College Basketball

[mojoween]

Dick Vitale’s National Champion pick was Kentucky.

[Carey]

13 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Dick Vitale’s National Champion pick was Kentucky.

A lot of people had them going far, as in far enough to land into the Toaster.  Some had them losing immediately, and some had them getting to Monday with a win or a loss during the Tournament Final.

It's possible that my pick will fall before the weekend.  Even if it doesn't, the difference is like 3 points if it fell during the Sweet Sixteen.  However, you sorta want your team to at least get to Saturday.

Picking Kentucky can happen.  Most people did (I did not), but several didn't have them going far.  So that's not a big deal.  I'll still take them over Virginia.  At least they've had some success.  Not much, but not at the level where you could take out a season, and they'd look like a team in the NFL Eastern Region within the National Football Conference

[LexieLily]

Samford vs. Kansas: clear block or foul at the end? Replay showed Samford got all ball, but they called it a foul and Kansas got the game-winning free throws.

[Carey]

Legacy call in favor of the Jayhawks.  What's more of a question mark was how I could've turned in with the game over due to a seven-possession lead, and then Kansas sorta didn't finish the deal.

I don't know how or if Kansas can survive against Gonzaga; while this team is inferior to the one 16 years ago, I didn't know over a decade & half ago how the Jayhawks could survive against North Carolina after doing so against Davidson & Curry

[Crashcourse]

Happy Bracket Buster Day everybody! 🤣

Samford got screwed. 

[mojoween]

PLEASE tell me someone else is watching Northwestern/ Florida Atlantic.  I do not have the verbal capacity to describe what I am looking at.

[LexieLily]

26 minutes ago, mojoween said:

PLEASE tell me someone else is watching Northwestern/ Florida Atlantic.  I do not have the verbal capacity to describe what I am looking at.

Hereby requesting more info before I change the TV to that channel, lol.

Edit: Nevermind. The score is 19-18 at halftime. Yeesh 😬

Edited March 22 by LexieLily

[mojoween]

The field goal percentages are 21 and 33 and the score is 19 to 20 if that helps.

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

The field goal percentages are 21 and 33 and the score is 19 to 20 if that helps.

The game ended how it started: missed shots and turnovers everywhere for both sides. Oy. And now both teams were equally bad enough that it's going to overtime. Double oy. 

[mojoween]

FAU had a timeout and they threw up that shot at the end?  Why, kids?

[mojoween]

This Colorado / Florida game was CRAZY, but in a good way.

[Crashcourse]

Welp.  Yale just upset Auburn.

[Carey]

I'm trying to come up with a reason as to why Samford's loss was a big deal.  Unless they were expected to topple Gonzaga, there really isn't any

[Crashcourse]

No team wants to get screwed out of a game because of a bad call, thus not going to the second round.  Doesn't matter if they probably weren't going to win the championship. 

[mojoween]

The SEC is doing SO BADLY and it is hilarious.  Don’t even care what it means for my brackets.

[Crashcourse]

My brackets are so busted, I can't even read the sheet anymore.

[Carey]

1 minute ago, Crashcourse said:

No team wants to get screwed out of a game because of a bad call, thus not going to the second round.  Doesn't matter if they probably weren't going to win the championship. 

The fact is, Samford was down 20 points against a team that was without its best player.  That was not a great call, but we'll never know what would've happened next.  Probably not favorable, but to be fair, maybe don't be down 20 late in the game, period.

Crashcourse, I might have not said what I said if it wasn't for my own bracket.  However, it's still a valid point.  Not just for College Basketball; for all sports.  I was okay 25 minutes ago, but that changed.  And then it changed again since it's not going to matter in 36 hours from present time

[Salacious Kitty]

SucksEC. 

[Carey]

Just now, Salacious Kitty said:

SucksEC. 

Big 12 > SEC

They both aren't great, but the former was pimped heavily that it make the Big 10 inferior

[mojoween]

Ian Eagle said one of the Duke players went “hard to the hole” and he knew exactly what he was saying and Jim Nantz would never and it’s great.

[Carey]

Ten perfect brackets remain after 24 games.  I guess that's amazing, since some people fill out 100 brackets per tournament

So there will be as many as 2 if Duke does not win & as many as 3 if Alabama losses.  Unless Nebraska survives, there will be as many as 4; this excludes the Purdue game.  Plus the other stuff to wrap up the opening round

[AimingforYoko]

Hard to root for a #1 Seed, but after Purdue flamed out last year, it's nice to see them get past that first round.

[Carey]

I might go throw up if Purdue wins the whole thing.  Which would be great, by the way.  I just chose not to audible & stuck with my first picks. 

In one of my groups, there are some very decent players (who are epic in college football & the NFL) where they're crushing it; none of them picked Purdue to win.  Mostly Connecticut picks.

It would be a missed opportunity if Purdue does cut down the nets in Glendale; I did think of the follow-up to the other team to lose as a one seed.  On the other hand, Purdue probably doesn't make it had I picked them to do just that

[DrSpaceman73]

Purdue will be lucky to make final four. 

 

Big ten Tourney struggled twice vs mid tier teams. 

[AimingforYoko]

JMU over Wisconsin was a predictable 12 over 5 "upset", a 30 win mid-major over a middling Big 10 team.

[Carey]

I don't know what the final outcome will be.  There is definitely one individual that does, but I think there are about a dozen teams that could cut the nets a couple weeks from Monday.

Looks like Connecticut remains the side, but we'll see what's next if they and Alabama both win 3 more games.

Win or lose, I think I cannot wait until people start hating the champs.  Especially if the former happens.  It's just sports, but when the hate occurs, that, I think, would put a big grin on my face

[Carey]

Here are the tip times for Saturday & Sunday Second Round Games.

Basically CBS has all of the action early on, and then around EST dinner time, TBS & TNT join with CBS airing a 3rd & 4th game.  Same thing tomorrow, except TruTV gets what would've been a 4th CBS game but 60 Minutes doesn't forgo its airing for anything other than a Super Bowl or a late window postseason game 

[mojoween]

I don’t know why every game has a screaming girl during foul shots, but I also don’t understand how she shrieks more than once.

[Salacious Kitty]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

I don’t know why every game has a screaming girl during foul shots, but I also don’t understand how she shrieks more than once.

Yeah, the screamers are so annoying. 

[Carey]

11 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

I don’t know why every game has a screaming girl during foul shots, but I also don’t understand how she shrieks more than once.

Yeah, the screamers are so annoying. 

I normally wouldn't wish laryngitis for someone, but...

[mojoween]

Greg Sankey is getting dragged for this from here to the sun.  Shame.

 

Edited March 24 by mojoween

[Carey]

Well, Tennessee survived.  Which was great since the SEC would've said they still had a second team still alive in the DANCE LOL!

[Carey]

Dusty May is a Wolverine. Or just the new Michigan HC

[AimingforYoko]

Purdue's looking like a #1 Seed this year. That said, I will not be shocked if Gonzaga takes them out next round.

[mojoween]

I hope that the Crying Piccolo Girl a. got some sweet cash from Geico for the use of her likeness and b. is living her best life somewhere.

[Carey]

Houston survives.  That's great.  While the jump ball call near the end of regulation was total BS, so what not fouling up three

[Carey]

From "the greatest" to most folks that have stated that their bracket is shattered, broken, or just done:  IMHO, your bracket isn't in the worst shape in the word.  Maybe there's still value in it.  OTOH, maybe I'm wrong and it's in bad shape.  I'd bet that it isn't for at least one reason...

You didn't have Kansas beating Auburn in the Tournament Final.

[Carey]

Someone asked for the start times I think.  I thought I posted them, but here they are nonetheless.

In my decent Ultra Lazy Bracket, I actually have 12 of the 16 teams still in it, including my entire Elite 8.  That means at least most if not all of that will come crumbling down prior to the weekend.  Fortunately, all of the games are pretty decent

[AimingforYoko]

UConn looks tough, but I wouldn't be surprised if either Illinois or Iowa St gets them.

In a very chalky tournament, Clemson's a mild surprise.

[LexieLily]

Here's another NCAA rule I don't understand - an Illinois player committed an offensive foul on the same possession another Illinois player made a basket but the basket counted because it left his hand before the foul? 

Edited March 29 by LexieLily

[Carey]

Here are tonight's lines:
Connecticut favored by 8.5 over Illinois (154.5 O/U)
Alabama favored by 3.5 over Clemson  (164.5 O/U)
Purdue favored by 3.5 over Tennessee (147.5 O/U)
Duke favored by 6.5 over North Carolina State (142.5 O/U)

UCONN is halfway home toward a successful title defense, but they will be facing some very decent competition going forward.  They're still rolling, until proven otherwise, their margin of victory should remain decent enough to avoid stress.

Feels like a College Football Playoff game between the Tide and Clemson, down to the spread.  Of course, subtract 100 from the over/under.

Purdue & Tennessee get more praise Gonzaga.  Yeah the former beat them, but they also haven't been this far or had as much success over the past quarter century.

Revenge or not for Duke over NC State.  We shall see.  The tip times for this weekend's action can be found right here

[AimingforYoko]

I didn't expect Illinois to win, but I expected them to push UConn. This is what the Lady Huskies used to do to teams.

[Carey]

I mean, they were, sorta.  Until they weren't.  Still, I didn't picture Illinois going anywhere, but I thought that the game would end close to 2:00, and not out of nowhere midway in the second half.

Though I nearly picked the Illini to cover in a loss before changing my mind.  The competition is better this year, but until I see someone lose by nine or less, I don't think it'll happen

[AimingforYoko]

Well, that was a Clemson-Alabama game I enjoyed watching. I don't see the Tide beating UConn, but weirder things have happened.

[mojoween]

Goldang I hate UConn and Bama.

What do you think the over/under will be on pictures of the eclipse shown during the national championship game?

[Calvada]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

What do you think the over/under will be on pictures of the eclipse shown during the national championship game?

I would place a pretty big bet on most headlines following the game being something along the lines of "Team A Eclipses Team B." 

[Carey]

8 minutes ago, Calvada said:

I would place a pretty big bet on most headlines following the game being something along the lines of "Team A Eclipses Team B." 

I would bet on that as well, but not a big bet.  That might be a Jim Nantz thing a lot more than an Ian Eagle thing, though the latter has had his share of catchphrases.

Mojoween: I'd go with an O/U of 1.5 or 2.5.  That may actually be a coin flip though.  We have TNT guys for the pre/mid/post game; they're main thing is based out of Atlanta, same with TWC

By the way, Connecticut is favored by 11.5 over Alabama.  When talking about sports, until now, if both programs appearance in the same sentence, to best be accurate, you'd have to swap UCONN & BAMA with the same sentence

[Calvada]

4 minutes ago, Carey said:

I would bet on that as well, but not a big bet.  That might be a Jim Nantz thing a lot more than an Ian Eagle thing, though the latter has had his share of catchphrases.

Your response made me realize I am very old, because I wasn't thinking of the TV people at all when I said headlines, but newspapers.  More likely online articles now, of course.  

[Carey]

8 minutes ago, Calvada said:

Your response made me realize I am very old, because I wasn't thinking of the TV people at all when I said headlines, but newspapers.  More likely online articles now, of course.  

And your response made me feel very young, since I think I actually went through the past week without thinking newspapers existed.  Which is ironic, since there was a time where reading the papers was more of a hobby than Nintendo or whatever.

That being said, that phrase related to the Eclipse and the Tournament Final would make total sense.  100%.  I think I'd be a little surprised if it wasn't phrased that way somewhere

Edited March 31 by Carey
Than not then

[AimingforYoko]

Nice redemption for the Boilermakers. It reminds me of Virginia after they were the first team to lose as a #1 seed only to win the title the next year.