Arena The Madness Has Begun!: NCAA Basketball Discussion

3 Big XII titles in 4 years for Iowa State. In a conference that includes Kansas, not half bad.

Congratulations Dook for beating a potato tonight. The games count from here on out.

 

ETSU is a very good team. That's going to be a challenge for Florida.

Edit- we somehow got a 1 seed in a fan-friendly location for the first two rounds. Gamecocks will also be in Greenville - I know many here thought they'd get Tulsa.

 

Well my Redbirds had to settle for a 1 seed in the NIT so at least I've got a game to go see Wed. night.

Also a little surprised Duke wasn't even the top 2 seed.

 

Arizona. Half the number of losses, won their conference. They probably deserved a 1 over Carolina, but they're far and away the best 2.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nca...eams-after-tourney-snub/ar-AAogsjq?li=BBnb7Kz

Coach Muller makes a good point about how hard it is for mid-majors to schedule quality opponents. They called at least 20-25 tournament teams to try and play them and were shot down. Some good news though is that his tweet to the bigger conferences caught Ole Miss' attention and they are apparently looking to set up a game next season.

 

I'm not sure how you gather that Duke has a tough, much less, the toughest road.

Baylor and South Carolina have ended the season very, very weak. Duke has an incredibly easy path to the Elite Eight. Rew, you know you're my boy, but I think Troy will test Duke much more than South Carolina or Marquette will, and Duke is a nightmare matchup for Baylor on the perimeter.

Kentucky potentially facing UCLA or Louisville facing Oregon in the Sweet 16 have much more difficult draws.

 

Duke got put in with the #1 overall team. But I agree, up until they would face Nova I don't think their path is harder than the other 2 seeds.

 

I'm off work early today and have a full day off tomorrow. My plans: drink beer, eat food and watch basketball. It shall be glorious.

 

I just hope to be home from work in time to watch the Tarheels at 4.

 

20 minutes. Just in case you don't have a schedule nearby, here's the breakdown for today, ordered by tip-off.

Early Day:
Princeton vs. Notre Dame
UNC-Wilmington vs. Virginia
Winthrop vs. Butler
South Dakota St. vs. Gonzaga
Bucknell vs. WVU

Late Day:
ETSU vs. Florida
Middle Tennessee vs. Minnesota
Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern

Early Night:
Xavier vs. Maryland
Mt. St. Mary's vs. Villanova
VCU vs. St. Mary's
Vermont vs. Purdue

Late Night:
Fla Gulf Coast vs. Florida State
Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin
North Dakota vs. Arizona
Nevada vs. Iowa State

EDIT - Crean out at IU. Cal, LSU, NC State, UMass, Washington. Take your pick. One of them will grab him quick. Crean's W-L may not be great at Indiana, but he resurrected that program from hell, and is a very talented recruiter and coach. Indiana is to basketball as Notre Dame is to football - not the only game in town anymore for recruits, and their fans won't accept the new reality.

As for next Hoosiers coach - Gregg Marshall, Wichita State or Andy Enfield, Southern Cal.

 

I wish Greg Marshall would leave Wichita State but I don't see that happening unless he gets made like the top paid coach in college baketball, especially if WSU gets their wish and leaves the MVC.

 

Over and under for a triple-digit scoring game.

 

This is a great game so far. Rew, pulling for your boys. Would be a huge achievement if this team got their first tournament win.

Edit - Unbelievable performance. Congrats, buddy. Hope you're celebrating, I imagine Five Points will be up all night. Sindarius Thornwell is unbelievably good - that was one of the 4 or 5 best performances I've seen all year, nationally.

 

As a fellow Carolinian who has watched Gamecock Football and Basketball their whole life, I'm sure you'll understand that I was just waiting for the historic Marquette comeback up until about 40 seconds left.

Go beat the hell out of Duke. That would be enough to balance out Clempson's championship in football and restore balance to the state.