The Swamp

The NCAA can't wait to bump MSU down so they can put them in UVA's region again.

If Notre Dame gets in the tournament, they might fuck up some brackets. With Bonzie Colson back - and incredibly he's back and playing as well as ever - they are a much, much better team.

So, that happened.

Back to back, yo.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Sun Mar 04, 2018 8:31 pm So, that happened.

Back to back, yo.

Scrappy match up problem!

Shirley wrote: ↑Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:07 pm If Notre Dame gets in the tournament, they might fuck up some brackets. With Bonzie Colson back - and incredibly he's back and playing as well as ever - they are a much, much better team.

I think hey may be a play in game but yeah you don’t want to play them.

A guy was running his yap to me a couple weeks ago about how great the SEC is this year. He ended up betting me $100 that 4 SEC teams would make the Sweet 16 and one of them cannot be Kentucky. It seemed insane at the time and still does. At best Auburn and Tennessee will be threes (and I seriously doubt that) and the other 5-6 teams will be seeded no higher than fifth (likely a tough second round game). Another friend whose opinion I trust says it's not a bad bet for the other guy. What says the Swamp? Will I be a Benny short on March 19?

Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:28 pm A guy was running his yap to me a couple weeks ago about how great the SEC is this year. He ended up betting me $100 that 4 SEC teams would make the Sweet 16 and one of them cannot be Kentucky. It seemed insane at the time and still does. At best Auburn and Tennessee will be threes (and I seriously doubt that) and the other 5-6 teams will be seeded no higher than fifth (likely a tough second round game). Another friend whose opinion I trust says it's not a bad bet for the other guy. What says the Swamp? Will I be a Benny short on March 19?

I'd take that action and wouldn't even need the qualifier of not including Kentucky.

UK and Auburn. Thats gonna be it.

Oklahoma NIT if they don’t win this right?

I'm not really sure what their case is. I get that the Big 12 is hard, but when you go 8-11 you need to start looking at what else they did, and there you get....we beat Wichita State? I bet Southern Illinois would have liked to use that one in past years.

Oklahoma shouldn’t get in but they will.

brian wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:55 pm Oklahoma shouldn’t get in but they will.

I don’t think so. They didn’t put LSU in with Simmons. They needed to win one game. They are out.

Last two weeks seems to have proved big 12 wasn’t awesome.

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:13 am

brian wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:55 pm Oklahoma shouldn’t get in but they will.

I don’t think so. They didn’t put LSU in with Simmons. They needed to win one game. They are out.

Last two weeks seems to have proved big 12 wasn’t awesome.

Trae Young is a much bigger star than Simmons was though. I can guarantee the folks on the committee will have seen him and Oklahoma play a lot more. Which probably doesn't help, actually.

Pitt and Kevin Stallings are discussing a buyout. Damn, he was just starting to turn it around.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Kudos to Pitt for making the hard call. Although I think it's gonna cost them a ton.

Kevin Ollie fired for cause.

Vermont loses a heartbreaker in the America East final. There was a time here where that sort of thing would have led to 2 or 3 people quitting.

Vermont’s parents* must be very sad

*The 2012 Wisconsin Badgers

brian wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 5:13 am

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:10 pm

brian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:01 pm I just learned the SEC Tournament is going to be in Saint Louis for some reason. How dumb. SEC trying to out-Big Ten the Big Ten.

You gotta placate those Mizzou fans.

Most Missouri fans/alums except for the ones from Saint Louis hate Saint Louis. At least in that one sense the B1G tourney in NYC makes some sense.

I was at the first semi today and it was a pretty decent crowd and all Kentucky fans. Haven’t yet decided if I’m going to go to the final tomorrow but that will definitely be like a home game for UK.

Not cool since UT beat us at home....

A_B wrote: ↑Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:16 pm Not cool since UT beat us at home....

Kentucky looked really good yesterday. I was impressed with their defensive discipline. But they also hit a ridiculous percentage of jump shots, which surely isn't sustainable, so I'm not sure about their offense going forward.

Other than UVA, this year's crop of #1 seeds seems very weak to me. I'd definitely take Duke, Michigan State, Michigan, Arizona, Purdue, Tennessee, UNC and Gonzaga to beat Xavier on a neutral court. I think a bunch of those teams may also may be better than Villanova or Kansas. (At a minimum, I'd pick Duke, MSU and Michigan over any non-UVA #1 seed.)

This Virginia season has just been surreal. 31-2. 20-1 in ACC games (a league that will get 8-10 teams in the tournament). #1 in every single human or computer poll - by a pretty wide margin.

It's just ... surreal. I knew they'd be better than most expected and I probably better than last year. But nobody saw this coming. Nobody could have seen this coming.

And I hate, hate, HATE the narrative that none of that matters if they don't win the next four games to get to a Final Four. I watched the games. I saw who they beat and what it took. It was hard as hell. One bad game can't erase that. Yet, that's what the whole country seems to be waiting for. If the jerseys said Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc, the great season would be honored for what it is, regardless of how the next couple of weeks turn out. But that's not what's going to happen. Instead, if Virginia gets upset, like what happens to most #1 seeds, all this season's success almost turns into a negative - evidence of the fraudulent nature of Tony Bennett's system that apparently can only magically win games before the NCAA Tournament.

So, I desperately want them to get that Final Four, and not even for me as a fan. I want them to get it so that the memory of this season remains a celebration of an unbelievable accomplishment instead of some kind indictment of a supposedly flawed system.

Well. I for one enjoyed UK and the 38-1 season but I liked 2012 a lot better.

you're a fan of [vacant]?

A_B wrote: ↑Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:23 am Well. I for one enjoyed UK and the 38-1 season but I liked 2013 a lot better.

Well, sure, but you always were a big Louisville fan.

A_B wrote: ↑Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:23 am Well. I for one enjoyed UK and the 38-1 season but I liked 2013 a lot better.

Yeah but it’s easy to prefer a 38-2 season with a title to a 38-1 season without one. The better question to get at the UVA point is if you prefer the 2009-10 season to the 2010-11 or 2013-14 season — i.e., a great team that lost before the Final Four or an inconsistent team that got hot at the right time and made a deeper run.

Shirley wrote: ↑Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:28 am

A_B wrote: ↑Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:23 am Well. I for one enjoyed UK and the 38-1 season but I liked 2013 a lot better.

Well, sure, but you always were a big Louisville fan.

Yeah. Bad typo!

Pitt is going to have a few scholarships to offer next year.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... ing-change

Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:28 pm A guy was running his yap to me a couple weeks ago about how great the SEC is this year. He ended up betting me $100 that 4 SEC teams would make the Sweet 16 and one of them cannot be Kentucky. It seemed insane at the time and still does. At best Auburn and Tennessee will be threes (and I seriously doubt that) and the other 5-6 teams will be seeded no higher than fifth (likely a tough second round game). Another friend whose opinion I trust says it's not a bad bet for the other guy. What says the Swamp? Will I be a Benny short on March 19?

I hope you ended up making this bet. Like I said, even giving up Kentucky and fading the SEC to get 4 was a good bet.

brian wrote: ↑Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:28 am

Rams Fanny wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:28 pm A guy was running his yap to me a couple weeks ago about how great the SEC is this year. He ended up betting me $100 that 4 SEC teams would make the Sweet 16 and one of them cannot be Kentucky. It seemed insane at the time and still does. At best Auburn and Tennessee will be threes (and I seriously doubt that) and the other 5-6 teams will be seeded no higher than fifth (likely a tough second round game). Another friend whose opinion I trust says it's not a bad bet for the other guy. What says the Swamp? Will I be a Benny short on March 19?

I hope you ended up making this bet. Like I said, even giving up Kentucky and fading the SEC to get 4 was a good bet.

I did. Last week I offered him a last chance to back out and his response was "i accept cash and Paypal". I was considering running my mouth at payoff meeting but think I'll just be moderately smug in hopes he makes more low percentage bets at even money in the future.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:05 pm UK and Auburn. Thats gonna be it.

Got my mid tier SEC mixed up you guys.

Is Kansas State going to be the first team ever to be shut out by a 16 seed?

AB has a new favorite coach to hate and it's....

Chris Mack. Leaves Xavier for Louisville and a 7 year, $28M deal.

I figured that was who they would get. Great, another grind it out physical bunch down the road. Fun.

Xavier's string of successful coaches really is incredible. The last six coaches they've hired have succeeded at Xavier before being hired away to a program in a larger conference. A few of those guys then petered out (Bob Staak and Pete Gillen), but the next four were Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller, and Chris Mack.

Whatever they do to evaluate young coaches at Xavier really works.

Jeff Capel just admitted on local Pittsburgh radio that he’s never been to an NFL game. Uh oh?

rass wrote: ↑Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:34 pm Jeff Capel just admitted on local Pittsburgh radio that he’s never been to an NFL game. Uh oh?

It's amazing how little life coaches at that level have. These guys (D1 football and basketball and all pro coaches) don't see movies, don't watch TV, etc.

Well I for one give him a lot of credit for not driving down to Charlotte for a Panthers game.