NCAA March Madness 2024

[BobbyMac]

Wow! John Calipari to University of Arkansas has been reported by Pete Thamel nationally & Wess Moore locally in Arkansas. Reported to get $8M/yr in salary + $6M/yr in NIL. Sounds like both fan bases are happy w/ the Calipari move…LOL

Bruce Pearl or Scott Drew to UK. I worked with both guys. Small world.

Funny thing is, the loser gets the IU job next year.

 

[IrishLion]

Bruce Pearl or Scott Drew to UK. I worked with both guys. Small world.

Funny thing is, the loser gets the IU job next year.

They’re gonna steal Oats from Bama

 

[Bishop2b5]

Bama played a tough game, but I felt like it was going to be tough sledding when they shot 73% from 3 in the first half and were still down 4 at half. They played a near perfect game, minus missing a few open shots down the stretch.
Uconn is just so good. They didnt shoot worth a crap in the first half between good Bama and missing a few open shots. They did however make everything difficult for Bama wtih both their interior and perimeter defense, and they only turned the ball over 4 times all game. Castle is a handful as a defender and yesterday he showed he cN carry them offensively. Full stat lines for all 5 starters. They have so many ways they can beat you and stress you all game long, then yesterday once they started hitting shots they started to pull away. Solid run by Bama though. Sears is a baller.

Not much I can add to this. You summed it up nicely. Bama played well and did a lot of what they needed to do, but it still wasn't enough. UCONN didn't even play their best game, and still won.

 

[Irish#1]

Wow! John Calipari to University of Arkansas has been reported by Pete Thamel nationally & Wess Moore locally in Arkansas. Reported to get $8M/yr in salary + $6M/yr in NIL. Sounds like both fan bases are happy w/ the Calipari move…LOL

Tyson Chicken money in play here. Maybe Jerry Jones chipping in some as well.

 

[Irish#1]

Bruce Pearl or Scott Drew to UK. I worked with both guys. Small world.

Funny thing is, the loser gets the IU job next year.

Doesn't Pearl have some baggage? After Sampson, I would think IU will remain careful with the hire. You heard it here first Bobby, Dawn Staley.

 

[arrowryan]

Bruce Pearl or Scott Drew to UK. I worked with both guys. Small world.

Funny thing is, the loser gets the IU job next year.

Dan Hurley should at least get a phone call

 

[NDohio]

Dan Hurley should at least get a phone call

And he should immediately hang up…

 

[arrowryan]

And he should immediately hang up…

Why? Their boosters and NIL are probably top notch when the coach has full support.

 

[notredomer23]

Why? Their boosters and NIL are probably top notch when the coach has full support.

UConn’s NIL situation is much better than Kentucky’s and honestly UConn is the better program. Best program of the last 30 years, at least.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Doesn't Pearl have some baggage?

 

[Irish#1]

UConn’s NIL situation is much better than Kentucky’s and honestly UConn is the better program. Best program of the last 30 years, at least.

You could say the last 10 years, but 30 is a little bit of a stretch.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

USC also had too many bodies……they had a very deep bench.

Two starting fives essentially. They out rebounded Iowa something like 52-29. I don't care how good Clark is, nobody survives that. Maybe one out of 100.

Credit to Clark. The amount of hype put a burden on her that most college athletes would not be able to carry. Iowa's program is going to have a huge hole to fill without her, and the college women's game itself is going to need to carry on knowing they lose the draw that was Caitlyn Clark. Hard not to be impressed not only with her game but with how she carries herself as a human. Again, nobody is perfect, but if she's anything close to the image she portrays she's going to be fine in life.

Dawn Staley could be scratching the surface of her own greatness.

 

[notredomer23]

You could say the last 10 years, but 30 is a little bit of a stretch.

Respectfully, who has a better resume? I can’t think of any. They’ve won a title in 4 consecutive decades and are potentially adding #6 tonight. I strongly dislike them back from the ND in the Big East days but the only other school I can think of is UNC. 10 final 4s and 4 titles in the last 30 years.

 

[NDohio]

Why? Their boosters and NIL are probably top notch when the coach has full support.

Why would you leave a school that is currently dominating college basketball? I don’t care what school you are going to, nobody is doing it better than UConn right now.

 

[NDohio]

Two starting fives essentially. They out rebounded Iowa something like 52-29. I don't care how good Clark is, nobody survives that. Maybe one out of 100.

Credit to Clark. The amount of hype put a burden on her that most college athletes would not be able to carry. Iowa's program is going to have a huge hole to fill without her, and the college women's game itself is going to need to carry on knowing they lose the draw that was Caitlyn Clark. Hard not to be impressed not only with her game but with how she carries herself as a human. Again, nobody is perfect, but if she's anything close to the image she portrays she's going to be fine in life.

Dawn Staley could be scratching the surface of her own greatness.

Yep. Young team and she is adding this year’s HS player of the year to next year’s squad.

 

[Irish#1]

Respectfully, who has a better resume? I can’t think of any. They’ve won a title in 4 consecutive decades and are potentially adding #6 tonight. I strongly dislike them back from the ND in the Big East days but the only other school I can think of is UNC. 10 final 4s and 4 titles in the last 30 years.

Duke?

 

[Irish#1]

Why would you leave a school that is currently dominating college basketball? I don’t care what school you are going to, nobody is doing it better than UConn right now.

The only reason would be money. Hurley is at $5M IIRC. He could be looking at a bump of $2 - $3M.

 

[IrishTusker]

Duke?

Doesn't Duke have fewer titles in that period? And if UConn wins tonight, that's more titles than Duke all-time. One other issue is that Duke hasn't won a title without Coach K. UConn has won with three different coaches.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Duke?

If he's going back 30 years and we're strictly counting titles, Duke has three during that period. Kentucky has three. UNC has three.

UConn has five.

If we're considering other factors and expanding the parameters of the discussion, there is probably a broader debate for sure, but in the last thirty years UConn has won more championships than any other program during that span. In fact, all five they've ever won began with their first in 1999.

 

[Ophiocordyceps]

Clark is an amazing player. Complains to refs a little bit too much though.

 

[TracyGraham]

If he's going back 30 years and we're strictly counting titles, Duke has three during that period. Kentucky has three. UNC has three.

UConn has five.

If we're considering other factors and expanding the parameters of the discussion, there is probably a broader debate for sure, but in the last thirty years UConn has won more championships than any other program during that span. In fact, all five they've ever won began with their first in 1999.

Here are the numbers for final fours/titles from 1995-2024:
UCONN 7/5(6 if they win today)
UNC 10/3
KY 7/3
DUKE. 6/3

Argument can definitely be made that UCONN is the best program of the past 30 years(along w/UNC). Especially if they win today.

 

[Sureal]

UConn’s NIL situation is much better than Kentucky’s and honestly UConn is the better program. Best program of the last 30 years, at least.

Better way of roster building etc... Hurley would be nuts to leave for Kentucky. The fans there will eat him alive if he doesn't win in 3 years.

 

[Irish#1]

Doesn't Duke have fewer titles in that period? And if UConn wins tonight, that's more titles than Duke all-time. One other issue is that Duke hasn't won a title without Coach K. UConn has won with three different coaches.

If we're talking just titles I agree. I read ND23's to mean more than titles (# of wins, win %, tournament appearances).

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[NorthDakota]

UCONN has missed the tourney 50% of the time in the last 10 years lol. They are kinda strange. I don't know how to judge them. But their postseason success is pretty hard to argue with.

Idk the pros and cons of a coach leaving there. Maybe Dan wants to do it at a more "historical" school like Duke, Kentucky, UNC, etc. at some point.

He played for Seton Hall...Maybe the Big East is his happy place.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Yep. Young team and she is adding this year’s HS player of the year to next year’s squad.

Geno, 11
Pat Summitt, 8
Staley, 3
Mulkey, 3
VanDerVeer, 3

Keep in mind during 2019-20 when Covid cancelled the season she was 32-1 and ranked number one. Possible missed opportunity but we'll never really know. It's called March Madness for a reason.

A fourth sets her apart from the elite company she's already in now. She's 53 years of age, so it could be tough to catch Summitt let alone Geno but that type of program dominance could be in the cards for her and would have to be for her to reach 8 or 11.

I always liked her as a player and really like her as a coach.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Duke?

Uconn has five titles (more thany oneone) since 99 to Duke’s 3. Barring a fairly sizeable upset, they will get #6 tonight

They beat Duke H2H for two of them. No disrespect to Duke, but Uconn is in a class of their own over the past 25 years if Championships are your measuring stick as it should be.

 

[NorthDakota]

Uconn has five titles (more thany oneone) since 99 to Duke’s 3. Barring a fairly sizeable upset, they will get #6 tonight

They beat Duke H2H for two of them. No disrespect to Duke, but Uconn is in a class of their own over the past 25 years if Championships are your measuring stick as it should be.

How sizeable would it be? I am seeing 6.5 point favorite. Idk what that means in basketball.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Its definitely not screaming Purdue has no chance or anything like that, but 6.5 among two number 1s that were the two best teams all year definitely is a pretty good size spread.

 

[Armyirish47]

How sizeable would it be? I am seeing 6.5 point favorite. Idk what that means in basketball.

I’m pretty sure 6.5 is sizable in any circumstance, amiright fellas?!?!?!?