NCAA Thoughts

by fugimaster24 on Mar 16, 2008 7:47 PM EDT

Just thought I'd post this to give everyone a shot to vent about, mull over, and debate the NCAA Tournament Field. Who got lucky, who got screwed, etc.

Personally, I'm pretty pissed off that Wisconsin got a 3 seed, after being regular season and conference tournament champ in the Big 10, while Georgetown didn't even show up against Pitt, and got a 2.

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Temple

How does Temple get a lower seed then St. Joe's? Temple beat them twice and in the tournament.

JoePa is my hero.

by psuphiman80 on Mar 16, 2008 8:37 PM EDT 0 recs

The Big 10

I'm not convinced they're exactly the best conference, and we also don't exactly have the greatest track record in the tournament. Sure, in the past few years OSU and Illinois have done pretty well for themselves, but when's the last time a B10 team has won the championship?

UW as a 3-seed seems fair enough to, as I'm pretty convinced they're not much better than the 2nd or 3rd best teams in other conferences (Duke, Texas, Georgetown, etc.).

The point with Georgetown is also moot, as they won the regular season conference title, AND made it to the BE finals, which is no small feat in such a large league.

I will root on the B10 teams, but I'm a realist...I don't have any of them going past the sweet 16. Perhaps they will use the seeding as some of that metaphorical "disrespect" and play lights-out bball, who knows. All I can do is remember then ACC/Big 10 challenge and cringe a little...

by Cpiritual27 on Mar 17, 2008 9:02 AM EDT 0 recs

Last Big Ten Champ

Wasn't it Michigan State in 2001 or something? Ohio State went to the final last year, so that's something.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 17, 2008 10:05 AM EDT up 0 recs

Wisconsin

They're better than the Hoyas. There isn't a doubt in my mind. Overall, the Big East might be deeper, but thats because they have 16 teams. I'm sorry, but none of the BE teams have impressed me outside of Louisville and Pitt. I'm not sure its that great a league, and I think Wisconsin is definitely better, which is why I will be putting them in my elite 8, and not the Hoyas. The Big East is a compilation of a lot of pedestrian teams, but they get hyped out of control in Bristol because they've got a lot of their weekend and FC games.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 17, 2008 8:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

I also think...

...that having things like the RPI is a complete waste of time. Just gives ppl something to argue about, when the fact of the matter is that if you just took care of business in the regular season or conference tournament, you wouldn't be on the bubble in the first place.

Then you have guys like Bobby Knight on TV talking about how it should just be "the best 65 teams," and there shouldn't be any automatic entries. I can understand the logic behind that, but let's face facts...apart from cheering on your favorite team, virtually EVERYONE watches the tournament for the proverbial "cinderella stores."

Watching Bucknell beat Kansas is like seeing a CFB team like FAU make a bowl for the first time in years. The pure joy on the faces of those kids does more than enough in my mind to warrant their entry in the tournament.

by Cpiritual27 on Mar 17, 2008 9:05 AM EDT 0 recs

RPI is like

The old BCS ranking that included strength of schedule. On a side note, PSU was not invited to the new lower then the NIT BB tourney but 13-18 Cincinnati was?

by JGuiher on Mar 17, 2008 10:51 AM EDT 0 recs

Cincinnati

Just shows how little respect they have for the Big Ten this year. The upper tier teams in our conference really have to step it up and go play some tougher competition to give us some cred.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 17, 2008 11:13 AM EDT 0 recs

Mike........

have you watched any Big 10 games this year :) Its a snoozefest. During the ESPN broadcast yesterday Reece Davis said its a race to 30 for Michigan and Wisconsin.

I hope for the Big 10's sake their defense is really really good or its going to be a relatively Big 10 free tournament rather early.

I pay close attention to the lines and when you can't even hit the over at 114, your defense is either really really good.....or your offense is a complete disaster.

And whether we like it or not.....generally speaking, if you aren't a Big 10 fan, you don't want to watch missed shot after missed shot.

In the meantime, I am pulling for Drake!

Eric Watters Atlanta, Ga.

by ech2os on Mar 17, 2008 1:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

Second Round

Drake vs. UConn. Must see TV.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Mar 17, 2008 2:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

I dont think

Wisconsin's defense is all that. Granted it was only novemember but Duke killed them by almost 30...my guess is any big time school they run into will kill them, they look like they just couldn't score. Duke just looked alot more athletic than them and quicker, alot more scorers too. Wisconsin hasn't had much since losing Devin Harris a couple yrs ago...

WE ARE, PENN STATE!

by LinebackerU on Mar 17, 2008 7:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

CBI

That CBI thing looks impossibly ghetto. Is it possible that the Big Ten simply decided that it would not be participating?

Also, I looked at the NIT bracket, PSU was not even on the bubble, and it actually looks like a pretty entertaining field. How about an Ohio State Florida rematch in the NIT final? There can be no precedent for that in the annals of history.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Mar 17, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Bubble

Looking at some of the teams that got into the Big Dance, I think its fair to say that if we'd beaten Minn., UM, and Iowa, we'd have been on the bubble with the wins over VT, MSU, and IU. Sure, we had bad losses to Rider and UCF to go along with our poor RPI, and those things would have kept us out, but even being on the bubble would have been fun.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 17, 2008 8:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

I meant on the bubble for the NIT

I thought that had PSU beaten Illinois, and gotten above 500 that they would have gotten into the NIT, but after looking at the field, I don't think they would have.

I think we would have needed two of the three games you noted just to have gotten into the NIT field.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Mar 18, 2008 9:46 AM EDT up 0 recs