NCAA Basketball Tournament

[JAG72]

Well the field of 65 is now set with Florida, Ohio State, Kansas and North Carolina taking the top seeds of the tourney. Who do you think will win it all and who is your sentimental favorite?

 

[Ramy]

I think Florida will probably win it all but as always I must root for Kentucky.

 

[charper1]

Man, my lack of interest and following of NCAA basketball is rearing its head right now. I sure can't see North Carolina or Florida being #1 seeds and surely not Florida being #1 overall. One would really think that if you are not top 5 nationally ranked by your peers that you should not be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. BUT at least unlike football, we have a tournament to sort it all out.

 

[JAG72]

I also think that Florida has the best chance at winning the tourney but I sure hope that my Spartans have a good showing. You can never count Izzo's team out during March.

Also with Ohio State being number one in the polls and winning the Big 10 title today, they could now have a chip on their shoulders not being chosen #1 overall. This could be all it takes to take them to the top.

 

[salsadancer7]

What a hose job my Syracuse Orangemen got....!! HOW does Stanford at 18-12 get in? You cannot tell me that the Pac-10 is a better conference than the Big East...And how does Illinois gets in...the Big10 has only 2 teams that are ranked AT ALL....other than that, the rest of the conference is mediocre at best. The Big East has 5 teams ranked in the top 25....I guess I am that one or two group of fans that gets majorly hosed/pist off every year....the selection group can be SO off when it comes to their pics. I am so pist that I doubt I will watch any of the games now....

 

[boston area dtv]

we need a sat guys bracket

 

[Ramy]

Ask and you shall receive.

http://satguys.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

password: sports

 

[Ramy]

I created another thread for it too.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=837460#post837460

 

[JAG72]

Ask and you shall receive.

http://satguys.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

password: sports

Great. Just made my picks. This could be an interesting tourney.

 

[iceturkee]

i dunno about anyone else (jimbo, where are u) but i'm rooting for a florida-ohio state matchup in the national championship game!!!!

 

[cybok0]

I'm going with Georgetown winning it all. But of course I'll be rooting for Pitt.

 

[cybok0]

What a hose job my Syracuse Orangemen got....!! HOW does Stanford at 18-12 get in? You cannot tell me that the Pac-10 is a better conference than the Big East...And how does Illinois gets in...the Big10 has only 2 teams that are ranked AT ALL....other than that, the rest of the conference is mediocre at best. The Big East has 5 teams ranked in the top 25....I guess I am that one or two group of fans that gets majorly hosed/pist off every year....the selection group can be SO off when it comes to their pics. I am so pist that I doubt I will watch any of the games now....

I agree with you, people think the Big East had to many teams last year so they probably cut it down.

 

[iceturkee]

as much as i want my beloved gators to repeat, i see georgetown and memphis as 2 teams who could easily make the final four.

 

[boston area dtv]

Im in.

 

[John W]

Salsadancer,

I am so sorry your Orangemen not making it. Probably didn't help that they lost 2 of the last three and the fourth place team beat ya head to head. Seems like the top 25 in the final regular season poll should be automatic. I guess it all goes to show that a playoff system is not perfect although football fans think it is the Holy Grail.
Just get out there and win the NIT

What a hose job my Syracuse Orangemen got....!! HOW does Stanford at 18-12 get in? You cannot tell me that the Pac-10 is a better conference than the Big East...And how does Illinois gets in...the Big10 has only 2 teams that are ranked AT ALL....other than that, the rest of the conference is mediocre at best. The Big East has 5 teams ranked in the top 25....I guess I am that one or two group of fans that gets majorly hosed/pist off every year....the selection group can be SO off when it comes to their pics. I am so pist that I doubt I will watch any of the games now....

 

[JAG72]

i dunno about anyone else (jimbo, where are u) but i'm rooting for a florida-ohio state matchup in the national championship game!!!!

After the beating Florida gave OSU this year I would like to see them get a little revenge but I don't think we will see it. I see Georgetown making it to the finals out of that side of the brackets.

 

[JAG72]

I'm going with Georgetown winning it all.

Good call. I can see them going all the way with the only real hurdle being OSU in the Final 4.

 

[JamesJ]

in under James Jarvis

 

[salsadancer7]

Here is a great post from Bill Simmons from ESPN that hit the nail right on the head:

Most overrated conference: A tie between the Pac-10 and the Big Ten. So hard to choose between these two. When you're watching dozens of games over the course of five days, it's impossible not to notice the varying quality of play from game to game. For instance, I watched the Patriot League final on Friday and jumped right into the Oklahoma State/Texas A&M game ... it was like going from the "rookie" level to "All-Madden." There's just no comparison.

Anyway, watching all these games and comparing the conferences to one another, I don't see how anyone who knows anything about basketball could argue that the Pac-10 and Big Ten are better than the Big East, ACC or even the Big 12 (my vote for "most underrated conference"). UCLA, Oregon and Ohio State are all good. After that? It's a suckfest. I watched the USC-Stanford overtime game on Thursday night because I wanted to see Brook Lopez -- by the way, he needs between three and 15 more years of seasoning in college before I'm willing to accept him as a top-10 pick -- and found myself thinking, "Wow, this feels like a possible preview of the NIT finals ... and if that's the case, I think I'll be skipping the NIT finals."

So what happened? USC won the game, snuck into the Pac-10 finals (mainly because UCLA fell asleep in the Cal game) and earned a 5-seed in the NCAAs; Stanford somehow cracked the NCAAs as a 11-seed with an 18-12 record; and if that's not enough, Washington State earned a 3-seed in the same regional where Texas received a 4-seed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? It will never happen because Washington State won't beat 2-seed Georgetown in a million years, but I sincerely hope Texas (15-to-1 odds to win the championship) and Washington State (40-to-1 odds) play in the regional finals, just so everyone in the Tournament Committee will feel like an idiot because the No. 4 seed is laying five points to the No. 3 seed. Well done, fellas.

As for the Big Ten, its second-best team (Wisconsin) isn't as good as Kansas, Texas or Texas A&M, and I wasn't even remotely impressed by Purdue (a No. 9 seed), Indiana (No. 7) or Illinois (No. 12), although I do think Michigan State (No. 11) has a chance to crack the Sweet 16 because of Tom Izzo and Drew Neitzel. Regardless, how did the Big Ten send six teams to the tournament when most of its games had the same disjointed, scrappy, uncomfortable flow of a woman's basketball game? Did you ever watch a Big Ten game that didn't involve OSU and think to yourself, "Wow, this is some high-caliber hoops!" Oklahoma State would have been the third-best team in that conference and it's headed to the NIT. Same for Kansas State. And Syracuse.

Final note: Anyone who toggled between the OSU-Wisconsin and Texas-Kansas games knows which conference was better this season. That Texas-Kansas game was the most hard-fought basketball game I've seen since the Heat-Mavs NBA Finals last June ... and Texas was running on fumes. Meanwhile, OSU and Wisconsin were having the basketball equivalent of a rock fight on CBS. Gimme a break. The Big Ten is awful. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Once again, the NCAAs shows their love to an INCREDIBLY overrated Big Jok....err...Big 10. Like I said, it has taken away my taste for watching the NCAA tournament.

 

[iceturkee]

look at all those great overtime games this season in the big 12!!!!! i wouldn't be shocked if one or more of those teams make the final four.