2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament Discussion (Official Thread)

[DZ83CK]

So Michigan is assured of playing no higher than a 9 seed until the final. Fuck me.

A&M was a 7, and Houston a 6, but yes looking forward it would be 9-9 or 9-11.

 

[CFPBuckeye]

A&M DID seem to be a quality seven seed

Fuck am I saying?

 

[DZ83CK]

Houston was a good six seed, but they bricked 2 free throws to allow UM to beat them with a buzzer beater.

 

[Jake]

2011 VCU. The Rams went 23-11 in the regular season. They finished 4th in the Colonial Athletic Association (strike one), two games behind mighty Hofstra. They also failed to win their conference tournament (strike two). Their best non-conference win in the regular season was against Wake Forest, who went 8-24 (strike three).

Compared to that resume', Loyola is a powerhouse this year.

Disagree. I am looking at talent alone, not resume. That VCU team had a 4-star wing in Skeen who was as good as any wing most any team has in CBB - certainly more talented than Loyola's best wing. Rodriguez was a stud PG, very quick and skilled floor general. Burgess and others shot the 3 well and brought length, athleticism and strong D on the perimeter, and they had some really big, strong posts Reddick and Haley. It was a nearly perfectly assembled college team. I do not think it is particularly close talent-wise between these teams, especially if you look at defensive ability.

I used facts. You're only using opinions. Had I known that I wouldn't have bothered since you were always going to dismiss facts that didn't fit your opinions.

 

[AKAK]

I used facts. You're only using opinions. Had I known that I wouldn't have bothered since you were always going to dismiss facts that didn't fit your opinions.

That and VCU didn't have Sister Jean. So fuck them.

 

[Jake]

This "upset" stuff is really getting out of hand. Vince McMahon needs to run this tourney, WWE style.

The underdog will get some punches in, make it competitive and sometimes even look like they're on the verge of victory. Then the director will give the ref the signal to end it with the "best team" moving on to the next round. They can call it NCAA Entertainment™.




Cue conspiracy theorists who think sports are already orchestrated...but only when they don't like the outcome.

 

[CFPBuckeye]

Disagree. I am looking at talent alone, not resume. That VCU team had a 4-star wing in Skeen who was as good as any wing most any team has in CBB - certainly more talented than Loyola's best wing. Rodriguez was a stud PG, very quick and skilled floor general. Burgess and others shot the 3 well and brought length, athleticism and strong D on the perimeter, and they had some really big, strong posts Reddick and Haley. It was a nearly perfectly assembled college team. I do not think it is particularly close talent-wise between these teams, especially if you look at defensive ability.

“A nearly perfectly assembled college team” that had 11 regular season losses, finished 4th in the Colonial and lost their conference tournament? Am I reading all of this right?

Sure, any team can have a bad night, which could result in not winning their conference tournament but to have 11 losses, playing in the Colonial, no impressive OOC wins, not win the regular season and finish 4th? That’s the nearly perfectly assembled college team? With all of that talent you speak of?

 

[InsideBlitz]

Absolutely, would be awesome to see a team that dominated in the regular season and won their conference play one of the other hottest teams in America that won a conference tournament. Now we are stuck with a stinker with teams that don't really deserve to be there

To be fair :
Michigan entered the tournament as AP #7 (would be ranked 3 or 4 now) they won 12 straight ,all of them vs top 100 teams, 8 vs top 60 teams, 5 vs top 20 teams
KenPom ranks before they played Michigan and after they played Michigan
Montana 68/72
Houston 14/18
Texas AM 27/29

Not like Michigan was playing horrible teams.
Michigan probably had the most dominate conference tournament,of any school in the nation,they won 15 of 16 (including 12 straight)
There arent 3 teams left in the Big Dance playing better than Michigan over the past 2 months
Historically #3 seeds usually face 1-2 teams seeded higher than them in any tournament year,this year Michigan could play 1 (if they reach the National title game) its not like teams play 4-5 teams with a better seed every round.

 

[buckeyemania11]

This "upset" stuff is really getting out of hand. Vince McMahon needs to run this tourney, WWE style.

The underdog will get some punches in, make it competitive and sometimes even look like they're on the verge of victory. Then the director will give the ref the signal to end it with the "best team" moving on to the next round. They can call it NCAA Entertainment™.




Cue conspiracy theorists who think sports are already orchestrated...but only when they don't like the outcome.

Only if bobby knight can run in and attack unsuspecting players and coaches with folding chairs

 

[CFPBuckeye]

To be fair :
Michigan entered the tournament as AP #7 (would be ranked 3 or 4 now) they won 12 straight ,all of them vs top 100 teams, 8 vs top 60 teams, 5 vs top 20 teams
KenPom ranks before they played Michigan and after they played Michigan
Montana 68/72
Houston 14/18
Texas AM 27/29

Not like Michigan was playing horrible teams.
Michigan probably had the most dominate conference tournament,of any school in the nation,they won 15 of 16 (including 12 straight)
There arent 3 teams left in the Big Dance playing better than Michigan over the past 2 months
Historically #3 seeds usually face 1-2 teams seeded higher than them in any tournament year,this year Michigan could play 1 (if they reach the National title game) its not like teams play 4-5 teams with a better seed every round.

Please GTFO

 

[DZ83CK]

I used facts. You're only using opinions. Had I known that I wouldn't have bothered since you were always going to dismiss facts that didn't fit your opinions.

Only opinions? Not my opinion that Skeen was a 4-star coming out of high school. Who does Loyola have that was in the top-100 coming out of HS? Let me guess ... none of them?

Your "facts" are opinions. You argue that Loyola's tourney wins prove they are better. VCU had even better tourney wins than Loyola has had. VCU beat five teams en route to the F4 that each had at least one future NBA player, at least 3 with multiple. I haven't had time to look at advanced stats, but I suspect there are many ways VCU in 2011 is superior to Loyola this year, especially on defense.

 

[DZ83CK]

“A nearly perfectly assembled college team” that had 11 regular season losses, finished 4th in the Colonial and lost their conference tournament? Am I reading all of this right?

Sure, any team can have a bad night, which could result in not winning their conference tournament but to have 11 losses, playing in the Colonial, no impressive OOC wins, not win the regular season and finish 4th? That’s the nearly perfectly assembled college team? With all of that talent you speak of?

They were coached by Shaka Smart, which kind of looks like a handicap now, doesn't it? I am not going to analyze each loss, not sure if there were missed games by key guys, but with the talent they had, the record should have been far better in the CAA. With the full arsenal, a better coach would have produced a far better record that season.

 

[CFPBuckeye]

They were coached by Shaka Smart, which kind of looks like a handicap now, doesn't it? I am not going to analyze each loss, not sure if there were missed games by key guys, but with the talent they had, the record should have been far better in the CAA. With the full arsenal, a better coach would have produced a far better record that season.

A very subjective argument, no?

 

[DZ83CK]

Kenpom stats for the entire season do indicate Loyola is better than VCU for the respective season as a whole. But ultimately my position is VCU was better in the tournament than Loyola has been, so I only really care about how these teams were playing in the very end of the year, in the dance. At that point, I believe VCU outplayed their projections greatly.

 

[Jake]

Kenpom stats for the entire season do indicate Loyola is better than VCU for the respective season as a whole. But ultimately my position is VCU was better in the tournament than Loyola has been, so I only really care about how these teams were playing in the very end of the year, in the dance. At that point, I believe VCU outplayed their projections greatly.

Your argument is going to morph back to your original position regardless of whatever evidence is presented to contradict it. You made that clear yesterday. We get it.