It will be very tough for Friday to live up the awesomeness of Thursday. For a UNC fan the only thing that could have made it better was being in the NCAA Tournament and beating the crap out of Weber St. or something. Alas, we have to move on. As a basketball fan it was heaven and proof to me that the current tournament setup is perfect. You had major upsets, OT games, buzzer beaters, clutch shots, bad coaching, good coaching, bad officiating and the words Dunkin’ Donuts written on one end of the court at one of the sites. Unfortunately, the perfection of the current product will be cast upon the altar and gutted in the name of a fatter bottom line when the NCAA decides to expand.
Anyway, Wake Forest represented the ACC and sent Rick Barnes home in a game pitting a coach who has no clue what he is doing(Barnes) vs a coach who apparently hates his players(Dino Gaudio) Seriously, Gaudio looked as though he about to receive an enema while waiting for the postgame interview on the court following Ish Smith’s clutch jumper to win the game. Smith was smiling, obviously happy while his head coach basically refused to say a word to him. If that is how it is when Wake wins, I don’t want to know how it goes if they lose.
Here is the schedule today. You can get your Duke hate on this evening, until then, watch Clemson swoon in classic fashion this afternoon.
#2 West Virginia vs #15 Morgan St., 12:15 PM
#6 Xavier vs #11 Minnesota, 12:25 PM
#5 Temple vs #12 Cornell, 12:30 PM
#4 Purdue vs #13 Siena, 2:30 PM
#7 Clemson vs #10 Missouri, 2:35 PM
#3 Pitt vs #14 Oakland, 2:45 PM
#4 Wisconsin vs #13 Wofford, 2:50 PM
#5 Texas A&M vs #12 Utah St., 4:45 PM
Break to line up your Duke voodoo dolls.
#8 Gonzaga vs #9 FSU, 7:10 PM
#7 Oklahoma St. vs #10 Georgia Tech, 7:15 PM
#5 Michigan St. vs #12 New Mexico St., 7:20 PM
#1 Duke vs #16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 7:25 PM
#1 Syracuse vs #16 Vermont, 9:30 PM
#2 Ohio St. vs #15 UCSB, 9:35 PM
#4 Maryland vs #13 Houston, 9:40 PM
#8 California vs #9 Louisville.
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If Purdue beats Siena, does that count as an upset? Technically, Siena is a 4-point dog, but I still think they should be the favorite.
BTW, what do people think of unified NCAA courts at each site? I’m glad they got rid of the decals and ponied up for new courts at each site, but I really miss having the different courts as you go from site to site.
I also miss the banners at the scorer’s table that listed all of the teams playing at at the site, but those died with the “pod system.”
(Yes, I realize I pay attention to things that are irrelevant…)
Morgan St. 10 – WVU 0 at the 1st TV TO. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!
Someone needs to tell WVU that there’s a basketball game going on.
CM – I’m with you, some of the magic would be the court, not a generic slate but if you’re at a college location then play on their floor – you can add your NCAA paint, decal bad, but show a little love to those who cannot play on their court. I think that adds to the value of the whole thing. If you are in a pro facility then sure go with the generic court but otherwise use the floor you have. I guess this could be a problem when you are in locations such as Charlotte and the 49ers are the host team but that’s a generic court. You play in RBC you get the NC State court.
I liked the names of the teams on the banner playing in that location but they had that last year and certainly the year before so I don’ think that’s a pod issue. Probably just moved it out of the camera view.
I hate not being at the tournament. Ive been working on next years ticket application but haven’t heard anything back from the 49ers. The NCAA is doing well at ignoring next year from their website. At least wikipedia has the info, if not the sharks with frickin’ lasers attached to their heads.
^I have mixed feelings on going to the tournament. I think for the first round, I actually prefer staying home and watching on TV so that I can see more of the games. Going to the Sweet 16 and Elite is definitely a lot of fun, though.
If UNC makes it to NYC for the NIT, I think I will probably go to that.
My dog ate my Dook voodoo dolls a couple of years ago.
We now call the dog Psycho…..T
“Morgan St. 10 – WVU 0 at the 1st TV TO. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!”
I’ve often though it would be interesting to see how many folks would change their picks, given the opportunity, based on what happens in the first part of a game, even the first half sometimes.
A lot of these lower seeds really come out strong, but often have a hard time sustaining.
Going to the 1st and 2nd round, especially if your team is there is a lot of fun. I did Greensboro last season and it was a blast. The one drawback is the fact you are cut off from all the other games. It is like the other 12 games that day are not happening for you outside of the scores you get from your phone. The NCAA does a horrid job of keeping the scoreboards at the arena up to date and Lord forbid they actually show you game feeds from other sites during halftime or game breaks.
“A lot of these lower seeds really come out strong, but often have a hard time sustaining.”
Yup. I have to admit, even at 10-0, I still though WVU would win, but I didn’t think the wheels would fall off this completely.
what was that about Cornell?
i dont see Temple making a 25-8 run to win this game. oops. 25-6 now.
Temple only reached 75 points or more 8 times this season.
70-30 Mountaineers run.
OK, I give up.
There’s only one thing more maddening than short, Ivy-League teams who can hit a bunch of 3′s, and that’s tall, Ivy-League teams who can hit a bunch of 3′s.
I now want to see Kentucky and Cornell.
Cornell looks awesome. Before the tourney started I thought the winner of this game would beat the Wisc/Wofford game. Now I have little doubt. Just wished I went with CU…
I was smelling what Jay Bilas was cooking on Cornell…to a point. He went as far as to having them beat UK. I could not go there but I did tab them for the Sweet Sixteen.
I have tix for Midwest Regional in St. Louis. I am guessing I will be watching Kansas play for the fourth and fifth time this year.
^^This is what I get for going out of my way to avoid “homer” picks…
Woohoo!
Hey, I’ll take Bilas’s word on that one. I can get behind them — aside from the alma mater bit — because they have size and some good driving guards on this team, not only annoying white guys who shoot 3s and make backdoor layups. Though of course, they have those too. But they’re more well-rounded than your typical Ivy champ.
faustus,
KU versus OSU could be worth the price of the entire weekend…
Yeah, Whitman got a lot of love from Big 10 schools when he was in HS, so he is certainly not your typical Ivy Leaguer. Both he, and Foote, will make some money playing ball somewhere.
Speaking of making money, did you hear that Jeremy Tyler kid who left HS early to play in Israel has quit the team and turned out to be a major behavioral issue? What was even funnier was this quote from the ESPN article:
“I’m as surprised as you are. We had no idea he was coming home,” Makhtar Ndiaye of the Wasserman Media Group told ESPN’s William Weinbaum. “I’m speechless at this point and look forward to speaking with Jeremy. A contract, a learning process — things weren’t great — but it was part of growing up. I’m disappointed and frustrated.”
Wait..who? Mahktar Ndyiae is this kid’s agent?
^Brandon Jennings has said several times that going to Europe was good for him, but he didn’t think it would be the right thing for everyone. One of the things that he said was most important in his “success” over there (not on the court, where he didn’t do much) was the fact that his family went with him. I don’t believe the same is true of Tyler.
Jennings was also done with high school and in the correct mind set to make a move to the next level whether it be college or Europe. He was also NBA ready then. Tyler was due one more year of HS and even now is only 18. Not sure what he is going to do for the next year since he is not draft eligible until 2011.
Sounds like the kid thought he would show up and play tons of minutes out the gate which was dumb. He should have looked at it as a two year experience, learned the ropes the first year then looked to break out the next season so the NBA GMs would notice.
What is even more interesting in reading the article is watching Sonny Vaccaro spin like a top trying to downplay this as being a huge problem for Tyler’s stock. As the Yahoo article says, no one knows who Tyler will play with next but the NBA does not like it when you do not play organized ball.
“Dunkin’ Donuts written on one end of the court at one of the sites. …….gutted in the name of a fatter bottom line when the NCAA decides to expand.”
Well Dunkin’ Donuts will surely expand my gut and give me a fatter bottom.
MEANWHILE, this put a smile on my face (compliments of NC2A Hoopsblog):
http://nc2ahoopsblog.wordpress.com/
Look at the thread at the top of the page! WOW.
^seems i heard the exact same thing from Kobe 5 years ago or so, except take out UNC and insert dook.
or am i mistaken?
Cornell was a 12 seed?
yeah, riiiiiiight.
***
uh oh, Oakland needs a cut man.
Expansion … I wonder what will happen to the NCAA-owned NIT? Are they going to just fold it in with the NCAA tournament, or will there be 96+32 teams playing? That doesn’t seem likely.
If the tournament swallows the NIT, probably not a big difference, except there’s more upset chances, and not as many “b” games clogging up TV.
The problem is that it’s extremely difficult to go on a six-game winning streak in b-ball, and after the first couple of rounds it can be totally random who advances. (If Rayshawn Terry had made that shot…) So now there will be extra rounds, probably some kind of play-in system and a bye for some teams.
Maybe if 96 teams have to play in 1 week, the Heels will get a better time slot than 9:30pm?
wow, Clemson, that was…well, sad.
2 straight years…one and done in both the ACCT and NCAAT.
3 straight NCAAT.
***
here we have the another mis-seeded team, Gonzaga. an 8. riiiiiiight.
****
i would not describe dook’s offense as impressive. at all.
Clemson – making sure you don’t trash talk anyone from the big east. Now’s the time to pick-up some of those Purnell (sp?) shirts or just like the Lane Kiffin ones they will be gone. How much I would pay for a Lane Kiffin shirt to wear to the fb game next year.
****
Adding all those other teams will make attending the games pointless unless they keep them in the same location and lower the fees with more sessions but that seems unlikely given that there are only so many broadcast venues which is the point of…wait, what are we talking about. A round 1 and 2 set of games is often a toss-up and this only makes it much, much worse. Come to see one good game, maybe – Thank you NCAA.
****
Little rooms, so sad, my giant heart is breaking…
GT isnt going to shoot that well from the FT line again. fortunate to win that one.
so…Kentucky…100 points
Kansas…90
dook…73. against the play-in team.
Georgia Tech won in spite of Paul Hewitt who called a timeout which cost his team a basket then after a lengthy delay to review a timing issue called his final timeout before the ball was even inbounded.
GT players are something else to overcome that man’s idiocy.
^Call me omiscient for I foresaw that post coming from THF as soon as Hewitt tried to give that game away….lucky on the shot clock.
GT is really talented, how do you keep them out of the top 25?
Sniffing at the record for doublr digited seeds advancing to the second round.
seriously, what is the style dook plays, anyway? Scheyerface with 2 assists and 2 turnovers vs Ark-PineBluff? i thought he was supposed to be good.
you shoot 51% but have only 12 team assists? even Mich St had 13 and they missed many more shots. Purdue had 20, West Virginia had 20.
12? so you just dribbled down…and went one on one. and thats going to win a title?
theyve had single digit assists 4 of their last 8 games, including 2 of the 3 in the ACCT.
that seems really odd to me.
^^The record for double digits advancing is 9. With only 16/1, 15/2, and 14/3 (Houston vs. Md.) left, it’s doesn’t look like it will get tied unless Md. messes up.
Louisville has scored 4 lousy points in the first 6 min.
paging Louisville…paging Louisville…your game has already begun.
Tyler Hansbrough still having trouble.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100319/SPORTS04/3190328/1088/SPORTS04/Still-no-diagnosis-for-Pacers-Hansbrough
THF,
Apparently, Makhtar Ndiaye is common name. There is a very good soccer player by that name as well. However, in this case. It appears it is the same Makhtar as the one who was considered a better player out of high school than Tim Duncan.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/makhtar-ndiaye/15/904/518
I had Temple beating Cornell but I am not just saying this because I picked Cornell to lose but I haave a very hard time seeing that beat another top 10 defensive efficiency team. Wisconsin played Northwestern twice who has a very similar offense to Cornell and Wisconsin has a lot more size than Temple and athletic size to go with Cornell’s taller perimeter players. I really like Wisconsin in that game.
I had Temple beating Cornell but I am not just saying this because I picked Cornell to lose but I have a very hard time seeing that beat another top 10 defensive efficiency team. Wisconsin played Northwestern twice who has a very similar offense to Cornell and Wisconsin has a lot more size than Temple and athletic size to go with Cornell’s taller perimeter players. I really like Wisconsin in that game.