College Basketball

[Crashcourse]

Crap.  I was rooting for Tennessee because I cannot stand Zach Edey.  

[Carey]

Duke & North Carolina State still have a game to play, but assuming the former gets its revenge, this run might be better should Purdue actually succeeding in terms of its redemption tour (compared to Virginia's run).

For one, Purdue was a victim of UVA's run 5 years ago, and while Auburn & Texas Tech deserved to get to end city in 2019, they're not Duke or Connecticut.

Speaking of UCONN, they are 11.5 point favorites over Alabama.  Nothing on how much Purdue will be favored by on Saturday, but they are current underdogs against the champions.

[AimingforYoko]

A team that finished tenth in their conference, a team that would not have made the tournament at all if they hadn't won the ACC tourney is in the Final Four. I usually say that major conference teams should not be called Cinderellas, but I'm willing to make an exception for N.C. State.

[Carey]

They should be called a Cinderella, even though they are still in a Power 5 conference.  Last time I checked, Cinderella had a great ending at the end of her story

[Salacious Kitty]

Suck it Duke! Lost to NC State twice this month. 😂😂😂😂😂

[Carey]

8 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Suck it Duke! Lost to NC State twice this month. 😂😂😂😂😂

Still not as great as when they lost to UNC 2 years ago.  Still remarkable!

Though their ouster sorta killed my joke on how people would spend 2-3 hours on April 8th watching other people watching the Solar Eclipse in lieu of a Duke/Connecticut Title Game

[proserpina65]

I haven't cared about college basketball since I was in high school, but I did end up watching the last 5 minutes or so of the NC State/Duke game.  Damned if that was enjoyable.  Took me back to when I did care, circa the Wolfpack's last appearance in the Final Four.

[Mountainair]

As a hockey mom I have no interest in basketball. As a mom whose state recently legalized sports betting I’m suddenly into a lot of sports I wasn’t into before. Also as a mom whose entire family went to NC State I was all in on last nights game and ended up winning $1,000! I am traveling to Texas this weekend for my Aunts funeral. My uncle is an NC State alumni and is planning a huge watch party. Go Pack! 

[Carey]

I'll be rooting for Purdue (9.5 point favorites) on Saturday.  One reason is due to the fact that I'd rather not see a 76-24 outcome one week from now.  Assuming Connecticut takes care of business.

The other reason is my best friend's Alma Mater is on a redemption tour to where they, like Virginia, won its region one year removed from top-notch embarrassment.  Though at least Purdue had a chance to survive in 2023 before their opponent escaped (and unlike UMBC, they came close to the Sweet 16); Purdue as a one seed lost to a team that played in Dayton earlier in the week.

That being said, North Carolina State is a great story.  A Cinderella for sure, though it's a fair argument that they aren't since they are an ACC school that has a title.  I don't see a 2007 Patriots to Giants comp here, though that would be tremendous!  However, it would be neat to see NC State facing UCONN since both programs had to win five games in 5 days for a shot at the NCAA Tournament.  The 5-time champions had to battle in the vaunted Big East, while the 1983 winners, who didn't still have to beat Duke and UNC.  Just because Coach K and Roy Williams aren't there doesn't make the Atlantic Coast Conference as epic as the Horizon. 

[mojoween]

Someone said to me “it’s hard to root against Caitlin Clark given what she’s done for women’s basketball” and thankfully it was in a Teams chat and they couldn’t see my rage face because what the fuck.  Like women’s hoops wasn’t a thing before last year?  Fuck on outta here with that.

[baldryanr]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Someone said to me “it’s hard to root against Caitlin Clark given what she’s done for women’s basketball” and thankfully it was in a Teams chat and they couldn’t see my rage face because what the fuck.  Like women’s hoops wasn’t a thing before last year?  Fuck on outta here with that.

It's impossible to ignore the impact she's had on the general awareness and popularity of college women's hoops.  Viewership has noticeably increased over the past couple of years, and while that's not all her it would be idiotic to say she just happens to be along for the ride.  Having one big star makes a huge difference. 

Now, people can bitch about how she shouldn't be getting the hero's edit while some of her opponents (ahem, Angel Reese) get the villain's hat.

[mojoween]

That’s what I don’t get.  Why is everyone paying attention to women’s basketball because of this brown-haired white girl?  Rebecca and Diana and Sue and Breanna were also brown-haired white girls.  Were they hamstrung by going to Connecticut?

What about Sheryl and Cheryl, two of the best hoopers ever?  Tamika?  Candace?

Is it NIL?  The interwebs?  Twitter?  That I’m an old lady who wants the ladies who came before her to be talked about so reverently?

Yes I know the ratings for yesterday’s games were probably monstrous (not only because of Caitlin, but probably the majority) and I wish I could pinpoint what’s different now.  Other than I’m a salty old broad.

[Carey]

I'm not sure the hair color is a factor (usually it's a blonde thing instead).  The race is part of it I suppose, but I think you may have answered your own question.  Or given one of several correct responses.

Iowa isn't Connecticut, so one's play warrants the praise over a school that's known for its winning culture.  Social Media & the current times is it for sure.

It's sorta like Curry; her game is unique to where it's interesting, whereas other players have a style that wins but it's looked upon as boring.

Yes, Monday's ratings will be tremendous, but as mentioned, she's not the GOAT nor could ever be.  In terms of the face of the sport relative to the fan interest & ratings, I can agree that she is.  Accomplishments is a different story.  Though it is almost impossible to win over 100 consecutive games, go a couple years without a loss or seasons winning every game, and get crowned 4 years out of a 4-year period.  It's not unprecedented either, so I guess besides that fact I too am an old bitter human being

[Carey]

Since there may be a final report on Final Four coverage at the end of the week, I'll refrain from linking to something that may not be finalized.  However, in terms of who's doing the pre/half/post game stuff, it's Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley.  Which would have been the case even if Greg Gumbel was available. 

With Greg not there, I do wonder who'll host the second area with Seth & Candace.  BTW, with UCONN possibly about to repeat, no Hurley as a guest host on Saturday.  It could be Adam Zucker, or even Jim Nantz to allow the latter to do more than hand out another trophy.  I also don't know if he's already Augusta-bound.

Ian, Bill, Grant, Tracy, and Gene heading the voices of the season's final 3 games.

As mentioned, Connecticut & Purdue are favored by 11.5 & 9.5, respectively.  Vegas (via FanDuel) "believe" scoring for the first game will be around 146 or 147, and  about 161 for the second game (which would've been the first game had Duke won on Sunday).

According to "sources" elsewhere, the first of two CBS regional finals received a 4.4 rating (with over 10 million viewers), and the second game received a 6.4 rating (with over 15 millions viewers).  Clemson & Alabama had 7,800,000 viewers and a 3.8 rating.  That was a game that aired on cable

[Carey]

I think a second after I posted, Adam Lefkoe was confirmed as the host for the second set for the Final Four (along with Seth and Candace).  I thought I had mentioned that before; maybe I did elsewhere.  I didn't actually post it probably due to the fact that Turner & company would work it out, but it makes sense as it's a TBS year.

I imagine the second team will bolt from Phoenix after Saturday's festivities.  According to NCAA/TNT, the first game will tip at 6:09 and Connecticut vs Alabama will tip 40 minutes after North Carolina State & Purdue take care of business or at 8:49 Eastern, whatever happens first.

No change in the lines.  Unless something happens to somebody, if it's similar in 24 hours, that's where it'll end

[baldryanr]

The women's game has arrived - people are going to be bitching about how the end of the game was blatantly rigged in favor of Caitlin Clark thanks to that last call even though it was a textbook illegal screen. 

[mojoween]

DJ Burns changed his hairstyle.  Doesn’t he know you should never do that?

[AimingforYoko]

Purdue's 83.3% of the way to duplicating Virginia's feat. Last one will be the hardest, of course.

[Carey]

While it didn't look like Alabama was blown out, it was still yet another double-digit win for the top team.  Still the best a team has look against the champions, who are favored by 6.5 over Purdue.

Despite a decent showing from The Crimson Tide, Connecticut's attempt to duplicate what last happened 17 years ago will culminate with their own toughest test.  I think all they'll have to do is stop Eady.  Or they don't & make everyone beat their several players that might be on.  If either can happen, especially the first option, that will more or less clinch their successful title defense on the Men's side in their program's history.

[AimingforYoko]

We've actually got the best teams in the title game, Men's and Women's. It doesn't always happen, so I'm going to appreciate the moment.

[Carey]

Well put, AimingforYoko.  I could not have said that better myself.  Though there are at least a lot of things you've said over the past decade that I couldn't phrase better myself.

This sports year might go down as the most underrated of all time.  While it felt boring (for me), it did produce the final games of a particular sport featuring the best teams within that sport.  Well, except for Major League Baseball.  However, the NCAAF National Championship Game & the Super Bowl gave us the best teams, and pretty good games from there.  Sometimes an underdog story is tremendous, but really it is only if they get to the final game and win ATS.

If you're a sports fan, you'll appreciate what several consider boring.  You'll appreciate it because it's putting one's opinion to the test.  Let's see the best vs the best.  GL and GG.

We'll see what happens next Sunday in Augusta as well as the NBA over the next 3 months, but as mentioned, this is a year to enjoy it, since it's possible it isn't happening soon or within one's lifetime.

 

Edited April 7 by Carey
Well doesn't equal We'll

[AimingforYoko]

South Carolina is the new UConn and Dawn Staley is the new Geno Auriemma. She's built a monster down in Columbia.

[Crashcourse]

Congratulations to South Carolina. 

Now, hopefully, I'll get a break from Caitlin Clark news.  I'm not blaming her, but the media has gone crazy over her and I'm sick and tired of it.

[mojoween]

Who’s surprised that SC won.  Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

Congratulations to South Carolina. 

Now, hopefully, I'll get a break from Caitlin Clark news.  I'm not blaming her, but the media has gone crazy over her and I'm sick and tired of it.

She's probably more sick and tired of it than we are. 

[Carey]

Well, unlike the other legends, it's not a retirement

[Salacious Kitty]

Yeah, I saw that last night. Odd that they broke the story very late on a Sunday night. 

It's not even a lateral move.

[AimingforYoko]

4 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

It's not even a lateral move.

It's a "Get me the hell away from these Kentucky fans" move.

[Carey]

18.7 Million Viewers for Iowa & South Carolina.  A record & the highest total in 32 years.  That will be more than whatever the final total ends up being for the Men's Tournament Final, unless it isn't.

To be fair, Purdue/UCONN is on cable, and when bring up a lesser total from 2023, San Diego State isn't a big brand when compared to Purdue.  Still, the numbers are the numbers.

Speaking of the Title game, Connecticut will end up as a 6.5 favorite before tip off.  The Over/Under is 143.5.  We're either going to get maximum redemption 2.0 or our first back-to-back winner since 2007

[kathyk2]

On 4/2/2024 at 5:17 PM, mojoween said:

That’s what I don’t get.  Why is everyone paying attention to women’s basketball because of this brown-haired white girl?  Rebecca and Diana and Sue and Breanna were also brown-haired white girls.  Were they hamstrung by going to Connecticut?

What about Sheryl and Cheryl, two of the best hoopers ever?  Tamika?  Candace?

Is it NIL?  The interwebs?  Twitter?  That I’m an old lady who wants the ladies who came before her to be talked about so reverently?

Yes I know the ratings for yesterday’s games were probably monstrous (not only because of Caitlin, but probably the majority) and I wish I could pinpoint what’s different now.  Other than I’m a salty old broad.

I think many of Caitlin's fan haven't watched women's basketball so they don't know it's history. Connecticut and Tennessee stressed team over the individual. I thought it was nuts to say Diana Taurasi was jealous after all she has achieved. Caitlin won't get the calls in the pros that she got in college.

[Carey]

Well, how bout them Huskies!

[Salacious Kitty]

Was hoping against hope that Purdue could pull it out, but they were flat out dominated. Oh well. 

[Carey]

As mentioned, Purdue had the best player, but Connecticut had the best team.

"A lot of guys on that team. Many of whom could stop Eady. Or they don't, but unless the other players from Purdue can stop the players from the champs from doing their thing, it could be over before it's over."

Those were my thoughts pregame.  Still despite the outcome there was a chance that either team could win until that was no longer the case in the second half of the second half.

While what AimingforYoko said about South Carolina is accurate, what, IMO, is also fair enough is this era for Connecticut.  With apologies to Calhoun.

Connecticut is the new Connecticut.  Hurley is a modern day Geno.  That's the quote

[baldryanr]

5 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

I thought it was nuts to say Diana Taurasi was jealous after all she has achieved.

Why?  At the very least, a lot of NBA guys are often dismissive of the hot new thing (these young whippersnappers are a bunch of softies who'd be pounded to paste if they played in my day, so why do they get all of this attention and money as if they're the first good player), so why should WNBA stars be any different? 

Plus, for better or worse, winning a championship matters a lot in basketball.  Clark made the finals twice and lost.  You can bet that the cranky old guard will hold that against her, at least until she wins a championship in the pros.

[mojoween]

UConn did not go undefeated, so what happened on the days they lost, and why couldn’t anyone replicate that?  I ask why plaintively, and whining, because fuck UConn.

[Carey]

The first loss was against the last school to win the title, and the only team Connecticut didn't beat this season.  We'll never know if the Jayhawks would've gotten to them a second time if they were healthy enough to win 5 games.  Losing their top scorer is something.

To be honest, Kansas loses to UCONN had they met, but the score would've been closer.  Would've been their only matchup that featured someone that's won big.  However, UCONN is just stacked so winning still takes place.

As for Seton Hall & Creighton, the former was wild.  It's tough to win out & upsets happen.  So the champs made sure to avenge the first meeting.  As for Creighton, that's a Top 15 team that was humiliated so they too had to return the favor. 

At the end of the day, none of the losses were shockers.  Kansas is still Kansas, whereas the other teams were Big East teams.  Conference play is just different.  Finally, sometimes a loss is okay as one could evaluate what went wrong.  Something New England & Indianapolis didn't go through in 2007 and 2009.  Unless they were trying not to win as it relates to the NFL

[proserpina65]

On 4/2/2024 at 5:17 PM, mojoween said:

That’s what I don’t get.  Why is everyone paying attention to women’s basketball because of this brown-haired white girl?  Rebecca and Diana and Sue and Breanna were also brown-haired white girls.  Were they hamstrung by going to Connecticut?

What about Sheryl and Cheryl, two of the best hoopers ever?  Tamika?  Candace?

Is it NIL?  The interwebs?  Twitter?  

Social media has changed how the sport and the players are covered.  Although I suspect it won't have the same frenzy next season unless another "once in a generation" type player fills the void left when Clark goes to the WNBA.  Her achievements really were stupendous and generated a lot of media attention.  I mean, she broke the men's college scoring record which had stood for 54 years!

[Crashcourse]

Congratulations to UConn!  I really liked that it wasn't just about one guy (like Zack Edey).  The whole UConn team contributed, and it was nice to see.    

My only complaint is that the game started so late on the East Coast.  They didn't actually start playing until around 9:30 and I almost fell asleep before it was over.  

[mojoween]

I made it to halftime and then bailed when UConn got up double digits.

The women outrated the men, one assumption could be that people wanted to see Caitlin even if SC’s undefeated season was most likely to conclude with the natty, and people didn’t think Purdue had a reasonable chance to win and Zach isn’t that much of a draw?

[Carey]

The be fair, the men's tournament final was on cable, while the women's tournament final wasn't.  To defend on my previous sentence as it relates to a possible counterpoint: San Diego State, who made it to the title game last year on CBS, isn't a big brand compared to Purdue.  That's important; on this day (or in this case, April 8, yesterday) five years ago, the championship game put up decent numbers.  Both teams were Power Five programs.

Having said that, the women's side was just that much better than the men's side.  The network vs cable thing, while a valid reason, is still an excuse.  Other than Edey, there really wasn't anybody worth knowing.  Caitlin was well known, as are a lot of women.  It's easier to follow someone familiar as opposed to someone that goes to 4 schools in as many years before the eligibility ends.

[Crashcourse]

Changed my mind. 😉

Edited April 9 by Crashcourse

[Carey]

22 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Social media has changed how the sport and the players are covered.  Although I suspect it won't have the same frenzy next season unless another "once in a generation" type player fills the void left when Clark goes to the WNBA.  Her achievements really were stupendous and generated a lot of media attention.  I mean, she broke the men's college scoring record which had stood for 54 years!

I don't know how old CC's parents are.  So based off of what I do not know, they may not have been born when the record was set back in 1970.  Definitely remarkable.  Might take another half a century + a half decade.  On the other hand, it might fall again before the end of the decade.

Now here comes a comment or two that trends toward "hating" on the accomplishment.  Which, from me there's no hating.  There are people on Social Media that have been accused of hating here, and while some definitely are, other are not.  And here I come to defend them.

To be fair to Pistol Pete, his record took three years to be a reality, and the 3-point line wasn't a thing.  Shot clocks were not so popular either.  Imagine if he'd played with the current rules or if Clark played with same rules!

Now, to be fair to Caitlin, she was born when she was born.  In other words, you can only play in the era that you're in.  It's not her fault that she this is the time where she can persevere as opposed to the past or future.  Furthermore, she has no control on the rules and change to the game.  You can either accept it and play during it or you don't.

Of course, other people had a chance to break Maravich's record.  Now many of them had a stacked roster to where it may not have been necessary.  Without Caitlin's dominance, Iowa would've been nowhere.  As a result, her record is legit.  No asterisk needed.  By the way, and unless I'm mistaken, Caitlin's collegiate career started during the pandemic.  She was featured several times during that period.

As mentioned, Social Media definitely how everything is covered.  Not just in sports, but throughout life.  Again, I can't blame the current stars.  To an extent (at least) they're blameless.  Times change; people change

[mojoween]

Good to see Danny returning to UConn.  Maybe he checked out Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino’s CV’s and said whooboy that is not for me.

[kathyk2]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

Good to see Danny returning to UConn.  Maybe he checked out Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino’s CV’s and said whooboy that is not for me.

Brad Stevens actually did very well as Celtics coach. The Lakers haven't been loyal to their coaches so I don't blame him for staying at UConn.

[Carey]

Amid all the madness with Major League Baseball and its League Championship Series (mainly the ALCS), coupled with collegiate and professional American football, College Hoops is still important.  At least for me.

To get to the point, Bennett of UVA just quit. Figured that for a second it was before the next season but then given how it's less than a month away he'd exit after spring of 2025.

Although he led one of his teams to the first one-and-done outcomes in the NCAA Tournament, I guess he made up for it.  However, just that one year, complete with "question marks" in the second half of their journey.  Nevertheless, a great guy

[Salacious Kitty]

But bailing on the team a month before the season starts is not well done, unless it's a health related issue. Good coach, though. 

[Calvada]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

But bailing on the team a month before the season starts is not well done, unless it's a health related issue. Good coach, though. 

It's similar to Dick Bennett's exit from Wisconsin.  He quit three games into the season, saying he was burned out.  Dick came back to coaching a couple years later.  I wonder if Tony will do the same.

[mojoween]

Unless there are changes to NIL, sounds like Tony said no thanks, do not want to deal with that crap.

My newspaper printed a coaches poll how they think the ACC is going to play out, and seeing the schools in a graphic like that … 18 teams is just too many.

[Carey]

Unless the changes to NIL occurred at the beginning of this month, I would have bailed several months ago.  This crap has been going on for several years.  Yes enough is enough, but his exit and the time isn't changing anything.  That aside, cannot blame him.

18 teams work for football I guess, but yeah that's a lot in hoops.  At least all 18 teams aren't getting into the ACC Tournament, but it's just as silly to have most of them in (15 of 18).  Twelve is a decent number.  Might as well add all 18 to be honest.  83% is sort of laughable

[voiceover]

Congratulations Bill Self!!

Tonight he surpassed Phog Allen as the winningest coach in KU Basketball history.  And how did he describe his 591st victory? “Ugly.”   🤣🤣🤣