March Madness Thread

IrishJayhawk

IrishJayhawk

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Having watched all three of the Iowa State - Kansas games this year, I'll probably pick Iowa State. Hoiberg has a slew of guys who are unselfish, find the open man, and make the three. They practically nullified Jeff Withey, who is probably the best shot blocker in the country, because they made him guard away from the paint.

We'll see. Interesting tournament this year. Lots of teams could win it.
 
B

Buster Bluth

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If you see this in the stands during a hypothetical ND-OSU game, it's me:
36325502.jpg
 
NDPhilly

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Going with Kansas winning it all. Final 4 of Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas, and Syracuse.
 
BeauBenken

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I made my first bracket for a tournament I'm in...Final Four was all Big Ten.

Totally didn't mean to do that.
 
military_irish

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This should definitely be a fun and interesting tourney. Anyone could really win it.

If ND doesn't win it, I want someone out of no where to win it. From a mid major.
 
BleedBlueGold

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The guys during the Selection Show mentioned ND having a favorably strong chance of upsetting OSU. Unfortunately, their reasoning for ND beating OSU is the same reasoning that Iowa St will beat ND. Their reasoning was ND's ability to force teams into settling for jump shots. OSU can't hit them, but Iowa State is a great shooting team. I'm torn. Do I pick ND into the Sweet 16, or do I pick them getting beat in the first round?

Every year we talk about how wide open the tourney is. I'm always shocked at the number of nearly-perfect brackets. I think this year is arguably the most up-in-the-air bracket ever. Every time I look at it, I find reasons why Team-X could beat Team-Y and it changes my Final Four. This is going to be a very fun tourney. I can't wait.

Forgot to mention that during the B1G Tourney this past weekend, they talked about all the different criteria for selecting teams who get in. I couldn't help but compare it to football and their seemingly lack of criteria.
 
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gkIrish

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I'm definitely going to the Sunday game if ND wins on Friday. My initial final four (subject to change):

Louisville, Georgetown, Indiana, New Mexico
 
Ndaccountant

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IrishLax said:
I cannot believe how close we were to having a great draw. At first I thought we were going to be a 6 in the west (Wisconsin/Kansas State seemed like locks for #4/5 in some order) where we would get to play New Mexico as the #3 seed. I was thrilled. Gonzaga also seemed like most vulnerable #1 seed when you look at who they've actually played/beaten this year.

And then.... we get slotted behind Arizona and have to play a team that IF they are hitting their 3s can/will beat anyone in the country. How the hell does the committee justify this? Look at the 6 seeds:

Notre Dame (25-9)
Best wins: Louisville (#1 overall seed, RPI #3), Marquette (#3 seed, RPI #12)
Worst losses: St. Joe's (RPI #81), Providence (RPI #88), St. john's (RPI #93)

UCLA (25-9)
Best wins: Arizona x3 (#6 seed, RPI #15)
Worst losses: Arizona State (RPI #87), USC (RPI #119), Cal Poly (RPI #165), Washington State (RPI #192)

Arizona 25-7) <-- the Wildcats getting seeded ahead of ND makes sense to me
Best wins: Florida (#3 seed, RPI #6), Miami (#2 seed, RPI #4) both in mid-December when neither team was playing well.
Worst losses: USC (RPI #119)

Memphis 30-4)
Best wins: None. Not a single win over a tournament team, much less a quality win.
Worst losses: Xavier (RPI #90)

Butler (25-8) <--- Also a team that deserves to be seeded over ND based on early season triumphs over two teams that would end up as #1 seeds despite recent struggles.
Best wins: Gonzaga, Indiana, Marquette. All big time wins.
Worst losses: Xavier (RPI #90)

Really UCLA more than anything is the miffing one. Tons of bad losses, no really "quality" wins... same record as ND... most recent accomplishment was getting beat by a #12 seed. Memphis also makes you go "WTF?" though. Didn't beat a single team that is any good at all this year. Not one. It seems like the only logical explanation is that the committee weighted the archaic RPI really strongly... which is basically a reflection of how good your "bad" OOC teams are on your schedule. If you patsies go 0-30 versus 15-15 it has a huge impact. Oh well. Looking like another early exit... but hopefully we'll at least grab a W against Iowa State before our game against OSU. Ohio State is a brutal matchup for us at every position on the floor.
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The Memphis and UCLA are the ones that upset me, but sometimes we need to look at the whole picture. With Marquette and GT getting a two and three seed, that really limited ND to only two six seed slots, given that they would not pair ND against those teams unless absolutely needed. So, for ND to get a six seed, they would essentially need to be 21/22 on the S-curve. Given that we acknowledge that Butler and Arizona are more deserving of the higher seed, it puts ND in that bubble of 6/7.

Personally, I too thought they were slotted for a six. The only real beef I have is Memphis. It's hard to say for sure why Memphis got the nod, but it probably has to do with the fact they were undefeated in conference and won their tourney. That is the only thing I can point to.
 
GoldenIsThyFame

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Marshall Henderson everybody...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>AITE!!! IM OFF THIS HOE!!! GOT THESE HOES TO TEND 2!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23YALLBEEASY">#YALLBEEASY</a></p>— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) <a href="https://twitter.com/NativeFlash22/status/313452126313529344">March 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"im in my zone, im feelin it ... stop blowin my buzz, QUIT KILLIN IT!! THEY TRIED TO SHUT US DOWN BUT WE STILL IN THIS BITCH!!!"</p>— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) <a href="https://twitter.com/NativeFlash22/status/313515613991604225">March 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Jason Lieser @PBPjasonlieser
Marshall Henderson: "I dreamed I gave them the Gator chomp. Then I woke up and said, "Hmmmm, gator bait."

Steven Godfrey @38Godfrey
Henderson: "Shout out to Doug Gottlieb, who said it was a travesty if we made the Tournament. Pffff..."

Steven Godfrey @38Godfrey
Henderson on the All-SEC vote snub: "Those coaches are all losers right now. I'm not."

Jason Lieser @PBPjasonlieser
Marshall Henderson on being banned from press conference: "I'm banned? I don't care. I got my hardwood. I'm out."

Jason Lieser @PBPjasonlieser
Marshall Henderson: "Everyone gets paid if you win."

Marshall-Henderson1-594x594.jpg
 
BleedBlueGold

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Has anyone watched Bucknell play? I'm hearing they're a pretty solid team and I'm 50/50 on the upset over a Butler team that struggled with some inconsistent play. Hard to bet against Brad Stevens in March, but my gut keeps saying to pick Bucknell.
 
Ndaccountant

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BleedBlueGold said:
Has anyone watched Bucknell play? I'm hearing they're a pretty solid team and I'm 50/50 on the upset over a Butler team that struggled with some inconsistent play. Hard to bet against Brad Stevens in March, but my gut keeps saying to pick Bucknell.
Click to expand...

Kenpom has Bucknell 6 spots higher than Butler, FWIW.
 
gkIrish

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BleedBlueGold said:
Has anyone watched Bucknell play? I'm hearing they're a pretty solid team and I'm 50/50 on the upset over a Butler team that struggled with some inconsistent play. Hard to bet against Brad Stevens in March, but my gut keeps saying to pick Bucknell.
Click to expand...

Can't decide who wins that game either but I think whoever wins will go on to beat Marquette
 
vuirish

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KPENN said:
How's Nova this year guys? I haven't seen all their games i just know they've had a few big wins
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They can beat just about anyone, but can also lose to any team in the country (example: 18 point loss to Columbia).

Tournament looks pretty wide open this year.
 
IrishJayhawk

IrishJayhawk

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vuirish said:
They can beat just about anyone, but can also lose to any team in the country (example: 18 point loss to Columbia).

Tournament looks pretty wide open this year.
Click to expand...

Agree. That means I'll probably pick the Jayhawks. I don't trust them, but I don't really trust anyone.

Rock Chalk
 
chicago51

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IrishJayhawk said:
Agree. That means I'll probably pick the Jayhawks. I don't trust them, but I don't really trust anyone.

Rock Chalk
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Kansas does play outstanding defense which seems to go well in the tournament. They have had some good tournament runs and so chokes jobs in recent years.

I personally like Kansas for a final four sport.
 
GoldenIsThyFame

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Rack Em

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A

arrowryan

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My final four.

Michigan St. vs Wisconsin.................Kansas vs. Miami

Miami over Wisconsin in the championship
 
IrishSteelhead

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GoldenIsThyFame said:
This is pretty cool
All 68 NCAA Tournament Schools Ranked By Coolest Person Who Went There | Extra Mustard - SI.com

Did anyone know this?
36. Notre Dame: George Wendt
Norm! He was expelled from the South Bend school after getting a 0.00 GPA the first semester of his junior year but finished with a B.A. in economics from Rockhurst College in Kansas City.


Brad Pitt isn't that cool though. Seriously.
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Like someone said in the comments, how the hell is Hef not number 1? It defies all logic.
 
STLDomer

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Who are some upsets ppl are picking? South Dakota State? Belmont? Bucknell? Davidson? Anyone else?

Louisville is the only Final Four team I'm locked in on right now
 
Rack Em

Rack Em

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clashmore_mike said:
what the heck were you doing on George Wendt's wikipedia page??
Click to expand...

I love Cheers. When I was a kid I remember my parents watching that during dinner.

But I don't remember exactly what led me to his wikipedia page.
 
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