2015 NCAA Tournament Thread

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:56 pm

I think the selection committee really overvalued the Big East and the Big 12 this year. It's understandable that Villanova got a #1 seed, but I don't think there's any way they're the second-best team in the country, which is where they were slotted. Georgetown getting a #4, and Butler, Xavier and Providence all getting #6s also seems very generous to me. And while many rankings systems say that the Big-12 is the best conference top-to-bottom (which I don't disagree with), I don't think that Kansas, ISU, Oklahoma and Baylor are all among the top-12 teams nationwide. In my opinion, the three best teams in the country (UK, Arizona, Wisconsin) are all on the same side of the bracket. I would be shocked if one of those three teams isn't in the Final (with Kentucky obviously a sizable favorite among the three). The other side of the bracket seems much more wide-open to me as, in my opinion, any one of 8 teams from that side could make the Final (Duke, UVA, 'Nova, ISU, Gonzaga, Utah, Oklahoma, MSU).

Post by **brian** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 6:59 pm

Just playing devil's advocate, but Big 12 by far had the best SoS and I think this is a reflection of that. Don't necessarily agree that they should put so much weight on that, but....

I think they did a pretty good job overall. I would have had Colorado State in and UCLA out, but that's about my only quibble.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:05 pm

Iowa st in final four. Hot take.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:07 pm

brian wrote:Just playing devil's advocate, but Big 12 by far had the best SoS and I think this is a reflection of that. Don't necessarily agree that they should put so much weight on that, but....

I think they did a pretty good job overall. I would have had Colorado State in and UCLA out, but that's about my only quibble.

I agree that the Big-12 is probably the best conference, I just think its teams got overseeded (other than ISU who seems like a #3 seed to me). As a Kentucky fan, I'm thrilled to have Kansas as the #2 seed in the Midwest, and not just because Kentucky hammered them earlier this season.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:37 pm

Kansas won't be there at elite eight. Hot take #2

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 7:39 pm

brian wrote:I would have had Colorado State in and UCLA out

I am bummed out that the Rams were left out. I guess the selection committee did not give weight to their impressive victory in the Swampcrash bracket last week.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:02 pm

AB_skin_test wrote:Kansas won't be there at elite eight. Hot take #2

I don't know if Notre Dame beating Kansas in the Sweet 16 would even qualify as an upset. ND is #10 in the KenPom rankings, and Kansas is #11. Wichita State beating Kansas wouldn't surprise me either.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:33 pm

Not sure how it's playing nationally, but the Big 5 is going nuts about Temple getting skipped over.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:51 pm

Did Buffalo win this thing yet?

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:01 pm

If Oklahoma and Baylor were overseeded, who was underseeded to take their places? Maryland and ?

HDO45331 · Post by **HDO45331** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:06 pm

CBS Sports has two brackets. One for Sportsfrog, and one for The Sports Frog.

Are both good?

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:34 pm

Brontoburglar wrote:If Oklahoma and Baylor were overseeded, who was underseeded to take their places? Maryland and ?

I would put Maryland ahead of Oklahoma for sure, and probably ahead of Baylor. Admittedly, Maryland was really lucky in close games and Oklahoma was really unlucky. But I think you have to put a 6-loss B1G team over a 10-loss Big-12 team. I also think Utah and Louisville had better overall seasons than Baylor and Oklahoma (although with Louisville, the Chris Jones suspension complicates things). And maybe I'm drinking the MVC kool-aid since I live in Missouri now, but I think you could even make an argument for Northern Iowa over Baylor and Oklahoma.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 10:45 pm

Also, according to the full ranking list, the committee had Notre Dame as the lowest ranked #3 seed. Is the Big 12 that awesome that it's top-4 teams are all better than a 5-loss team that won the ACC Tournament and beat Duke twice?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 7:03 am

If the Pac 12 was good enough for THAT UCLA team to get in, then the team that won the reg season and conference tournament deserved a 1 seed.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 7:05 am

Appropriate for the thread, dumb coming from me because I don't talk about college basketball ever.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:55 am

If the rest of the games are as fun as that Ole Miss/BYU game (Ole miss down 16 at the half, scored 62! points in second half to win by 4) and even that Manhattan/Hampton Game (even though it wasn't super close the whole time, you never got the sense that Manhattan was out of it until the last minute) then we are in for a hell of a tournament.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:41 am

AB_skin_test wrote:If the rest of the games are as fun as that Ole Miss/BYU game (Ole miss down 16 at the half, scored 62! points in second half to win by 4) and even that Manhattan/Hampton Game (even though it wasn't super close the whole time, you never got the sense that Manhattan was out of it until the last minute) then we are in for a hell of a tournament.

Participating in my first bracket where you pick the play-in games and now it's the earliest I've ever been disappointed in my bracket. I had BYU against Baylor in round 3.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:51 pm

I was all about Ole Miss, and Dayton tonight, to win "in" and get to the Sweet Sixteen. Didn't see the first game last night but the Ole Miss v. BYU game was outstanding. That does bode well for the rest of the tourney

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 12:59 pm

I got Michigan to win it all. It would be a nice touch to bring back Rumeal Robinson to be honorary captain for the championship game.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:07 pm

What are you guys doing with the South bracket? I'm somewhat torn between Gonzaga, Duke and Iowa State. Duke clearly is the best team and when they are playing well on both ends, only Kentucky could stop them. But then, other times their defense is awful and usually that catches up to you at some point.

Iowa State is streaky and fun, but their D is worse than Duke's.

The Zags looks pretty strong, but they only time I really watched them (other than highlights), I watched them lose to BYU.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:18 pm

Shirley wrote:What are you guys doing with the South bracket? I'm somewhat torn between Gonzaga, Duke and Iowa State. Duke clearly is the best team and when they are playing well on both ends, only Kentucky could stop them. But then, other times their defense is awful and usually that catches up to you at some point.

Iowa State is streaky and fun, but their D is worse than Duke's.

The Zags looks pretty strong, but they only time I really watched them (other than highlights), I watched them lose to BYU.

I reluctantly picked Gonzaga. I think Duke is vulnerable due to their defense and the possibility of teams intentionally fouling Okafor if it's close and late. In addition to the teams you mentioned, I wouldn't count out Utah.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:25 pm

Zags are SLOW. I think it's Iowa State or Duke. I think Niang is the guy most likely to go Kemba Walker in this tournament and win a few games by himself.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:26 pm

Joe K wrote:
Shirley wrote:What are you guys doing with the South bracket? I'm somewhat torn between Gonzaga, Duke and Iowa State. Duke clearly is the best team and when they are playing well on both ends, only Kentucky could stop them. But then, other times their defense is awful and usually that catches up to you at some point.

Iowa State is streaky and fun, but their D is worse than Duke's.

The Zags looks pretty strong, but they only time I really watched them (other than highlights), I watched them lose to BYU.
I reluctantly picked Gonzaga. I think Duke is vulnerable due to their defense and the possibility of teams intentionally fouling Okafor if it's close and late. In addition to the teams you mentioned, I wouldn't count out Utah.

I have Iowa State going through in most, but I had to do one bracket with a Kentucky v. Duke championship game. I think Utah has a decent chance at the Elite Eight. Gonzaga may not make weekend two, I like Davidson as the Sweet Sixteen crasher, although I will be rooting for them.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:10 pm

Bensell wrote:I was all about Ole Miss, and Dayton tonight, to win "in" and get to the Sweet Sixteen. Didn't see the first game last night but the Ole Miss v. BYU game was outstanding. That does bode well for the rest of the tourney

I saw a portion of the first game, which was played terribly, or about what you would expect from a couple 16-seeds. There is significantly less talent on these teams, so the level of play reflects that. Teams looking rushed, trying to do too much, showing ill effects of their emotions. Brutal.

I only saw a portion of the first half of Ole Miss and BYU and I can only theorize that BYU's inability to shoot absurdly well in the second half failed to paper over the fact they can't stop anyone. Most of the remaining teams in the tournament will actually try to play defense, so temper your hopes.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:14 pm

Wow, you guys have some play-in programs going through to the Sweet 16? That sounds unprecedented. Can't imagine a team so great they could have done that before.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:19 pm

I'm fucking blind today.

If anyone wants in my pool just shoot me an email address for an invite. Paypal 10 bucks to jerloma at gmail.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:37 pm

mister d wrote:Wow, you guys have some play-in programs going through to the Sweet 16? That sounds unprecedented. Can't imagine a team so great they could have done that before.

Didn't VCU play into the Final Four first time there was a play-in concept?

Oh, wait, was that sarcasm?

Damn. Long day.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:15 pm

So wait, Hampton won't be the first?

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:18 pm

I still think it should be those big programmes that are the last in that play in the play in games,it's a wee bit better with BYU and the like in the play-ins, but if you've won something you should be playing your way into shit.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:43 pm

A-10 forever.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:30 am

Shirley wrote:What are you guys doing with the South bracket? I'm somewhat torn between Gonzaga, Duke and Iowa State. Duke clearly is the best team and when they are playing well on both ends, only Kentucky could stop them. But then, other times their defense is awful and usually that catches up to you at some point.

Iowa State is streaky and fun, but their D is worse than Duke's.

The Zags looks pretty strong, but they only time I really watched them (other than highlights), I watched them lose to BYU.

What are your thoughts on UVA? I keep vacillating on whether I think they'll lose to Michigan State or make a deep run (potentially all the way to the title game). Do you have any sense of what reasonable expectations are for Justin Anderson's play? If he can play like he did early on, I think they are easily a Final Four team.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:34 am

Anyone else impressed the selection committee managed to fuck over two mid-majors in the same game?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:35 am

I personally think this year's bracket is so top heavy that, of the top 16 seeds, probably 12-14 of them will make the sweet sixteen.

This is the year for chalk!

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:36 am

mister d wrote:Anyone else impressed the selection committee managed to fuck over two mid-majors in the same game?

Hey, easy now. Ohio State is in a major conference.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:52 am

https://vine.co/v/OV9q152DUbg

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:53 am

What a pro. Er, what a student-athlete.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:56 am

Those girls have fathers who can never enjoy the tourney the same way again, all because of the stupid extra 4 teams.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:00 am

looks like that's the Boise logo on their uniforms. Man I backed the wrong team to win.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:32 am

Providence has a junior high school coach so I realize there's a ceiling but if they're going to lose, I kind of hope they do it by Dunn shitting the bed so his stock plummets and he stays another year.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:04 am

Still amazed that I can just start watching a game online instead of being penned up in a virtual waiting room like some 2009 common dog.