March Madness: Sweet 16 (Thursday) [OPEN THREAD]
NCAA Tournament Games | ||
TIME (ET) | MATCHUP | TV |
7:15 PM | (7) Wichita St vs (3) Notre Dame* | CBS |
7:47 PM | (4) North Carolina vs (1) Wisconsin* | TBS |
9:45 PM | (5) West Virginia vs (1) Kentucky* | CBS |
10:17 PM | (6) Xavier vs (2) Arizona* | TBS |
I'll take all 4 games over any one game tomorrow night.
It would be so awful to play basketball in under armour shoes. UA is for over forty and hunters. It's surely not for basketball.
What? Over 40?
Pretty much all the people I see wearing UA gear are teenagers.
Champion is probably for over 40 and hunters...
Under Armour created a niche being Oregon before Oregon.
Now all Nike is bright colors and that's what's in. UA brought that back.
My own picks, which now reflect only two of the pools I am in - the two I still have some hope in when it comes to winning some cash....
- Notre Dame (I had a pregame tossup feel about this one though, but not so much now)
- Wisconsin
- Kentucky
- Arizona
Having now revealed my actual picks in those brackets, someone goes down. That seems to be the way that goes for me.
Bucket $$
Notre Dame will make the final 4 for sure
You think they'll beat Kentucky?
You think they'll beat Kentucky?
Forgot they were in the same bracket. It will be a great game though.
Wichita State deserves credit for hanging with the power 5 conferences
This is a tough game for Wichita and the only reason I picked against them. Playing Kansas is something these guys have wanted for years. They get a decisive win there and now you have to turn around and play a team that's almost the opposite of Kansas. I would be very impressed if they could win those two back to back.
I would like Wisconsin and Notre Dame to win these two games, please.
I have really enjoyed watching this core of Wichita St the past 3 years of VanFleet, Baker, and Cotton (and Early the past two years).
It's crazy that they were primarily an underclassmen led mid-major team two years ago, and a lot of people forget they had a 10 point second half lead vs Louisville. Man, if only they could have held on that game...
I would have enjoyed watching us play Wichita two years ago.
I almost kind of want Wisconsin to win. Especially after reading everything about them the last few days. But then I look over and see Bo Ryan. Go UNC.
Wisconsin looks very lazy/slow - they better step this up.
I made a bet that Kentucky will lose in the tournament...I know they've got all kind of size and athleticism...but they play fairly sloppy and I can't see them beating 4 quality opponents in a row.
and Bo Ryan is going to erupt.
It's kind of amazing what happens when refs actually call some of the fouls Wisconsin commits.
Wisconsin / UNC been pretty back and forth, quite fun thus far.
High level basketball being played...the other game is very good as well.
Like I said, all four games today are better than anything we'll see tomorrow.
It's March, though. Everyone thought those first four games last Thursday would be blowouts and they were some of the best of the tournament. You just never know. I could see Utah pushing Duke. And NC St is capable of a lot. And you never know what you are getting from Oklahoma on a given day.
But these matchups even on paper are all better than anything tomorrow.
You have the Fast/Slow storyline, the favorite mid-major over the ACC tournament champion, The pressing, fouling, tough, pitbull type team versus the undefeated powerhouse, then a coach going against his former program which is a Sweet 16 mainstay the past 5 years.
More importantly, you're talking about great TEAMS. Outside of WVU, all of these are REALLY good teams. And WVU plays a style that makes their matchup intriuging.
Last week there were a TON of close games, but there weren't as many high level basketball games. SMU/UCLA was a close game with a crazy ending. These two games tonight are MUCH better basketball games thus far.
Just because games are close doesn't make the play any good. This is high level/elite basketballright now.
Oh, I agree completely. On paper, there is no comparison. Luckily, these first two games are living up to it (assuming WSU doesn't completely die right now). But it's perfectly conceivable that Kentucky and Arizona come out and blow away their opponents.
I do think you are underestimating Utah, who I believe to be underseeded. I also think Cat Barber is a lot of fun to watch and it could be interesting to watch him bring the ball up if and when Louisville goes to a press.
Can't do March Madness any other way.
ND back to making every shot they take. They seem to be very streaky. Wichita seems to be guarding inside and forcing ND to shoot. I don't understand. It works if ND is off, but they are hitting again and Wichita isn't guarding the shooters at all.
I rewatched the Michigan vs Kentucky game from the Elite Eight last year earlier. Was quite enjoyable, but also quite heart wrenching as well. I know that it is all water under the bridge now, but a few key things happened in that game that I picked up watching it again.
There were two 5 min plus droughts that really hurt us, and we were out rebounded heavily. Even with those two things going against us, that game was ours and here's why. In the first half, Marcus Lee was not called for touching the ball while it was already in the cylinder, and thus gave them 2 pts.
Also, Caris LeVert hit a 3 pointer which was called a 2. The review clearly showed LeVert just behind the line. So that is 3 pts right there taken from us. After we tied the game at 72-72, Kentucky had the ball with about 25 sec left. Team fouls were only 5 for us.
So Michigan would have fouled them and ran time off the clock. Even if they made both FTs, we would have still been up 1 pt with not much time left. That's game, set, match, and moving on to face Wisconsin. Sorry for the long post, but it's hard to accept a loss that really shouldn't have been. Next season can't get here fast enough. GO BLUE!!
I rewatched the Michigan vs Kentucky game from the Elite Eight last year earlier. Was quite enjoyable, but also quite heart wrenching as well. I know that it is all water under the bridge now, but a few key things happened in that game that I picked up watching it again.
There were two 5 min plus droughts that really hurt us, and we were out rebounded heavily. Even with those two things going against us, that game was ours and here's why. In the first half, Marcus Lee was not called for touching the ball while it was already in the cylinder, and thus gave them 2 pts.
Also, Caris LeVert hit a 3 pointer which was called a 2. The review clearly showed LeVert just behind the line. So that is 3 pts right there taken from us. Michigan should have been up 75-72. Kentucky had the ball with about 25 sec left. Team fouls were only 5 for us.
So Michigan would have fouled them and ran time off the clock. Even if they made both FTs, we would have still been up 1 pt with not much time left. That's game, set, match, and moving on to face Wisconsin. Sorry for the long post, but it's hard to accept a loss that really shouldn't have been. Next season can't get here fast enough. GO BLUE!!
No way I can root against that guy now.
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Too lazy to look for a video, but I'm sure it's out there...
That's who the "beautiful" woman was - the NCAA stenographer.
...but I still think we should play them regularly in basketball. And we should play them 2 on/2 off or every other year in football.
Wichita St. needs a run here, ND is playing extremely well right now.
...it's be on FX On Demand by the end of the summer...guaranteed.
so it's got that going for it
Only chance for Wichita is if ND goes cold again and they actually start making a shot occasionally.
WSU playing horrible defense today after being solid all season. Have to guard the 3 point line against ND, but preferable without leaving their center wide open.
This blows...seeing Notre Dame play so well.
And North Carolina/Wisconsin...hate both teams and want them both to lose. But at least it's a good game so far.
Well, it looks like I will be a big Kentucky fan for the weekend. That sucks.
Yes, it does suck. Kind of like when Notre Dame played Bama for the football title. Didn't want to root for the Tide but I'm sure as hell never going to root for ND.
If Wisconsin loses tonight, the last shred left of my bracket is long gone. And if ND wins, then I guess I'm becoming a huge Kentucky fan.
Ugh, could you all imagine the unlikely, but still potential possibility of an MSU-ND title game? At that rate it couldn't possibly be a worse year for Michigan fans.
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This happened in 2008 (?) in hockey. What made it worse is that Michigan was clearly the best team in the nation that year and lost to ND in OT in the frozen four after beating them four times during the regular season. MSU won the title. That was the worst weekend of hockey ever.
No, Michigan State won the title in 2007, beating BC 3-1. The next year was the year we were ranked #1 all season only to lose to ND in OT in the semifinal. Different years.
So who did ND lose to in the final? I must have combined those two terrible years in my head.
BC. BC went to the final in 2006 and 2007, losing to Wisconsin and MSU before finally winning it all against ND in 2008.
Frank Kaminsky always looks like the biggest stoner ever.
I've watched the NCAA long enough to know, that when you play UNC you are also playing the refs. It's usually good for about 8 points.
When UNC plays Duke, the refs' heads must explode.