March Madness 2006 rant....

[dubb93]

So I go to the local Movie Gallery on Tuesday with hopes of renting Blitz: The League, and they don't have it. So I do the next best thing I thought and rented March Madness 2006...

As soon as I got it hope I started a dynasty with Indiana. I just intended to simulate untill I had gotten rid of all the players that were on the team to begin with and once I had my own team in town simulate the regular season, but play the Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament.

At the start of the 4th season I had either cut or graduated all the players that started with the team. I had also lost some key recruits who decided to bolt early to the NBA. In the 1st 3 seasons we were unable to get out of the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament, although we did have 1 Big Ten championship.

My lineup for the 4th season was 4 freshman(3 6* recruites and 1 5*) and 1 sophomore(6* recruit). We also had a very young and good bench as well. A very young team, but we ran the non-conference table and won the Maui invitational going 11-0. Big Ten season started and I figured we would end up 10-6 with the young team, but the suprised me again, going 15-1. We enter the Big Ten tournament ranked #2 in the nation(b/c we all know that a 7 loss Gonzaga team should be ranked higher than a 1 loss Indiana team). We win the first 2 games and lose in the finals to an Illinois team. I just couldn't stop their PG from draining 3's the whole game.

In the NCAA tournament we are seeded #1(along with powerhouses Gonzaga, Bucknell and Mississippi State). The first round was a easy win, but in the 2nd round we were matched up against a 5 loss North Carolina team that somehow ended up seeded 9. How does that happen? Anyway, we beat them in a close game and lose in the sweet sixteen to a 3 point shooting Syracuse team. Besides the stupid polls and seedings things seem to be going ok and I prepare for the next season.

The next season we return the entire team, but I also land the #1 and #3 recruits in the country, so I cut the last 2 guys on my bench. Looking at how we did last season with a young team and only adding positive things to that this season should be great.....or so I thought.

We are the pre-season favorite in the Big Ten obviously, but fall to just 6-5 with a 3rd place finish in Maui. I figure it was b/c I played some tough games, 2 of those losses were to North Carolina(ranked #1 both games), another to Louisville(ranked #4 at the time) and other other 2 to Georgia(makes tournament as 5 seed) and Nevada(goes on to be a #1 seed in NCAA tournament). Of the 6 wins, some were quality, with wins over Kentucky, Memphis, Georgia Tech, and Washington thrown in there.

I figure heading into the Big Ten season we will do alot better, with there only being 2 ranked teams. Michigan was ranked #3, and Illinois ranked #21. However I'm shocked that this team forgets they went 15-1 in this situation last year and manages only a 9-7 record. We win our 1st round Big Ten tournament game, but fall to a stacked Michigan tean in the 2nd round. I look at our tournament hopes and it appears that we are on the bubble, not a problem, but it also appears that Minnesota, going 25-3, 14-2 in Big Ten play and finishing 2nd in the conference is also on the bubble.

We end up getting left out(which pisses me off b/c something has to be wrong with the sim engine for our team to do so well 1 year, bring back the entire team and do so horrible the next), but so does Minnesota. How does Minnesota get left out when 5 Big Ten teams make the field? What bubble teams get in over them? George Washington loses 6 in the A-10 and makes it, Cornell gets an atlarge, Ball State makes it, and so does a Washington team I beat, that also lost 7 conference games. Something isn't right.

After seeing Nevada getting a 1 seed last night, I pop the game out with plans on returning it today. I get there today and ask for my money back(the 1st time I've ever done this for something that actually worked), and they have a play on guarentee that allowed me to return it free of charge for Blitz: The League, now its time to fire that one up.

[kingnebwsu]

Gamespot's review mentions several of the things you talk about (broken dynasty, guys dropping in ratings each year). Bogus about that...so much for any interest in that game for me. Hope 2k's game is better...

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

Hope 2k's game is better...

It usually is for this particular sport.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

Gamespot's review mentions several of the things you talk about (broken dynasty, guys dropping in ratings each year). Bogus about that...so much for any interest in that game for me. Hope 2k's game is better...

Is it everyone dropping in ratings each year or just some?

[sabotai]

Not like there was any chance of me getting Madness over Hoops this year, this just solidifies my opinion of Madness. The 2K games usually have a big bug or two in their games. There's usually an easy workaround to it (turn off injuries in NHL fixes the freezes for instance) or at the very least, just save frequently incase of a freeze. How do you workaround a broken ranking system in a college basketball game?

[MizzouRah]

College Hoops 2k6 shouldn't even be mentioned in the same thread as March Sadness 2006.

[Karlifornia]

Thanks for the warning.

[kingnebwsu]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Is it everyone dropping in ratings each year or just some?

Just some, they said the best player for Cal dropped from an 86 to a 75 after having a kickass year. Makes no sense. They said it happens way more often than it should (aka a lot). Check their review for more info.

[Emiliano]

Yeah, I'm reading about this ratings dropping problem also on the OS boards. It seems that it happens in every career. Typical EA, they "forgot" about player progression... I wanted to buy this game (the review on IGN seemed good, and appealing), now I'm thinking about it...

[Gary Gorski]

Hey, who says Bucknell can't be a number one seed!

Besides, you should know the EA motto by now - if it's in the game....well it will have killer graphics doods!

[Emiliano]

Originally Posted by Gary Gorski

you should know the EA motto by now - if it's in the game....well it will have killer graphics doods!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

This has officially been taken out of my wish list.