No question here. The Scouties were all over DaSean Butler's comments yesteday (heaven forbid a player should be happy with a new coach and winning)--but this would genuinely suck and open a new round of WVU smack--expecially if they win it all.
exactly?
I'm just hoping for the Baylor/Butler match-up. Who really wants to see MSU win more games?
...Baylor - Butler is the appropriate matchup to root for.
But I have a tough time seeing a mid-major beat MSU.
That's probably what fans of Syracuse and K-State said.
Sparty is different, though. They're the Dracula of basketball programs - they don't die when they should. It usually takes a super-talented team like UNC to drive a stake through their heart. They might not face a team like that all tourney.
They're the 2002 OSU football of this tournament: they are getting flat-out lucky.
Of the remaining teams, only Duke is more talented. WVU might be as talented.
...that's what everyone said vs. Maryland....then N. Iowa....then Tennessee...too.
State has been the favorite in all four of their matchups so far.
Though, it wouldn't surprise me to see the line in their favor in that game.
But they will be the favorite vs. Butler too. Just like the others. And you can find many around here who have been predicting MSU's demise every time after NMS. (Maryland will kill them....N. Iowa is good, MSU is getting no breaks, without their PG...doesn't matter that they won, Tennessee will kill them...). I've heard it all, and they just keep winning. N. Iowa screwed it up...we needed Kansas defending that hill.
but most casinos in Vegas had both Tennessee and now Butler as very slim favorites.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/
I don't really get it. If you gave me the opportunity to bet a lot of money on MSU I would. But, I guess just as much as I think they'll probably win, I would want to make some money off of this absolutely frustrating bullshit.
...simpatico. Hope vs. belief. I'm rooting for hope.
I just don't need to hear the phrase "Michigan transfer Epke Udoh" any more than I already have.
Why am I supposed to hate WVU? Is it because we hired their coaches or because their departures weren't the most pleasant?
Well, you could just dislike Huggins, the most unseemly coach left. Or not want to hear about how WV fans are glad Beilein's gone (or everyone else insinuating the same thing). But I think Duke would be worse. Can't stand those guys either.
I can buy the Huggins thing.
I've also never really understood the Duke hatred. They are consistently good, play hard, and don't get in trouble with the NCAA. It sounds more like jealously to me (not trying to be an ass).
No, but I think the younger generation has been appeased by the fact that, well, they haven't been that good recently. Relatively speaking.
When they went to the Final Four EVERY YEAR, all the networks were all over their junk, they got every call, and man...they had some annoying players. If you have experienced Laettner and Hurley firsthand...THOSE were guys you could hate. And Coach K has this angel reputation, but if you listen to people who follow the ACC, he's as foul-mouthed and non-PC as any of them.
Not to mention, we used to play them kinda regularly....and lose to them kinda regularly. They might have been the Fab Five's biggest nemesis in that era.
And their hype sent us Tommy Amaker. Never forget that.
...what they think of Duke and you will get nothing but HATE!!!! It's all about perspective.
+1 for the Amaker comment.
One of the first teams I really cared about were the Fab 5 teams, so I understand where you're coming from. I just figure they have been awesome for a long time--and if that's criteria for hatred, then I need to hate Michigan.
The hype thing is irritating, but Duke didn't choose that, blame ESPN for the excessive hype. Tim Tebow is the same way, ESPN chose to love him way too much, not the other way around. I think it really is a case of, "Don't hate the player, hate the game." ESPN's hype machine being the game.
Greg Paulus + Jay Williams + JJ Redick + ... + Christian Laettner = a team that I hate.
They self-select for douchebags.
Sheldon Williams, Shane Battier, Dahntay Jones. To me, Duke Basketball = TUOS or Notre Dame football - I wish they lost every game, every year.
I don't think any of those potential match-ups would suck. They are all talented teams that play entertaining basketball. I have immediate family members that have gone to both MSU and Butler so next weekend should be fun.
Not sure why Duke is so "hated" by so many people
I used to hate them, especially when they had Battier. But now I don't mind them as much. They play hard and play the right way and their coach does it the right way. I would have never said this 15 years ago, but I will be pulling for Duke from here on out.
It wont matter
Butler is winning
Book It
Oh, wait, who am I talking to...OF COURSE you do... ;-)
Can't stand Duke, want to see Udoh and Baylor and Drew make it. And would much prefer Butler to MSU.
Having lived in the south, I can say Duke is the best school there. But what really drives people's hatred of them I think is their intentional plan to raise their endowment by admitting unqualified rich kids (see http://piggington.com/legacy_admissions_at_elite_schools_lowering_the_b…). Every school has these kinds of admits, especially good schools who want to increase endowment. I would think Michigan is a prime candidate because we want to be good academically yet almost all funding now is private. Our advantage is that even if we have such a strategy, it won't dilute the student body as much because we're a large school. But as a small school, it appears Duke took that to an extreme, and the lacrosse incident only made their image even worse.
Duke is otherwise an outstanding school with gifted students. It no longer is a "safety" for prep school kids (I think Michigan still is, lol).
I do think there is a place for decision makers to drive the future of schools because we need to be more competitive as a country. I just have a problem with a school compromising its academic integrity with these kinds of admits (and racial affirmative action as well).
I know some Duke alums and they have a healthy respect for Michigan, especially the old timers who still remember the basketball games in the 80s. Even the younger ones respect us because we have common identities (good school, good athletics).
If it's Michigan State and Duke I'm probably just not even going to watch it.
I loathe both teams so much that I would have nothing to enjoy the entire game - its rooting for both teams to lose and lose badly, but knowing that one will win.
I'd rather see Duke than WVU waiting in the final, regardless of who comes out of the other side of the bracket. I don't want Bob Huggins getting any sniff of a national title.
Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing someone punch Duke's Scheyer right square in his daddy's trust fund after his antics at the end of today's game.