2014-2015 College Basketball Thread

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Syracuse basketball team self-imposes postseason ban this year in response to NCAA investigation - ESPN

How noble of them in a seaon where they weren't going to make the tournament anyway.

[molson]

Ha, that is kind of ridiculous, but missing out on the ACC tournament entirely is kind of a black eye, they must be pretty worried worse could be coming.

[Marmel]

They are likely to have scholarship reductions and loss of some wins (14?) for Boeheim. Also, the NCAA could add a year to the ban.

It is a light penalty but the violations were all self reported and we don't even know how severe the infractions are. They could be bad, or they could be barely anything where a post-season ban is actually heavy handed.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Marmel

They are likely to have scholarship reductions and loss of some wins (14?) for Boeheim. Also, the NCAA could add a year to the ban.

It is a light penalty but the violations were all self reported and we don't even know how severe the infractions are. They could be bad, or they could be barely anything where a post-season ban is actually heavy handed.

I knew there was a reason for my lingering strong dislike of Fab Melo.

[lungs]

Hey tarcone, I see that Adam Woodbury had another eye poking incident. Just an accident, I suppose?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Atocep

His reluctance to drive and when he does drive the fact that he does everything in his power to avoid contact always drove me crazy. He has the tools to be a very good player, but instead chooses to make the weak parts of his game the focal point.

Yeah, it's absurd, and it's not all in the fans minds, because he'll do exactly that (drive to the hole, draw guys, dish a great pass) once a game. Then go back to spotting up on the perimeter or throwing up blind circus shots when he does drive and draw a double. But occasionally this happens

Eric Bachenheimer's post on Vine

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Fucking UMass.

It's been ugly as hell, and I still think we're an NIT team, but somehow we're now tied for 1st and back in the top 40 of RPI. Unfortunately the A10 is shaking out the way I thought and is probably a 3-bid league at most. VCU will probably still make it despite the devastating Briante Weber injury, but I don't think URI/Davidson/LaSalle have a chance unless they win the tournament, and GW's hanging by a thread despite their win over Wichita State. You're definitely in better shape than us, but both Dayton and UMass have a looooot of work to do.

[Izulde]

Rashad Vaughn out indefinitely with a torn meniscus, which means UNLV's season is pretty much done.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Boy, there's not a thing more that can go wrong for Mizzou at this point. Multiple suspensions (coach is clearly drawing a line in the sand with these guys), ten losses in a row, best player is out for the season with a gruesome elbow injury, and Coach Anderson's plane has to do an emergency landing on the return trip from a recruiting visit.

Time to forfeit the last few games and get started on preparing for next season.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

It's been ugly as hell, and I still think we're an NIT team, but somehow we're now tied for 1st and back in the top 40 of RPI. Unfortunately the A10 is shaking out the way I thought and is probably a 3-bid league at most. VCU will probably still make it despite the devastating Briante Weber injury, but I don't think URI/Davidson/LaSalle have a chance unless they win the tournament, and GW's hanging by a thread despite their win over Wichita State. You're definitely in better shape than us, but both Dayton and UMass have a looooot of work to do.

IF Dayton can win their next 4 (and they are a better than 80% probability to win each game), then their season comes down to the last 3 games:

@ VCU
v. URI
@ LaSalle

If they win all 3, they will get a 6 seed or better. If they win 2, they will probably be an 8/9. If they win 1, they will be a bubble team. Depending on performance in the conference tourney, of course.

The Flyers about choked it away at SLU on Tuesday, trailing 44-41 with under 4 minutes to play, before playing stifling defense down the stretch and pulling out a 51-44 win. That win would've been devastating for at large chances.

We'll see. The A10 is a bunch of mediocre teams with no real great one this year.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by lungs

Hey tarcone, I see that Adam Woodbury had another eye poking incident. Just an accident, I suppose?

The Maryland coach seems to think it was...

As Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said on Monday, “you have to be pretty talented to be moving full speed and poke a kid in the eye and try to do it.”

[nol]

Always fun to see recruiting rankings that pit the top players in each class against one another: Scout's Ultimate 100

I don't know who currently qualifies as the most highly regarded recruit/prospect since LeBron (Greg Oden maybe?), but from what I've seen there's a good chance either DeAndre Ayton (#1 regardless of class as a sophomore) and Marvin Bagley (#8 as a freshman) will earn that label.

[cartman]

Texas starts their stretch run tonight against OU. 5 of their last six games are against teams currently in the Top 25. They finally have everyone healthy, so these next six games will seal their tourney fate. 4-2 would be good, but 3-3 is more likely, with 2-4 not out of the realm of possibility. There isn't a whole lot of separation in the conference this season.

[Logan]

Former Texas/Current Seton Hall guard Sterling Gibbs is facing a suspension after delivering this shot last night.

[Kodos]

He should be kicked off of the team.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

He should be kicked off of the team.

He got two games. The whole team is a disaster at this point with rumors of some real bad locker room stuff going on. Gibbs will probably be a graduate transfer next year, and Willard would be a guarantee to be fired if he didn't have a large buyout coming his way. He sold his soul to bring in this freshman class and it was a massive failure.

[digamma]

I've been negligent as the board's Ivy League correspondent this season. We're in the midst of a move halfway across the country, but you know what excuses are--not that anyone's been holding their breath for the Ivy report.

Anyhow, halfway through the season, we are where we thought we'd be. Harvard and Yale are tied atop the league at 7-1. Harvard won the first head to head match-up at Yale. The two play again on Friday March 6 in Cambridge.

Before then both teams have to navigate the Cs and the Ps for a second time. Harvard hosts the Ps this weekend. Friday night is the breather against Penn and Saturday night against Princeton. Yale hosts the Cs this weekend and the Ps next weekend. Harvard has to go on the road to Cornell first and then Columbia next weekend.

In truth, for most of the Ivy season, Yale has looked like the better team. Harvard escaped Brown in OT and had to make a shot on their last possession to beat Columbia after blowing a big lead. But, Harvard matches up well against Yale at every one of Yale's strengths. If Harvard can avoid a land mine at Columbia and at home vs. Princeton, they'll be the favorite to beat Yale a second time at home.

If it plays out that way, then Yale may get consideration as an at large team. They'll be somewhere around 50 in the RPI with two conference losses to Harvard who will be in the low 40s. It would be great for them if Connecticut could get hot, as that's their best win of the season. My guess is they'd just miss and be an at large team.

On the flip side, if Yale can finish 13-1 by beating Harvard, Harvard may also get some consideration. They have a strong win over UMass but missed opportunities in ugly losses to BC and Arizona State. Again, just short of a two bid Ivy.

My gut says we might see both teams finish at 12-2 and have a tie breaker game, likely at Brown the weekend of March 13. That would be a lot of nerve wrecking fun.

[Lathum]

Where u moving to?

[BillyNYC]

Originally Posted by digamma

If it plays out that way, then Yale may get consideration as an at large team. They'll be somewhere around 50 in the RPI with two conference losses to Harvard who will be in the low 40s. It would be great for them if Connecticut could get hot, as that's their best win of the season. My guess is they'd just miss and be an at large team.

Good luck with the move!

I don't see either as good bets for at-larges. ESPN/Lunardi's RPI has Harvard as #52 (and #139 SOS). Yale is #59 (#134 SOS). These numbers should only get worse the rest of the Ivy season (Columbia #189 RPI; everyone else 200+).

Neither has beaten anyone too notable (H 1-1 vs RPI top 50, with win over UMass; Y 0-1) and both have pretty bad losses.

Would love to see 2 teams in, but don't see this as the year for it.

Meanwhile, at my alma mater (Cornell), it's year 5 of the Bill Courtney era, and also 5 years since the Sweet 16 run. Somehow, even after 4 straight losing seasons (and after last year's 2-26 debacle...and now at 12-12 despite having a veteran team led by a POY candidate in Shonn Miller), Cornell's message board suggests the coach will likely return next year.

"Doing things the right way" and fundraising are more important in Ivy-land, but not sure how you go from back-to-back-to-back league titles to possibly 5 straight losing seasons and stay safe. At this point, as far as momentum, it's as if the NCAA appearances didn't even happen. We'll always have 2010...

[BishopMVP]

Steve Donahue's available...

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Where u moving to?

Minneapolis. I've been here for almost three weeks. Going back to get my family this weekend.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by BillyNYC

Good luck with the move!

I don't see either as good bets for at-larges. ESPN/Lunardi's RPI has Harvard as #52 (and #139 SOS). Yale is #59 (#134 SOS). These numbers should only get worse the rest of the Ivy season (Columbia #189 RPI; everyone else 200+).

Neither has beaten anyone too notable (H 1-1 vs RPI top 50, with win over UMass; Y 0-1) and both have pretty bad losses.

Would love to see 2 teams in, but don't see this as the year for it.

In the end, I agree with you, but if both teams get 5 more Ivy wins (and one of them has to beat the other) they're both going to be hovering in the 45-50 RPI range. I think the thing that kills it is the lack of big wins which you rightly point out. I, of course, won't be pulling for it, but Justin Sears deserves to play in the tournament at some point in his career.

Meanwhile, at my alma mater (Cornell), it's year 5 of the Bill Courtney era, and also 5 years since the Sweet 16 run. Somehow, even after 4 straight losing seasons (and after last year's 2-26 debacle...and now at 12-12 despite having a veteran team led by a POY candidate in Shonn Miller), Cornell's message board suggests the coach will likely return next year.

"Doing things the right way" and fundraising are more important in Ivy-land, but not sure how you go from back-to-back-to-back league titles to possibly 5 straight losing seasons and stay safe. At this point, as far as momentum, it's as if the NCAA appearances didn't even happen. We'll always have 2010...

I went to the Harvard-Cornell game in Cambridge last year and Cornell's team was not a D-I team. What they've done this year is a huge step in the right direction (with no opinion on how they ended up where they did last year).

[BillyNYC]

Originally Posted by digamma

I went to the Harvard-Cornell game in Cambridge last year and Cornell's team was not a D-I team. What they've done this year is a huge step in the right direction (with no opinion on how they ended up where they did last year).

Two of their better players returned after missing last season (Miller due to injury; Cancer took a year off to focus on academics). Missing both, and a bunch of injuries, helped lead to last year's ridiculousness. Unfortunately, both of them and Cherry are seniors and so expectations are next year will be a drop-off.

The defense has been very solid, but the offense has been an issue throughout Courtney's reign. Shooting 40% from the field won't win too many games, regardless of defense. Consensus is that the coach is a very good recruiter, but not very strong X and O-wise.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by digamma

Minneapolis. I've been here for almost three weeks. Going back to get my family this weekend.

Great city, much more metropolitan then people think.

[Butter]

Cornell has a player named "Cancer"?

[digamma]

Originally Posted by BillyNYC

Two of their better players returned after missing last season (Miller due to injury; Cancer took a year off to focus on academics). Missing both, and a bunch of injuries, helped lead to last year's ridiculousness. Unfortunately, both of them and Cherry are seniors and so expectations are next year will be a drop-off.

The defense has been very solid, but the offense has been an issue throughout Courtney's reign. Shooting 40% from the field won't win too many games, regardless of defense. Consensus is that the coach is a very good recruiter, but not very strong X and O-wise.

If only Cressler had stayed.

[digamma]

Harvard sweeps the Ps and Columbia upsets Yale. With four games left, Harvard sits at 9-1 and Yale is 8-2. Harvard is on the road at the Cs this weekend (Cornell Friday night). Yale hosts the Ps (Princeton Friday night). If both teams can hold serve (far from certain, particularly for Harvard traveling from Ithaca to NYC on Saturday), then Friday night March 6 is either a championship clincher or a chance to make a playoff game a reality.

[cartman]

Texas is playing themselves right into the NIT. They get down early in games, and mount big comebacks, but can't finish them off.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by cartman

Texas is playing themselves right into the NIT. They get down early in games, and mount big comebacks, but can't finish them off.

Does Barnes survive missing the tourney?

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Syracuse basketball team self-imposes postseason ban this year in response to NCAA investigation - ESPN

How noble of them in a seaon where they weren't going to make the tournament anyway.

Just to revisit, it looks like they are actually a tournament team, or at worst would be on the bubble right now. they have knocked off a pair of top 10 teams (at the time we played) in Louisville and Notre Dame in the last 3 games.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Does Barnes survive missing the tourney?

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of chatter about that. But it will likely put more pressure on him next season.

[britrock88]

UNC a total no-show offensively against NC State. 0.77 PPP, and below average in all of the four factors. Blecch.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Finally got a win!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!

It's not easy having a season like Mizzou has had thus far, but great to finally end the school-record losing streak and get back into the win column with the youth that Mizzou has.

[BishopMVP]

If the Big Ten Presidents have a problem with one and zones they should propose a solution, not just float trial balloons and hope someone else does it for them.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by lungs

Hey tarcone, I see that Adam Woodbury had another eye poking incident. Just an accident, I suppose?

Originally Posted by Lathum

The Maryland coach seems to think it was...

As Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said on Monday, “you have to be pretty talented to be moving full speed and poke a kid in the eye and try to do it.”

Pretty much what I said to my son when he first told me about Woodbury and eye-poking. I added "if his hands are that quick why wouldn't he lead the nation in steals? the basketball is a hell of a lot bigger than an eyeball."

[tarcone]

Kodos, Tuesday night is Iowa at Indiana. Im ready to go through my season of pain, again.

Same bet?

[digamma]

Yale swept. Harvard did not. We have pretty much a winner take all game on Friday in Cambridge. So want to be there.

[Butter]

Dayton with a season-making win at VCU on Saturday, 59-55. That got them into the top-30 in the RPI and also their first RPI top-25 win... which happens to be on the road.

While yes, this VCU team has struggled a bit since Brionte Weber has gone out for the season with a knee injury, VCU is still a good team.

Dayton, URI, and Davidson all are 12-4 in conference, while VCU is 11-5. Dayton vs. Rhode Island on Tuesday and Davidson vs. VCU on Thursday will determine the A10 tournament seeding, provided nobody loses on Saturday. Dayton has the hardest final game, a road trip to LaSalle.

Davidson gets the #1 seed if they end up in any combination of a tie with Dayton, URI, or both. Davidson is 2-0 vs. UD and URI... with the way VCU has been playing, Davidson is the favorite.

If Davidson loses Thursday, then it's likely the winner of the UD/URI game Tuesday night that will win the conference regular season.

VCU needs a lot of help to get the #1 seed. They would need the UD/URI winner to lose on Saturday, and to essentially finish in a 4-way tie and then get some other help in other conf. games.

Dayton has never won a regular season conference title. They were independent until 1988, and have won the A10 West once, but that was the year that St. Joseph's was 28-0 going into the conference tournament or something like that.

[Logan]

This is women's but still crazy...

How a N.J. hoops team erased a 9-point deficit with a minute to go ... and won by 9! | Politi Bits | NJ.com

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Kodos, Tuesday night is Iowa at Indiana. Im ready to go through my season of pain, again.

Same bet?

Sure. Both of our teams suck. Of course, the bet only lasts through the end of March Madness. Not that I'm hedging my bets....

[cartman]

That was a wild game tonight between Baylor and Texas. Texas came from 11 down with 7 minutes to play to get a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. They missed, and it went to OT. With about two minutes left, there was a scrum at halfcourt after a scramble for the ball, and players came off the bench from both teams. A total of 7 players got ejected. Texas ended up winning by two, 61-59. Probably too little too late for their tourney hopes.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Sure. Both of our teams suck. Of course, the bet only lasts through the end of March Madness. Not that I'm hedging my bets....

Iowa is so inconsistent. Beat OSU twice, UNC on the road, lose to NW.
Bah.

But we are 19-10 and 10-6 in the B1G. With 2 games left, we may be dancing.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Iowa is so inconsistent. Beat OSU twice, UNC on the road, lose to NW.
Bah.

But we are 19-10 and 10-6 in the B1G. With 2 games left, we may be dancing.

You may be the 3rd-best team in Iowa ( ), but you're an 8 or 9. Rest easy.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by cartman

That was a wild game tonight between Baylor and Texas. Texas came from 11 down with 7 minutes to play to get a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. They missed, and it went to OT. With about two minutes left, there was a scrum at halfcourt after a scramble for the ball, and players came off the bench from both teams. A total of 7 players got ejected. Texas ended up winning by two, 61-59. Probably too little too late for their tourney hopes.

If you look past mere wins and losses, Texas is as good as an 8-seed. They're in the thick of the bubble mix, I think.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by britrock88

If you look past mere wins and losses, Texas is as good as an 8-seed. They're in the thick of the bubble mix, I think.

Yeah, the computers love Texas. Kenpom has them at #21, BPI at #30. If they can beat Kansas State on Saturday, then get a win or two in the conference tournament, they might have an outside chance. It will all depend on how much stock the committee puts in advanced metrics. Kenpom has the Longhorns as one of the unluckiest teams in the country (#317 out of 351).

[Butter]

The guy that runs one of the Dayton fan web sites got invited to the mock selection committee this year, and can vouch for the fact that there are almost no advanced metrics used.

They rely a lot on your basic metrics, who did you beat, where did you beat them, did you challenge yourself outside of conference?

[Scoobz0202]

That seems pretty interesting, Butter. Did he write an article about his experience? Link by chance?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

That seems pretty interesting, Butter. Did he write an article about his experience? Link by chance?

NCAA Mock Selection Exercise Shows Potential Pitfalls for This Year’s Committee | The Big Lead

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

That seems pretty interesting, Butter. Did he write an article about his experience? Link by chance?

Apparently, the UD Pride RPI is one of the RPIs that the NCAA verifies their figures against, so it is pretty well run.

Yes, here is the link to all 5 parts of the article...

NCAA Mock Selection Recap: Part I: Prelude to Arrival - UDPride Discussion Forums

NCAA Mock Selection Recap: Part II: How the Sausage Gets Made - UDPride Discussion Forums

NCAA Mock Selection Recap: Part III: The Voting Begins - UDPride Discussion Forums

Bubbles, Scrubs, and Bracketing - UDPride Discussion Forums

NCAA Mock Selection Recap: Part V: The Great SOS Air-Ball - UDPride Discussion Forums

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Iowa is so inconsistent. Beat OSU twice, UNC on the road, lose to NW.
Bah.

But we are 19-10 and 10-6 in the B1G. With 2 games left, we may be dancing.

Congratulations, Tarcone! You finally got one. IU teams under Crean just die down the last stretch of the season. Very disheartening after having a better-than-expected first 2/3rds of the season. Blah. Dreaming of Brad Stevens right about now..... Dreaming of the Cheaney years. Even the Oladipo years seem long ago.

Bah.

[Atocep]

WVU playing at Phog Allen without Juwan Staten blow a big lead and were headed to OT after a no call under the basket as regulation expires.