Official March Madness Thread

#52
#52
BigZiti09 said:
SEC has 8 teams in this thing. I've got half of them going home in round 1. Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Florida. I have Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn advancing.
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I went back and forth on Bama, they’re so inconsistent. Eventually I had Bama, Mizzou, and Florida being done in round 1. The rest advance

I chose New Mexico State over Clemson as my token 12 over 5 that I don’t think will happen but have to shoehorn in
 
#53
#53
One of Virginia’s best players De’andre Hunter broke his wrist and is out for the tourney. 6th man of the year in the ACC
 
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#55
#55
bleedingTNorange said:
That’s significant...although I don’t think Virginia’s chances of making the elite 8 were great anyways.
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To be the top overall seed, the Committee certainly didn't do them any favors putting them in a bracket with Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona, and Kentucky. They appear to have the toughest road to the Elite Eight of any 1 seed.

Villanova in particular appears to have a relatively easy path to get to the Elite Eight, although I'm not sure they will get there either. Outside of the year they won it all, Jay Wright only has 2 other Elite Eight appearances and he's been there 18 years.
 
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#56
#56
05_never_again said:
To be the top overall seed, the Committee certainly didn't do them any favors putting them in a bracket with Cincinnati, Tennessee, Arizona, and Kentucky. They appear to have the toughest road to the Elite Eight of any 1 seed.

Villanova in particular appears to have a relatively easy path to get to the Elite Eight, although I'm not sure they will get there either. Outside of the year they won it all, Jay Wright only has 2 other Elite Eight appearances and he's been there 18 years.
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The committee is made up of adminstators, not basketball experts
 
#57
#57
bleedingTNorange said:
That’s significant...although I don’t think Virginia’s chances of making the elite 8 were great anyways.
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That’s big. They don’t play a deep bench and there isn’t anyone other than Wilkins who plays in that 4 spot.
 
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#58
#58
I think this UCLA/St Bonnie game has the potential to be very entertaining if the 3s are falling. I think the key will be how their front courts perform - UCLA having a major height advantage. If St Bonny can get them into foul trouble then they can win.
 
#59
#59
I hope this isn’t off topic.
I watched the LIU Brooklyn-Radford game. These teams do not belong in an NCAA tournament. Regular season conference champions would be better, in my opinion. 71-61 Radford. Radford was much more disciplined and better coached. LIU Brooklyn had a kid named Hernandez who hogged the ball too much and threw up some god-awful looking shots.
Villanova has nothing to worry about. I hope Wright State has similar talent. If so, we have nothing to worry about either.
 
#60
#60
Rrcox1951 said:
I hope this isn’t off topic.
I watched the LIU Brooklyn-Radford game. These teams do not belong in an NCAA tournament. Regular season conference champions would be better, in my opinion. 71-61 Radford. Radford was much more disciplined and better coached. LIU Brooklyn had a kid named Hernandez who hogged the ball too much and threw up some god-awful looking shots.
Villanova has nothing to worry about. I hope Wright State has similar talent. If so, we have nothing to worry about either.
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It's become an all inclusive, watered down joke. TN was co-champions of the SEC in 1972 and was not allowed to participate in the NCAAT.
 
#61
#61
golfballs said:
I think Arizona is the most overrated team in the tournament. I really don't get all they love they're getting. I think Kentucky beats them. Even if they do get to the S16, while they have good matchups against UVA and potentially UC/UT, they're still an inferior team in each on of those matchups IMO. People think they're being clever picking them to come out of that region, or make the elite 8. But their odds of doing that are relatively slim.

5% of all brackets have them winning the tournament. That's more in-line with Purdue or UNC's chances of winning. Not UA. And ~60% of brackets have them going to the S16. I think it's more of a tossup that they get to the S16
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Who does UK have that can handle Ayton?
 
#64
#64
volfanngatorland said:
Nobody. Also Zona matches up pretty good against UK defensively. Have dudes that can stack up again SGA and Knox
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Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the year right now. And by all measures is a better team than Arizona - even with Ayton. I don't get the love fest for them all of a sudden.
 
#65
#65
golfballs said:
They’ve lost 7 games this year - 6 of them to far worse teams than Kentucky. Ayton can be the best player in the game and still lose
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That doesn't really answer the question though. Teams can have bad games, and they played a couple without their second best player. They had distractions resulting from Sean Miller allegations. That team was top-5 preseason for a reason. And again, UK has no one that can match up with Ayton.
 
#66
#66
golfballs said:
Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the year right now. And by all measures is a better team than Arizona - even with Ayton. I don't get the love fest for them all of a sudden.
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Can't the same be said for Zona?
 
#67
#67
golfballs said:
Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the year right now. And by all measures is a better team than Arizona - even with Ayton. I don't get the love fest for them all of a sudden.
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Arizona just played some pretty good basketball themselves.

“By all measure Kentucky is a better team”.. what do you mean by this?
 
#68
#68
cncchris33 said:
That doesn't really answer the question though. Teams can have bad games, and they played a couple without their second best player. They had distractions resulting from Sean Miller allegations. That team was top-5 preseason for a reason. And again, UK has no one that can match up with Ayton.
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I'm talking about the entire year. All of their games. They're a borderline Top 20 team. Let's flip it around and besides having one of the better players in the country (not the best), what have they done that is so impressive? Win a pathetically weak Pac 12? Play at Top 75 SOS with a 27-7 record? By that measure Tennessee is a far better team. Easily.
 
#69
#69
golfballs said:
I'm talking about the entire year. All of their games. They're a borderline Top 20 team. Let's flip it around and besides having one of the better players in the country (not the best), what have they done that is so impressive?
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Wait are you talking about Kentucky or Arizona here? Applies to both
 
#70
#70
The difference between zona and Kentucky is who they beat in their late season upswings. Both trended the right way but only one beat some good teams doing it
 
#71
#71
cncchris33 said:
Can't the same be said for Zona?
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I don't think so. They were playing their best basketball back in December.

Kentucky has gotten consistently worse throughout the season.

But like their 2014 team, I think they've got it pointed in the right direction for the post season
 
#72
#72
golfballs said:
Kentucky is playing their best basketball of the year right now. And by all measures is a better team than Arizona - even with Ayton. I don't get the love fest for them all of a sudden.
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I disagree. I live in Tucson and follow UA basketball closely. They have a legit lineup with 3-4 players who can score in bunches on any given night. (Ayton, Ristic, Trier, and Alkins) They have size and athleticism and a experienced PG who can distribute the ball.

They won the regular season and PAC 12 tourney. They are playing with fire and angry since the ESPN reports and the Trier suspension.

I think they reach the Final 4. All teams who play them for the first time struggle against Ayton bc can’t simulate him in practice.

They are built for a Final 4 run. Their glaring weakness is perimeter defense. If the match up is right, a solid 3 point shooting team could beat them.
 
#73
#73
golfballs said:
I'm talking about the entire year. All of their games. They're a borderline Top 20 team. Let's flip it around and besides having one of the better players in the country (not the best), what have they done that is so impressive? Win a pathetically weak Pac 12? Play at Top 75 SOS with a 27-7 record? By that measure Tennessee is a far better team. Easily.
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Your defense is changing the discussion though. I'm not arguing the virtues of Arizona against the rest of college basketball, and I'm not claiming they are the best team in the country, by any means. I just think they are better than UK. They have, who I think, is the most dominant and toughest matchup in college basketball, and UK has no one that can match him defensively.
 
#74
#74
volfanngatorland said:
Wait are you talking about Kentucky or Arizona here? Applies to both
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Kentucky played the 9th toughest SOS with a 24-10 record. Arizona the 66th with a 27-7 record.

My point is that Arizona is overrated. People are picking them to win the tournament or go to the final 4. But I think they'll have a hard enough time beating Kentucky in the second round. Also, as much as it pains me to say. Calipari > Sean Miller
 
#75
#75
SaguaroVols said:
I disagree. I live in Tucson and follow UA basketball closely. They have a legit lineup with 3-4 players who can score in bunches on any given night. (Ayton, Ristic, Trier, and Alkins) They have size and athleticism and a experienced PG who can distribute the ball.

They won the regular season and PAC 12 tourney. They are playing with fire and angry since the ESPN reports and the Trier suspension.

I think they reach the Final 4. All teams who play them for the first time struggle against Ayton bc can’t simulate him in practice.

They are built for a Final 4 run. Their glaring weakness is perimeter defense. If the match up is right, a solid 3 point shooting team could beat them.
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The Pac 12 sucks.

If theyre built for a Final 4 run, then they’ve really disguised it so far this year. They’re looked like a far cry from a top 4 team
 
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