March Madness Begins

Submitted by UM Fan in Nashville on

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

Logan88

March 8th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^

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.

Wolverine Devotee

March 7th, 2015 at 10:44 PM ^

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.

Wolverine Devotee

March 7th, 2015 at 11:46 PM ^

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. 

Ty Butterfield

March 7th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^

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.

freejs

March 8th, 2015 at 5:05 AM ^

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. 

 

xtramelanin

March 7th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^

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.  

xtramelanin

March 8th, 2015 at 8:21 AM ^

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. 

 

xtramelanin

March 8th, 2015 at 2:06 PM ^

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'. 

GoBlueRandy

March 7th, 2015 at 11:45 PM ^

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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ghost

March 8th, 2015 at 7:36 AM ^

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.

LSAClassOf2000

March 8th, 2015 at 8:41 AM ^

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.

UMGoRoss

March 8th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^

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

Steve in PA

March 8th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

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!

YoungGeezy

March 8th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^

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