College basketball

[Vrede too]

How do you think Zion will do against Fall?

I suspect just fine. Vegas says Duke -13.5, the largest margin in a day that includes UNC, VA, TN and Houston.

I haven't watched UCF much, and Fall sure is huge, but his stats aren't that great and Zion is even out-rebounding him.

You can pretty safely start dancing on UCF's grave.

Wow, now dance. UCF plus the points would have been a great bet.

In the very end, the bigger they are, the harder they Fall fall.

Zion - greatest missed FT ever. 11 rebounds, best on either team, 32 points, same as UCF's Dawkins.
https://scores.nbcsports.com/cbk/boxsco ... 1903240173

[Vrede too]

On Sun. I want, mostly but not entirely for bracket reasons:

2 Tennessee > 10 Iowa
For the pool, but it would be pretty cool for Iowa to win. So close.

1 North Carolina > 9 Washington Yep.
4% picked Washington, 95% North Carolina. I'm all in with North Carolina, but it would be pretty cool for Washington to win.

1 Duke > 9 UCF Whew.
100% of us picked Duke and I'm all in on it.

6 Buffalo > 3 Texas Tech
This is my biggest game of the day pool-wise. Not even close. Sigh, that hurts, but I did have Texas Tech in 2 brackets.

4 Virginia Tech > 12 Liberty I'll take it.
Because it's Liberty, and 0% of us picked it. I may actually do better if Liberty wins, though, since I picked another team in 3 brackets plus Yahoo!.

1 Virginia > 9 Oklahoma Yep.
1% picked Oklahoma and 94% Virginia, and I'm all in on Virginia.

3 Houston > 11 Ohio St Cool.

12 Oregon > 13 UC Irvine
But I only picked Oregon in one bracket.
OR - 12 point lead at half, 0 points 1st 9 min. of 2nd half!, then two 3s to retake lead, never looked back. Go Cinderella Ducks!

A couple of favorites had scares, but not a single seed-upset in Round 2. All of the Sweet 16 are 1-4 seeds except 12 Oregon and 5 Auburn. Oregon faces Virginia and Auburn faces UNC. I didn't and wouldn't bet on either. Auburn is the early 5 point underdog, Oregon is the early 7.5 point underdog.

I'm 32/48 on Yahoo!, awful for MM, in 2,022,169th place out of 3,077,061 members. Won't know my pool standings until the new spreadsheet with the added 18! brackets gets sent out.

[billy.pilgrim]

I was all in for Washington.

Friday will be tough.

[Vrede too]

The VA > OR spread has increased to 8, just larger than the 7.5 Duke > VT spread and Zags -7 vs FSU.
The smallest spread is TN -1 vs Purdue, but also tight are Mich -2 vs TT and KY -2.5 vs Hou.
It's Mich St - 6 vs LSU and still Auburn +5 vs UNC.

[Vrede too]

I was all in for Washington.

Friday will be tough.

... All of the Sweet 16 are 1-4 seeds except 12 Oregon and 5 Auburn....

The missing high seeds are 4 Kansas and 4 Kansas St. I would not have noticed except that Kris Kobach has launched an investigation into fraudulent point scoring by "illegal immigrants".

[billy.pilgrim]

I was all in for Washington.

Friday will be tough.

... All of the Sweet 16 are 1-4 seeds except 12 Oregon and 5 Auburn....

The missing high seeds are 4 Kansas and 4 Kansas St. I would not have noticed except that Kris Kobach has launched an investigation into fraudulent point scoring by "illegal immigrants".

I think that the UCFs are doing the same thing.


https://nypost.com/2019/03/25/march-mad ... -beat-ucf/

[Vrede too]

I thought I knew football and took a work-study job reffing intramural flag football. It was humiliating and I just walked away before halftime.

[billy.pilgrim]

I thought I knew football and took a work-study job reffing intramural flag football. It was humiliating and I just walked away before halftime.

It's tough - even more so in basketball, but they should have been able to get the shot clock violation right with replay.
They didn't and Duke still won. I didn't see much to whine about, but then it's ucf.

[Vrede too]

It's tough - even more so in basketball, but they should have been able to get the shot clock violation right with replay.

I watched those replays from several angles and couldn't tell whether it grazed the rim or not - crazy close and no obvious deflection. The commentators couldn't agree, either. I can see how the original call was let stand.

They didn't and Duke still won.

As for the other calls being unfair to UCF, could very well be. I'm not enough of a Duke fan to care.

I didn't see much to whine about, but then it's ucf.

I was wondering about your sympathy.

[billy.pilgrim]

It's tough - even more so in basketball, but they should have been able to get the shot clock violation right with replay.

I watched those replays from several angles and couldn't tell whether it grazed the rim or not - crazy close and no obvious deflection. The commentators couldn't agree, either. I can see how the original call was let stand.

They didn't and Duke still won.

As for the other calls being unfair to UCF, could very well be. I'm not enough of a Duke fan to care.

I didn't see much to whine about, but then it's ucf.

I was wondering about your sympathy.

I would agree that the officials would have caught hell if they reversed the call, but the overhead shot clearly showed space between the ball and the rim and there were no angles that showed even the slightest change in the ball's trajectory or rotation.


My comment was purely about ucf. While there are plenty of complainers like me, it's rare to see in an entire school.

[O Really]

Should be a good game Friday, billy.p. Welcome to the big time.

[billy.pilgrim]

Should be a good game Friday, billy.p. Welcome to the big time.

I don't know what to think about Friday. Should be somewhere between a total embarrassment and victory - for both teams.

As to the big time - we've played a few big time games already, unless you don't consider Tennessee, Kentucky and Duke to be big time.

[O Really]

But those didn't turn out so well did they? On the other hand, your guys really kicked ass on North Florida, MS College, and UNC-Asheville.

(Just kidding, m'friend - Auburn's got a class program)

[Vrede too]

Should be a good game Friday, billy.p. Welcome to the big time.

I don't know what to think about Friday. Should be somewhere between a total embarrassment and victory - for both teams.

As to the big time - we've played a few big time games already, unless you don't consider Tennessee, Kentucky and Duke to be big time.

16 years since the Sweet Sixteen, as a 10 seed!
33 years since the Elite Eight, as an 8 seed!
34 years since meeting UNC in MM, Auburn lost.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Ti ... Tournament

[billy.pilgrim]

Should be a good game Friday, billy.p. Welcome to the big time.

I don't know what to think about Friday. Should be somewhere between a total embarrassment and victory - for both teams.

As to the big time - we've played a few big time games already, unless you don't consider Tennessee, Kentucky and Duke to be big time.

16 years since the Sweet Sixteen, as a 10 seed!
33 years since the Elite Eight, as an 8 seed!
34 years since meeting UNC in MM, Auburn lost.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Ti ... Tournament

Your point?

[billy.pilgrim]

But those didn't turn out so well did they? On the other hand, your guys really kicked ass on North Florida, MS College, and UNC-Asheville.

(Just kidding, m'friend - Auburn's got a class program)

We played Duke close, beat Tennessee 84-64 and Kentucky was at big loss. We have had a good season except for a little stretch in February where we lost several.

Friday is definitely a big time game. I wish Washington had won, but then I would never know how we stack up against UNC.

[Vrede too]

Your point?

None, other than that there were a couple of impressive low-seed runs. Your exchange interested me, so I looked it up. I could argue either side of the "big time" issue with the info.

[billy.pilgrim]

But those didn't turn out so well did they? On the other hand, your guys really kicked ass on North Florida, MS College, and UNC-Asheville.

(Just kidding, m'friend - Auburn's got a class program)

It comes from the top

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2 ... tournament


"When the room empties, Clay Sanders, a Salt Lake City-based bus driver whose employer provides chauffeurs to the eight teams at this regional, boasts about his plum assignment. All week, his colleagues have had to wait in their parked buses, outside the arena, during practices and games. Pearl invited Sanders to Auburn’s practices and gave him tickets to their games. Good seats, too.

“When the other [drivers] drive their teams to dinner, they stay on the bus while the [players and coaches] eat.” The Tigers have eaten at Benihana the last two nights. (Pearl let the players choose.) When Sanders stayed on the bus the first night, Pearl looked at him quizzically. “What are you doing? Come with us. You’re part of this thing.”

[1 CAT FAN]

Clemson 58
NCSU 59

Haha, maybe next year.

That's a football pic, dummy. You're a NC State fan, something else to chuckle about.

[Vrede too]

We're now up to 95 pool entries. I'm in 34th with "Picks by Seeds", 45th with President Obama and
Snoop Dogg, 84th and 87th place x 2. However, none of my brackets are out of the money, yet.

Couldn't bring myself to exclude #2 Virginia. So, 5 pick sets at $5 each.

Duke > Gonzaga
North Carolina > Tennessee
Duke > North Carolina (state of NC & ACC, represent!)
42% of the pool picked Duke to win it all. The best this bracket can do is 3rd, $71.25.

Michigan > LSU
Virginia > Kentucky
Michigan > Virginia
4% of the pool picked Mich to win it all. The best this bracket can do is 2nd, $118.75.

North Carolina > Wisconsin
LSU > Gonzaga
North Carolina > LSU
(Auburn reaches the Sweet 16, gets beaten by UNC)
17% of the pool picked North Carolina to win it all. This bracket can still take 1st, $166.25.

Virginia > North Carolina
Duke > Michigan
Virginia > Duke (ACC, represent!)
8% of the pool picked Virginia to win it all. The best this bracket can do is tie for 2nd, $118.75 or $71.25 after the tiebreaker.

Gonzaga > Duke
Houston > Virginia
Gonzaga > Houston (Gonzaga is the only Western team I have in the Final 4 )
(Auburn reaches the Sweet 16, gets beaten by UNC)
9% of the pool picked Gonzaga to win it all. This bracket can still take 1st, $166.25.

I also entered Yahoo!'s free $1M game.

Houston > Wisconsin
Gonzaga > LSU
Houston > Gonzaga
32/48, 2,022,169th place out of 3,077,061 members

We'll see.

I'm sure there are also ways where I can get $5 back for having the worst bracket.

20% of the pool picked someone else to win it all:
Michigan St (6)
Tennessee (4)
Kentucky
LSU
Houston
Villanova (2, already out)
Kansas St. (already out)
Kansas (already out)
Marquette (already out)

As is true for almost everybody, I want Duke and UNC in all of my brackets in Round 3, both play on Friday. My other wishes are mixed, but prioritizing the brackets where I can still take 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd, on Thursday I want:

7:09 PM EDT CBS
1 Gonzaga > 4 Florida State, mostly

7:29 PM EDT TBS
3 Purdue > 2 Tennessee, upset!
But it actually helps my potential 1st UNC bracket if Tennessee wins.

9:39 PM EDT CBS
2 Michigan > 3 Texas Tech
But it actually helps my potential 1st UNC bracket if Texas Tech wins. I personally like Michigan more.

9:57 PM EDT TBS
1 Virginia > 12 Oregon
But it would be really cool to see the Ducks win, and it actually helps my potential 1st UNC bracket. So, screw the money (maybe), go Ducks!