NCAA College Basketball Talk

[IndyValpo]

I may be alone here but I go not think I could have watched another Northwestern game in this tourney. Their coverage was over the top and tiresome.

[VU2624]

No it wasn't. There's clearly some regional envy with NW.

Northwestern also got completely hosed on the two goaltending calls. 7 point swing.

[a3uge]

No it wasn't. There's clearly some regional envy with NW.

Northwestern also got completely hosed on the two goaltending calls. 7 point swing.

Wisconsin had a couple bad calls at the end, but they manned up, their coach didn't walk on the court, and they erased a 7 point deficit to win the game. One bad call with 5 minutes left shouldn't have that much impact on the game.

[VU2624]

No it wasn't. There's clearly some regional envy with NW. Northwestern also got completely hosed on the two goaltending calls. 7 point swing.

Wisconsin had a couple bad calls at the end, but they manned up, their coach didn't walk on the court, and they erased a 7 point deficit to win the game. One bad call with 5 minutes left shouldn't have that much impact on the game.

It was 2 bad calls on the same type of call and it can have a lot of impact on the game particularly when they were trying to fight from behind. Good for Wisconsin. They caught Nova in a game they didn't play particularly well.

As an aside, who seeded these teams. Minnesota was a 5 and Wisconsin was an 8?

[usc4valpo]

The officiating in the northwestern-gonzags game was absolutely brutal. I would be surprised if Gonzaga makes the final 4.

USC upsets that high moral school in Waco tomorrow. fight on!!!!!!!!

[bbtds]

No it wasn't. There's clearly some regional envy with NW. Northwestern also got completely hosed on the two goaltending calls. 7 point swing.

Wisconsin had a couple bad calls at the end, but they manned up, their coach didn't walk on the court, and they erased a 7 point deficit to win the game. One bad call with 5 minutes left shouldn't have that much impact on the game.

It was 2 bad calls on the same type of call and it can have a lot of impact on the game particularly when they were trying to fight from behind. Good for Wisconsin. They caught Nova in a game they didn't play particularly well.

As an aside, who seeded these teams. Minnesota was a 5 and Wisconsin was an 8?

Maybe the selection committee should get replaced if they are in wrong in their seeding by more than 5.

[VU2014]

Maybe the selection committee should get replaced if they are in wrong in their seeding by more than 5.

The Committee knows that are getting it wrong. Selection Committee doesn't care if they screw up the seedings.

The Committee knew exactly what they were doing when they put Vandy vs Northwestern in the 1st rnd and Dayton vs Wichita State. They put these match ups together and could careless about seeds.

Pretty much everyone knew it was a joke that Minnesota was a 5 seed competing going up against Middle Tennessee. That match up met their quota of having one 12 seed beating a 5. Just so many obvious examples of the committee ignoring the criteria of seeding and picking teams to get into the Tourney.

They are not going to get rid of/replace the Tournament Selection Committee because they don't have to answer anyone about their decisions. The only way the Select Committee gets replaced is if someone uncovered provable fraud in the process and public pressure was applied to create a new system.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCBB/status/843615193620013062

[usc4valpo]

USC played their hearts out and fell just short. Bummer

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/mid_madness/status/844009176749752322

[oklahomamick]

p5 conferences will take the mid major coaches but won't schedule them.  I think that should be part of the contract.  They have to play the mid major at their place for two years.

[M]

Thats what Valpo did 

[bbtds]

Thats what Valpo did 

It's time to put the pressure on Scott. He's a Butler grad for gosh sakes! We need to schedule Baylor.

[VU2014]

We need to schedule Baylor.

Maybe not schedule next season but the following year. I'm not sure Scott wants to schedule us...

[VU2014]

An interesting move... Moving from the MAAC to the A10 is a conference upgrade and may be more behind the scene factors for this move. Maybe The Monmouth AD/University wasn't showing the commitment.

Duquesne has be pretty bad to barely mediocre at best for the last 15yrs or at least ever since I've personally been following college basketball. Been a bottom dweller in the A10. Great hire by Duquense and a big blow to the Monmouth program.

https://twitter.com/PghSportsNow/status/844003834548666373

Edit:
Maybe he's not leaving?

https://twitter.com/Joshua_Newman/status/844286607196852224

[usc4valpo]

Recovering from surgery, I have watched more than my share of basketball. Here some ramblings to share and discuss...

1. I do not watch a lot of Big 10 basketball, but Caleb Swanigan of Purdue is a complete stud and the best player I have seen in the tournament. He reminds me a lot of Mark Aguirre when he was at DePaul - nice touch from the inside and outside, great high post play, big frame and butt which provides real estate to drive. I was also impressed by how he gets Haus into the game.

2. The 2 best games I watched in my opinion were Iowa state - Purdue and USC - Baylor. All 4 teams played very well and the flow of the games were excellent. Purdue in the first half was outstanding and pretty much played perfect basketball - then Iowa State put on a tremendous run and Purdue squeaked it out. USC played their hearts out and have serious talent for years to come, but Baylor's depth And Scott Drew's decision to go small for the final 8 minutes won it. If Purdue plays like they did on Saturday against Kansas, they will win and make the final four.

3. I am not impressed with Gonzaga. Heck, all the effort "niceties" aside, northwestern did not play well and could have won. West Virginia will beat them, and if not Arizona will.

4. But... I would take the current Vegas odds on Xavier winning it all. The payback would be huge and I don't think it is out of reality that it is possible.

5. UCLA is fun to watch. They are not consistent, but when they are on a roll - wow. They won decisively over a great Cincy.  Ball is a freak. The Kentucky game is one for the ages.

6. Purdue - Michigan in the regional final.

7. In an even bet, I would give you any 2 teams to win it all if you gave me the remaining 14.

[vu84v2]

usc4valpo - I hope that you are recovering well from your surgery.

I will admit that I have not seen as much of Purdue as you seem to have. I agree that Swanigan is a stud, but the matchup with him playing the four against Kansas will have him covering Jackson and vice versa. Jackson is way more athletic than Swanigan. Perhaps Purdue can switch to zone, but I don't see Swanigan being able to chase Jackson. Jackson holding his own on the inside against Swanigan is probably more likely than Swanigan being able to cover a guard. Pace of play in this game will mean everything - if there is a fair amount of open court play, Kansas wins. If it is mainly a half court game and Kansas doesn't shoot well, Purdue has a chance.

[usc4valpo]

84v2 - thanks for you thoughts. recovery is going well so far.

Good point about Kansas - huowever, I am just waiting for their annual collapse. Purdue definitely needs to set the tempo to win.

Can you imagine a UCLA-Kansas matchup? Get the popcorn ready for that!

[Just Sayin]

Recovering from surgery, I have watched more than my share of basketball. Here some ramblings to share and discuss...

1. I do not watch a lot of Big 10 basketball, but Caleb Swanigan of Purdue is a complete stud and the best player I have seen in the tournament. He reminds me a lot of Mark Aguirre when he was at DePaul - nice touch from the inside and outside, great high post play, big frame and butt which provides real estate to drive. I was also impressed by how he gets Haus into the game.

2. The 2 best games I watched in my opinion were Iowa state - Purdue and USC - Baylor. All 4 teams played very well and the flow of the games were excellent. Purdue in the first half was outstanding and pretty much played perfect basketball - then Iowa State put on a tremendous run and Purdue squeaked it out. USC played their hearts out and have serious talent for years to come, but Baylor's depth And Scott Drew's decision to go small for the final 8 minutes won it. If Purdue plays like they did on Saturday against Kansas, they will win and make the final four.

3. I am not impressed with Gonzaga. Heck, all the effort "niceties" aside, northwestern did not play well and could have won. West Virginia will beat them, and if not Arizona will.

4. But... I would take the current Vegas odds on Xavier winning it all. The payback would be huge and I don't think it is out of reality that it is possible.

5. UCLA is fun to watch. They are not consistent, but when they are on a roll - wow. They won decisively over a great Cincy.  Ball is a freak. The Kentucky game is one for the ages.

6. Purdue - Michigan in the regional final.

7. In an even bet, I would give you any 2 teams to win it all if you gave me the remaining 14.

Watching Michigan play twice, man they are good and for real.

[bigmosmithfan1]

The "team of destiny" thing gets overplayed all the time in sports, but man, Michigan sure has that feel to them right now.

[valpo64]

There could not have been a more "homer" gym than Hilltop.  I thought that place gave us an automatic 10-12 points a game.  And then we seemed to always hire "homer" refs.  As I remember many of those home games were the worst  as far as officiating goes.  I'll bet that visiting teams hated to play there.  Those rivalries vs. Evansville, Butler, St. Joe,etc. usually were fun games to watch.

[usc4valpo]

The Lonzo Ball - Lavar Ball - LaBron James issue is getting way out of hand.

[VU2014]

The Lonzo Ball - Lavar Ball - LeBron James issue is getting way out of hand.

You know your really out of line when the majority of people agree with LeBron...

LaVarr is just saying outlandish stuff to get media attention for his "Big Ballers" "Brand". Lonzo is the only kid the family looks to be a real stud "one & done" type player. The thing LaVarr doesn't realize is that not all PR is good PR for young "brands". Your brand needs to be at least likable to appeal to the masses.

[bigmosmithfan1]

I thought that place gave us an automatic 10-12 points a game.  And then we seemed to always hire "homer" refs.

Don't know if it was home-court refs or the fact that fans sitting in the second or third row could lean forward and let an official have it just inches from their ears when they stood on the sidelines.

And even if it gave us an extra 10-12 points per game, it still wasn't enough. 

(That said, I remember us rarely losing to Butler there, and I remember us always rising up once or twice per season to beat some "better" teams no matter how sorry we were back then: St. Louis, Illinois State, a really good Dick Versace-coached Bradley team, and Air Force. We always played Air Force for some reason).

[usc4valpo]

In 1983 Valpo played Bradley and killed them in a high free throw shooting affair. Bradley brought only 8 or 9 players and had to play 4 on the court at the no of the game.

SLU was awful back then, nothing like they were today.

I don't think Valpo ever beat Illinois St.