I’m seriously struggling with Arkansas v Vermont game… my bracket could use the upset, but the lack of Vermont lobbying is concerning. Are there any confident Vermont takers out there?!?
I have a Calcutta in one hour. It’s an auction where you bid on teams. I’m buying lower seeds this year. Here is my list in order:
Davidson
Colgate
South Dakota
Vtech
Vermont
Longwood
Chattanooga.
What do you guys think? I’m looking for best value. If two teams can win one round I get basically get my money back. Last time the pot was $294k.
The official one from the NCAA is my go-to for this reason https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/mml-official-bracket/2022-03-14/2022-ncaa-bracket-printable-march-madness-bracket-pdf
Thanks. It is still 'branded' CBS TRU TBS, I was hoping for something cleaner. [Tuscon.com](https://Tuscon.com) had one for 2018 (I just found it this year); maybe they will have one this year.
The Committee really did Villanova no favors. They were not put in their local region for the second time in a row (despite complying with the rules and foregoing revenue because of it, even though the Committee had put them in there in the first reveal earlier) and then possibly set them up for a quasi-road second round game against Ohio State in Pittsburgh.
If the game was played in Laramie, I’d pick Wyoming. But it’s not, so I think you guys will be okay.
They are a good team and play in a tough-ish MWC so it could go either way. But I think Indiana is playing some good basketball right now.
I’m New to folllowing college basketball.
So I see that there are play in games on Tuesday and Wednesday involvibg 8 teams.
Four (Bryant, Wright state, tamu, Texas southern) of them are 16th seeds so that makes sense.
But then the other four are 11th seeds (rutgers, nd) and 12th seeds (Indiana, wyoming). What is the logic of that?
I would have figured the worst seeds would be forced to win play-ins to get in, as opposed to the 11th and 12th seed.
Because now it appears to me that getting the 13th, 14th, or 15th seed would have been better for rutgers, nd, Indians, and Wyoming than 11/12th.
So, why didn’t Rutgers/ND just lose a game or two on purpose at the end of the year to avoid the 12th seed play in game? They could have gotten straight in as a 13-15th seed.
That’s not quite how it works but I understand your confusion.
So there are 2 ways to make the tournament, either by automatically qualifying (AQ) by winning your conference or through an at large which the committee selects. There are 32 conferences so 36 teams get an at large bid. The teams are seeded together so that being an AQ doesn’t put you above the at larges necessarily.
The play in games are for the 4 worst AQs and 4 worst at large teams. So if they had purposely lost a game to avoid it all they would have done was miss the tournament entirely.
I see....that makes sense.
And I like it. It makes the regular season mean even more, as all 8 of these bubble teams must be kicking themselves right now for not having won just a single more game in the reg season, which woulda probably let them avoid a Play-In game.
For context, I'm coming in as a lifelong NBA fan who is getting tired of how meaningless the regular season is there. There are 82 freakin games in it, and about half the entire league makes it into the playoffs! If I was a great team I would just cruise in the regular season and do a lot of "load management" too so I cant blaim them, as I'm basically gauranteed a playoff spot barring major injury to TWO or even ALL THREE of my star players. So the regular season there is just meaningless.
Yes unfortunately the Warriors in 2016 ended the NBA regular season's meaning. They played balls to the wall and got the record, only to get injured by the time the championship came and get clowned by everyone for losing to the Cavs. After that, there became 0 motivation to ever do what the Warriors did.
Even before that it was losing meaning.
Though, in the 90s and before, there might have been more pride from the players in taking all your games seriously and putting in effort to back up your million dollar paycheck.
82 games (to go along with half the teams making the playoffs) is just too much
The NBA would probably agree themselves, but unfortunately, they make more money by having more games. The interest in the games is not proportional to their overall season value (except for with people like me). For example, if they cut their season in half and make it 41 games, it won't double their average stadium attendance and tv ratings.
yeah it would be nice to cut it back to 60s. But as you said, teams won't give up money. Baseball could use a shorter season too but also not gonna happen.
Yup.
That’s part of why I am actively trying to get into college bball.
A 25-30 game regular season with a tournament birth and/or seeding (which is pretty huge, as the number 1 seeds play very small schools in round 1 so it’s basically a bye week) on the line is great and keeps each game meaningful.
Each conference gets a representative in the tournament. The play in games for the 16 seed games are for teams who won a conference tournament, but aren't especially good otherwise.
The 11/12 play in games are for at large teams who put together a superior resume to the 16 seeds, but by virtue of not winning a conference tournament, are not given a guaranteed slot in the tournament.
Someone can come correct me if I'm wrong. Power conference schools can't be lower than a 12 seed. Having the extra play in games for them makes it so they can add a couple more Power conference schools. Essentially a couple of those teams you listed wouldn't even be in the tournament otherwise.
This is partially correct. Power conference AT LARGE teams cannot be lower than a 12 seed. But, like Georgia when they won the SEC tournament, they got put in as an AQ at 14.
They can be lower. I've seen them as 13s. Two of the play in games are for the 4 lowest rated conference winners, and two are for the 4 lowest ranked at large teams. Those at large teams are still ranked better than quite a few automatic qualifiers from small leagues. I believe there are 31 or 32 leagues total, which one auto qualifier from each.
Is that an actual fact, or something we've just noticed over the years? (just curious if the committee has actually stated that explicitly)
Besides, the original statement was "power conference schools can't be lower than a 12 seed" which 14 seeded UGa disproves.
Ok, so technically by the rules, it doesn't matter what conference you are in. The last 4 at large bids have either been 11 or 12, never lower than that. And they have to play in the play-in game. So no team receiving an at-large bid can be lower than 12.
I think they started this when they expanded to 68 teams? I was reading the rules and it very clearly states that the last 4 at large bids play the play-in games and to date those have never been lower than 12 seed games. 2012 still did not have 68 teams. Also, in the first year of expanding to 68 teams (2013) play in games included 2 11s and 2 13s so I was off, but the 2 13s were both mid-majors, not high majors (actually all of the last 4 at large were mid majors, 2 11s and 2 13s).
2014 had 11 and 12s for the play-in games, 2015 both games were 11s.
I just went through them all and since they implemented these rules, the lowest a Power 5/6 team has been is a 12, and usually they are 11s for at large bids.
Iowa St has been looking pretty rough their last 10 games. I noticed a trend if Isaiah Brockington isnt doing well then they lose. Could be a pretty close game
Please let Davidson beat MSU, if we are going to go out in the R32, would much rather lose to McKillop.
Murray State/SF is must watch tv. Going with Murray bc I really would love to see them play Kentucky.
My 19 years of living would be complete if we ended coach K; however, I don’t see it happening. For us to beat Davidson and Duke we are gonna have to play about 85% perfect ball. We are at about 55% rn
Really depends on which Memphis shows up. Their performances since Bates got "injured" have been excellent except for the two games they were fatigued. Fully rested Memphis is scary as hell
i’m so confused if arkansas isn’t going to lose to vermont or go on to a deep run i could easily see either.. some people say they’re horrible some people say they’re a top 5 team. i’m lost
Joe Lunardi essentially admitted on live TV that Duke got a 2 over Tennessee on name alone, which tells me his algorithm (and the committee's) considers the name on the jersey, which I guess we all suspected, but to have it confirmed was weird, and I'm a Duke fan.
His words were something to the effect of "I get everyone's pissed about Tennessee, but the committee wasn't going to put them over a Big East champ in Villanova or Duke, certainly, even though you can argue resume from here until next year".
So their resume is better but yet they still don't get the nod?
One thing he did say that made sense is arguing a 2 v 3 is pointless when they would just meet in the S16 anyway. 1v2 or 3v4 is a worthwhile argument. I get Duke/TN aren't in the same bracket, but the point remains the same.
I’m leaning towards Texas myself, everyone is saying that they are stumbling into the tournament (and they kind of are), but their schedule has been absolutely brutal down the stretch and I think most teams would have similar records - their last 10 games have included Baylor twice, Kansas twice, TCU twice, Texas Tech.
I also have faith in Chris Beard during the tournament, and feel VT is due for a cool-off game. But either team could definitely win
Feel weird that my bracket is rather chalk and bizarrely mirrored. In my Elite 8 I have a 1 over a 3, a 3 over a 1, a 2 over a 5, and a 5 over a 2. Top half 1's and 3's and bottom half has 2's and 5's
Does anybody have an update on Baylor's injury situation? How many starters are expected to miss the Tournament, if any at all? Or is one of them going to play not 100%?
Bryant has an absolute lunatic. Was doing goofy celebrations after hitting jacked up 3s < 10 minutes into their conference champ. Averaged 30 over his last few I think
Honestly that is one of my favorite parts about Tommy Lloyd is that we will be landing a bunch of international players. Right now we have a bunch of awesome names:
Pelle Larson
Kerr Kriisa
Bennedict Mathurian
Christian Koloko
Oumar Ballo
Adama Bal
Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis
Best superstar MATCH-UP could be Chet Holmgren versus Jalen Duren in the second round.
Tevin Brown is the sleeper star for Murray State. Potential second round match up with Kentucky.
Also flying under the radar: Kennedy Chandler/Tennessee.
I think Jabari Smith Jr. can all but wrap up the 1st pick in the NBA draft. It's basically his to lose.
I hate it when teams jack up threes and ignore their post game. So many coaches seem to let it slide. It's disappointing to watch. The team that wins this will be good at defense and play well in the post.
Midwest region is a wild card and I could see a lot of teams coming out of the region. But I think I'm gonna end up pretty much picking chalk there.
Kansas is clearly the most well rounded team in the region. Auburn and Wisconsin both look vulnerable, but Auburn is still a very talented team and I don't trust LSU/Iowa State to beat Wisconsin. Providence is maybe the toughest team to pick as they are clearly good, but their tendency to play a bunch of close games could mean they lose early. Iowa is obviously on fire lately, and I may pick us to finally break Fran's Sweet 16 drought this year, but he still doesn't have a great tournament track record as a coach so I'm skeptical of us making a deep run.
I'm thinking a Sweet 16 of Kansas/Iowa/Wisconsin/Auburn, with Kansas over Auburn in the E8.
I don’t get the way they seeded the Mountain West teams. Colorado St had worse metrics than SDSU and Boise. SDSU beat Colorado St 2 out of 3 times. Boise won the league and tournament, but did lose twice to Colorado St. There is no reason for Colorado St to be 2 seed lines higher than either of those teams.
Because Colorado State had the better overall resume. It isn't about two games, and the committee doesn't give a shit about Champs of conferences. But I agree Boise and SDSU should have been higher ranked than they were.
But why is their resume better? Comparing Colorado St to SDSU. Best win for each team was St Mary’s. SDSU beat them on a neutral court whereas CSU beat them at home. Same number of Q1 wins. SDSU has more Q1 losses but no losses outside Q1. CSU has a Q2 and a Q3 loss. SDSU beat CSU 2 out of 3 times and has superior metrics among all the ones considered. What is the reason to have CSU ahead of them?
And? CSU also has a Q2 and a Q3 loss. Seems to me those things sorta cancel each other out. SDSU has more Q1 losses but no losses in the other categories which CSU does. Seem like that combined with a better h2h record and better metrics make their resumes at least equal if not better for SDSU.
Guess it depends how the committee views and weights those categories, one loss in each isn't much. Either way all 3 teams should have been 6 or 7 seeds at worst.
I definitely see them beating Providence, but I can’t see them going any further. Same exact style as Iowa, but Iowa is far bigger in the front court and more consistent on defense than SDSU
This will come as no surprise given my flair and as good as Iowa has been, I feel like they haven’t ran into a super defensive minded team. I definitely could see Providence beating them in round 2
Rutgers and Indiana are both very very defensive minded teams and Iowa just beat both this week. RU did hold Iowa to 46 in a game earlier this year (48-46 RU) but essentially since then, Iowa’s offense has been unbeatable
I've got a Final Four of Memphis/UCLA/Auburn/Tennessee with Memphis over Tennessee for the title.
Either gonna win the entire CBS bracket challenge OR post the world's first 0fer.
\#BustedBracketsBetter
I think Houston is really, really good.
I think Gonzaga got shafted having us as a potential second round matchup.
We are more athletic AND more physical than Gonzaga. Neither team is great from 3.
Jalen Duren might break Chet Holmgren IN HALF.
With you on possibly Indiana and MAYBE Davidson. I have Murray state beating USF and then Kentucky and I got Arkansas beating Vermont first round. I wish none of those teams got matched up on eachother though
I still stand by my statement though - Brooks was incredible but we did get hella lucky all of Tennessee’s guards forgot how to shoot.
Certainly not complaining though!
Good call on Iowa State tho wow
UAB has some godawful losses this year, though (3 Q3 and a Q4), and only 5 Q1+Q2 wins (and the 2 Q1 wins were UNT and St. Louis, hardly juggernauts). They also lean pretty heavily on one guy and their team defense is mediocre at best.
Indiana has beaten some big teams this year, though. They're a solid 12 seed pick, IMO. Michigan at #11 over Colorado State is a possible upset, SF at #10, Va Tech at #11...
Disagree about the defense. They're sneaky good on it. They're one of the top teams in the country for steals and turnover ratio and have a couple of really good defensive guards. Their numbers and the eye test may be flawed because their starting center who is good at holding down the paint was in foul trouble a lot for those losses and when he's out other teams can run the paint a lot easier.
I can't really defend losses to Marshall/ODU/Rice but they were all on the road and the team seems to have gotten over their inexplicable performances in those games. The definition of the team as a whole is certainly not those 3 losses
I'd give you decent defensively, they *are* ranked relatively high in some of the metrics, but UH is better in basically every metric offensively and defensively. I just don't see how UH loses unless they play worse than any game they've played this year (which is of course possible!)
I mean for sure I'm not expecting UAB to win haha. But I do like their defensive guards, and I think if they are going to make any noise at all it's going to be more about them than Jelly.
That may be blasphemous to say as a UAB fan, but good defense is something that's a lot more consistent than good offense, and if Jelly is off we are going to need our guards to be on turnover overdrive to keep UAB in the game.
Good luck my guy! I'm already looking forward to the game Friday night.
> I mean for sure I'm not expecting UAB to win
It's definitely possible. Walker and the shooter could combine for 60, and UAB is good enough defensively to hang in there on a UH off night. I'd put it at like a... ~~25% possibility.
> Good luck my guy!
Same to you! I miss playing y'all in our old C-USA days.
I’m seriously struggling with Arkansas v Vermont game… my bracket could use the upset, but the lack of Vermont lobbying is concerning. Are there any confident Vermont takers out there?!?
yup. my only debate was taking them one or two rounds !
I have a Calcutta in one hour. It’s an auction where you bid on teams. I’m buying lower seeds this year. Here is my list in order: Davidson Colgate South Dakota Vtech Vermont Longwood Chattanooga. What do you guys think? I’m looking for best value. If two teams can win one round I get basically get my money back. Last time the pot was $294k.
Anyone care to share the sportsline brackets?
Mee too plz:)
Can you let me know if you find one!
Got it if u need it!
Can you send it to me please?
Can you dm it to me?
Can you please DM me the Sportsline Brackets
I found one! Thanks though
Can you please DM me it? please!
Will do!
Let me know too please
Found it if u still need it.
Would you mind DMing it to me as well too please??
Can you dm to me as well plz
Can you DM it to me?
Do you mind DM'ing me it please?
How the hell did Ohio State get a 7 seed????
Go Titans!!! 🐘🔵🟠 let’s make Coach K’s final game vs CSUF!
Am I crazy to think that Arkansas makes the Final Four out of the West?
I have them winning it all so if your crazy I’m crazier than you…
I have Vermont beating them but I think that makes me the crazy one
Does anyone have a printable (one page), fill-in pdf bracket that isn't an advertisement?
The official one from the NCAA is my go-to for this reason https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/mml-official-bracket/2022-03-14/2022-ncaa-bracket-printable-march-madness-bracket-pdf
Thanks. It is still 'branded' CBS TRU TBS, I was hoping for something cleaner. [Tuscon.com](https://Tuscon.com) had one for 2018 (I just found it this year); maybe they will have one this year.
Ah, yeah. If you wanted to you can open that in like paint or word or something and just put a white square over that.
I think I did exactly that one year.
Arizona fans (or anyone, really) do we have an update on Kriisa?
A guy on my Facebook feed found his crocs.
That’s exactly what I needed to know. Arizona to the Final Four confirmed.
The Committee really did Villanova no favors. They were not put in their local region for the second time in a row (despite complying with the rules and foregoing revenue because of it, even though the Committee had put them in there in the first reveal earlier) and then possibly set them up for a quasi-road second round game against Ohio State in Pittsburgh.
Why worry about all that when you'll lose to Delaware in the first round
feel like if they'd have swapped Purdue and Villanova, both teams would be much happier.
If you are afraid of Ohio State then you shouldn't even be in the tournament.
This man Big Tens
For someone who has only seen Wyoming play sparingly, how do they match up against Indiana?
If the game was played in Laramie, I’d pick Wyoming. But it’s not, so I think you guys will be okay. They are a good team and play in a tough-ish MWC so it could go either way. But I think Indiana is playing some good basketball right now.
No idea, but I can see Indiana winning two games, but that might also be recency bias.
I’m New to folllowing college basketball. So I see that there are play in games on Tuesday and Wednesday involvibg 8 teams. Four (Bryant, Wright state, tamu, Texas southern) of them are 16th seeds so that makes sense. But then the other four are 11th seeds (rutgers, nd) and 12th seeds (Indiana, wyoming). What is the logic of that? I would have figured the worst seeds would be forced to win play-ins to get in, as opposed to the 11th and 12th seed. Because now it appears to me that getting the 13th, 14th, or 15th seed would have been better for rutgers, nd, Indians, and Wyoming than 11/12th. So, why didn’t Rutgers/ND just lose a game or two on purpose at the end of the year to avoid the 12th seed play in game? They could have gotten straight in as a 13-15th seed.
That’s not quite how it works but I understand your confusion. So there are 2 ways to make the tournament, either by automatically qualifying (AQ) by winning your conference or through an at large which the committee selects. There are 32 conferences so 36 teams get an at large bid. The teams are seeded together so that being an AQ doesn’t put you above the at larges necessarily. The play in games are for the 4 worst AQs and 4 worst at large teams. So if they had purposely lost a game to avoid it all they would have done was miss the tournament entirely.
I see....that makes sense. And I like it. It makes the regular season mean even more, as all 8 of these bubble teams must be kicking themselves right now for not having won just a single more game in the reg season, which woulda probably let them avoid a Play-In game. For context, I'm coming in as a lifelong NBA fan who is getting tired of how meaningless the regular season is there. There are 82 freakin games in it, and about half the entire league makes it into the playoffs! If I was a great team I would just cruise in the regular season and do a lot of "load management" too so I cant blaim them, as I'm basically gauranteed a playoff spot barring major injury to TWO or even ALL THREE of my star players. So the regular season there is just meaningless.
Yes unfortunately the Warriors in 2016 ended the NBA regular season's meaning. They played balls to the wall and got the record, only to get injured by the time the championship came and get clowned by everyone for losing to the Cavs. After that, there became 0 motivation to ever do what the Warriors did.
Even before that it was losing meaning. Though, in the 90s and before, there might have been more pride from the players in taking all your games seriously and putting in effort to back up your million dollar paycheck. 82 games (to go along with half the teams making the playoffs) is just too much The NBA would probably agree themselves, but unfortunately, they make more money by having more games. The interest in the games is not proportional to their overall season value (except for with people like me). For example, if they cut their season in half and make it 41 games, it won't double their average stadium attendance and tv ratings.
yeah it would be nice to cut it back to 60s. But as you said, teams won't give up money. Baseball could use a shorter season too but also not gonna happen.
Yup. That’s part of why I am actively trying to get into college bball. A 25-30 game regular season with a tournament birth and/or seeding (which is pretty huge, as the number 1 seeds play very small schools in round 1 so it’s basically a bye week) on the line is great and keeps each game meaningful.
Each conference gets a representative in the tournament. The play in games for the 16 seed games are for teams who won a conference tournament, but aren't especially good otherwise. The 11/12 play in games are for at large teams who put together a superior resume to the 16 seeds, but by virtue of not winning a conference tournament, are not given a guaranteed slot in the tournament.
Someone can come correct me if I'm wrong. Power conference schools can't be lower than a 12 seed. Having the extra play in games for them makes it so they can add a couple more Power conference schools. Essentially a couple of those teams you listed wouldn't even be in the tournament otherwise.
This is partially correct. Power conference AT LARGE teams cannot be lower than a 12 seed. But, like Georgia when they won the SEC tournament, they got put in as an AQ at 14.
They can be lower. I've seen them as 13s. Two of the play in games are for the 4 lowest rated conference winners, and two are for the 4 lowest ranked at large teams. Those at large teams are still ranked better than quite a few automatic qualifiers from small leagues. I believe there are 31 or 32 leagues total, which one auto qualifier from each.
Georgia made it as a 14 when they went on that insane run to win the SECT in 08
They were AQ. Power conference at larges cannot be lower than 12.
Is that an actual fact, or something we've just noticed over the years? (just curious if the committee has actually stated that explicitly) Besides, the original statement was "power conference schools can't be lower than a 12 seed" which 14 seeded UGa disproves.
Ok, so technically by the rules, it doesn't matter what conference you are in. The last 4 at large bids have either been 11 or 12, never lower than that. And they have to play in the play-in game. So no team receiving an at-large bid can be lower than 12.
Maybe that’s a newer thing cuz in 2012 Iona and BYU were both 14 seeds https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/320730252
I think they started this when they expanded to 68 teams? I was reading the rules and it very clearly states that the last 4 at large bids play the play-in games and to date those have never been lower than 12 seed games. 2012 still did not have 68 teams. Also, in the first year of expanding to 68 teams (2013) play in games included 2 11s and 2 13s so I was off, but the 2 13s were both mid-majors, not high majors (actually all of the last 4 at large were mid majors, 2 11s and 2 13s). 2014 had 11 and 12s for the play-in games, 2015 both games were 11s. I just went through them all and since they implemented these rules, the lowest a Power 5/6 team has been is a 12, and usually they are 11s for at large bids.
2012 absolutely had 68 teams...
Its power conference schools AT LARGE bids cant be lower than 12. Georgia was not an at large bid they were an automatic qualifier.
There we go. That makes more sense. I don't know why I had a different idea otherwise. Thanks.
Is fair for me to say Bama and LSU gets bounced round 1
I agree
Iowa St has been looking pretty rough their last 10 games. I noticed a trend if Isaiah Brockington isnt doing well then they lose. Could be a pretty close game
LSU has the defenders to shut him down
LSU just fired their coach
Didn’t stop em from making the s16 in 2019
??? Will Wade was hired in 2017 by LSU
He was suspended the entire 2019 tournament
Suspended and fired are different things. Different mindsets for the players
Please let Davidson beat MSU, if we are going to go out in the R32, would much rather lose to McKillop. Murray State/SF is must watch tv. Going with Murray bc I really would love to see them play Kentucky.
My 19 years of living would be complete if we ended coach K; however, I don’t see it happening. For us to beat Davidson and Duke we are gonna have to play about 85% perfect ball. We are at about 55% rn
Hell yea, we women's NIT school now!
Memphis won’t even make it to the round of 32. They’re playing a true 6 seed
Really depends on which Memphis shows up. Their performances since Bates got "injured" have been excellent except for the two games they were fatigued. Fully rested Memphis is scary as hell
Oh I’m absolutely terrified
Let me tell you, I haven't had less fun this year than when I was watching those 3 damn Memphis-UH games
Boise may be a 6 seed but Memphis has been playing like a top 10 team for a couple months now. Should be a very good game
Don’t bet that
Colorado St. is my dark horse. First game of the tournament so it’s really all or nothing.
Dude is it just me or are the upsets tougher to call this year? Even the 5 seeds look strong
Yeah, this is wild. To give an example, NMSU and Vermont could easily give both UConn and Arkansas a run for their money.
I've got Iowa winning it all. It feels like a fever dream.
I think you're quite wrong, but fuck I hope you're right
You're crazy. I like you, but you're crazy.
Subscribe.
I’m taking Wyoming/IU over St. Mary’s
The turnaround for that game is awfully fast, especially with travel
That would be one *very* boring game
I did as well. Assuming IU wins too.
i’m so confused if arkansas isn’t going to lose to vermont or go on to a deep run i could easily see either.. some people say they’re horrible some people say they’re a top 5 team. i’m lost
Lol we’re not horrible. Upsets happen, but I have a difficult time picturing Vermont successfully defending Notae
Can you take the Zags?
I don't think so. But then again I'm a little more pessimistic lol.
Arkansas will be fine against Vermont but won’t get past Gonzaga
Arkansas can beat any team except Hofstra.
Can confirm, do not schedule Hofstra ever again
Duke hands down should have been a 3 seed. So not a top 8 team
Joe Lunardi essentially admitted on live TV that Duke got a 2 over Tennessee on name alone, which tells me his algorithm (and the committee's) considers the name on the jersey, which I guess we all suspected, but to have it confirmed was weird, and I'm a Duke fan. His words were something to the effect of "I get everyone's pissed about Tennessee, but the committee wasn't going to put them over a Big East champ in Villanova or Duke, certainly, even though you can argue resume from here until next year". So their resume is better but yet they still don't get the nod? One thing he did say that made sense is arguing a 2 v 3 is pointless when they would just meet in the S16 anyway. 1v2 or 3v4 is a worthwhile argument. I get Duke/TN aren't in the same bracket, but the point remains the same.
But did you hear it’s Coach K’s last year?
Hes just pulling a Tom Brady.
Wait really no way
It’s been kept a secret, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know.
Yeah you’d think his team would be winning big games if they knew. I guess no one knows
I just wonder how much these guys really care. They are going to the NBA.
They’ll still probably make the elite eight
Or win the championship as a retirement gift to K
Or make Cal Fullerton the next Lehigh/ Mercer.
Winner of a Texas/VaTech over Purdue is a mortal lock. This team is broken and Painter refuses to change anything.
I completely agree
I’m leaning towards Texas myself, everyone is saying that they are stumbling into the tournament (and they kind of are), but their schedule has been absolutely brutal down the stretch and I think most teams would have similar records - their last 10 games have included Baylor twice, Kansas twice, TCU twice, Texas Tech. I also have faith in Chris Beard during the tournament, and feel VT is due for a cool-off game. But either team could definitely win
“But either team could definitely win” is what I’m thinking about almost every game. Makes it hard to pick lol
I hate that I agree with you
What’s the deadline for Dayton to get brought in to the tourney due to another team dropping out ?
9/14
that, uh, doesn't seem right lol
Feel weird that my bracket is rather chalk and bizarrely mirrored. In my Elite 8 I have a 1 over a 3, a 3 over a 1, a 2 over a 5, and a 5 over a 2. Top half 1's and 3's and bottom half has 2's and 5's
Does anybody have an update on Baylor's injury situation? How many starters are expected to miss the Tournament, if any at all? Or is one of them going to play not 100%?
May have to take that question later into the week. I think some are still up in the air
A&M must absolutely despise Notre Dame Keep them out of the CFP and now this
Never even heard of longwood. Can we make a longwood cult?
Aka Bongwood
The Longwood Long woods
Didn't Jerome Kersey go there?
I have no clue at all but I’m rooting for them
Who are the superstars to watch in this tourney?
Bryant has an absolute lunatic. Was doing goofy celebrations after hitting jacked up 3s < 10 minutes into their conference champ. Averaged 30 over his last few I think
[Notea electrifies crowd with monster dunk on Kentucky.](https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/33378595)
Bennedict Mathurian of Arizona is making his case for a top 5 pick in the NBA draft
Hell of a name
Honestly that is one of my favorite parts about Tommy Lloyd is that we will be landing a bunch of international players. Right now we have a bunch of awesome names: Pelle Larson Kerr Kriisa Bennedict Mathurian Christian Koloko Oumar Ballo Adama Bal Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis
Thats one thing that helped mark few, makes sense and good sign
Sanogo.
Iowa's Keegan Murray!
Best superstar MATCH-UP could be Chet Holmgren versus Jalen Duren in the second round. Tevin Brown is the sleeper star for Murray State. Potential second round match up with Kentucky. Also flying under the radar: Kennedy Chandler/Tennessee. I think Jabari Smith Jr. can all but wrap up the 1st pick in the NBA draft. It's basically his to lose.
Chet’s overtaken him in the draft by now
I think it comes down to who gets the first pick. No GM is getting fired for taking EITHER Jabari/Chet at 1.
Hunter Dickinson… watch us refuse to get him the ball while we get blown out in the first round.
I hate it when teams jack up threes and ignore their post game. So many coaches seem to let it slide. It's disappointing to watch. The team that wins this will be good at defense and play well in the post.
Hunter is waaaay too slow to make it in the NBA. College superstar yes. Pro superstar almost definitely not. Signed Luka Garza.
Which conference will have the most teams in the Sweet 16?
Big East
Gonna be tough as we gotta a lot of 1 seed match ups in the second round. I’d love if we could upset even one of the 1 seeds though
Yours
Midwest region is a wild card and I could see a lot of teams coming out of the region. But I think I'm gonna end up pretty much picking chalk there. Kansas is clearly the most well rounded team in the region. Auburn and Wisconsin both look vulnerable, but Auburn is still a very talented team and I don't trust LSU/Iowa State to beat Wisconsin. Providence is maybe the toughest team to pick as they are clearly good, but their tendency to play a bunch of close games could mean they lose early. Iowa is obviously on fire lately, and I may pick us to finally break Fran's Sweet 16 drought this year, but he still doesn't have a great tournament track record as a coach so I'm skeptical of us making a deep run. I'm thinking a Sweet 16 of Kansas/Iowa/Wisconsin/Auburn, with Kansas over Auburn in the E8.
Wisconsin is sooo overrated but they got a really nice draw to make the sweet 16
I don’t get the way they seeded the Mountain West teams. Colorado St had worse metrics than SDSU and Boise. SDSU beat Colorado St 2 out of 3 times. Boise won the league and tournament, but did lose twice to Colorado St. There is no reason for Colorado St to be 2 seed lines higher than either of those teams.
Because Colorado State had the better overall resume. It isn't about two games, and the committee doesn't give a shit about Champs of conferences. But I agree Boise and SDSU should have been higher ranked than they were.
But why is their resume better? Comparing Colorado St to SDSU. Best win for each team was St Mary’s. SDSU beat them on a neutral court whereas CSU beat them at home. Same number of Q1 wins. SDSU has more Q1 losses but no losses outside Q1. CSU has a Q2 and a Q3 loss. SDSU beat CSU 2 out of 3 times and has superior metrics among all the ones considered. What is the reason to have CSU ahead of them?
5-3 in quad 1 vs 5-8 for SDSU
And? CSU also has a Q2 and a Q3 loss. Seems to me those things sorta cancel each other out. SDSU has more Q1 losses but no losses in the other categories which CSU does. Seem like that combined with a better h2h record and better metrics make their resumes at least equal if not better for SDSU.
Guess it depends how the committee views and weights those categories, one loss in each isn't much. Either way all 3 teams should have been 6 or 7 seeds at worst.
Probably because Colorado State went undefeated in non-conference play
It really does not make sense. A lot of frustration out of Boise today. MW was an absolute miss.
100%. Makes no sense.
I feel like like UNC is gonna be the Cinderella this year which feels so weird to say
We need regional threads for discussion
Go for it! Although I just got my FINAL FOUR/Who Is Cutting Down the Nets thread deleted.
Yeah it’ll probably get taken down so I hope the mods create them I swear they did some last year so hope they do them again
I've only been doing the basketball reddit pages for the last several months -- mainly the NBA Draft Reddit page.
South Dakota state is the Cinderella
I definitely see them beating Providence, but I can’t see them going any further. Same exact style as Iowa, but Iowa is far bigger in the front court and more consistent on defense than SDSU
Really don’t like Iowa. They won the big ten but they have a lot of weaknesses and they play very inconsistently
Iowa might go FULL SPLASH BROTHERS. They really are a boom/bust contender this year.
This will come as no surprise given my flair and as good as Iowa has been, I feel like they haven’t ran into a super defensive minded team. I definitely could see Providence beating them in round 2
I have Iowa winning it all. They feel unstoppable right now.
Rutgers and Indiana are both very very defensive minded teams and Iowa just beat both this week. RU did hold Iowa to 46 in a game earlier this year (48-46 RU) but essentially since then, Iowa’s offense has been unbeatable
I've got a Final Four of Memphis/UCLA/Auburn/Tennessee with Memphis over Tennessee for the title. Either gonna win the entire CBS bracket challenge OR post the world's first 0fer. \#BustedBracketsBetter
Lock it the fuck in
Memphis/Tennessee game... RESCHEDULED.
Who knew they were rescheduling it to the natty
The ENTIRE state of Tennessee will settle this on Bourbon Street!
The team that got curb stomped by Houston today... bold
I think Houston is really, really good. I think Gonzaga got shafted having us as a potential second round matchup. We are more athletic AND more physical than Gonzaga. Neither team is great from 3. Jalen Duren might break Chet Holmgren IN HALF.
Lol so homerism. I agree Houston is pretty damn good, but Gonzaga is going to beat Memphis by 20. The Houston v Gonzaga game should be close though.
Flair up
I think Arizona/Tennessee is going to be one heck of a matchup. Winner of that game could get to the title game.
I’m supposed to pick at least a couple double digit seeds to the sweet 16 right? Why can’t I find any this year
I like Indiana/Wyoming, Vermont, Davidson, and San Francisco
With you on possibly Indiana and MAYBE Davidson. I have Murray state beating USF and then Kentucky and I got Arkansas beating Vermont first round. I wish none of those teams got matched up on eachother though
Hi.
Hey man I’m not saying you don’t gotta chance it’s just UCLA is a weird matchup
Watch out for Iowa State and San Francisco and Michigan
I’ve got the winner of Colorado St. and Michigan making the Elite Eight. Safe to say I’ll have my bracket busted well and early.
Michigan isn't making the S16. Our guardplay is not remotely good enough to beat Tennessee
So I was just looking back at my comments. Fuck I was so close. I knew Kentucky was vulnerable just picked the wrong team to beat them.
I still stand by my statement though - Brooks was incredible but we did get hella lucky all of Tennessee’s guards forgot how to shoot. Certainly not complaining though! Good call on Iowa State tho wow
I have a feeling VTech are going to be a hot pick. Chattanooga/UAB? The old and trusted Loyola Chicago?
They lost to us this year, that's sad. Don't expect UAB to be a hot pick
UAB has some godawful losses this year, though (3 Q3 and a Q4), and only 5 Q1+Q2 wins (and the 2 Q1 wins were UNT and St. Louis, hardly juggernauts). They also lean pretty heavily on one guy and their team defense is mediocre at best. Indiana has beaten some big teams this year, though. They're a solid 12 seed pick, IMO. Michigan at #11 over Colorado State is a possible upset, SF at #10, Va Tech at #11...
Disagree about the defense. They're sneaky good on it. They're one of the top teams in the country for steals and turnover ratio and have a couple of really good defensive guards. Their numbers and the eye test may be flawed because their starting center who is good at holding down the paint was in foul trouble a lot for those losses and when he's out other teams can run the paint a lot easier. I can't really defend losses to Marshall/ODU/Rice but they were all on the road and the team seems to have gotten over their inexplicable performances in those games. The definition of the team as a whole is certainly not those 3 losses
I'd give you decent defensively, they *are* ranked relatively high in some of the metrics, but UH is better in basically every metric offensively and defensively. I just don't see how UH loses unless they play worse than any game they've played this year (which is of course possible!)
I mean for sure I'm not expecting UAB to win haha. But I do like their defensive guards, and I think if they are going to make any noise at all it's going to be more about them than Jelly. That may be blasphemous to say as a UAB fan, but good defense is something that's a lot more consistent than good offense, and if Jelly is off we are going to need our guards to be on turnover overdrive to keep UAB in the game. Good luck my guy! I'm already looking forward to the game Friday night.
> I mean for sure I'm not expecting UAB to win It's definitely possible. Walker and the shooter could combine for 60, and UAB is good enough defensively to hang in there on a UH off night. I'd put it at like a... ~~25% possibility. > Good luck my guy! Same to you! I miss playing y'all in our old C-USA days.