NCAA Tournament Open Thread
Early games start in one hour. Best four days of sports every year.
who do you have winning it all?
Who are your biggest upsets?
March 16th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
I may be in the minority here but I'm kind of hoping the B10 gets run off the court in all their games this year. I've never been one to care about or understand conference 'loyalty' anyway, but the petty and bitter fan in me (since M's season was largely a disaster) would enjoy seeing proof of just how terrible the conference really was. I have no ill will towards Purdue, so if they make a run that is fine and deserved, but everyone else is either garbage or a team I actively root against anyway.
Other than Purdue and maybe Indiana every team should have been a 10/11 seed. I know it can't work that way but everyone seems...bad. B10 basketball is bad and unwatchable a lot of the time. How the hell is Maryland an 8?! MSU a 7?!
March 16th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
College basketball as a whole was sorta down this year - Alabama being maybe the best team in the country felt like a tell; that's not a great team by any means and could absolutely get bounced by a competent 8/9 seed.
MSU being a #7 was hilarious when it was announced and so I absolutely assume they'll make it to the Elite 8 for dumb reasons.
But yeah, it's a shitty conference overall this year. Purdue is a solid team and I think IU can make some noise but that's sorta it. Oh, and PSU could absolutely shoot themselves past a couple of teams if they get hot. Same with Iowa, though they're just as likely to fall apart hitting 25% of 50 3 attempts.
March 16th, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
Despite it making me nauseous, I took state to make the elite eight. I actually feel they can play some basketball, as much as I hate to say that.
msu has zero inside game on offense or defense. i see them getting bounced early.
March 16th, 2023 at 12:56 PM ^
Good money is on Iowa finding a way to lose in the NCAAs.
My favorite betting play is when this board hits an agreement on something at above 95%. So far it seems like everyone thinks the BIG TEN is trash which makes me wonder if this isnt the year the BIG TEN actually shows up in the tourney. As usual it will come down to how they do in games decided by 3 points or less. Usually they lose almost all of them. It should be interesting to see but board sentiment has me thinking something unusual happens this year with the BIG TEN teams.
Haha this is the way, rice.
(See: OSU vs Georgia)
It really is. Like the UM athletic department and its 100 millions surplus cant afford their baseball coach. Bowl games being meaningless when some of our best memories are bowl games but they dont hold the value of a 78-0 beating of Rutgers (fun as it may be).
The BIG TEN isnt horrible they just have very little wow factor. They are Purdue and 9 Michigans. Watch out for CMU but also watch out for us if you are Virginia kinda season.
“which makes me wonder if this isnt the year the BIG TEN actually shows up in the tourney.”
Welp, so much for that.
March 16th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
What are you referring to?
On a day where Northwestern and Penn state and Maryland won tournament games id say solid day for the big ten.
Good half by Maryland. We'll, not the entire half but to persevere as they did was impressive. They're full court "pressure" has WVU a bit off kilter on offense, as well. This might be a great game finish to start the tourney weekend.
Furman hanging around with UVA. Down by 5 at the half. One of my upset picks.
Upset alert: Kansas and Howard tied at 2
Maryland and WVU being tied feels so weird. WVU basically had two big runs in them and that's been it.
Fuck it, Go Purple Fighting Furman's and Howard
Our Internet has been out since last night and we have no TV available. Thus, I can only keep track of the games by ESPN game tracker. Looks like all of the first four games are wonderful, NCAA nailbiter‘s. Such a great time of the year.
Only time i can ever remember losing cable was superbowl a few years back when we were hosting. Not good!
Maryland up by 3 with the ball, under aminute.
I have no idea what WVU's offensive plan was on that last play but I assume it wasn't spending 20 seconds before shooting a 2.
Maryland over WVU in nail biter - 67-65. My $10M is still in play.
That was close by WVU.
Credit to Maryland - didn't think they'd win that game. Probably does go to the overratedness of the bottom of the Big 12 where the tourney treated the 8th-best team in a 10-team conference as a good squad.
Furman shot themselves in the foot on back to back possessions under 2 to go. A forced three and a turnover pretty much is the difference in a win and loss
Edit: damn what a turn of events in this one.
LMAO WTF
And that is March in a nutshell.
Virginia... just never come back. You've embarrassed yourself enough.
FUUUUUUURMAAAAAAAN!!
Furman steals and drains a three to take a lead with 2.2 seconds left. Those 3- and 5-lines are a bitch.
Furman has won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Furman over UVA with a steal and three with 2 seconds to go! My $10 M is still in play.
First big upset. Good game by Furman to come back like that.
UVA a relatively frequent pants-pooper in the tourney, right?
Book them to win the 2024 NCAA Tourney now.
Honestly, as bad as 2018 was (losing by 20 (!!!!) to a #16 seed), it may be better than losing in this way. They had a timeout left!
2018: Lost (by 20 points) to 16 seed UMBC
2019: Champions
2020: No tournament (COVID-19)
2021: Lost to 13 seed Ohio
2022: Did not qualify
2023: Lost to 13 seed Furman
The first upset of the day is in... it's 13 over 4 - yes, Furman over Virginia...
Maryland claws back to defeat West Virginia.
UVa is such a weird team - they won a title and haven't gotten out of the first round since (ignoring 19-20) and didn't even make the tournament last year. Bennett's a good coach but it feels like their system is so limited offensively that they have to basically be perfect on defense to compete with good teams.
Pretty flukey title they won in ‘19. They got two huge ref mistakes to go their way in the elite 8 game and then another ref mistake in OT to win in the final four.
True, but I feel like a lot of championship teams have some weird breaks go their way.
But yeah, it was probably not a repeatable process they followed to win.
". . . a lot of championship teams have some weird breaks go their way"
AGREE!
In hindsight, I'm really glad UVA won that year on the one fact that Tony Bennett won & not Chris Beard.
Love to see UVA go down. Their online fans were really obnoxious when we played.
If Furman beat Virginia, by transitive properties, they would also beat us.
Furman just had subs. It was crazy.
…and an excess of swag.
I chose 'Bama
Mizzou - Utah State tied at 41 with 14 minutes to go.
Utah State 49 - Mizzou 47, 10:45 to go.
When will teams stop in bounding ball to a guard in the corner & an immediate trap vs a full court press? It's an epidemic in College ball.Elated that Furman won tho.
I don't think the Big10 is a bad as some are saying here. Parity does not mean mediocrity.
Hope you are right, but after last year’s tourney, B10 has something to prove.
i watched them play...a lot. the big ten is down this year. that said, i see no true elite teams anywhere this year.
Mizzou over Utah State 76-65.
My perfect bracket is gone - goodbye $10M. No party this year.
For me the most disappointing upsets today were Brian Bonino over #7 Matt Finesilver and Cody Phippen over #12 Dylan Ragusin. However, #20 Chance Lamer got an upset over #15 Doug Zapf. We'll see how the evening session goes tonight.