NCAA Tournament Thread

[Censored by Laurie]

I'm so tired of watching a 15 seed like Robert Morris get blown out by a 2 seed like Alabama

[CMJ]

I was concerned that CSU might be a really tough match up for Memphis.

[Censored by Laurie]

25 minutes ago, CMJ said:

I was concerned that CSU might be a really tough match up for Memphis.

They were the only team to beat UNT I didn’t pick to win their first round game 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 hour ago, Censored by Laurie said:

I'm so tired of watching a 15 seed like Robert Morris get blown out by a 2 seed like Alabama

Yeah... Good for Robert Morris. Unfortunately, the officials were never going to let them win. The moment RM took a 66-65 lead it became clear the fix was always in. 

But I'd rather see 1-3 seeds be consistently pushed than be consistently given a playing bye, which is the mean. Act like it's not, though. 

[Censored by Laurie]

12 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Yeah... Good for Robert Morris. Unfortunately, the officials were never going to let them win. The moment RM took a 66-65 lead it became clear the fix was always in. 

But I'd rather see 1-3 seeds be consistently pushed than be consistently given a playing bye, which is the mean. Act like it's not, though. 

Look…I get the concept that you’re going for, but what I refuse to get behind is the end-result being cutting low-major conferences like the SWAC, MEAC or NEC from getting their fair shot…if for no other reason it wasn’t so long ago that was UNTs place in the world. 

Plus, these 16, 15, 14 seed upsets/scares are some of the best storylines of the tournament 

In the end, play 35 games of high level winning basketball and you deserve a presumptive cake walk in the first round. 

[CMJ]

There are more close calls (and upsets) of 1-3 seeds than people give credit for.  Nearly every year we get one.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

8 minutes ago, CMJ said:

There are more close calls (and upsets) of 1-3 seeds than people give credit for.  Nearly every year we get one.

Not to keep beating the dead horse... but to your point... if we nearly get one upset each year then we nearly waste 11 to 12 tournament spots every year. 

[NT93]

Just now, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Not to keep beating the dead horse... but to your point... if we nearly get one upset each year then we nearly waste 11 to 12 tournament spots every year. 

Aren’t you supposed to win if you’re a 1-3 seed?

[CMJ]

17 minutes ago, NT93 said:

Aren’t you supposed to win if you’re a 1-3 seed?

Exactly.

 

 

It's kinda like a tennis tournament...the high seeded players tend to win a couple of rounds before they get challenged.

 

And also, we may only get about one upset of a 1-3 seed a year -- but that doesn't mean we don't get another scare or two.  This year has been relatively light on upsets so far though.

 

 

 

Also, I should hasten to add...blowouts happen in the tournament even with two fairly evenly matched teams.  Utah State was a trendy "upset" pick (a 10 over a 7 isn't really that much of an upset normally).  UCLA threw them down an elevator shaft last night.

Edited Friday at 10:37 PM by CMJ

[Censored by Laurie]

I tried reason. Dudes just gonna double down on his bad take

[greenminer]

Want to complicate this even further, factor in things that have less to do with metrics and skill, and more to do with chance, luck, and/or chaos.  That one team gets uncharacteristically hot, or another just has cosmically bad shooting day, completely uncharacteristic of how they've previously played or their seeding.

Whether these things help an underdog get the win, or a favored team get an exceptionally large blowout win, are part of the stories that make this tournament so unpredictable and endearing.

[greenminer]

On 3/20/2025 at 4:00 PM, golfingomez said:

Now Georgia getting throttled by the Zags

I heard one of the media mouths say that Gonzaga sits at 9 straight S16s, with an opportunity to reach 10 straight.

So, trivia: No team since the expansion (1985) has ever made 10 straight S16s.  But two other programs have made it 9 straight, tied with the current Zags.  Who are they?

@CMJ can you name them without Googling?

[EAGLE83]

Seed the top 16 teams then do a blind draw for the rest.that would make a interesting tournament 

[Censored by Laurie]

2 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I heard one of the media mouths say that Gonzaga sits at 9 straight S16s, with an opportunity to reach 10 straight.

So, trivia: No team since the expansion (1985) has ever made 10 straight S16s.  But two other programs have made it 9 straight, tied with the current Zags.  Who are they?

@CMJ can you name them without Googling?

best guess is Kansas and UCONN. I feel like Duke and Kentucky have had big upsets to disrupt a streak like that

[greenminer]

4 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

best guess is Kansas and UCONN.

nope on both.  HINT: they are obv bluebloods, so you're on the right track.

[Censored by Laurie]

2 minutes ago, greenminer said:

nope on both.  HINT: they are obv bluebloods, so you're on the right track.

and it's not Duke or UK? UNC and UCLA? I feel like both those runs would've come in the 90s/00s. maybe Villanova? this is a good one. Arizona also leaps to mind

Edited Friday at 11:32 PM by Censored by Laurie

[CMJ]

11 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I heard one of the media mouths say that Gonzaga sits at 9 straight S16s, with an opportunity to reach 10 straight.

So, trivia: No team since the expansion (1985) has ever made 10 straight S16s.  But two other programs have made it 9 straight, tied with the current Zags.  Who are they?

@CMJ can you name them without Googling?

I believe Duke and UNC.

[greenminer]

correct! Blue Devils and Tar Heels

@Censored by Laurie sorry, I was responding to KU and UCONN.

Edited Friday at 11:34 PM by greenminer

[greenminer]

IIRC, Duke has another (separate) run of like 5-7 straight years.

I think the Houston Cougars have made 3-5 straight?

[Censored by Laurie]

3 minutes ago, greenminer said:

correct! Blue Devils and Tar Heels

@Censored by Laurie sorry, I was responding to KU and UCONN.

all good. it was fun trivia. I know Duke's had some pretty high profile upsets through the years, but I'm guessing their run was in the middle of their early 90s run

[GMG_Dallas]

If you don't want low rated 16 seeds in the tournament then you don't love March Madness. Also, if you remove these low-major conference auto-bids, you're just shifting who the lowest rated conferences in the tournament are. Then the move will be to remove auto-bids from your Sun Belt and WAC type conferences.  As you keep shedding "dead weight" conferences, all that will be left is the high-majors. See college football to get an idea of how terrible that is.

Edited Friday at 11:43 PM by GMG_Dallas
Spelling. I'm sure there's more. I'm tired.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

44 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

I tried reason. Dudes just gonna double down on his bad take

It's like quadruple at this point... 

And I'm not sure I'd call it a bad take... once the 1st round is over we should look at point differential for 14-16 seed games. Then look at it over the past decade. I use those seeds because those slots are generally used for low major teams or mid major teams with poor metrics. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

If you don't want low rated 16 seeds in the tournament then you don't love March Madness. Also, if you remove these law-major conference auto-bids, you're just shifting who the lowest rated conferences in the tournament are. Then the move will be to remove auto-bids from your Sun Belt and WAC type conferences.  As you keep shedding "dead weight" conferences, all that will be left is the high-majors. See college football to get an idea of how terrible that is.

Hence why I prefaced this entire topic on not wanting to step out on that slippery slope...

[GMG_Dallas]

This article is as of last month, so, as current as can be.

 

[Censored by Laurie]

digging through Wiki on those 90s teams...man, that is peak "let's remember some dudes"

Rumeal Robinson
Alaa Abdelnaby
Anderson Hunt
Jimmy King
Dugan Fife
Serge Zwikker
Scotty Thurman
Tyus Edney

that's an elite 8 of my childhood