Only one ACC team advanced to the Sweet 16

Submitted by Chitown Kev on

Duke, Notre Dame, Louisville, Virginia, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest...all gone...

Only UNC is left

3 teams from each of the Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12 and SEC.

And even 2 teams from the Big East!?

I guess the Atlantic Coast Conference isn't all that this year...for a change.

Steves_Wolverines

March 20th, 2017 at 1:58 AM ^

A UCLA loss would have been a perfect ending to the day, but I'm fine with Kentucky taking them out. Can't stand any of the players on that team, but especially hate their coach.

1974

March 20th, 2017 at 6:30 AM ^

I think they cheat, but something (maybe the overall level of hypocrisy in the culture there) isn't at the same level as it is with Duke and Kansas. It makes their presumed cheating more palatable. (Maybe their fans would be more likely to acknowledge it than Kansas fans ... not sure.)

On the other hand, Coach K and his shoe-polish hair were granted sainthood by Big Media long ago and Kansas fans think their program is the best and most virtuous of all time.

MI Expat NY

March 20th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^

I'm not sure Kentucky has to cheat that much.  His pitch is pretty solid.  Come here and be in the NBA in a year.  I'd think the coaches landing NBA talent without that being their pitch probably have to cheat more.  

I mean, I know Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc. cheat, but I'm always more suspicous when a random top NBA talent ends up somewhere else.  

hunterjoe

March 20th, 2017 at 8:42 AM ^

I don't think it's as simple as "come here and be in the NBA in a year."  They could go about anywhere and do that.  I think it's more to do with their basketball dorms.  I don't know how they get away with it, but the b-ball players get million dollar dorms.  There was some discussion on it a while back about how they skirt the rules but the simple explanation is...  "Look at where you'll be living here.  No other school offers you anything close.  Not to mention, I don't really coach you, but just let you guys go play basketball.  We don't run many plays, I just allow you to use your talents the way you always have and we'll win doing that."  Well, it works for the most part. 

WorldwideTJRob

March 20th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^

I equate the dorm issue as being a tad bit cheesy, not Cal cheating. At Memphis I think he was dirty as hell. However, as mentioned above I don't think he really has to now. The success of his players in the NBA(Cousins, Wall, Davis, Booker, Towns), plus the dorms and getting treated like rock stars in Lexington is an easy sell to most one and done kids.

MI Expat NY

March 20th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^

I think the idea that Calipari just rolls out the ball and says "have at it" is ridiculous.  No matter how talented you are, nobody succeeds that way with a bunch of freshman.  Hell, how many times during MSU's two games did commentators talk about how great Izzo had done this season with such a young team?  Calipari does more every year with teams just as young.  

Calipari has been to six final fours, including one with UMass and one with memphis (yes, Camby took money from an agent and someone else took D. Rose's ACT, but still getting there is impressive).  It's just laughable at this point that people are still questioning Calipari's coaching bona fides.  

On the dorm front, I think the rule is that as long as "regular" students also have access to living in the dorms, you can build as nice of dorms as you want to build for your athletes.  

For the record, I'm not saying Kentucky doesn't cheat.  I just don't think they have to do any more than pay the going rate for talent.  If someone tries to tell you that Duke, UNC, Kansas, MSU, UCLA, and others who consistently recruit 5-star talent aren't cheating in the same way, you should laugh at them. 

Zarniwoop

March 20th, 2017 at 10:19 AM ^

Kentucky was reeling when Calipari arrived. Suddenly, it was all better and players flocked to Kentucky again.

They didn't have a pitch when he walked in the door.

I don't believe for a second he's changed his approach. He cheated outrageously at Memphis. I find it impossible to believe he's "gone clean" at Kentucky.

MI Expat NY

March 20th, 2017 at 10:31 AM ^

They were reeling because they let Tubby Smith operate on the hot seat for three or four years and then missed by hiring Billy Gillepsie.  They were still generally recruiting pretty well during this time.  Gillepsie had a top 10 class.  One of Tubby Smith's last classes was the best in the country.  Yes, they weren't consistently number 1 or 2, but Tubby and Gillepsie are nowhere near Calipari's class as recruiters or coaches, either.

Venom7541

March 20th, 2017 at 7:24 AM ^

I live in Lexington. I used to like Kentucky until I moved here and people literally tried to start fights with me because I was a Michigan fan first and foremost. Now, I cheer for 2 teams, Michigan and anyone playing Kentucky, even Louisville. The 2 worst fan bases in all of sports are Kentucky basketball fans and Ohio State football fans and I think Kentucky wins the head to head in that.

I was hoping with all my heart the Shockers would have shut these morons up yesterday. The only thing that I would have felt bad about is my daughter is a fan of them now. At least my son has his head on right and is all Michigan, haha.

IndyBlue90

March 20th, 2017 at 7:32 AM ^

I live in Lexington as well, but I've never experienced any animosity from the locals. They hate UofL of course, and also Tennessee oddly. My opinion is there are basically three categories of UK fans. There are the ones who are really knowledgable about basketball, and stay in the know about both their own team and others around the country. Those ones are tolerable. Then there are the casual fans who still find a way to act like they actually know something about basketball. They will froth at the mouth about ever missed shot and generally won't really understand the game. Those ones are the most obnoxious. Lastly, there is what I call the "C-A-T-S! CATS! CATS! CATS! crowd" They don't even watch the games unless they are playing Kansas, Duke, UofL or in a tournament. They are totally oblivious about anything basketball related. They are oddly cute in their blind fandom. 

IvyLeague

March 20th, 2017 at 5:02 AM ^

1 team left. But their teams are getting blasted... Miami (FL) by 20+ to a 9 seed, Florida State 25+ to a 11 seed and Virginia by 25+ to a 4 seed.

lhglrkwg

March 20th, 2017 at 5:38 AM ^

Not only does the ACC suck, but two of the four lower seeded teams to make the Sweet 16 are Big Ten teams. Specificially the two Big Ten teams everyone screamed were stupidly underrated: Wisconsin and Michigan

ColeIsCorky

March 20th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^

Not to mention you have Northwestern almost beating Gonzaga. Every Big Ten team had to face a 1-5 seed to advance to the second round.

As far as Duke goes, I rarely pick them to make it past round 2 of the tournament. They are either going to get bounced the first two rounds or make it to the Final 4. I have yet to figure out when it is appropriate to predict their final 4 runs, so I go ahead and just project them to bow out early every year. That could also be mostly due to the fact that there is no team I enjoy watching lose more in the tournament than Duke. Unless it's Sparty losing to MTSU. That's just pure pleasure.

jackw8542

March 20th, 2017 at 6:05 AM ^

Maybe the Big Ten was not having as bad of a year as a lot of people were saying.  Purdue will have a real challenge against Kansas, but all 3 teams have a pretty good shot at advancing.

Yinka Double Dare

March 20th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^

Kansas fans were worried about that Purdue matchup from the moment the bracket hit. You only need to look at how Michigan State looked against them when Ward was on the floor to know why too. Purdue has two bigs who can really play, and Kansas doesn't really have an answer for them.