#2 West vs Montana
Make the Final Four and it's still a banner/trophy year.
Yeah, today was a kick in the nuts they did not need. I thought the loss at Breslin would be a great motivator. This one on the other hand will likely just plant “doubt” as the dominant emotion in their mind. Honestly would have rather lost to Iowa on Friday.
Sure, nothing cures doubt like losing to a worse team than MSU, earlier in the tournament.
Ok man. We have different opinions. It’s cool.
You must be good at life.....
Look, I’ve watched a lot of college basketball in my life. In the BTT, we went in our “run.” We “hit the switch” that was likely going to propel us deep, this is a pretty significant intervening event. If we hadn’t hit that switch yet a loss in early in the BTT wouldn’t have meant anything. Like 2013.
College basketball is about momentum and frame of mind. We turned it on in this tournament, I don’t think our guys foresaw a loss here, and I do think it will fuck with them. If we get to the second weekend it will be a distant memory. But I do think this loss increases the chance of a first weekend exit.
You can disagree if you want, but I think a lot of people on here understand what I am saying.
That's because you live in a world where your opinions make sense more than about 3% of the time. Of course you think that people agree with you.
I get it. You're a negative guy. More power to you. That doesn't make you right, though. What you're spewing is absolute, unadulterated gibberish.
If Michigan loses one of their first two games -- which I don't expect, but which is possible -- it won't be because they were so surprised that they lost to the team that had already beaten them twice this year.
I mean, last year they had all the momentum in the world, then played a very sluggish game against Montana (hmm, they sound familiar) and then escaped Houston on a miraculous 30 foot shot from a guy that half of the fanbase seems to think is the worst player since, oh, Duncan Robinson? Eli Brooks? Derrick Walton? Zak Irvin? (This fanbase is good at eating its own).
Read my posting history. There is very little negative in it. I’ve been one of the consistent voices telling people the sky isn’t falling and things are all good. You are just having a post-loss meltdown. I get it. It’s cool.
anyone else think it is weird that MSU could potentially play Minnesota in round 2 and Maryland in round 3?
Turgeon is going to flame out in the first round like usual though.
ya, imo, he is easily the worst coach in the BIG. he would probably go winless in the BIG if he had NU, RU or PSU personnel this year.
Yes. Once again the committee with some questionable decisions.
yes. committee should have flipped sparty and tenn. but that would make too much sense.
and on a minor note, i often look if low seed teams get an overlooked homecourt advantage in the first round. i found two in the South - #5 Wisky vs #12 Oregon and #4 Kansas St vs #13 UC Irvine. both games in San Jose.
No.
The committee changed their bracketing principles a few years back, but I swear nobody noticed.
They now allow teams from the same conference to meet each other as early as the second round, if they only played each other once; Sweet 16, If they played each other twice, and Elite 8, if they played each other thrice.
Michigan State only played Minnesota once this year.
The reason for this was to reduce the number of times they have to switch teams off of their true seed line in order to seed the tournament. Prior to this change, it was common for teams to get switched from an 8 to a 9, for example, just so that they could place teams into the bracket with the conference restrictions. Since they made this change, it almost never happens.
I'm sure they'd have preferred to move Minnesota, but not to the extent that they wanted to change somebody's seed.
The no rematch thing was a good policy. There's 68 teams in the tournament every year, is it really too hard not to guarantee a team will play a rematch if they win? MSU played both Louisville and Minnesota this year. Imagine playing Nova or Wisconsin again this year in the second round. Yawn
March 18th, 2019 at 10:03 AM ^
Yes, it really is that hard to guarantee it without swapping people's seeds around.
Complaints about seeds were often exacerbated by these swaps, and they can sometimes be brutal; imagine being swapped from a 7 to an 8 or a 10 to a 9.
Note that there has never been a rule about second-round rematches in non-conference games (or rematches from last year's tournament). It would just put too many constraints on the committee.
Thanks for the explanation, I hadn't heard that.
Among the #10 seeds: they weren't going to put Iowa in Des Moines, or Florida in Jacksonville (vs. Kentucky). That would be too unfair to the #2 (and #7) seed.
But Minnesota is still close to Des Moines - I think that was the logic in Minnesota getting that particular #10 slot. Travel does seem to be a point of emphasis with the committee lately.
IMO: Unless completely unavoidable, you shouldn't have same-conference match-ups prior to the Sweet 16. I know that's not a hard rule though.
Swap Minnesota & Seton Hall and you don't have a potential MSU v Minnesota Round of 32 game. So this was avoidable (though less travel-friendly).
Two things will determine how far this team goes, how many of those hero/isolation ball stretches we see on offense and foul trouble since there is no depth this year.
That was primarily MSU defense. We did not get into any of that Friday and Saturday. MSU has our number on defense this year.
But only for 30 out of 80 min! : /
March 18th, 2019 at 10:39 AM ^
Michigan scored over 1.1 PPP in the first two games against MSU. They did not have their numbers. It was Michigan defense that let Michigan down in the first two meetings.
Yesterday, it was their offense that let Michigan down because they went into a lull since they decided that playing hero ball and jack up contested shots were a smart way to play offense. When they run their set, they were fine
lol
Everyone is talking about MSU having to face Duke, but they won't even make it that far. They lose to the Cardinals in the 2nd round. The Big Ten isn't there to protect them in this thing.
I think they will skate through to the Elite 8. They are really good. I know this because we are really good and they broomed us.
Should we pencil IU in the Final Four?
No. Indiana did not make the field this year. Why are you so interested in when Michigan State loses.
March 17th, 2019 at 10:52 PM ^
I think they will not skate through to the elite eight because they play like Sparty Noooo against every team not named Michigan. Watch their Indiana games or against Louisville. Turnovers, Nick Ward being Nick Ward, missed free throws. Until they can prove they can play like they do against Michigan it in the tourney, I will expect that this junior class won't make it to the second weekend for the third time in their careers
How is 14th ranked Nevada a 7 seed
overrated, but since they are out west, it seems like they got some of that lower seeding right back. i'm going to guess that lots of folks think we're in the weakest (best chance of winning) bracket, travel issues aside.
Beat Montana with dental floss
March 17th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
and a Pair of heavy-duty Zircon-encrusted tweezers
I like the draw.
I am not convinced M is getting by Nevada/Florida winner
Talking about Gonzaga seems premature
Which team scares you more: the one that lost to Georgia at home or the one that lost by 27 at New Mexico?
No opponent "scares" me more than the team that has Jordan Poole on it, and an offense that struggles in iso time.
March 17th, 2019 at 11:41 PM ^
A 16 seed beat a 1 seed last year. Any team can beat anybody in this Tourney. It is called March Madness for a reason. At our best, I like our odds against anybody although there are still vulnerabilities. At our worst, you’re right we can lose to anybody.
We’ll see what happens but I think we do better out of conference so I like that aspect of this draw.
Great draw. Go Blue !!!
Anyone know around when times will come out?
Late tonight. You will find out tomorrow, or you could set your alarm for like 1 AM. For whatever reason I think it will be a early.
We are playing at 9:20! Again, with the late starts.
Anyone know what time the game is on Thursday?
9:15 PM-ish
Why is MSU going to be playing one of two teams they already played this year in the second round? Isn't there supposed to be a rule you can't play a team in your conference or a team you've already played that year until the sweet 16? This whole bracket is a circle jerk for the ACC and a middle finger for the big ten.
We got a great seed that's all that matters. Fuck the Big Ten.
Apparently they changed that rule recently, I thought the same thing.
The worst part about this is how avoidable it was. Lousville already played Seton Hall, but you can swap the Louisville-Minnesota matchup for the Wofford-Seton Hall matchup easily. It avoids conference matchups in the first two rounds, avoids a guaranteed second round rematch for MSU, and sets up a fun Louisville-Kentucky game in round 2. Or swap Louisville for Nevada and Seton Hall for Minnesota. Ridiculous to have 3 teams in the bottom half of the East region from the same conference.
Good draw if we can survive the first weekend. Can't go cold shooting
Tip time is approx 920pm Thursday
the only consolation for losing to Sparty is that we get Gonzaga and they get Duke? Ok.
Izzo is 1-15 vs Coach K. But honestly I see them losing earlier than that