actually chant "DAR-RYL" at D.J. Strawberry? That's hilarious.
- Matta really mismanaged Oden's foul situation down the stretch. He should have come out after picking up his third foul, and he should have come out immediately after getting his fourth with five minutes left, just to get some rest if nothing else. Did you see him at the end of the game? He looked exhausted.
- Did Hunter foul out too? I must have missed it.
- Lavender and Burrell: 3 points combined, I believe. (Edit: Actually, it was eight. Even so.)
- Let's put this out there in raw numbers: The score went from 59-50 to 72-64.
- Where was all this drama the first two days?
- I'm amazed that Xavier's even in this position considering Lavender and Burrell haven't arrived at the arena yet. It's because of their bench and their other wing players knocking down three-pointers.
- They actually chant "DAR-RYL" at D.J. Strawberry? That's hilarious.
- Matta really mismanaged Oden's foul situation down the stretch. He should have come out after picking up his third foul, and he should have come out immediately after getting his fourth with five minutes left, just to get some rest if nothing else. Did you see him at the end of the game? He looked exhausted.
- Did Hunter foul out too? I must have missed it.
- Lavender and Burrell: 3 points combined, I believe. (Edit: Actually, it was eight. Even so.)
- Let's put this out there in raw numbers: The score went from 59-50 to 72-64.
- Where was all this drama the first two days?
Chalk
- I think all the wind we got tonight was the sigh of relief coming from Badger Nation. That shouldn't have happened.
- Did I really pick Arizona in all three of my brackets?
- I'm having trouble remembering a year where so many of the 8/9 and 10/7 games were total coin flips. I mean, they usually are anyway just by their nature, but five of the eight games wwere decided by one late run and one went to overtime.
- So few upsets. Meh. And yes, I'm still mad about Illinois not closing out an overrated Virginia Tech squad. VT was probably a 7 (and Duke an 8), but there were so many teams with 9-11 losses that they had to go somewhere.
- Villanova really missed not having Nardi at 100 percent.
- Completely Unrelated Aside: What, exactly, is "getting your grown man on?" I'm hopelessly out of the loop.
- Anyone notice how the NCAA secretly went back to "East", "South", "Midwest" and "West" without making a big deal out of it? They also ended up bringing back the "ghost game" (6:31 p.m. entry), which was Oregon/Miami (Ohio) and sounded like it might have been the best game of the day. Plus the Ducks have an Aaron Brooks who's actually worth a damn.
- Did I really pick Arizona in all three of my brackets?
- I'm having trouble remembering a year where so many of the 8/9 and 10/7 games were total coin flips. I mean, they usually are anyway just by their nature, but five of the eight games wwere decided by one late run and one went to overtime.
- So few upsets. Meh. And yes, I'm still mad about Illinois not closing out an overrated Virginia Tech squad. VT was probably a 7 (and Duke an 8), but there were so many teams with 9-11 losses that they had to go somewhere.
- Villanova really missed not having Nardi at 100 percent.
- Completely Unrelated Aside: What, exactly, is "getting your grown man on?" I'm hopelessly out of the loop.
- Anyone notice how the NCAA secretly went back to "East", "South", "Midwest" and "West" without making a big deal out of it? They also ended up bringing back the "ghost game" (6:31 p.m. entry), which was Oregon/Miami (Ohio) and sounded like it might have been the best game of the day. Plus the Ducks have an Aaron Brooks who's actually worth a damn.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Day Two, Part I
- I also missed on Texas Tech last night - my sources led me to believe Boston College wasn't any good.
- Today's early games: Georgia Tech/UNLV and Winthrop/Notre Dame, it looks like.
- Remember Winthrop lost in the final seconds to Tennessee last year on that jumper from the corner by Chris Lofton.
- "THAT'S A MAN'S JAM!"
- This is a sick run Winthrop's on right now. They're up by 20.
- Is Tennessee gonna break 110? Is Wisconsin gonna make a shot?
- The Irish are fighting back with a run of their own.
- I've got Virginia Tech going down tonight. Can't explain why. Just got a feeling they're seeded too high as a 5.
- Big three-pointer for Winthrop just now.
- This one's over! DING And a surprisingly subdued celebration afterward. It's like they expected to win.
- 4:39 p.m.: Tennessee's up to 107. Alando Tucker just hit a three for Wisconsin - he's going to have to put the Badgers on his back.
- And here we go; Wisconsin's cut the deficit to six.
- Make that four.
-I'm off to work. I'll be back after tonight's games.
- Today's early games: Georgia Tech/UNLV and Winthrop/Notre Dame, it looks like.
- Remember Winthrop lost in the final seconds to Tennessee last year on that jumper from the corner by Chris Lofton.
- "THAT'S A MAN'S JAM!"
- This is a sick run Winthrop's on right now. They're up by 20.
- Is Tennessee gonna break 110? Is Wisconsin gonna make a shot?
- The Irish are fighting back with a run of their own.
- I've got Virginia Tech going down tonight. Can't explain why. Just got a feeling they're seeded too high as a 5.
- Big three-pointer for Winthrop just now.
- This one's over! DING And a surprisingly subdued celebration afterward. It's like they expected to win.
- 4:39 p.m.: Tennessee's up to 107. Alando Tucker just hit a three for Wisconsin - he's going to have to put the Badgers on his back.
- And here we go; Wisconsin's cut the deficit to six.
- Make that four.
-I'm off to work. I'll be back after tonight's games.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Commonwealth of Virginia
- Tonight's games: VCU-Duke, Wright State-Pittsburgh.
- Anybody besides me think Kevin Harlan would be a good wrestling announcer?
- Is Virginia actually a commonwealth? I know Pennsylvania officially is.
- I always thought Drew Lavender was taller. He's only 5-7?
- Duke was going to lose to Pitt in the next round anyway. Still, though. If Jon Scheyer doesn't do his Gerry McNamara impression, we're not discussing this.
- And nice defense in the last 15 seconds of that game, huh? How does that happen?
- We're getting a healthy dose of Gonzaga-Indiana now.
- Anybody besides me think Kevin Harlan would be a good wrestling announcer?
- Is Virginia actually a commonwealth? I know Pennsylvania officially is.
- I always thought Drew Lavender was taller. He's only 5-7?
- Duke was going to lose to Pitt in the next round anyway. Still, though. If Jon Scheyer doesn't do his Gerry McNamara impression, we're not discussing this.
- And nice defense in the last 15 seconds of that game, huh? How does that happen?
- We're getting a healthy dose of Gonzaga-Indiana now.
Our Games Today
- Daivdson/Maryland, then leaders up to Penn/Texas A&M.
- How is the Washington State game already over? It's 4:25.
- FOR: The A&M cheerleaders.
- How is the Washington State game already over? It's 4:25.
- FOR: The A&M cheerleaders.
March Madness Day 1, So Far
- No live blog this year. I'm leaving that to a trained professional.
- I'm pretty sure Syracuse and Drexel watched the Louisville game thinking, "Hell, we could've done that."
- In my money bracket, I've got Oral Roberts going over Washington State after Much Deliberation. Something off the board happens every year, and the Cougars haven't been in the tournament since 1994, so it eventually looked like the move to make.
- I think one of the best small-college gigs out there is Davidson. It's a consistent winner, you get exposure and face competition that most schools that size and level don't (either the annual Duke or UNC game is usually televised), and you can luck into a guy from your backyard like Stephen Curry once in a great while.
- There's gotta be something Jones from A&M can take for that, right? Something semi-permanent?
- I'm pretty sure Syracuse and Drexel watched the Louisville game thinking, "Hell, we could've done that."
- In my money bracket, I've got Oral Roberts going over Washington State after Much Deliberation. Something off the board happens every year, and the Cougars haven't been in the tournament since 1994, so it eventually looked like the move to make.
- I think one of the best small-college gigs out there is Davidson. It's a consistent winner, you get exposure and face competition that most schools that size and level don't (either the annual Duke or UNC game is usually televised), and you can luck into a guy from your backyard like Stephen Curry once in a great while.
- There's gotta be something Jones from A&M can take for that, right? Something semi-permanent?
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