The not-yet-created, and never really imitated...NCAA Basketball 2011/March Madness thread.

[Byrd]

sad but true, Michigan State will still make the tournament somehow. At least they showed a little heart in the Ohio State game and got the win on the Illini. Shitty schedule, shitty team, shitty coaching this year. Out in the first round.

I'm really surprised at Michigan State this year. When Robbie Hummel went down, I figured the Spartans were a shoo-in for the conference title. Any Izzo coached team is not a team I would want to play in the tournament though, regardless of seed. If I'm a 5 or a 6 seed, and draw the Spartans, I'm going to be very nervous.

I'm crossing my fingers that Purdue gets put in the bracket that has San Diego St. or BYU as the 1 seed if one of them ends up there, which they might when the majors beat each other up in conf. tourneys.

I'm hoping for the same thing. Or, if Purdue falls again and ends up as a #3 seed, they are paired with a #2 from the Mountain West. I realize an outside chance at a #1 still exists, but I think hoping for only one more loss and a #2 seed is more realistic at this point.

[Kyo]

Ohio St. loses again.

[Biddinger]

Duke back on top! http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls

[Headspace]

Cincy beats 11 Georgetown on the road.

Sealed their bid.

[Ryany]

The tournament is likely going to have to do some seed-shifting to spread out the 10-11 Big East Teams. (as in moving a team up or down from their earned seed to keep away from the possibility of any playing each other too early in the bracket)

[Arvin]

I'm really surprised at Michigan State this year. When Robbie Hummel went down, I figured the Spartans were a shoo-in for the conference title. Any Izzo coached team is not a team I would want to play in the tournament though, regardless of seed. If I'm a 5 or a 6 seed, and draw the Spartans, I'm going to be very nervous.

I'll still be watching and cheering every game, but I won't be holding any expectations so I won't be disappointed. What really bothers me most is the limited play time for the younger players who are obviously playing pretty well (Nix and Appling). I won't argue that MSU is one of the best teams when it comes to doing well in the NCAA tournament, but I wouldn't be very nervous if I were another team. Losing Chris Allen at the beginning of the year for being a complete fucking idiot, and now Korie Lucious thanks to him being a fucking pothead and failing his drug test has not helped.

On a brighter note, Draymond Green is a fucking monster.

[Byrd]

Three teams in the top five of the coaches' poll lose today. Two more top eight teams face stiff road competition tomorrow; this has the potential to be almost as crazy as last weekend.

It's looking more and more like BYU may get a #1 seed. I actually watched their game against SDSU today, and they looked good, but a lot of it was their lights out three-point shooting (14 for 24). I came out more unimpressed with SDSU than I dig against BYU. That being said, if BYU wins out, it's going to be hard to deny them a #1 seed, since many of the other teams in contention for #1 seeds are very likely to lose more games between now and then.

[Tyche]

John Wooden's great grandson made the final basket at Pauley Pavillion. His first two points of his career.

Also: Big East
Also: Louisville

[Moss]

Actually I think an Arizona player scored after that but cool nonetheless. I didn't realize that was the last game there.

[Byrd]

Also: Louisville

How 'bout them Cardinal cheerleaders? That last shot never really had a chance to go in on time, but holy crap, I would hate to be that kid. It did make the finish of that game just that much more riveting, but it would seem that Louisville cheerleaders now have a habit of garnering unwanted attention.

Purdue appears to be firing on all cylinders right now. Games in the Big 10 tournament on back-to-back days against Wisconsin and Ohio State could stand in the way of Purdue the winning the Big 10 title and maybe getting a #1 seed. A #2 seed looks safe, though, barring a loss at home to Illinois or on the road against Iowa this week.

I'm really looking forward to conference tournament weekend. Big East, Big 10, and Big 12 tournaments should all be really good. Now that I've said that, of course, the final is going to be Illinois vs. Penn State or something.

[Ryany]

I remember the UofL player dunking it and the cheerleaders running on the floor with time left on the clock. The first thing I thought was, "That should be a technical."

I would also like to see a stop to teams batting the ball away/picking up the ball after a score to delay the other team from a quick inbound. I believe that is in the rule book as a delay of game warning and then technical after that. It seems to not be getting enforced much though b/c I've seen it a lot this year.

[Plow]

How 'bout them Cardinal cheerleaders? That last shot never really had a chance to go in on time, but holy crap, I would hate to be that kid. It did make the finish of that game just that much more riveting, but it would seem that Louisville cheerleaders now have a habit of garnering unwanted attention.

Purdue appears to be firing on all cylinders right now. Games in the Big 10 tournament on back-to-back days against Wisconsin and Ohio State could stand in the way of Purdue the winning the Big 10 title and maybe getting a #1 seed. A #2 seed looks safe, though, barring a loss at home to Illinois or on the road against Iowa this week.

I'm really looking forward to conference tournament weekend. Big East, Big 10, and Big 12 tournaments should all be really good. Now that I've said that, of course, the final is going to be Illinois vs. Penn State or something.

Wait, what? I haven't paid that much attention for a few years, but people that are already making the tourney give a shit about conference tourneys now? Since when?

[Headspace]

Wait, what? I haven't paid that much attention for a few years, but people that are already making the tourney give a shit about conference tourneys now? Since when?

When you've got a possible 11 teams that can make the tourney, each game helps your seeding.

[Tyche]

It's interesting ever since the big east tournament became the hardest tournament of the season to win.

[Byrd]

Wait, what? I haven't paid that much attention for a few years, but people that are already making the tourney give a shit about conference tourneys now? Since when?

Believe it or not, I enjoy watching good college basketball. Some combination of the Big 10, Big East, Big 12 and ACC tournaments are usually on TV in the later rounds all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. While it's not as live-and-die as the first NCAA tournament weekend, there are still a heck of a lot of good games between elite teams. Living on the west coast, I miss a lot of games most of the country sees (woohoo, Pac 10 basketball), and when Purdue matches up against (probably) Wisconsin and (hopefully) Ohio State in the tournament, not only are they usually good, competetive games between elite level teams, I'm almost guaranteed to be able to actually watch them on TV.

[Plow]

I dunno I grew up a KU fan, and since they were always in the tourney to start out with, they (as in the team) never seemed to give a shit about the conference tourney. It usually played out as a way for a team on the bubble to get a guaranteed bid.

[Tyche]

Arguably, the best sporting event of the year was in last years big east tourney.

[Headspace]

Arguably, the best sporting event of the year was in last years big east tourney.

6 OT game 2 years ago was the best.


I forget last year

[Kirin]

On a brighter note, Draymond Green is a fucking monster.

When hes not in a bad mood over losing his dealer in Lucious...yes. Im still amazed at how much weight he lost.

Im done with Summers. Bench him for the rest of the year. Just end it, he isn't doing anything. Let some of the younger guys make plays. Lucas has tried to be the leader...but when it does it seems like everyone else instantly becomes lost. When they're clicking...Lucas is nowhere.

This MSU squad is a complete bizzaro team. Watch them win the Big 10 tournament just to cap it off.

On the flip side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ge_8540361.jpg

Mark Fox is indeed pleased.

[Tyche]

6 OT game 2 years ago was the best.


I forget last year

My bad, thought that was last year, not two years ago.