Fotop

I might buy that the Pac-10 is worse, but they're pretty similar. Two really good teams (U of I/MSU, Arizona/Washington), a few teams that can be erratic (Iowa, UCLA for example), and the rest pretty bad. Wisconsin may give the Big 10 the edge, but I haven't watched enough Pac-10 ball to make a defense for it. EDIT: Also, if you follow conference RPIs (which are bulls***), the Pac-10 was like #2 at one point. But I don't buy it, however the big 10 is pretty balls.

First off, knocking off Northern Iowa isn't a "big" win. Secondly, you have to look at a team's body of work...and a majority of that body of work is a mediocre big 10 record, plain and simple. The big 10 is quite possibly the worst major conference this year and not being able to go .500 in it shows me something. I still think Pierce's absence is going to play a major role in them getting a bid. There are plenty of teams that have just as good of, if not a little better resumes than Iowa. I really think they need a win tommorow, but with their AD (Iowa that is) being part of the selection committee (maybe the head guy, i'm not sure) I'm betting they'll get slipped in which is horses***. I understand you're pulling for Iowa, but I can't look past that big 10 record. It's friggin' atrocious. So, in a logical world they would probably have to win tommorow to be a lock, but in reality they're probably in because they big 10 always has some sort of pull. And for those of you who say the big 10 tourney is intense, have you been to any round of the NCAA tourney? I went my freshman year when ND knocked off Illinois and it was the greatest sporting event I've ever attended. I went both days and saw all the games in the pool, and it was loud and crazy ALL DAY. The atmosphere at the NCAA is unmatched, IMO...it's ridiculous.

Redd Kerr: "You can see Eddy was so happy that it [the rebound] went to the left side!"

Bulls*** foul call, you don't make that call w/ less than 3 seconds.

QUOTE(Spod=Ratings @ Mar 12, 2005 -> 01:11 AM) was it like a hardcore block? The block wasn't all that hardcore, but he was all over Allen the whole time and got a good piece of it as it was released.

uh oh, duhon misses the 2nd...does seattle go for the win?

HUGE BLOCK BY CHANDLER! Ray Allen just got b****ED.

ugh, curry and chandler couldn't clean up on that last possession. bulls down one w/ 20 secs left.

Even with the win today I still don't buy Iowa making the dance unless they make the Big 10 final. You don't go 7-9 in the Big 10 and expect a tournament bid when you win 2 games in the Big 10 tourney. Also, don't overrate their OOC games that they won...those were with Pierce, and he's not going to be playing again anytime soon.

That's good because the big ten should get four bids this year...AT MOST. I really doubt, barring any surprises, the big ten gets more than four. Iowa would have to make a run to the finals to have any chance, so that leaves us with Minn, Illinois, Wisc, and MSU which is how it should be.

Bleh if Iowa gets in I'll lose my lunch. If you can't even pull a .500 record in your conference, especially in the soft big ten, you don't deserveto get in. Also, what I think people are overlooking is the Pierre Pierce factor here. Supposedly the committee looks at teams and how they perform w/certain injuries and losses. Since Pierce was dismissed, Iowa hasn't been all that hot and I assume the committee will see them as a weaker team without Pierce and be a bit hesitant to put them in over some teams. My point is, NO WAY THE BIG 10 GETS 6 BIDS. It would be a traveshamockery.

Way too many teams really s*** the bed the past few days: ND, Maryland, Miami, A&M, Kent State, UCLA (even though they're pretty much a lock), and to a certain extent Depaul. It seems to me like no one wants to play in the NCAA this year, and as much as it pains me to say it I actually think ND has a chance to back into the tournament if IU, Nc State and St. Joes lose tommorow... as well as Lousiville winning the CUSA tourney while all mid-majors fall into place. The reason it pains me to say it is that I know we'll just get whalloped, but making an apperance would help us in the long run. But as I said before, I personally don't believe this team deserves it. They had plenty of opportunites to step up this year and choked it up. With that being said, no one is making a strong case this week to bump them off, and if no one does it boils down to who had the strongest regular season...which of the teams left on the bubble, ND is the strongest in that department.

Ice hockey in Nashville? But the PREDATORS DBAH0! THE PREDATORS! /sarcasm

That fool does not speak for my school. I can't stand that guy, and ever since I met him at USCF in 2000 during the playoffs he's left a bad taste in my mouth. However, we need someone grandstanding for us...every other bubble team is doing it. But really, Digger Phelps blows and I wish it were someone more credible...Lunardi, Bilas, etc. I still stand by my beilef that this team shouldn't represent my school in the NCAA though..they're all talk, no walk and could have proved to me otherwise the last five games. Chris Quinn not withstanding, that kid has all the heart in the world.

legal age really doesn't matter. Gambling is technically "illegal" but you basically have to be exchanging money in front of a hardass cop to get in trouble for it. Even then I doubt a bet between friends warrants any serious legal repercussions. But still, gambling is bad. Don't gamble.

Possessing great baseball knowledge is a double-edged sword, especially in Chicago with so many mindless Cub fans. On one hand, you want to shut the guy up spouting off wrong stats, terrible insight, etc. So you correct them, right? The problem is you end up either looking like a pompous, elitist baseball asshole or they completely ignore your statement and continue to "impress" their friends with their misinformed baseball knowledge. My solution: put money on things. Taking someone's money whether it be a dollar or one hundred dollars is accepted by most in society as effectively "pwning" the other person (in computer speak). At least I know that's how I get asshole cub fans to shut up...simple phrasing as "you wanna make a bet?" * Ultimately, all of these arguments are usually in bars/ballparks where one's ego prevents them from accepting the fact that they're wrong. Whether it's a girlfriend to impress, or a group of your boys, guys just won't know when they're beat and that's when the discussion turns into "my ballpark has more fans than yours, you guys suck". So ya, getting labeled an "elitist" sucks, but you should use that to your advantage...make a couple bucks off of all this knowledge you possess and maybe next time that asshole that spouts off about something he doesn't know he'll think twice about the possibility of someone around him actually knowing about the subject and hurting his wallet again. In conclusion, don't gamble because it's bad for you. However if you really want to shut up that asshole sitting next to you, having him put his money where his mouth is is a quality way of achieving your goal. Much like "bar bets", sports bets are the epitome of shutting the other person down. Plus a couple extra bucks is always good. *Note: gambling is not good for you kids, don't do it...this is my responsible message of the day.

N I f'n T. This team does NOT deserve to represent our school in the NCAA tournament.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 9, 2005 -> 03:28 PM) Providence Seton Hall ND BC Pitt Uconn ND ND BC BC Southsider, I would hope that your predictions happen...but man, losing to BC in the title game would hurt bigtime. So as cool as it would be to finally do well in the BET, I don't think I can take losing to BC. With that being said here's my predictions WVU Gtown ND BC Pitt Uconn ND Pitt Uconn Uconn over Pitt...again. It happens pretty much every year.

Like I said Krush, it's been two years since I've seen him personally, and I agree that he's gotten a hell of a lot better...I just want to see him in high-pressure situations. Regular season big 10 games do not qualify as high-pressure. I agree with your definition of clutch, but the game also needs to be right as well, and one and done situations are just that. Illinois hadn't lost all year and losing really didn't mean much (they've been a lock for a 1 seed for awhile now). Let's just see how he does when the SEASON is on the line, that's all I'm saying. I know he's talented enough to do well, it's just in my personal experience with him I haven't seen anything to prove that.

Let me expound a bit.... If a big conference team is not .500 in their conference I feel as though they probably shouldn't be in unless there are some real extenouating circumstances. I agree with you on this Rex, but take ND for example this year (9-7 BE, 70something RPI) they played UCONN, Pitt, Syracuse, Villanova, G-town all TWICE this year in conference play as well as BC once. They finished with an above .500 record even with that brutal conf. schedule yet we're going to sweat it out come sunday. Why? friggin' RPI and a non-bloated record (17-10). These are the types of teams that should be in, even though I may be biased...but of those 10 losses they've come at the hands of: Syr x2, Pitt x2, Uconn, Gtown, Villanova, Depaul, Michigan (only bad loss, but a road loss), Ucla. As for Sleepywhitesox's post, my point was that teams like Gonzaga and SIU are gaining NOW because of the inherent advantages in the system. However, Gonzaga has been going at it for god knows how long before any of this was in place. They're the prime example of building a solid program in a mid-major conference and then causing some noise in the tourney...then after a few years of riding their auto-bid, they earned the respect of possibly receiving an at-large. SIU is the same as well, they won the MVC a few years ago (auto-bid), made it to the sweet sixteen and now are gaining the respect their program (which has been built up) deserves. Point being, programs need to be built from the ground up...all schools have experienced this. As a mid-major you can't expect everything to be handed to you just because you're the "little guy". Don't get me wrong, I love the whole David v. Goliath thing in the NCAA tourney. Bryce Drew hitting a last second three or Kent state making a deep run give the tournament some great history. It's just that auto-bids are good enough to achieve this. We don't need whacked out RPIs as well.

To get back on topic, the answer to the question posed in the title is yes, someone can stop Dee Brown. And that person is... Dee Brown I know I'm going to catch a ton of flak for this, but I have a tape of a 2nd rd game two years ago (Illinois v. ND, RCA Dome 2nd rd NCAA) to help my cause if anyone wants to watch. Also, I've been watching Dee since High School, he played my High School twice a year and we're the same age so I saw him play for four years. And what I could conclude is... Dee Brown is not clutch. Grill me all you want, but when the game is on the line he's the last person I want taking a shot for me or doing anything else important for that matter. Maybe 2 yrs of high-pressure college ball has changed him, certainly he looks much more mature this year. Maybe clutch isn't something you can really define. But in my personal case I'm taking I'll believe it when I see it policy with him. Dee has all the talent in the world, I'm not arguing that. I'm just questioning an intangible, unquantifiable quality that he may or may not possess. IMHO, he does not posses it (clutchness that is), and that is why he can be stopped. Will any of this matter? Possibly, however he has the talent around him where he doesn't need to be the go-to-guy. Like I said it's best to just wait and see. You can all start storming my house now with your pitchforks.

New RPI...old RPI, either way tinkering with it every year makes it a friggin' sham. I cannot say, with a straight face, that Vermont, ODU, and Miami (OH) are all top 40 teams. Yes, I understand big schools don't want to play those schools because they have nothing to gain and all to lose. To be frank, tough s***. If you want national attention as a mid-major beat the tar out of other mid-majors year in and year out. Hopefully you'll get some notice by a) the media (see: gonzaga) B: conferences (see: those who are moving from c-usa to the BE and random conferences to c-usa, etc) and then you won't be on the outside looking in. Programs are built over YEARS, you have to pay your dues instead of crying every year about how you get the short end of the stick. The last time a non-BCS school won a NC is UNLV...and they were crooked as hell. No matter what the numbers say, I would defer to the big conference team every time; it makes for better games even though the "storylines" of the NCAA tourney suffer. I mean for every "screwed" bubble mid-major, there's a mid-major that makes the tourney with 12 wins because they won their crappy conference tourney (see: Oakland). Essentially, it balances out; so by tweaking the RPI to favor the little schools is B.S. Thank God the committee doesn't strictly use RPI to determine the tournament, because we would all be able to write in UNC and Illinois in the final. I can't wait for deserving major conference teams to get in over these inflated RPI pushovers, because they'll be getting the 8/9 seeds that will make for great 2nd Round games. Just think, would you rather have Georgia Tech playing Illinois in the 2nd round or Vermont (from a good game perspective, I know the answer from you Illinois fans )? My main point is automatic bids are for the mid-majors. Very rarely should they be at large bids, and most of the time those in the know are able to determine this fairly easy. If the NCAA continues to tweak its math in their favor RPI will become even more of a joke, much like the BCS as mentioned in this thread. And we all know we don't want to go down that road... Ok this post is all over the place, but as you can tell I hate the new RPI.

A hell of an acquisition for about four games... then he'll just get hurt again.

Man this show rocked last night, I really hope that NBC puts it in a decent timeslot for its duration. I'm not a really big boxing guy, but I watch a lot of reality tv, and this show is done right. It just goes to show FOX that you can't rush things like this and expect them to be a success, with Oscar De La Hoya's version of this show being a prime example...man did that one suck.

Steelers sign a WR to "replace" Burress: Cedrick Wilson, formerly of the 49ers. Per Espn