Who ya got?
#7 BYU vs #10 Florida, 12:20 PM
#6 Notre Dame vs #11 Old Dominion, 12:25 PM
#2 Villanova vs #15 Robert Morris, 12:30 PM
#4 Vanderbilt vs #13 Murray St., 2:30 PM
#2 Kansas St. vs #15 North Texas, 2:40 PM
#3 Baylor vs #14 Sam Houston St., 2:45 PM
#7 Richmond vs #10 St. Mary’s, 2:50 PM
#5 Butler vs #12 UTEP, 4:45 PM
Breathe….
#8 UNLV vs #9 Northern Iowa, 7:10 PM
#1 Kentucky vs #16 East Tennessee St., 7:15 PM
#6 Marquette vs #11 Washington, 7:20 PM
#3 Georgetown vs #14 Ohio, 7:25 PM
#1 Kansas vs #16 Lehigh, 9:30 PM
#8 Texas vs #9 Wake Forest, 9:35 PM
#3 New Mexico vs #14 Montana, 9:40 PM
#6 Tennessee vs #11 San Diego St., 9:45 PM
Like so many people I picked Baylor in the Final Four because it was the chic dark horse pick everyone was jumping on. Sam Houston St. could end up screwing a lot of people today.
Anyone interested to see Chas McFarland vs Dexter Pittman? McFarland is easily the dirtiest player in the ACC(yes, even ahead of Ryan Reid now) the question is how dumb is he? Jumping ugly with Dexter Pittman might not be a good career move for him.
Comments if you have ‘em
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Final 4: KU, KSU, WVU, Nova.
Champ: KU over WVU
Upsets: UTEP over Butler and Siena over Purdue.
ACC: Maryland the only team in S16 (lose to KU).
I got Arkansas Pine Bluff in the 1st Round!!!
Otherwise, I’m most interested in Wake-Texas. Both have been slumping so it might be a game of who sucks the least.
why isnt the Nova game on one of the TWC channels, and Fla-BYU is on there 3 times?
Nova is currently losing to Robert Morris.
That would be an epic bracket buster.
Final 4: OSU, KSU, WVU, Villanova
Champ: OSU over WVU
Upsets: St.Marys over Richmond
(So much for creativity)
ACC: Duke and MD. to Sweet 16
Duke loses to Tex A&M
Md. loses to KU
Well of course Nova is losing to RM. They are the #2 in Duke’s bracket. Anything to make life easier for the Devils.
Watching the ND/ODU game and a small tear came to my eye when I heard: “And Hansbrough scores!!”…..ahhh the good ol’ days.
FF: KSU over G’town//WVa over L’ville
KSU over WVa
Nova trailed American by 10 at the half last year, too.
finally found it way out on channel 1063. they had the nonHD games in the 256 range last year. keep it a secret, tho, TWC! just like channel 93. which isnt even listed.
ex-Dookie taylor king. good move, taylor!
Westwood one, they just need to stick with calling the game, any additional conversation is just brutal. I just heard about vomiting blood, and “that’s the cancer that you die from…” in a just a few minutes. It was a decent thought to cover the BYU coach and his medical issues but they just really fell apart in the description and discussion.
My son was late to school this morning as he had to finish his bracket, we will see how he does but he was stuck on Wake and Texas for some time. I was happy to see that he made a good call with Clemson…they never deliver.
THF,
You picked Baylor because you like saying Ekpe Udoh.
HTTE – you found listings? Thanks for the heads up on the channels, it just stuns me that they have the data and systems but they can’t deliver the information to the consumer with a decent interface. I’ll just plow through the 700 channels I don’t get so I can review the ones I pay for…thanks TW.
^^^Since 1985 (64 teams), the 9-seed actually has a winning record over the 8-seed (54-46).
^it was needlessly confusing, because they ARE showing games on 256, 257…but not all 4 games are being broadcast in that range, like they did last year.
BTW, 40 of the 64 THF entries (who picked a champ) picked Kansas to win it all.
^if anyone picked dook, they are banned.
^No Duke. Everyone is safe. Here is the breakdown:
Kansas: 40
Syracuse: 6
Kentucky: 5
W. Virginia: 4
Ohio St.: 4
Kansas St.: 2
Maryland: 1
Mich. St.: 1
Villanova: 1
62 of the 64 think the trend of the last 20 years (no champ lower than a 3-seed) will hold.
Jayhawks is nearly as bad as Duke imo.
The new “ABC’s”:ABDKK
2 games in dook’s bracket going their way. naturally.
i didnt do a bracket, but i would pick Syracuse.
where the heck has william been?
***
the rare different kind of over and back called in Nova game. Morris player jumped FROM front court into back court to receive ball. HE was front court, so that became a no-no.
in and OUT for ND…ugh. poor Ben. how did they not win that game?
I still don’t think RMU will be able to hold on…
BYU has squandered a 13 pt lead.
i did see Harangody miss a half dozen 6″ shots.
***
how bout that graphic?
UNC, UCLA, and Indiana all miss tourney for first time since 1966.
Gody only scored 2 points.
scottie reynolds 1 of 13??
wowzers.
***
Velton Jones fouls out for Robert Morris.
i loved him on Saturday Night Live.
How to Be A ….
^Yeah, if Nova loses, Jay Wright is going to catch a TON of heat for benching him for a “minor teaching point.”
“When you play pickup basketball in prison do you learn how to steal.” Westwood One regarding a BYU steal.
Four steals in the last minute of overtime to decide if Florida or BYU wins. This is a great game by the way. Double overtime, Florida can’t take a shot with :18 seconds and get it or take it with enough time to get an offensive board and put back. Bad execution.
Second overtime underway…
^in prison? what the?
***
prison might be the safest place for the refs in the Nova game. giving the Wildcats every benefit of the doubt down the stretch.
wow–great recovery block
is Jimmer Fredette the second coming of Jimmy Chitwood? 45% from 3!
Boynton fouled out and Fla was done for.
“Gody only scored 2 points.”
The last few whispers of POY candidate fade away.
“ABDKK” ->
“prison might be the safest place for the refs in the Nova game. giving the Wildcats every benefit of the doubt down the stretch.”
My initial reaction, too, but the replays all seemed to vindicate the refs (at least on the fouls on Nova; I think they missed a couple of times when Nova fouled RMU).
if you like hoops you gotta like Robert Morris–hope these kids can pull it out!
paging the Baylor Bears…Baylor Bears…your game has begun. please report to the court.
Scottie Reynolds, “Onions!”
Gotta respect a kid who can start 1-13, but still hit a key late 3 plus 14 of 15 FTs.
^didn’t even square up
^Yeah, that was a money-shot.
I know the RMU coach is pissed, but he CANNOT get a T now. He owes that to his players.
Wow, make up call…
i thought RM made a good play in regulation on the disputed jump ball/foul on Reynolds right under the basket.
that last one was a foul from behind, tho.
uh oh!! steal!
that would have been colossally dumb
What a play by RMU! Honestly thought they were DOA when Nova went up 6.
^heh–look at the twitter feed
take the layup!! what are you thinking?
^^I’ve been reading this blog to long…
Wow, questionable/terrible play by Reading.
omg–why didn’t he take that layup?
wow!
seriously tho, you HAVE to take the layup and go up 5. what if you had missed the other FT, too?
s***!
Can’t remember a better trio of games to start a tourney!
and you’d be up 4 now.
he mustve taken that Kentucky math class.
WTH????
Man, there is an epidemic in CBK of people dribbling to much at the end of the game. Too many people pretending that they are Ty Lawson…
Another Ho-Hum start to the NCAAT.
Two OT games and a one-pointer in regulation. Wow.
Oh, and Hansbrough outperforms Harangody. (Some headlines never change.)
Update: HTTE, we’ll call it a tie.
You gotta love the NCAAT!
overtime, double overtime, and a 1 pt regulation game.
yeah, i’d say thats been good, so far.
and 2 tight games in progress.
***
get outta my head, Larry.
while we have a minute…
in the proposed 96 team tourney…
we’d have 32 extra teams…so 16 more games. doesnt that mean the top 8 in every region would just be getting a bye, and that the bottom 8 would play a game vs one of the additional 32 teams? so…like an 9-seed vs a 24-seed? then THAT team plays the 8?
that sounds…dull.
^Yep. It also means that you would have to start the Tourney on a Tuesday, and the 1st host sites would have to host 3 games over 5 days (Tu/Th/Sa or We/Fri/Sun).
It also means that the 1-seeds, instead of playing a school like the MEAC Champ in their 1st game, will be playing a team like MSU or ASU (this year). Won’t be long before a 1-seed loses it’s first game for the first time.
Also, it will only give people a day and a half to fill out their brackets, which may make the process less enticing. While the NCAA will never condone gambling, it knows full well that Tourney pools are a HUGE part of their success (and value).
Geez, if Nova and Baylor are out in the first round… *shudders*
OK, just saw that Nova survived. Would like to see a bit more than an OT win against the 15 seed to instill some confidence in me though.
Yeah, but at the same time, you can’t always take a team’s performance in one game a use it to forecast their next game. Survive and advance.
Final Four: KU, UK, Purdue, Syracuse.
Champs: KU over UK.
How cliche, I know.
^^^^wait, youre saying that the #1s, playing the winner of a…16-17 game…would have a harder time?
maybe the rule should be that no champion, MEAC or otherwise, should be seeded worse than 16 then, if i get what youre saying. that the MEAC champ might be a 20-seed.
^Much harder. The 24-seeds will be the teams who are the 16-seeds now. Like you said, they will be playing the 9-seed and the winner will play the 8. The teams ranked from 13-20 will be most of the teams who are in the NIT now.
uncgirl,
Nothing cliche about putting Purdue in the FF. Without Hummel that is a gutsy pick!
^hm. that sounds even more dull than i thought, then.
if they move the current 15s and 16s down…who wants to see Washington-Ark Pine Bluff or Minnesota-Morgan St?
so you think WE mightve moved up to a 16 and possibly played Kansas. hm again.
Possibly. The last at-larges this year, UTEP and Utah St., are 12-seeds, so the NIT 1-seeds would be 12/13 seeds and UNC would be a 15/16 seed.
HTTE,
Check out the article from Al Featherston where he used the current NCAA and NIT field to build a 96 team bracket. He points out that Duke could end up playing UConn in their first game. Kansas could end up playing UNC.
http://www.accsports.com/articles/201003167407/putting-together-a-96-team-bracket.php
The crappy teams would be the only ones benefiting in a 96 team field and the higher seeds would have to win the equivalent of a current 2nd round game twice to make the Sweet Sixteen.
Doc had a great idea in a comment over at TSB. He said expand to 68 and have eight at large teams play for the four #12 seeds. He and I talked Tuesday night about the fact that it screws these automatic bid teams to play in Dayton and not really be in the tournament. They earned their bid so they should make the borderline schools earn their keep while giving you some extra games with decent match-ups.
^If you were going to do a small expansion, you’d be better off expanding it to 68. Have the last 4 in play the last four out to bring it to 64. The problem is, you aren’t always going to have it line up that the last 4 in are going to be on the same line. For instance, this year, the last four in are 10, 11, 12, and 12 seeds.
My bad I counted wrong. You are correct. Go to 68 with the four winners filling the 12th seed in each region. Also, do it as a four game slate at one site so all the teams get the NCAA Tournament feel to it.
i think its just fine now, with the exception of having one silly play-in game.
but, we all know, its about the money.
***
thanks, THF. i missed that story. so, the real difference is that instead of playing a team where the center might be 6’8″, you risk facing a team that has talent, but may have underachieved, and may snap out of it. in theory.
i could see that lowering the incentive to excel in the regular season.
Meatloaf and Roy Orbison went to North Texas St? how bout that.
Just look the bracket he did over there…I mean Ohio St could end up playing South Florida which beat Georgetown this season. It is tough enough to play teams who figure out they can beat you during one game and you have to survive. It is quite another to go against a team that knows they have a chance and it experienced against your level of competition or in the NCAA Tournament.
^someone would throw a fit over those kind of matchups, wouldnt they? work to be a 1-seed and have a serious opening game?
***
i think the biggest lead i’ve seen all day is 13. and that game went double-OT.
My suggestion at TSB was 68 teams with the last eight at-large teams playing for four spots. Would make for some compelling play-in matchups while protecting the truly automatic qualifiers.
“someone would throw a fit over those kind of matchups, wouldnt they? work to be a 1-seed and have a serious opening game?”
Imagine how this would have affected UNC last year. The Heels would not have had the luxury of sitting Lawson in the first game, and if he actually could not have gone, then UNC very well could have lost in the 1st round.
Basically, expanding to 96 renders the regular season and conference tourneys completely irrelevant and it will also make winning the tourney much more about luck than talent.
IMO, short of contracting the tourney back to 64, Doc’s suggestion is the best, so long as they could work around the seeding problem.
^^seems like theyd then just want to add 8 and have play-ins for the 11 and 12 seeds.
then a couple hours, and a pitcher of martinis later, its back to 96.
***
i still say look at making the last 32 all at-larges. at least have us, this year, as say a 20-seed, having to get by a Murray St, before facing Vanderbilt.
****
^so, we couldve played a Florida, or Notre Dame.
we’d be highly pissed.
I fixed my comment above to say 68 instead of 72 as not to misrepresent your original point.
the smaller schools, like a Robert Morris…it must be better for them as it stands now, too, right?
wouldnt they make more in ticket sales playing Villanova instead of dropping to a 24 and playing FSU? would they really travel as much to see the latter?
^You would have to imagine. Pretty easy to justify taking of Thursday and Friday to travel to a tourney site. Not as easy to justify taking off Tuesday thru Friday. Not to mention the fact that you would basically have less than 24-hours (starting at 6 pm EST on Sunday) to make travel plans…
Kansas St the only game so far thats not close. some day.
I have complained about Westwood One but they delivered on Florida and BYU to the end as well as Nova and Robert Morris which was exceptionally cool. They kept it live without a break for commercials or station ID. I guess they are doing a better job than most.
On a related note my youngest, six year old boy, had to get a cast today and he decided he wanted a Carolina Blue cast. The Dr., a Duke grad, told him that he’d have to keep it on an extra six weeks if he went with the Carolina Blue cast. He told him that he’d wear the Carolina Blue cast for nine weeks than wear Duke Blue anything. He then went on to comment that when he was older he would paint his trashcan Duke Blue.
Game on Dook.
^i’d like to nominate your son as fan of the year.
someone Twitter that story to the players.
***
^next best answer from the lad:
“Make it 10 weeks and someone get me a new doctor!”
Murray State!!! Wow, what a shot!!
CM, well having UK and KU in the title game is.
Murray freakin’ State!
well, i am off to see hockey. could be a huge mistake on my part.
I don’t often agree with Seth Davis, but on this, I do:
“Okay, I’m saying it: Best first day ever. Not even fricking close.”
^And we haven’t even gotten to the evening games.
^Butler/UTEP could be really good. Will air on CBS’ CSTV for those on the East Coast.
bblb, tell your son he’s awesome for me?
My final four: Kansas, ‘Cuse, W. Virginia, and ‘Nova.
Champ. game: Kansas and W.V.
Winner: Kansas
Well, the margins weren’t quite as close in the later games, but it’s really off to a good start. 3 upsets, so far, in the afternoon games compared to 7 of 32, last year, in the first round. (I don’t consider 9 over 8 an upset).
Tenn vs. SDSU should be the most intriguing upset watch this evening.
Go Ohio Bobcats! Giving it to the Hoyas right now.
Georgetown is in a spot of bother. They better get their D together or it’s going to be one and done.
Note to self: never pick conference championship runner-ups
Also, never pick Notre Dame again. Now just watch another 6 seed like Xavier get hot and go to the final four. That’s the way it is when I pick wrong sometimes – the same seed in another bracket does the job instead.
The big, bad, Big East is not looking so big and bad today, is it?
Big, no. Bad, yes.
Since beating UNC in 2007 Georgetown has lost to #10 seeded Davidson in the 2nd round, missed the NCAAs, lost to #14 seeded Ohio.
Don’t. Screw. With. Roy.
My bracket is so screwed.
^you’ve got PLENTY of company!
Big Least drops to 1-3.
—
I can’t remember having a worse opening day (wrt picks; 6 of 12), but my later rounds are still pretty solid (all E8 and F4 teams alive).
^You can stay competitive by missing the upsets ( you have to figure a lot of people are missing the same ones) unless you miss on a team you have picked to go real deep.
One of the things I’ve always heard about bracket strategy is to pick a conference you really think is strong, and load up on it in the first two rounds. Last year would have been a bad time to apply that strategy to the ACC. Maybe the Big East is the exception to that rule this year.
Nice to see G’town get whipped, but it really hurt my bracket.
hockey was worth it. an exciting finish and a win.
that was a shocker, Georgetown.
how is Wake playing?
SORRY TO SHIFT GEARS, BUT…
I’m catching a little wind buzz about Roy going after another recruit in the 2010 class. Does anyone else know what this is about, or if it is even true? It was one of the insider threads on Scout.com. I thought that Roy was maxed out on scholarships, unless Ed Davis is definately going pro, or Larry Drew is transferring.
Any thoughts/info?
HTTE: Wake up by 12–Smith dominating–should be a good showdown with Wall.
update–Wake may blow this yet