March Madness Begins
I will only start this thread because I'm confidnet I'm the only Belmont grad part of this MGoBlog community.
I couldn't be more proud of Belmont for being the first in the tourney, especially considering they have won 2 out of their first 3 years years being part of the OVC.
Any predictions on who will win the other 'MidMajors?'
Matchup issues for other conferences?
Thoughts on conference champioships for MidMajors? Worth it? Not worth it?
Best time of the year!
March Madness
Fellow Belmont grad who bleeds blue...excited for the Bruins, we need to get a win this time!
OP's 'confidence' shattered quickly...love MGOBLOG. Congrats on the win and dance invite!
As Belmont grads, have you had to hear a lot of Castlevania jokes over the years?
I live in Nashville as well and graduated from Belmont but bleed blue. Congrats I hope they get a 12 seed and upset a 5 seed.
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Do you mean Nashville, MI or TN? Looks like the OP is from Nashville, MI. Crazy small world if you're both Belmont grads from the same small MI town.
I'm actually not from Nashville, MI. I live in Nashville, TN, but was born in Michigan. I know, it's confusing only because there really is a Nashville, MI.
What makes it more confusing is your avatar!
Nashville TN lol
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nor did I ever consider Belmont while in high school, I do often use the Belmont Exit on US 131 north of GR when visiting my brother and his family. So there's that.
Best of luck in the tournament!
As a (David) Lipscomb grad, Belmont will always be the hated Rebels to me!
Actually, I never cared that much about the Battle of the Boulevards stuff when I was attending (David) Lipscomb but I am surprised at how easily Belmont made the transition to the NCAA from the NAIA while Lipscomb's once proud basketball program is now a complete joke after making the same transition.
Northern Iowa should win the Missouri Valley, but who knows, since they're playing Illinois State who just upset Wichita State.
So long as your interest don't conflict with mine.
Go Blue, err Bruins.
I hope Murray State gets an NCAA at-large with their 27-9 record. Otherwise, Belmont made another NIT at-large bid disappear because unless Murray State gets an NCAA bid, they have an auto-bid to the NIT.
Charleston Southern and Murray State going down means there are 30 NIT bids left unless Murray gets into the NCAAs.
the same thing. Gonzaga on the ropes too. I don't know if the Yale/Dartmouth thing affects us or not?
No, the Ivy League Champion gets an autobid to the NCAA Tournament. There is no Ivy League Tournament.
It also wouldn't have mattered if Gonzaga lost the WCC Tournament game. There is no chance in hell a team that was in the top-5 last week is going to the NIT.
1 seeds winning in mid-major conferences is only relevant if said-1 seed isn't an obvious NCAA Tournament team like a Gonzaga or a Northern Iowa.
Murray State's resume is similar to SMU's from last year.
No its not. Not even close SMU beat Cinc, Memphis and swept Uconn. Murray St.'s best win and only top 100 win was #71 Illinois St. They also have to sub 150 losses.
I want Murray St. to get in, but it is not going to happen.
Murray St is 27-5 and was riding a 25 game winning streak heading into that game. They were ranked 25th in the latest poll, they have to be included in the NCAAs no?
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Yale lost to Dartmouth today so Harvard and Yale are now tied for the Ivy League title. The automatic bid will be decided with a one game playoff. Hope Amaker and crew get the win.
Next Saturday night at the Palestra! Pretty cool thing.
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and our shithead sports information department didn't even make it possible for people to listen to the game, at a bare minimum. Brandon's brand of malevolence is worse, but for sheer neglect and incompetence, no one has the schmucks at Paine Whitney beat. It's a miracle they haven't brought the hockey team down among the shambles.
she and her team just won the high school state championship. beat a team they had lost to earlier in the year by 10 points, and in fact their last trip to the finals 2 years ago lost to them in 2 OT by a point. were down in the third quarter and reeled them, winning by 11 at the buzzer.
so happy for daughter, she and her teammates worked so hard this year, and indeed, this game to overcome a deficit and take home the trophy.
Aren't the state championships a few weeks away still?
it is the state homeschool championship and the playoffs started 3 weeks ago. we are a small team from way up north, and we beat a very large team from lansing - think the homeschool version of 'hoosiers' as we show up in our caravan of old vans and the other team is all decked out in fancy uniforms and truckloads of fans.
some of the folks mentioned being proud of my daughter and while that is true, it is insignificant versus the joy i feel for her - she was so sick 5 yrs ago and it took years for her health to be restored and to watch her out there last night as the final few seconds tick away and she swipes a monster rebound (she is pretty tall) and the people come streaming on to the court to mob her and her teammates, i tell you, as a parent, there is no joy like seeing your healthy children have success pursuing laudable goals.
there were enough homeschooled kids to field teams, let alone have a championship! Very cool. congrats to you all. What were her final stats?
but for us up north, we aren't technically in a league. we play all comers, so to speak, meaning any public or private school and any homeschool team that wants to play us. we play some pretty large schools, for instance, i think we beat all 3 class B public schools we played this year. but the playoffs and tournament bring all the homeschool teams from all over.
we haven't gotten a stats line yet, but candidly, the only stat that mattered was the 'W'.
congrats
to you and your daughter
Congratulations. You must be very proud of your daughter.
What's your Bracket strategy? Taking Kentucky because they probably are the best team by some margin or going off the board knowing most people will be taking Kentucky?
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I hope Kentucky finishes regular season undefeated and loses in the tourney.
I hate Kentucky, and would love to see them lose in an early round.
They're going to destroy everyone, unfortunately. Even when they play bad, it's usually enough to win. Only the Portland Trailblazers have a taller lineup in all of basketball.
Cal cheats!!
They will be very tough to beat. Also agree that Cal is a dirty recruiter that pays his players, which is why I would LOVE to see his team get upset.
the world is on your side! VAMOS
Best bet for a mid major to get an at large other than Gonaga, BYU and the 2 Valley teams is ODU. 6-2 vs the top 100 with wins over VCU and LSU.
I was looking at TeamRankings last night before I quit drinking and went to bed. They've got Buffalo definitely in and Toledo possibly in from the MAC, which I could see based on other data. Further, out of the Horizon (as two teams in that conference have followings in the the Detroit area), they are going with Valparaiso - Wisconsin-GB is the only other team in that conference with a Tournament-worthy record really.
Some interesting projections actually. The full breakdown is here - LINK - it might start with the MAC, but you can scroll up and down to see projected bids in other conferences.
The MAC will only get one team. Buffalo's best win is over #86 Kent St.
The only way to get in with that kind of schedule is to put up a huge number of wins and 21-9 won't cut it.
Not the best time of year. That would be football season.
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Another great year in the America East. They most likely don't have the size or athleticism to advance, but if PJ Hooley gets hot from 3, you never know
My very son's small school qualified for Districts for the 3rd time ever this year in class A. They placed 2nd in District competition marking their first wins, qualified for PIAA state tournament, and with their last win are in the sweet 16! They play the #3 class A team Tuesday. I'm not optimistic but they've already vastly overachieved beating 2 teams ranked in the top 25, including a top10 team.
Congrats to XtraMelanin and Family!
What is his school?
Meadowbrook Christian, Milton Pa.
And ain't it a statement about the season that Michigan's basketball program is envious of Belmont?
Can't wait for the tourna.... wait.
Well at least there's next yea.... what's that you say? 10 scholarships? F&@%.
Well at least I'll be able to watch Michigan in the NIT... wait what? We have to beat Illinois? FML
Given how close we came to sweeping Illinois, I'm not sure why they merit "FML" status.