Championship Sunday Open Thread

Submitted by MH20 on

Selection Sunday is finally here! A small slate of games today as most conference tourneys are complete. The American takes over the Big Ten's annual Time Slot That Is Too Late For The Committee To Care About The Result, tipping at 3:30 and finishing mere minutes before the selection show begins. Actually, can you imagine if the game went into OT or even double OT? It's too bad that Memphis lost yesterday because that could've led to some hilarity on the set of CBS TBS and in the committee's board room if the show had to begin but the game result was still in doubt.

Anyway, here are today's matchups:

 

MATCHUP   TIME  (ET) NAT TV TICKETS LOCATION
Pennsylvania
12:00 PM ESPN2
WatchESPN
Buy on Vivid Seats The Palestra, Philadelphia, PA  
Davidson
1:00 PM CBS 147 tickets as low as $38 Capital One Arena, Washington, DC  
Kentucky
1:00 PM ESPN
WatchESPN
658 tickets as low as $44 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO  
UT Arlington
2:00 PM ESPN2
WatchESPN
Buy on Vivid Seats Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA  
#21Houston
3:30 PM CBS 570 tickets as low as $6 Amway Center, Orlando, FL

 

Don't think it matters who wins in the SEC or the American -- Michigan isn't passing UT or UC and I think UK has too much ground to make up (Houston is pretty solidly a 6). A Davidson victory steals a bid from a bubble team so schools like Louisville, ASU, and St. Mary's are big Rhode Island fans today.

freelion

March 11th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^

I don't care what region. We match up very well with most of the 1 and 2 seeds and we will have to beat them to advance anyway.

Grampy

March 11th, 2018 at 11:12 AM ^

After watching the Big East/ACC championships, the only team I thought could play with Michigan was Virginia, and solely on the strength of their defense. None of the teams have the ability to spread the floor on offense the way that we can, and that makes the Virginia/UM matchup the most intriguing. They were very tough on ball at the top of the key with their trapping off of screens, but they weren't dealing with 3 point shooters on either wing. I'm looking forward to Beilein taking apart teams on an extended tourney run.

sum1valiant

March 11th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^

I didn't get to watch a lot of Vriginia throughout the year, but caught all of their tournament games. Kyle Guy is a dude. If he's playing in any other offense, he's most likely a POY candidate. His shooting can take over a game if necessary, and he one of the quickest releases I've ever seen. He is the only reason Virginia is moderately scary to me.

corundum

March 11th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^

He's playing with a sprained MCL as well. He was even scarier before the conf tourney.

Virginia is well coached and plays excellent defense. They take smart shits and work their halfcourt offense almost every possession. Anyone that says they would be happy to play Virginia does not watch a lot of CBB, or is extremely biased.

G. Gulo of the Dale

March 11th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^

A majority of major polls have us as a three, and--if we aren't a three--which teams take our place?

It seems pretty likely that the 1-seeds are UVA, Villanova, Kansas, and likely Xavier

The 2-seeds are almost certainly UNC, Duke, Cincy, and Purdue

The 3-seeds are UTenn, UM (us), MSU, and...?  (Auburn, WVU, or Arizona)

Are we going to get jumped by two of those last three schools?  Seems unlikely, although I'd accept a 4-seed under the condition that it puts us in an easier region.

goblue16

March 11th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^

I started watching basketball during the Amaker years and his biggest problem was non conference scheduling and road games in the big ten. Always get 20 wins but only win 2 road games than play UCLA or DOOK in the non conference and lose. And other than Daniel Horton who turned out to be average his recruiting was trash. Still I’m happy for him having success at Harvard

The Man Down T…

March 11th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^

with Amaker.  He was a good dude and could get decent recruits.  He just couldn't develop them consistently like Beilein can.  Amaker's teams always charged into a season winning. Then the rest of the teams got better and his didn't.  Then they'd lose a ton and miss the NCAA tournament.  I hope he's developed that talent.  It's what sets most great coaches apart from the average ones.

DeepBlueC

March 11th, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^

Especially considering that the program was a train wreck on the court, and on probabtion when he took over.  But then it fell off a cliff, and he got nobody worth a darn until Harris and Sims.  And unfortunately, he did not develop the guys he had, but the talent was there for Big Ten title contenders and tournament bids.  Courtney Sims could have been one of the best centers in the conference, if not the country, but he needed a coach who would kick his ass, and Amaker wasn't it.

Never figured out what happened to his half court offense, though.  In his third year, when they won the NIT, it was really quite good.  After that, his teams just seemed to revert to throwing the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds, then chucking up a wild 3.