Gonzaga or USC?
Normally I don't like to talk about the NEXT round until our team is done with the current one. But we've gotta sit through the Zags-Trojans game tomorrow night regardless, so......
What are we thinking? Do we pull for USC because duh, you want to play a 6 seed not a 1 seed?
Or....do we want the shot at beating an Undefeated Gonzaga and denying them the first undefeated title since the 70's? With USC and the Pac 12 playing so well, USC might not be that much less of an opponent anyway. KenPom has USC up to #6 (thought still WAAAAY behind Gonzaga), and they will jump even higher if they win tomorrow. They have the top ranked defense (#4 overall) of the remaining teams, and are closing in on having a top 10 overall offense too. Though the Elite 8 is offense-heavy--USC offense is only 6th out of the 8 at 14th overall.
This is NOT meant to be a "look ahead" post or anything. UCLA is good and playing really well, so we have our hands full. But--most of us will be watching the other game too So....what do we want?
Pray for Gonzaga to lose
Amen brother ?
Let's focus on beating UCLA first. I know this game is before ours, but we have no say in who wins that game.
Lets discuss the things we do have a say in. Ill go first.
....
I'll bet you're a lot of fun at parties. You understand we also have no say in who wins the UCLA/Michigan game, right?
This is a discussion board, so discussing a germane topic that most people here will be watching seems ok to me, no? Why don't you sit this one out if you've decided you don't approve of the topic.
That's it---I'll discuss your idea with Seth, he and Brian might just have to consider shutting down the MGoBoard.
.
/s
USC.
I don't care about any fake pride about beating the best of the best. I want the easiest possible path to a title. If it was an option, I'd play all 16 seeds to cut down the nets.
Finally someone who gets it. I agree. And this post is going to littered with people saying "let's beat UCLA first". We don't play for the team. We are fans. It's fine if we look ahead. It doesn't affect the game.
Only the most passionate and insane of fans would remember the paths that previous national champions went through.
True. The only people that would care about Michigan getting an easier path to a national championship would be Michigan St and Ohio St fans. And Illinois fans could care less...anything to bring home that co-national champs title.
"Only the most passionate and insane of fans would remember the paths that previous national champions went through."
I bet even many younger Sparty fans don't know that Tom Izzo's lone National Championship consisted of a 8 seed Wisconsin and a 5 seed Florida in the Final Four. (I know this because I looked it up a few years ago.)
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Since you can only play who's in front of you, I want the easier path.
Call me crazy, but beating Illinois in the 1989 Final Four was pretty sweet.
Fans DO affect the game
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-23-1-when-i-don%27t-watch
I prefer games like FSU as opposed to games like Villanova or Louisville.
Yes. Anyone who wants a tougher road is mental. Are we still glad Villanova didn't get upset before we saw them in the national championship game?
We beat UCLA I don’t care who we face.
I don’t care about reputable wins. At the end of the day, give me the easiest path to the final ending with a Michigan championship. Nobody hangs banners for beating good teams. You hang banners for winning.
You are not entirely correct. Illinois hangs banners for beating good teams. I moved to Champaign in 2004, in time for the season when Illinois basketball ALMOST went undefeated, losing their last game of the regular season, and ALMOST won the tourney, losing the championship game. Several weeks later, I saw a hard cover book in the grocery store about their amazing season. I thought to myself, "Who writes books about coming in second?" I subsequently came to understand that Illinois does.
Well, there is also a book about Michigan following the run in the 2013 tournament.
But you had me at "Illinois"
It is my understanding that Louisville did not win the Championship Game that year.
I want Michigan to take out the zags. Then Baylor, be the best, beat the best.
But if Gonzaga and/or Baylor lose they aren't the best...?
i like your use of a question mark here?
USC. Want to see the Dickinson/Mobley rematch and hopefully it goes the same way it did in high school.
Whom do I want to win? USC.
Whom do I think will win? Gonzaga. By 20+.
March 29th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
Gonzaga is not winning by 20. Should be a really good game.
Doesn't matter who wins to me.
Gonzaga's rating in kenpom right now is the highest rating of any team since he started doing this 20 years ago. USC's defense is no joke, but I think I would still rather Michigan play a team that they're ranked ahead than the highest ranked team in kenpom history.
I did not realize Gonzaga's rating was that unusual. Even with a weak schedule that is impressive.
I'd rather play Gonzaga because I'm just fascinated to see how we'd fare against them.
Nobody will even care in 3 months who we beat on the path to the championship. Go Trojans!
USC not even close. The Zags EM is a full 7 points on 100 possessions ahead of the group behind them which does include us. I think Michigan is playing well but don’t need this to get into a pissing contest to see who gets to the Championship game.
Also beat UCLA.
Gonzaga by 23
This is like asking whether or not we root for the Big Ten overall and obviously the right answer is of course you don't
? Of course?
I'm sure this is a "If you have to ask, then I don't need to tell you," but what are your reasons for not pulling for the Big Ten overall?
I know that OSU and MSU fans generally don't pull for us in anything, but I'd like to think that as brethren, we take the approach of, "I'm allowed to beat them up, but you're not."
did i say "of course you don't"? i meant "of course you do. maybe. i guess. nah don't"
gonzaga. they are a very good team but i reject the theme that they are the best. they played an admittedly very solid OOC schedule, but haven't had a tough game in 4 months. if they played in the B10 they'd be a third place finisher with 4 or 5 losses. they struggled to beat their own conference at times, with more than a handful of close scores at halftime. they were behind big to BYU in the WCC championship game and had to come back in the second half to win it.
are they good? i sure think so. are they #1? i am very skeptical and i'd like a shot to prove it.
I want to see how that irritating headbanded douchebag Timmeh does with two 7-footers on him.
If they played in the Big10, I have a hard time seeing 4 or 5 losses. They are 17-0 in neutral/road games. They've played and beaten:
3 seed Kansas by 12
3 seed West Virginia by 5
2 seed Iowa by 11
4 seed Virginia by 23
6 seed BYU by 17, 11, and 10
8 seed Oklahoma by 16
5 seed Creighton by 18
That's 9-0 against top 8 seeds (5 occurring in the last month,) most of them at road or neutral settings. I'd give Gonzaga a 9-1/10-0 record at home. Maybe they lose @Illinois and @Michigan, if they get games there. Remember, you don't visit every big 10 team in a 20 game schedule. The floor is 17-3 in the Big10.
They struggled to beat their conference 1 time, if you count a halftime deficit as a struggle.
Nearly all those teams were vastly overseeded, especially Kansas, WVA, and Creighton. And we crushed Iowa when they were playing arguably much better ball than in early December. Held them to 57pts while Gonzaga let them score 88!
The Big 10 was a really tough road and I've seen nothing from Gonzaga that indicates they could've dealt with that day in and day out without delivering a clunker or two like every other team. Also, when playing teams that are so much better than their crappy conference, it becomes much easier to scout them b/c there's more of a chance of seeing what can work against them.
Lol all vastly overseeded? Who do you put in front of them then? Kansas and Iowa were 3rd in their conferences.
That Kansas whom lost to USC by 34?
All good points, very reasoned analysis, but I watched Gonzaga play a few times. Again, they're a very good basketball team I just don’t think they would’ve fared nearly as well if they played in a real league.
I agree 100%
Gonzaga is a very good basketball team from a mid major conference
I’ll die on that hill
whichever one will cause more bitching on RCMB when we win
That would be USC then by a nose. The them would be we had a lucky bracket draw....except UCLA? Hmmm.
Beat UCLA. Then Beat USC. Claim the city.
I want Michigan to win the championship. Who we beat along the way is a distant secondary concern.
Don't care. Win The Game(s).
You are allowed to look ahead. Doing so has zero to do with the outcome of the game. Literally zero*.
*Unless you're a burner account for one of our players or coaches.
What about Illinois? Is that still an option?