First 2009 March Madness thread

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Cincinnati was already finished after losing to South Florida and Seton Hall to finish the season. Good for DePaul.

Bad for Providence. They had a slim chance of getting in if they beat Cincy but beating Depaul will do nothing for them. Now they have to beat Louisville to even have a chance. Big Ten could get 8 of 11 in while the Big East only gets 7 out of 16, so bizarre.

[jwkniska]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Bad for Providence. They had a slim chance of getting in if they beat Cincy but beating Depaul will do nothing for them. Now they have to beat Louisville to even have a chance. Big Ten could get 8 of 11 in while the Big East only gets 7 out of 16, so bizarre.

any beat by a bubble team early in a conference tourney should get them in. big east deserves 8.

[herkhorse]

Cleveland State

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by herkhorse

Cleveland State

They earned the hell out of that game. The only reason it was close was because Butler got every borderline call from the chickenshit refs.

Originally Posted by jwkniska

any beat by a bubble team early in a conference tourney should get them in. big east deserves 8.

The conference can't "deserve" anything. If Providence hasn't done enough to get in, they shouldn't get in. It doesn't matter what conference they play in. You don't select a team just because they're from a supposedly great conference and you think that that conference "deserves" a certain amount of bids. The Big East has three great teams, four very good ones and a bunch of mediocre-to-terrible ones. A mediocre team from the Big East doesn't deserve a bid any more than a mediocre team from any other conference.

[IrishofNDMan]

Looking at it now, if ND manages to beat West Virginia, it looks like they will probably play Lousville or Pitt, and a win against either of them and I think the commitee will give them a strong look, lots of work for the Irish, but if their shooters get hot they always have a chance.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by IrishofNDMan

Looking at it now, if ND manages to beat West Virginia, it looks like they will probably play Lousville or Pitt, and a win against either of them and I think the commitee will give them a strong look, lots of work for the Irish, but if their shooters get hot they always have a chance.

That's some hard hitting analysis.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by herkhorse

Cleveland State

No surprise there. One team had everything to play for, the other team had nothing to play for. Butler probably moves down from an 8 to a 10 which is actually an easier spot to get to the sweet 16 from. And if they moved from a 7 to a 10 nothing changed but what color jerseys they will wear.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

No surprise there. One team had everything to play for, the other team had nothing to play for. Butler probably moves down from an 8 to a 10 which is actually an easier spot to get to the sweet 16 from. And if they moved from a 7 to a 10 nothing changed but what color jerseys they will wear.

It really isn't.

In fact I'm surprised the WCC didn't have Gonzaga ole' their game against St. Mary's, it's worth a million bucks to the conference (at minimum). The A-10 does it every year.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

It really isn't.

In fact I'm surprised the WCC didn't have Gonzaga ole' their game against St. Mary's, it's worth a million bucks to the conference (at minimum). The A-10 does it every year.

Yeah, although in Gonzaga's case it could have been the difference between a 5 and a 7 which is very significant.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Yeah, although in Gonzaga's case it could have been the difference between a 5 and a 7 which is very significant.

I think Gonzaga will be higher than a 5.

Originally Posted by philcski

I watched the NDSU game last night. They are pretty darned good and a dangerous 14-15 seed.

They are, but Ben Woodside can't play like a bitch like he did for the first 35 minutes of last night's game. The guy averages 23 per, and he was playing like he's Avery Johnson or Earl Watson. Only in the last five minutes did he actually look to score.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Bad for Providence. They had a slim chance of getting in if they beat Cincy but beating Depaul will do nothing for them. Now they have to beat Louisville to even have a chance. Big Ten could get 8 of 11 in while the Big East only gets 7 out of 16, so bizarre.

...and I can see the Big Ten only advancing 1 team to the sweet 16, maybe even 0. Even Michigan State has flaws that a 7-10 seed could exploit.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

...and I can see the Big Ten only advancing 1 team to the sweet 16, maybe even 0. Even Michigan State has flaws that a 7-10 seed could exploit.

Committee sometimes does weird things with the lower seeds so if any of the should be 14 seeds (North Dakota St, Stephen F Austin, Binghamton, Portland St) wound up a 15 seed then I'd say Michigan State has flaws that a 15 seed could exploit.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Committee sometimes does weird things with the lower seeds so if any of the should be 14 seeds (North Dakota St, Stephen F Austin, Binghamton, Portland St) wound up a 15 seed then I'd say Michigan State has flaws that a 15 seed could exploit.

I watched the NDSU game last night. They are pretty darned good and a dangerous 14-15 seed. Any fast team would probably give them a tough time but I think they matchup well with a halfcourt set type team, they can shoot the lights out and play tough defense, they just don't have the athletes of the elite levels.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by philcski

I watched the NDSU game last night. They are pretty darned good and a dangerous 14-15 seed. Any fast team would probably give them a tough time but I think they matchup well with a halfcourt set type team, they can shoot the lights out and play tough defense, they just don't have the athletes of the elite levels.

Yeah, they are my guaranteed upset in the first round. Which means they'll get matched up with a team I really like and I'll talk myself out of it and pick against them just to have them pull the upset.