First 2009 March Madness thread

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

Illinois State in 2008: only 5-5 against the top 100 and just 2-5 against the top 50 (both wins were against non-tournament Creighton.) Their out of conference schedule was dreadful and lost to the only two good teams they played, and threw in a horrible loss to Eastern Michigan in there, plus finished 2nd in the MVC regular season. Lost 3x to Drake, leaving them 0-5 against tournament teams.

Missouri State in 2006: Lost in first round of the MVC tournament in what was essentially a play-in game. Best non-conf win was Wisconsin-Milwaukee @ 52. No bad losses, but just 4-8 against the top 50 and 5-8 against the top 100. Was the 5th team in a conference that in no way would ever get 5 bids (even if they deserved it thanks to the politics of the BCS leagues.) VERY strong bubble that year, Hofstra was probably the team that got most jobbed.

I think Creighton has a much stronger case than both of these teams.

You know if it was up to me I'd throw all the middling majors on the bubble out and throw, Creighton, Siena, Niagara, VCU, and George Mason into those last spots and the tournament would be more exciting from it. But the reality is the committee will throw those middling majors in over a Creighton just like they did with Oregon last year, Stanford in '07, Seton Hall and Alabama in '06, and Iowa St and NC State in '05 who all had horrible non-conference resumes and mediocre conference records.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

You know if it was up to me I'd throw all the middling majors on the bubble out and throw, Creighton, Siena, Niagara, VCU, and George Mason into those last spots and the tournament would be more exciting from it. But the reality is the committee will throw those middling majors in over a Creighton just like they did with Oregon last year, Stanford in '07, Seton Hall and Alabama in '06, and Iowa St and NC State in '05 who all had horrible non-conference resumes and mediocre conference records.

i would too, but politics are strong. this year, the middling majors are so absurdly bad they may have to "go out on a limb" and take a creighton and siena over a florida or an 8th big ten team. i am rooting for the MWC to get 4 because that is a dangerous league. they can do some serious damage in the tourney.

at least in '06 when mizzou state didn't get in it was reasonable for the points i laid out... there were other teams in their own league that took the spot.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

i would too, but politics are strong. this year, the middling majors are so absurdly bad they may have to "go out on a limb" and take a creighton and siena over a florida or an 8th big ten team. i am rooting for the MWC to get 4 because that is a dangerous league. they can do some serious damage in the tourney.

at least in '06 when mizzou state didn't get in it was reasonable for the points i laid out... there were other teams in their own league that took the spot.

Never in a million years though did Seton Hall deserve that last spot over Missouri St and Hofstra. And then the CAA and MVC went on to prove how good they were in the NCAA Tourney while Seton Hall got blown out by 20 to Wichita St first round.

[IrishofNDMan]

Honest opinion needed, I will admit that I have been very very dissapointed in ND this basketball season and they def. do not deserve a chance to dance nor are they even being considered. But, what would it take for them to get into consideration...

If they somehow ended up playing some good bball and making the Big East Championship game would that be enough to send them dancing or do they have to win it all?

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by IrishofNDMan

Honest opinion needed, I will admit that I have been very very dissapointed in ND this basketball season and they def. do not deserve a chance to dance nor are they even being considered. But, what would it take for them to get into consideration...

If they somehow ended up playing some good bball and making the Big East Championship game would that be enough to send them dancing or do they have to win it all?

If they beat Rutgers, West Virginia, Pitt, and then UConn before losing in the finals I think they'd be set. That's asking a lot though and I don't know if just three wins would get it done.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Never in a million years though did Seton Hall deserve that last spot over Missouri St and Hofstra. And then the CAA and MVC went on to prove how good they were in the NCAA Tourney while Seton Hall got blown out by 20 to Wichita St first round.

WSU in that game was the biggest bet I've ever made.

And on top of that, I got some guy to lay me 10-1 that at least 2 teams from the CAA or MVC would make the sweet 16...

[2 Dollar Bill]

Coach Williams better start teaching the Tar Heels some D-fence...or it might be a early exit, since im sure most have the heels going all the way.

Originally Posted by 2 Dollar Bill

Coach Williams better start teaching the Tar Heels some D-fence...or it might be a early exit, since im sure most have the heels going all the way.

tru dat...

They want a shoot fest with all those athletes.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by 2 Dollar Bill

Coach Williams better start teaching the Tar Heels some D-fence...or it might be a early exit, since im sure most have the heels going all the way.

Same thing people said the year they beat Illinois. When you have much better players across the board than your opponents, chances are that you'll win more than you'll lose. That's the case with UNC. They have better players than any team in the country top to bottom. It's that simple. They play enough defense. People are acting like they need to slow the game down and beat teams 50-48 if they want to win. That's just not true. Look at the team they won the title with a couple of years ago. Look at the Memphis and Kansas teams that played in the final last year. You have to be able to score the ball to win and they have the best offense in the country and play enough defense to get the job done. For me, the key is not how they play defense throughout the game but how they play it in stretches when it counts the most. There's no way this team is an early exit team.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Same thing people said the year they beat Illinois. When you have much better players across the board than your opponents, chances are that you'll win more than you'll lose. That's the case with UNC. They have better players than any team in the country top to bottom. It's that simple. They play enough defense. People are acting like they need to slow the game down and beat teams 50-48 if they want to win. That's just not true. Look at the team they won the title with a couple of years ago. Look at the Memphis and Kansas teams that played in the final last year. You have to be able to score the ball to win and they have the best offense in the country and play enough defense to get the job done. For me, the key is not how they play defense throughout the game but how they play it in stretches when it counts the most. There's no way this team is an early exit team.

Memphis and Kansas last year is not the example you want to use. Those two teams had historically outstanding defenses, and they scored enough in March to win. It wasn't the other way around.

It was the inability to play 40 minutes of defense that killed North Carolina the past two seasons. I don't see any improvement defensively this year. If anything they're worse on D. Fortunately for them, there are no great teams this season, so it may not matter, but to brush off their inconsistent D when it cost them championships the last two seasons is ridiculous.

[AeWingnut]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Same thing people said the year they beat Illinois. When you have much better players across the board than your opponents, chances are that you'll win more than you'll lose. That's the case with UNC. They have better players than any team in the country top to bottom. It's that simple. They play enough defense. People are acting like they need to slow the game down and beat teams 50-48 if they want to win. That's just not true. Look at the team they won the title with a couple of years ago. Look at the Memphis and Kansas teams that played in the final last year. You have to be able to score the ball to win and they have the best offense in the country and play enough defense to get the job done. For me, the key is not how they play defense throughout the game but how they play it in stretches when it counts the most. There's no way this team is an early exit team.

it also helps to have officiating in your favor. Augustine looked at a UNC player funny and it's a foul (and fouls out within the first few minutes) Roger Powell gets the crap beat out of him and no whistle.

but I'll agree. it doesn't matter if you contest every shot if over half of them still go in. Illinois has very little offense.

If I knew in advance which games Ed Hightower was officiating I could pick the winner by who is better at the free throw line and who has better bench depth. Hightower loves attention and will blow the whistle early and often.

[gales0678]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Same thing people said the year they beat Illinois. When you have much better players across the board than your opponents, chances are that you'll win more than you'll lose. That's the case with UNC. They have better players than any team in the country top to bottom. It's that simple. They play enough defense. People are acting like they need to slow the game down and beat teams 50-48 if they want to win. That's just not true. Look at the team they won the title with a couple of years ago. Look at the Memphis and Kansas teams that played in the final last year. You have to be able to score the ball to win and they have the best offense in the country and play enough defense to get the job done. For me, the key is not how they play defense throughout the game but how they play it in stretches when it counts the most. There's no way this team is an early exit team.

i agree no early exit , but , not lock in the final 4 either