whitesoxfan101

Pittsburgh has such an easy draw, it's amazing. They HAVE to make this their time and get to the Final Four. I seriously think Butler could make the Final Four again if they somehow win their first two games. This region is that bad. If the Jimmers still had Brandon Davies, I'd love them here. Even without him, they have a shot though IMO.

Best region in my opinion. Took Kentucky to win it, but North Carolina is another team I really like and could see winning the region and Ohio State is obviously the #1 overall seed and starting in Cleveland so they're right there. Washington/Georgia should be a really fun opening round game.

Took San Diego State here even though I don't think they've ever won a tournament game. May live to regret it. Could also see UConn winning here, and obviously Duke has a great shot. I think they'll be challenged in every game they play after the opener though. Very good region.

For some reason, the left side of the bracket seems WAY harder than the right. Ohio State got the toughest draw, but surprisingly no easy stroll for Duke either. Seems like Pittsburgh and Kansas made out the best here, so I have them in the Final Four with Kansas winning it all. Kentucky over UNC in the elite 8, Kentucky over San Diego State in the Final Four, then losing to Kansas in the final. I worry I'll regret not taking UNC and UConn to win their regions. Don't like Duke or Ohio State much at all in either case. I have three 11's winning in the first round (only 6 I took was Georgetown, who I also have beating Purdue). Also took two 13's in Belmont and Oakland. Other than that and two of my Final Four teams, I have a lot of chalk. Kansas has an easy stroll to the elite 8 (although I'm admittedly down on Louisville). Pittsburgh seems to have an easy entire region. I could seriously see the Butler/ODU winner in the Final Four if they upset Pittsburgh for instance. If BYU had got this region with Davies, they'd be my Final Four pick for sure. Although heck, they may have a shot now in that region. I'm pretty sure San Diego State has never won a tournament game too. May live to especially regret that pick.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 13, 2011 -> 09:47 PM) Clemson has 0 top 50 wins, f***IN 0!!!! How the hell does someone with 0 top 50 wins make the field?!?!?!? And I understand the point your trying to make about the teams that didn't get in but Colorado is a HUGE snub. 5 wins against the top 50 including 1 against a top 4 seed and a road and neutral court win against KSU, to be honest, they should have been in pretty comfortably, it's absurd that they aren't in at all. Washington is very dangerous but they're too small to hang with UNC imo. Oakland is going to be a popular pick(and for good reason) but they got a bad matchup against Texas, wouldn't be shocked if UT blows them out, on the other hand, who the f*** knows with Texas. The Richmond-Vandy game has given me more of a headache than any other matchup in the 1st round. I love Vandy's talent but I really like this Spiders team a lot as well, in the end I think Richmond can control the tempo and give Vandy another first round exit. Belmont over Wiscy isn't really an upset, that'll also be quite a popular pick. The bolded is absolutely true. Colorado had a OOC SOS in the 300's and an 8-8 league record in a Big 12 that wasn't overwhelming. They have a lot of good wins yes, but they also have 13 losses, 7 to teams not in the tournament. I won't argue if you think they have the biggest complaint, but they could have done more for sure. Didn't realize Clemson has no top 50 wins. They do have 5 top 60 wins though (lol). UAB has one top 50 win (vs. VCU, #49), and they play in C-USA. VCU isn't quite as bad as UAB so I'll leave them alone, at least they did beat UCLA and got some good wins in a very respectable league. Still not sure if they should be in though.

Can't believe VCU and UAB got in. I also am pretty surprised USC got in (not as surprised at Clemson as a lot of people though). I really think Harvard could make a strong case for being in, and Colorado and Virginia Tech also had a case. But the thing is, there were not 68 deserving teams this year. Not even close. So if you didn't get in, it's the fault of NOBODY but yourself. Teams like Illinois, USC, Marquette, Georgia, VCU, and UAB would not be in the tournament the vast majority of years because their resumes are either pieces of s*** or have elements to them that are trash. But this year, they're all in and teams like Marquette, Georgia, and Illinois aren't even play-in game types. Not to pick on them either, because I'm sure there are several other at-large teams I'm not thinking of that the same could be said for. And really, it's hard to find any teams to put in over them. This tournament is interesting in the sense you could make the case for a ton of upsets due to how crappy everybody is, or maybe there will be a lack of upsets due to how unprecented the low quality is among lower seeds. But it's the tournament, so we'll still all watch. As for first round matchups, I love Washington/Georgia. Should be a fun game, and I think the winner will give North Carolina a big headache either way. Also love Texas/Oakland if you're thinking big upset, and perhaps Belmont/Wisconsin too. Cincinnati/Mizzou and Michigan/Tennessee could be fun in the west as well. Vanderbilt/Richmond could be this years 5/12 upset. There are a lot of 1st round games that could be close. Although I think there are a lot of games in general that will be close, the talent level isn't that widely dispersed. Regardless of if the ton of upsets or few upsets idea plays out, I'd be shocked if there are a ton of blowouts, outside of maybe in the 1st round.

Only one potential bid stealer left today. I would absolutely love to know what team is the one that gets in if Richmond wins, but is bumped out if Dayton wins. Oh to be a fly on the wall in the selection room.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Mar 12, 2011 -> 05:27 PM) So, my post that Illinois didn't deserve a bid got flamed and I actually was feeling that people were right and I was overly harsh. If Illinois fails to get a bid after all, I think it goes to show that there's no such thing as being overly critical of that program. I have to say the I'm surprised at the early exits of Wiscy and Purdue. Outside of tOSU, I really have no confidence in any Big Ten team doing well in the NCAA...or maybe the conference was really good but just had a lot of parity...it will be interesting to see if that's the case. I think these two tweets one of the yahoo guys made a little while ago cover the situation well: I personally think Illinois belongs over Michigan on the totem pole (but behind Michigan State and Penn State). However, they lost to them Friday on a neutral floor and barely beat them in Champaign, which may be looked at closely.

WOW Princeton beats Harvard in the 1 game, neutral site playoff for The Ivy League by 1 point on a shot at the buzzer. Harvard has an RPI of 32 and a great overall record, but has basically no shot at an at-large. Which is too bad, becuase I could argue they're better than some of the mediocre big boys that'll be among the last in. Also, Penn State is in now. I think the discussion now might be will Michigan or Illinois be among the first four play in games. Although if shenanigans keep happening (Dayton wins A-10, Utah State loses their conference title game), a bid of any kind might be in peril for Michigan or Illinois.

QUOTE (The Bones @ Mar 12, 2011 -> 04:46 PM) I used to think this, but he moved Illinois from out to in on Selection Sunday last year and he was wrong. Makes sense to me. Illinois was probably a team that the committee was split on right down to the end, and he just didn't get that magic phone call to help him out.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Mar 12, 2011 -> 02:30 PM) Lunardi is only the best because he hears everything last minute and changes his bracket to reflect that at the end. Yeah he's an absolute joke. Don't even look at his bracket projections until Sunday when he starts getting calls from selection committee members and makes several changes to his projections all of a sudden. Plus, only about half a dozen or so "bubble" teams make it and the other 50 some odd teams are auto bids or obvious at large picks. The fact he's so popular is laughable, he basically goes 5 for 6 on bubble teams every year with insider info helping him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 11, 2011 -> 07:04 AM) It should be longer than the suspension the players received. It makes little sense its not. I agree. I was thinking 6 to 9 games seems about right. The entire season would be quite sufficient IMO since he wasn't fired. QUOTE (Heads22 @ Mar 11, 2011 -> 05:42 PM) I miss college football. Me too. And i'm beyond thankful to know their games will be played this fall.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 12, 2011 -> 10:40 AM) Must be nice. Yeah NIU fired their coach too and I was thrilled about that. Congrats to fathom on finally getting rid of his nemesis! As for SIU and Illinois, their days will come. Perhaps at this time next year!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 10:59 AM) It would be much deserved IMO if the NCAA expands the suspension to the entire season and sets a precedent on that term of punishment for coaches who withhold information. AS of right now, the swift punishment that OSU imposed on him was probably based on the weak punishments given out in prior cases to coaches. Mark Emmert and the NCAA have had several cases over the past year or so where their sanctions were questionable at best: Cam Newton, Bruce Pearl, Lane Kiffin, now OSU and Oregon. They need to set a precedent and follow it regardless of the specifics ie: the size of the school. If they suspended Tressel for the entire season, that'd be a more than fair punishment IMO. I honestly am not even looking for that much, just more than 2 games against MAC teams.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 10, 2011 -> 06:19 PM) They don't. Neither does Illinois unless they make the championship game. Illinois has about a 90 percent chance of getting in if they lose tomorrow and 99 percent if they win. Most years, their resume isn't cutting it. But with 68 teams and a bad bubble, they'll be hard pressed not to be included.

It's the NCAA so it make take years, but I'm curious to see their final report on this whole situation. Because that press conference led to more questions than answers, and there were already a ton of questions in the first place.

The Hawks have been taking periods off in most of their games even during the winning streak and getting away with it. Maybe a loss to a HORRIBLE opponent tonight (can't do that when you're on the playoff bubble fellas) will teach them the value of playing 60 minutes. This one hurts because I was expecting problems in Tampa tomorrow. If you win tonight, a loss at Tampa is no big deal. But now, a loss there is a bit of a problem if it happens.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 8, 2011 -> 06:29 PM) Gordon Gee "dismissing Tressel was never on the table." Of course not. The guy makes a BCS Bowl every year, and thus makes the school large sums of money. Unless he did something that was going to get the school the death penalty, he would never be fired. Even if he such action should at least be considered, seeing as sitting on info about potential major violations for 8 months is rather brutal. I like how he made those kids commit to coming back to school (which benefits him, not them) when it turns out he's violating the NCAA rules as well. Some integrity. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 8, 2011 -> 09:23 AM) Now this is cheating, and not actually just rehashing a story that already has caused sanctions. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...cr-oregon030311 So sitting on potential rules violations for 8 months isn't cheating? Isn't one of the first thing they tell a coach is to report any potential violations they are made aware of? I know you're an OSU fan deluxe, but come on. It's hard for any person not wearing scarlet and grey to look at this story and not think Tressel was trying to hide this for the sake of the 2010 season. Not to defend the kids who were guilty of violations, but I find what Tressel did a lot worse than what they did personally.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 7, 2011 -> 07:53 PM) Damn, if this is all true... He gone. Nah they'll figure out a way around it. Sure Tressel is a cheater, but so are almost all of the coaches of top programs. He wins games and brings the school money, so he'll go nowhere. QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 7, 2011 -> 08:13 PM) I am just utterly shocked by these turn of events. Not really. Exactly.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 7, 2011 -> 02:34 PM) They are really making alot of this "crying" thing in the media today. I can't decide what's dumber: players crying after a regular season game, or their coach openly volunteering such information to the media.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...-osuprobe030711 Oops Tressel.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 6, 2011 -> 12:58 AM) So basically there is no reason other than it's this year. Still waiting to find out what a great team is. MY team hasq 2 losses at Wisconsin and at purdue. They have plenty of top 25 rpi wins including on the road. They also have probably 4 NBA players in the lineup. Tell me why they aren't great other than your eye test. Well first off, you still have to win the title to be considered as great, and that's a long way off. Even if so though, Ohio State is not a great team. They're really not even all that close to being a great team. I'm not sure how I can tell you they're not great other than the eye test though, because that's kind of how determining a great team works. And since you're a Buckeye fan, you are going to defend them as great and not acknowledge the fact they're not. And quite frankly, you don't have any wins that have overwhelmed me this season other than at Florida. If you're going to go 14-15 on 3's every game though, I like your chances to win it all though. Although honestly, I'd say you're the favorites even if you don't. But you're not a great team, and quite honestly you're not even close to one. The last two UNC teams to win it all would both beat this Ohio State team by 10+ on a neutral, as would both Florida title games. tOSU is the best of a bad lot this year, and we'll see if they take advantage and win it all.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 5, 2011 -> 10:06 PM) So in your opinion, what qualifies a team to be called great? Come on Rock, there are no great teams (including Ohio State) and you know it. The only team that had a shot at being great this year was Duke if Irving hadn't have got hurt. I'd say the last "great" team was 2009 North Carolina. I don't think there were any great teams last year either, but people are noticing the poor quality of college hoops in particular this year because the at large pool absolutely sucks and there are 3 more teams making the tournament as well.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Mar 5, 2011 -> 10:21 PM) People think that, because Orlando's not a big market team that Dwight is automatically going to bolt to a bigger market come FA next off-season. But Orlando has a brand new arena and ownership that spends a lot of money trying to put a winner out on the floor. If anything, the plan is in Orlando is try to and bring in a stud FA to help Dwight next off-season like a Deron Williams or a Chris Paul. Of course for that to happen, we'll probably have to buy out Arenas's contract. Don't know if I could see Lopez and Howard co-existing for the Nets either. I don't think he's going to bolt for a "bigger market." That's why I say I have no idea where he'll end up. I just think he's going to bolt because everything I've read, heard, and seen says that he wants to bolt.

Another win. Similar to the Wild game, the Hawks looked gassed in the 3rd period of the 2nd game of the back to back tonight, but Crawford was brilliant so this time the lead was never in jeopardy. 80 point through 66 games, and 6 behind the Wings who have also played 66 games if you're paying attention that yet. Although that's a significant long shot IMO.