Florida got the #1 overall seed, and while we don't get the play-in pansy in the first round, it looks like they might be in the softest overall region. Very strong bracket overall, and the tourney should be awesome.
p.s. Fuck Florida State. Enjoy losing in the NIT again, bitches.
NCAA Tournamentation!
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masteen
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NCAA Tournamentation!
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
Florida did get an easy region. Wisconsin seems like the weakest number two seed, I can't see them going much of anywhere. There's no way that Oregon would have been anywhere close to a 3 seed without running through the Pac 10 tournament, but Oregon didn't have to beat UCLA or Washington State to do it. I think Maryland is Florida's biggest threat in the region, but they're inconsistent-- Maryland could well have bombed out to some mid-major before they even get to Florida.
The region does have some talented teams with lower seeds: Butler, Old Dominion, Davidson, Winthrop, UNLV, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame are all dangerous. But it'd take a hell of a game for any of those teams to knock off Florida.
The West is a nasty region. When you have Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, Indiana and Illinois all as 6 seeds or below... well that's tough. Those teams certainly aren't at their best right now, but each team is talented and well-coached and is capable of knocking off anybody. Each of those teams features a coach who's led a program to the final four. Then you've got UCLA, the top program in basketball history, and two-time champion Kansas at the top of the bracket.
Check out the path that Virginia Commonwealth (a tough mid-major) might have to run to win the championship, coming out of the West: Duke, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Kansas, Florida, North Carolina. That's kinda imposing.
Also, I'm looking forward to a potential UCLA-Pitt sweet 16 matchup, which would see Ben Howland coach against his old school for the first time since leaving.
The East is interesting. North Carolina / Texas is the second sweet 16 matchup that I'm really hoping for; there would be some great matchups in that game.
I really don't think anyone besides UNC, Georgetown, or Texas can come out of the East. Georgetown seems like it has an easy path to the elite 8. Maybe I'm not giving Washington State enough credit, but I don't think anybody in that half of the region has the size or the discipline to hang with Georgetown's frontcourt.
The South isn't very impressive. Ohio State also doesn't seem to have any serious opponents before the elite 8. There's some talent, but I can't see a small Tennessee team or an overrated and home-reliant Virginia team standing in their way. On the other side of the region, Memphis is a dangerous team, but I'd much rather deal with Memphis than with UCLA or Georgetown. Texas A&M is a damn tough 3-seed, though.
Predictions:
Midwest: Maryland (just because I've got to have an upset in here somewhere, plus they're 1 of my 3 home schools)
West: Kansas (there's a lot of big names, but Indiana and Kentucky don't have the talent at the moment, Duke has no heart and no serious athleticism, and neither Pitt or UCLA has the talent or depth to match up with Kansas. Yes, I know that Kansas has lost in the first round two years in a row.)
East: Georgetown (North Carolina can be beaten by tough, talented, disciplined teams who can slow the pace down and play efficient basketball. Uh, that's GTown. Plus Hansbrough's in a mask. I don't think Georgetown is particularly vulnerable to poorly coached one-man teams, so I'm not too worried about Texas.)
South: Texas A&M (why not?)
Kansas over Maryland
Georgetown over Texas A&M
Kansas over Georgetown
Snubs:
Drexel and Florida State ought to be in, replacing Illinois and Purdue. Purdue getting a 9 seed is inexcusable. The Big Ten sucks. Consider:
Florida State has wins over a 1 seed, a 4 seed, a 5 seed, and a 6 seed. Their record is held down by 3 non-conference losses to UCLA, Wisconsin, and Pitt (2, 2, and 3 seeds). If they'd scheduled 3 schmucks, they'd be 23-9, still with a non-conference win over Florida to their credit. Additionally, four of their losses came without their point guard. If he was healthy, it's probably reasonable to think that they could have beat BC (1 point loss) and Virginia (3 point loss). If that'd happened, they'd be 25-7 (9-7 ACC) and probably a 6 seed or better. I know that we have to go on what did happen, not what could have happened, but there is no fucking way that Illinois or Purdue have better teams than the Seminoles.
Consider:
Illinois did not beat a single team that landed a six seed or above. NOT ONE.
Purdue had one such win, by two points at home over 4th-seeded Virginia. This is the same Virginia team that ended the season by losing 3 of their last 5-- to Miami, Wake Forest, and NC State, the 3 bottom teams in the ACC. Real motherfucking impressive.
I also might boot Arkansas in favor of Syracuse. Not sure about that one.
The region does have some talented teams with lower seeds: Butler, Old Dominion, Davidson, Winthrop, UNLV, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame are all dangerous. But it'd take a hell of a game for any of those teams to knock off Florida.
The West is a nasty region. When you have Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, Indiana and Illinois all as 6 seeds or below... well that's tough. Those teams certainly aren't at their best right now, but each team is talented and well-coached and is capable of knocking off anybody. Each of those teams features a coach who's led a program to the final four. Then you've got UCLA, the top program in basketball history, and two-time champion Kansas at the top of the bracket.
Check out the path that Virginia Commonwealth (a tough mid-major) might have to run to win the championship, coming out of the West: Duke, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Kansas, Florida, North Carolina. That's kinda imposing.
Also, I'm looking forward to a potential UCLA-Pitt sweet 16 matchup, which would see Ben Howland coach against his old school for the first time since leaving.
The East is interesting. North Carolina / Texas is the second sweet 16 matchup that I'm really hoping for; there would be some great matchups in that game.
I really don't think anyone besides UNC, Georgetown, or Texas can come out of the East. Georgetown seems like it has an easy path to the elite 8. Maybe I'm not giving Washington State enough credit, but I don't think anybody in that half of the region has the size or the discipline to hang with Georgetown's frontcourt.
The South isn't very impressive. Ohio State also doesn't seem to have any serious opponents before the elite 8. There's some talent, but I can't see a small Tennessee team or an overrated and home-reliant Virginia team standing in their way. On the other side of the region, Memphis is a dangerous team, but I'd much rather deal with Memphis than with UCLA or Georgetown. Texas A&M is a damn tough 3-seed, though.
Predictions:
Midwest: Maryland (just because I've got to have an upset in here somewhere, plus they're 1 of my 3 home schools)
West: Kansas (there's a lot of big names, but Indiana and Kentucky don't have the talent at the moment, Duke has no heart and no serious athleticism, and neither Pitt or UCLA has the talent or depth to match up with Kansas. Yes, I know that Kansas has lost in the first round two years in a row.)
East: Georgetown (North Carolina can be beaten by tough, talented, disciplined teams who can slow the pace down and play efficient basketball. Uh, that's GTown. Plus Hansbrough's in a mask. I don't think Georgetown is particularly vulnerable to poorly coached one-man teams, so I'm not too worried about Texas.)
South: Texas A&M (why not?)
Kansas over Maryland
Georgetown over Texas A&M
Kansas over Georgetown
Snubs:
Drexel and Florida State ought to be in, replacing Illinois and Purdue. Purdue getting a 9 seed is inexcusable. The Big Ten sucks. Consider:
Florida State has wins over a 1 seed, a 4 seed, a 5 seed, and a 6 seed. Their record is held down by 3 non-conference losses to UCLA, Wisconsin, and Pitt (2, 2, and 3 seeds). If they'd scheduled 3 schmucks, they'd be 23-9, still with a non-conference win over Florida to their credit. Additionally, four of their losses came without their point guard. If he was healthy, it's probably reasonable to think that they could have beat BC (1 point loss) and Virginia (3 point loss). If that'd happened, they'd be 25-7 (9-7 ACC) and probably a 6 seed or better. I know that we have to go on what did happen, not what could have happened, but there is no fucking way that Illinois or Purdue have better teams than the Seminoles.
Consider:
Illinois did not beat a single team that landed a six seed or above. NOT ONE.
Purdue had one such win, by two points at home over 4th-seeded Virginia. This is the same Virginia team that ended the season by losing 3 of their last 5-- to Miami, Wake Forest, and NC State, the 3 bottom teams in the ACC. Real motherfucking impressive.
I also might boot Arkansas in favor of Syracuse. Not sure about that one.
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masteen
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By that same token, FSU beat UF when Brewer was out and half the team was sick. They might be better than a couple teams (I'm looking at you Stanford), but they didn't impress me enough overall for me to say they deserve a shot.Sueven wrote:Florida State has wins over a 1 seed, a 4 seed, a 5 seed, and a 6 seed. Their record is held down by 3 non-conference losses to UCLA, Wisconsin, and Pitt (2, 2, and 3 seeds). If they'd scheduled 3 schmucks, they'd be 23-9, still with a non-conference win over Florida to their credit. Additionally, four of their losses came without their point guard. If he was healthy, it's probably reasonable to think that they could have beat BC (1 point loss) and Virginia (3 point loss).
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
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masteen
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It's funny how many people are suprised that UF got the #1. They were handing OSU pieces of their ass after the meeting in Gainesville, and absolutely tore their way through the #2 conference in basketball down the stretch
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
Wisconsin is not the same team it was a year ago. Alando Tucker has really stepped up his game this year adn is a real superstar now. They played some tough teams this year and won most of them. They dropped the ball once at Michigan State but beat them in the playoffs. There only other loss was to Ohio State and one of those losses was really close. If Bo Ryan hadn't called timeout they would have won. They deserve the number two seed if not higher. They shouldn't have much trouble in the lower part of their bracket. Their first real competition will be against Florida and since I am biased I picked them to beat them to make the final four.
As for the rest of the big ten, Ohio State is really good. Greg Oden is a beast and the games I have watched he doesn't even look like he is trying. He would probably be playing in the NBA right now if they hadn't changed the rules. I doubt he will stick around for another year when he will likely go number 1 in the NBA draft. Too much money to pass up. Michigan State should win one game, I don't see them gettign past North Carolina though.
My big sleeper this year is Texas Tech. I saw a couple of their games and they looked better than a ten seed.
As for the rest of the big ten, Ohio State is really good. Greg Oden is a beast and the games I have watched he doesn't even look like he is trying. He would probably be playing in the NBA right now if they hadn't changed the rules. I doubt he will stick around for another year when he will likely go number 1 in the NBA draft. Too much money to pass up. Michigan State should win one game, I don't see them gettign past North Carolina though.
My big sleeper this year is Texas Tech. I saw a couple of their games and they looked better than a ten seed.
Deward
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masteen
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Awesome tournament, Big 10. If they would have called that falgrant foul like they should have, OSU would have gotten bounced just like the rest of the conference.
The ACC had similar results, but at least UNC has looked good in their wins.
Three SEC teams advance into the Sweet 16, but we're still a football conference.
The ACC had similar results, but at least UNC has looked good in their wins.
Three SEC teams advance into the Sweet 16, but we're still a football conference.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
Go UNLV! I miss the Running Rebels and the Shark. If they can manage to make the program just a little less corrupt this go around, I'm all for a Rebel resurgence.
I haven't seen them play yet but I noticed they made it to the sweet 16 so that's my cue to take notice again.
George Ackles
Anderson Hunt
Greg Anthony
Stacey Augmen
Larry Johnson
How often can you remember, off the top of your head, the entire starting lineup for a team 16 years old?
This might be the first NCAA that Nevada and UNLV made it in the same year.
OSU is a few games away from me sending Zamtuk a nice ASU avatar to sport!
I haven't seen them play yet but I noticed they made it to the sweet 16 so that's my cue to take notice again.
George Ackles
Anderson Hunt
Greg Anthony
Stacey Augmen
Larry Johnson
How often can you remember, off the top of your head, the entire starting lineup for a team 16 years old?
This might be the first NCAA that Nevada and UNLV made it in the same year.
OSU is a few games away from me sending Zamtuk a nice ASU avatar to sport!
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masteen
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They seem to think that the UFAA will even blink if they push $3 mil/year at Billy. Our program is 100% privately funded, and so, unlike some schools in the state who have to justify why they're paying an obese old man millions of dollars to lose football games, we can do what ever we want.
The only way they're getting Billy D. out of Gainesville is if they make an offer so stupid (like $10 mil/year) that even Jeremy "Cash Daddy" Foley won't match it.
p.s. All the talk about UKs awesome facilities is crap, too. When those assclowns were planning to renovate theirs, they came to Florida and basically copied the ones we built a couple years ago.
The only way they're getting Billy D. out of Gainesville is if they make an offer so stupid (like $10 mil/year) that even Jeremy "Cash Daddy" Foley won't match it.
p.s. All the talk about UKs awesome facilities is crap, too. When those assclowns were planning to renovate theirs, they came to Florida and basically copied the ones we built a couple years ago.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
