First 2009 March Madness thread

[SniperSB23]

Looking more closely does anyone actually think that either of the Ohio teams is going to win the A10 tourney in Atlantic City? I could easily see the final being Rhode Island against the Temple/St Joes winner which would mean one less bid for everyone else. Another interesting twist is that if Florida wins over Arkansas they would play Auburn. A second SEC tourney win by Florida would probably lock things up while Auburn would have the opportunity to beat Florida and then Tennessee and likely earn themselves a bid. If Florida beats Arkansas then loses to Auburn who loses to Tennessee you'd have a situation where the committee could put both in or neither. For the sake of the tournament I hope it is neither but its a tough call.

[Cannon Shell]

St. Johns scored 10 points in the first half today. Walter Berry just rolled over in his grave.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

St. Johns scored 10 points in the first half today. Walter Berry just rolled over in his grave.

Well they had to be out partying all night last night to celebrate their first Big East tourney win since 2003.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Looking more closely does anyone actually think that either of the Ohio teams is going to win the A10 tourney in Atlantic City? I could easily see the final being Rhode Island against the Temple/St Joes winner which would mean one less bid for everyone else. Another interesting twist is that if Florida wins over Arkansas they would play Auburn. A second SEC tourney win by Florida would probably lock things up while Auburn would have the opportunity to beat Florida and then Tennessee and likely earn themselves a bid. If Florida beats Arkansas then loses to Auburn who loses to Tennessee you'd have a situation where the committee could put both in or neither. For the sake of the tournament I hope it is neither but its a tough call.

Of course not. This is the A10 we're talking about here. The favorite, if an at--large lock, stiffs it every time to get another team in. See my post above!

Classic examples- St Joes was UNSTOPPABLE in '04. They "found a way" to lose to Xavier in their first round who was just ok that year. GW was 16-0 in the regular season in '06, only really tested once, yet got waxed by an average Temple team in the first round. Last year Xavier was a beast and still found a way to lose in their 2nd game which set up the A10 to get 3 bids when Temple beat St Joe's in the final (the only way they were getting 3 bids.)

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by philcski

Of course not. This is the A10 we're talking about here. The favorite, if an at--large lock, stiffs it every time to get another team in. See my post above!

Classic examples- St Joes was UNSTOPPABLE in '04. They "found a way" to lose to Xavier in their first round who was just ok that year.

Xavier made the elite 8 in '04 as did St Joe's. Xavier proved they were an excellent team at the end of '04 when they beat St Joes in the A10 tourney...Xavier took out 2 and 3 seeds Texas and Mississippi State and payed a very close game in the regional final against Duke. With what Xavier did in the NCAA tourney in '04 it is hard to argue they didn't just flat out beat St Joe's in the A10 tourney.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Xavier made the elite 8 in '04 as did St Joe's. Xavier proved they were an excellent team at the end of '04 when they beat St Joes in the A10 tourney...Xavier took out 2 and 3 seeds Texas and Mississippi State and payed a very close game in the regional final against Duke. With what Xavier did in the NCAA tourney in '04 it is hard to argue they didn't just flat out beat St Joe's in the A10 tourney.

This is true. However, at the time, Xavier was FAR FROM a tournament lock. They were 10-9 at one point in the season before going on a tear starting with beating their crosstown rivals Cincinnati, but despite that huge win their profile was shaky because of some bad losses and a very moderate record. They HAD to win that game or sweat out the bubble to even get in the tournament at 20-11. I watched almost every St. Joe's game that year and they hardly even showed up for the game.

I stand by my statement that the A-10 is notorious for having their top seeds flame out when they are locks. I would do it too to get multiple bids.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by philcski

This is true. However, at the time, Xavier was FAR FROM a tournament lock. They were 10-9 at one point in the season before going on a tear starting with beating their crosstown rivals Cincinnati, but despite that huge win their profile was shaky because of some bad losses and a very moderate record. They HAD to win that game or sweat out the bubble to even get in the tournament at 20-11. I watched almost every St. Joe's game that year and they hardly even showed up for the game.

I stand by my statement that the A-10 is notorious for having their top seeds flame out when they are locks. I would do it too to get multiple bids.

Of course Xavier was not a lock in '04, in fact they probably weren't in at all if they didn't win the A10 tourney that year...I think that played more a role in their beating St Joe's than St Joes losing on purpose.

[philcski]

Give me 5th place West Virginia and 6th place Syracuse over any 5th and 6th place teams in any other league. MAN these teams are good, I'm fired up to go to the Garden tomorrow.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Of course Xavier was not a lock in '04, in fact they probably weren't in at all if they didn't win the A10 tourney that year...I think that played more a role in their beating St Joe's than St Joes losing on purpose.

I think you're missing my point... there's a HUGE financial incentive for the league if the top seed is a lock for an at-large to lose in their conference tournament... and 95% of the time the seed hit doesn't matter... and the A-10 is notorious for having head-scratching results in their conference tournament, even if you don't think my '04 example makes sense.

On that sentiment, Gonzaga did a disservice to the WCC by steamrolling St. Mary's in the final the other day.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by philcski

I think you're missing my point... there's a HUGE financial incentive for the league if the top seed is a lock for an at-large to lose in their conference tournament... and 95% of the time the seed hit doesn't matter... and the A-10 is notorious for having head-scratching results in their conference tournament, even if you don't think my '04 example makes sense.

On that sentiment, Gonzaga did a disservice to the WCC by steamrolling St. Mary's in the final the other day.

I get what you are saying and it makes sense from the perspective of the league that they would want that to happen. But not from the player perspective. You can't tell these players to go out and not give it their best for the benefit of the league. It just doesn't work that way. For one, I think you'd be surprised to learn that for a lot of big time schools, the number one goal of the season is to be the conference champion. Not saying that they don't want to win the national title but the conference championship is a much more realistic goal. These schools in your conference are who you are recruiting against and it's a big deal to be able to say that every year, you have a strong chance to be conference champion and be in the running for national champ. I don't think this can be underestimated. Take a situation like in the ACC with Duke, UNC, NC St, and Wake all being so close to each other. These players constantly see each other in the offseason. Bragging rights are huge and you have them when you are conference champ. Same thing up in the Big East where a lot of the prime players come from the area between NY and DC. Florida or Kansas can win the national championship but that conference championship is very important in the regional areas.