2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament Thread
 

Selection show in 30 minutes

SI

31 minutes

Oh, close enough

#1's pretty much as follows?
1. Ohio State
1. Kansas
1. Duke
1. Notre Dame/Pitt?

SI

What is up with Kenny Smith and Chuck on the NCAA selection show?

SI

I dunno. You would think Duke would be a #1 but Lunardi has both ND and Pitt as #1s.

Yeah, Ohio St is definitely the #1

SI

I can't wait to watch some basketball on TruTV!~

haha

I like how they tried to sell it as "exciting changes!"

The last four at-large teams playing is, well, frankly, stupid.

Just do 4 play-in games

SI

OH YEAH, BABY!

SI

I don't really get how it works and am to lazy to look it up

dola- there has been a pool run by a friend of Gottimds the last few years. I think it was about $10 an entry. Anyone have info on if he is doing it this year or a link to the sight?

the worst four teams that get in will play "play in games" to fill out two 16 seeds. The last four at large teams will play "play in games" to fill out a couple 12 seeds. So if the last four at larges are Colorado,Clemson,Va Tech and Alabama you might have Clemson-Colorado and Va Tech-Alabama on Tuesday/Wednesday night with the winners being placed in as traditional 12 seeds playing a 5 seed somewhere.

The ACC must have lost a bet- there's no regional in Raleigh or Charlotte or some other home game for Duke/NCarolina.

Then again, same with the Midwest- no Chicago, Indy, St Louis, KC, OKC, or anything else close for KU to play at. Then again, Ohio State got screwed by that, too- none of those or anything in Ohio or Pennsylvania.

SI

Going to be difficult on the office pools that still use the paper brackets that have a certain time time schedule to get it in by with them 12 seed play in games.

dola, they're calling those tuesday/wednesday games the "first round". I refuse to do that :P They're play in games.

I think what it does is just means office pools are due Thursday at noon. People just continue to ignore the play-in games.

SI

People harp on this every year but you do realize its decided years in advance right? :)

+1

Ugh- as if being a 5 doesn't suck hard enough. Now you get someone who had a warmup game.

SI

sigh

How the heck are you supposed to do a bracket without knowing who the 12 seeds are?

ohhh, ITS ON LATHUM (in round 2)

Right, but come on, Duke/NC play home games every year in the ACC tournament, and then head an hour up the road for their NCAA 1st and 2nd round games. Then, they normally head at most 2 hours to their regional destination.

yeah. I like the first round match up and UNC hasn't been playing great lately.

And FU Kenny Smith talking about the great guards in the bottom of the bracket and not referencing Isaih Thomas

NC/Long Island is going to be a very high scoring game. NC will probably score 100.

anyone know where I can find out what time the games are on or has that not been announced yet

I loved his quote about no game planning for the first two rounds just prepare for the next 2. Thank god he isnt a coach.

wow.

Texas plummets to a 4 seed

haha Charles. I guess he thinks Arizona will beat Memphis

Sorry cartman, you guys are about to get fisted fifteen ways from Friday.

I do not get the love for the SEC teams. Tennessee is a #9? What? Georgia is a #10? In the words of Chuck, the SEC was TRRBLE this year. TRRBLE.

I dont understand these reactions sometimes. For instance Boston already knew they were in and get a first round game against Kansas. Why is this such great news?

They didnt have to play Ohio st?

Wow- they dropped Notre Dame all the way down to 7?

SI

huh?

They are 19 year old kids who just saw their schools name flashed on CBS to go play in the NCAA tourny. The fact they already know they are going doesn't matter, they are excited kids.

What is so hard to understand?

2 seed, 7th overall

I should just link to the exact same post I made last year but first of all Duke and UNC have to earn the right to play in Charlotte or Greensboro in the first two rounds by being one of the top ~10 or so teams in the nation and getting the benefit of being seeded in a local pod.

Secondly, I believe the only time one of these teams didn't have to leave the state was in 2005 when UNC got to play in Greensboro and Charlotte. These locations are decided years in advance and UNC was the #2 overall seed and totally earned that right.


In 1993 there was a regional final in Charlotte and Kentucky got it. UNC was a 1 seed and went up to East Rutheford. Somehow they were able to miraculously win games without a home crowd and win a championship.

In 1991 UNC was a 1 seed and Duke was a 2 seed. Neither one of them was rewarded with a trip to Charlotte for the Southeast Regional. UNC somehow managed to luck their way into the final four and Duke won a national title without two extra home games.




Going back to 1985 when the tournament went to 64 teams, there have been regional finals hosted in North Carolina 5 times. Duke has never played in one. UNC has played in 3, all three times they were 1 seeds.

UNC has been to 9 final fours since 1985. Duke has been to 11. That's 20 final fours. Three times they played regional finals in their home state. This is seriously the most overblown argument that anyone makes about these programs. Its fucking ridiculous.

Plenty. Seems staged.

I get to be the villain here if we make it to the Elite Eight with either Purdue or Notre Dame as likely opponents.

SI

Agreed- it's one thing if we were looking in on UAB. They weren't expected to get in. But it's another for these auto-bid teams.

SI

Will Bill be traveling for Utah St?

SI

I think you guys underestimate the excitability of 19 year old kids

Florida a 2?!?

SI

WTF???

yeah, that stood out to me as well

Well they get ESPN coverage. Its not as if this is the first time they get to see their name on TV. Im sorry but I just dont understand why Boston was so excited.

I would expect the reaction Kansas gave when their name was called more often. Which was the "ok, pretty much what we expected" look.

Southeast looks weak.

We can agree to disagree

This bracket may have more head-scratching decisions in it than any one I've ever seen.

VTech again misses out.

Such a shame.

I'm sure we'll get sick of this ad over the next month but is the point of it "Morons everywhere love DirectTV!"

SI

People get excited when they hear somebody refer to their hometown at a concert or something.

These guys are celebrating actually partipating in the tournment, and seeing their name officially in the bracket for the first time - that's gotta be exciting. I get excited seeing syracuse's name flashed up there and I'm just a fan, and I knew they'd be there. If I had happened to be with a bunch of su fans at the time, I probably would have even clapped or cheered. You're overthinking this.

They had some bad losses at the end of the year in conference play and no good wins in OOC. IMO they didn't earn it.

So it looks like the committee was unimpressed with the Big 12 this year. I expected Mizzou, Texas to get a higher seed and Colorado to get in.

Must have hit pretty close to the mark to get you all riled up like that! :lol:

Seriously, they might not have to play in regionals in state, but its not very often that you see them shipped off to the west coast or anywhere else.

I would argue that the bigger home court advantage is in the first couple of rounds. How often do you see a lower seed stay close and then everyone starts cheering for them when they are playing at a neutral site. You never see that at a NC or Duke game.

sigh

Just realized our second round game vs UNC, if we make it, would be in Charlotte. Hell of a reward for winning our conference tournament.

I still don't understand the method of the "round 1" games. Why do these #11 and #12 teams have to win 1 more game to win the title then say Boston or Hampton? If USC is better than Boston, then USC should get their "1st round bye" and play at the normal time slot on thur/fri and Boston should be moved to the "round 1" game. If Boston is better than USC, then Boston should be the #11 and someone else should be the #16.

Just using Boston and USC as examples here. You could use Hampton versus UAB, Clemson, and VCU as well.

Yeah, they loved the SEC and disliked the Big 12

SI

YAY

There is my Isiah Thomas shout out from Kenny!!

Because the thought process was that you were letting average teams from big conferences into the tournament at the expense of teams from one-bid leagues simply because those mediocre schools were from big conferences.

So in others, anti-BCS logic.

Oh and the other thing is, they're basically playing for their spot in the tournament. In the past, one of those teams simply wouldn't have been in. So this is basically their shot at beating what otherwise would've been a 'snub.' Don't really see anything wrong with it.

I wonder if the selection committee went out of their way this year to make Lunardi look bad.

Bilas and Co certainly aren't pulling any punches on ESPN right now

My point would be, that if you are "playing for your spot in the tournament" then you should be the 16 seed. If Boston has already won their spot, while USC has not, why should Boston be punished by having to play the #1 in their first game?

The problem is that this conversation happens every year and it happens at the level of "oh unc and duke *both* get to play *all four* games in state *almost every year* to make the final four". so yeah its become a hotbutton with me.

The real issue is that UNC and Duke are in the top 10 in the nation almost every year and therefore almost every year they get favorable draws.



That's because there's only one west region. The other three are pretty interchangable if there isn't a regional in Charlotte. There's not much difference in playing in Texas, Kansas City, Detroit, Atlanta, Syracuse, Tampa, etc. Throw the west regional in Arizona,California, or Seattle *and* make UCLA the top seed out there and there's a disadvantage. Luckily UCLA is nowhere near as consistent as UNC and Duke so even when they do get shipped out west it rarely matters.





Couple factors here imo;

1) UNC and Duke get WAY more than their share of 1 and 2 seeds. They are dominating their way into the sweet 16 no matter where they play more often and more consistently than most teams. So this isn't too big a deal anyway.

2) I hate the pod system. Before the pod system only UNC or Duke could play in Greensboro, the other was going somewhere else. Now as long as they're both say top 3 seeds they're gonna get that Greensboro pod. This does make this a bigger issue.

3) counterpoint to #2: Every Duke fan in greensboro will be rooting against UNC from the outset and will go nuts if they get challenged. Every UNC fan in greensboro will be rooting against Duke from the outset and will go nuts if they get challenged. So on the whole I don't think this is really a big deal.


UNC getting Washington this year in Charlotte in round two potentially really sucks for Washington, but exactly how much less would it suck in Atlanta or Washington, DC compared to Charlotte? And again its a 2/7 matchup, so I don't have any problem at all with it. If UNC gets a 5 seed and gets shoehorned into Charlotte and plays a 4 seed in Washington, I'm not making any of these arguments. Its the fact that UNC/Duke are top 10 teams, and very very often top 5 teams when this comes up that makes me defend them so heavily.

I think a lot of people got bored with the play in games with teams fighting for the right to play ohio st. One of those games, ok, but four of them? This way you get some bigger name teams playing in those play-ins, and they can't really complain about fairness - they're the worst at-larges, after all. So its just two spots decided on the court instead of by the selection committee.

I'm just glad they didn't go to 128 teams.

The don't actually seed the #2 seeds and align them to the #1 seeds, but rather place them in the regional that is most convenient. Therefore if ND was the best #2 seed they get first choice on a regional location.

The don't actually seed the #2 seeds and align them to the #1 seeds, but rather place them in the regional that is most convenient. Therefore if ND was the best #2 seed they get first choice on a regional location.

At first glance, I got OSU, SDSU, ND and someone from the weak SE as the Final Four. My son has OSU, UConn, ND and BYU. We both got ND to win it all for some reason.

The problem I have is we win our conference tournament and for our troubles get shipped across the country to play a round 2 road game.

That being said, no one ever said it should be easy so I'm not to upset. I actually like the way we match up against UNC.

cartman, I know you're in here. Surrender now.

I'd love for the Horns to get to play Michigan to advance to the Elite Eight. :D

I'm one of those people, why do I want to see two 16 seeds play each other just to get crushed, I'd rather see two teams play that might be able to make a mini run. I'd rather they have the last 8 at large play over the the bottom teams. Either way, if it is 16s playing or 11s and 12s, neither are likely to win the championship any how, so as stated earlier, mine as well watch teams that might win the next few games as well.

You aren't getting passed Oakland. I will be leading the riots around my beloved commuter school Friday night.

Man, quite the bitch fest going on ESPN right now

You mean they aren't the Oakland in California?

Yeah I don't disagree with you there. Why put Temple in Tuscon and Washington in Charlotte exactly??


On the other side of that conversation that's going on w/ Warhammer though... if you had to assign a % to the chances of Washington upsetting UNC should they meet... what chance do you give them in Charlotte? What chance would you give them if it were instead in Atlanta?

You son of a bitch.

Keith Benson is gonna go for 25 and 15 and you shall know thou schools location.

Go Xavier btw. UNC is clearly going to be prone to being upset with their youth and inexperience, but they have the talent to be a massive threat too. If they do make it to the sweet 16, Syracuse has to be one of the worst matchups that UNC could possibly have. They tend to curl up in a ball and cry at the sight of a zone defense.

You've already reached the top of the Summit League, so there is nowhere else to go but down.

I just want Syracuse/UNC in the Sweet 16, in Newark. :popcorn:

And the gloves are now off.

CAA! CAA! CAA!

I love it.

VCU was a stretch in a lot of ways, but the head exploding over them getting in over VT is just silly - VT simply didn't deserve a bid.

CAA! CAA! CAA!

I'm trying to figure out a way to work Greg Robinson into the mix.

:D

SI

I don't have ESPN any more so I'm watching CBS's little cheerleading thing online.

I suspect they're just bitter because they didn't get the tourney after the renegotiation this year ;)

SI

Well, I'll tell you Hubert lost any shred of credibility when he tried to argue that Mason shouldn't be in. I mean, they were ranked #25 before they last on the CAA tournament for goodness sake. They were top 25 in the RPI. etc, etc.

Closing in on the ignore button.

While I think they should be in I can see a side that wouldnt buy into them.

They didnt win one game outside of their conference against a NCAA tourny team.

They lost to Wofford(14 seed). Split with ODU and VCU. They didnt play the most difficult of schedules.

WTF FAVORTISM. Its ok the committee will find a way to move the game to Chapel Hill by next week. ;)

I always love the whining over who should have gotten the last few seeds. These are teams that couldn't make much of a run in their conference tourneys and didn't make enough noise in the regular season to be in the top couple, so SHUT UP! VT may have managed a win over Duke, but decided their season was over and stopped playing. Tough.

By "not the most difficult" you mean OOC SOS of 157? Yeah, you could say that.

VT is infamous for a terrible OOC schedule. Idiot Greenberg does it EVERY year, yet whines and doesn't understand why he doesn't get in year after year.

He did "ok" in the ACC and "better than average" against a weak OOC schedule.

I would much rather see the #2 team (or even #3 team) from the MAC, CAA, CUSA, etc., get their chance than see the #9 team from the SEC, B10, B12, etc.

Also, I agree about the pod system. The problem I have with the South and East is that they really are almost interchangeable. Some time back, they had the rule that you could not play on your home floor. While I understand the rule, it REALLY benefits some teams such as UNC or Duke more than others for reasons that were mentioned.

I'll be going on Friday and Sunday in Chicago and feel we got some nice games. Really happy to see Notre Dame play live and Purdue should be good too. Should be packed with their fans. Hope we get some close games.

Yup. The High-Major teams have TONS of opportunities to show why they should be in. If they don't do that, it's their fault.

I'd love to skip work on a Thursday or Friday and go to a tournament site for all 4 games. Unfortunately, I've never been in a convenient location or work environment for it. :(

The only downside is that I wouldn't be able to see the other 12 games that day like I'll be doing from work/home ;)

SI

Oh, and your facts are way off on VT.

They refuse to schedule the top CAA teams now after losing 3 out of 4 years to ODU. Not sure what you're thinking of - University of Richmond that did split with them maybe?

Just not feelin' it this year. Hard for me to cry for many of the bubble teams, the field seems relatively weak, a lot of "upsets" might not be all that shocking.

re: the UNC/Duke playing in NC thing -- Harder for that not to happen when there are several sites in the state that are regular hosts AND when the placement guidelines include "Teams will remain in or as close to their areas of natural interest as possible. A team moved out of its natural area will be placed in the next closest region to the extent possible."

re: SEC seeding -- The Vols right in line with where they are in the last official RPI & presumably didn't slip noticeably with the loss to Florida. Having the #2 SOS in the country helps, even if you usually play fair to mediocre b'ball. I think having Florida a #2 if Kentucky is a #4 is a travesty, they're probably both #3's in reality. Georgia as a #10 seems high to my biased eye but only by 1 slot.

And definitely put me in the "hates the pod system" camp. I understand why they do it, but I don't like it & never have. It's even worse for the women's bracket (although I know few people in here care).

I agree with your last part, but not the first part. I know you differ from me in this, no surprise there, but I love the upsets and mid-major success.

But it is a weak field. If this was the field last year, my W&M Tribe would have gotten their first birth to the NCAA tournament.

Anybody look into the online bracket polls? Do they give the option of not having to pick the play-in games like they've always done with the one play-in game. Would like to get my friends together but would be nice to not have to pick those games.