NCAA basketball 2017 - 2018

[ImLawBoy]

UMBC up 17 against Virginia with 3:29 left.

[pr0ner]

UMBC wins by TWENTY!

Down goes UVA! Down goes UVA!

[Skinypupy]

Holy shit. Not just a win...a 20 point blowout.

Pac-12: We just had the most embarrassing tournament ever.

Virginia: Hold my beer

[YellowKing]

Shocking is an understatement.

Put this into perspective. Virginia had ONE conference loss by ONE point in a year where the ACC put a record-tying 9 teams into the tourney. This is a year when ACC power houses like Duke and UNC had 5 or 6 conference losses a piece. And then they cake-walked through the ACC tourney. It's not like they were undeserving of their 1-seed status.

I couldn't be more dumbfounded if you told me Stephen Hawking appeared at halftime and won a slam dunk contest.

[Skinypupy]

I originally had Virginia picked in my work bracket to win it all. I changed my pick the morning the tourney started because I listened to a commentator on Mike & Mike Show that morning talk about how big of a loss the De'Andre Hunter injury really was.

If you want a "hindsight is 20/20" laugh, check out this article titled "Scared to pick Virginia in the NCAA tournament after De’Andre Hunter’s injury? Don’t be."

[Isgrimnur]

Upset statistics

16 vs. 1 - 0.74%

[Skinypupy]

16 seeds were 0-135 before tonight.

[Moliere]

"Because "CRAZY HAPPENED" with a #16 beating a #1 (!!!!), everyone in America gets a free #LittleCaesars Lunch Combo on Monday, April 2nd."

[Pyperkub]

I originally had Virginia picked in my work bracket to win it all. I changed my pick the morning the tourney started because I listened to a commentator on Mike & Mike Show that morning talk about how big of a loss the De'Andre Hunter injury really was.

If you want a "hindsight is 20/20" laugh, check out this article titled "Scared to pick Virginia in the NCAA tournament after De’Andre Hunter’s injury? Don’t be."

For our draft, I was going to push my buddy to load up on Virginia players, Then I saw the injury and flipped my picks and have Michigan nova in the final and we have a couple of wolverines instead.

[Skinypupy]

So...how's everyone's South bracket looking.

[Baroquen]

UMBC is about a mile from my house (I'll sometimes do laps around the campus when out running), and my wife's an alum. We were going to be watching anyway, but what a fun end result.

Was also happy that my alma mater, WVU, avoided an upset. Some algorithm had Murray State with the greatest chance of pulling out a win, so I was glad to see the Mountaineers weren't sleeping through their first game. Now they get in-state "rival" Marshall in the next round.

It'll be an interesting Sunday night in our house, with both of our teams playing.

[ImLawBoy]

I knew Michigan had that game the whole time.

So...how's everyone's South bracket looking.

I may have lost my final four team from that quad, but I'm otherwise OK. I've got Kentucky and Loyola in the Sweet 16, and if Cincy wins tomorrow, that gives me 3 of 4. (I've got Loyola beating Cincinnati to make the Elite 8, so I've still got plenty of time to tank this region.)

My whole bracket relies on Michigan remembering that they're a good, efficient offense, though.

[Skinypupy]

I knew Michigan had that game the whole time.

So...how's everyone's South bracket looking.

I may have lost my final four team from that quad, but I'm otherwise OK. I've got Kentucky and Loyola in the Sweet 16, and if Cincy wins tomorrow, that gives me 3 of 4. (I've got Loyola beating Cincinnati to make the Elite 8, so I've still got plenty of time to tank this region.)

My whole bracket relies on Michigan remembering that they're a good, efficient offense, though.

Or lucky as hell. That works too.

[ImLawBoy]

Survive and advance!

[Pyperkub]

So...how's everyone's South bracket looking.

Had Cincy and Arizona in the elite 8.

Final four is:

Cincy
Michigan
Nova
Duke

[Lassr]

So...how's everyone's South bracket looking.

there's a LOT of red but I have Cincy making it out so there is hope there.

Cincy, Gonzaga, 'Nova, Duke are my final 4.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

[Remus West]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Ima blame you for this last game.
Casting aspersions right before we laid the biggest egg I've ever seen UNC lay. Yuck.

[Skinypupy]

Aaaaaand...there goes my bracket.

Stupid Cincinnati.

[Lassr]

Aaaaaand...there goes my bracket.

Stupid Cincinnati.

my south bracket is completely red now...I had Cincy vs Duke in Finals.

[ImLawBoy]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Ima blame you for this last game.
Casting aspersions right before we laid the biggest egg I've ever seen UNC lay. Yuck.

Now you don't have any potential conflicts for the next game! Go Blue!

I'm loving the brackets right now. I'm currently 6th (out of 23) in my office pool right now, but I have the most possible points left of the tournament by a decent margin (I have 123 possible - next is 108). If Michigan wins, I think I'm a lock.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Ima blame you for this last game.
Casting aspersions right before we laid the biggest egg I've ever seen UNC lay. Yuck.

Whoops! My bad! But losing to A&M wasn't much of a surprise (although the margin was); they are the type of big and physical team that gave us trouble all year. Combine that with our horrific shooting (5 for 30 from three, I think?) and you have a recipe for disaster. Tough way for Berry and Pinson to go out, but they've had great careers.

[Remus West]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Ima blame you for this last game.
Casting aspersions right before we laid the biggest egg I've ever seen UNC lay. Yuck.

Now you don't have any potential conflicts for the next game! Go Blue!

I'm loving the brackets right now. I'm currently 6th (out of 23) in my office pool right now, but I have the most possible points left of the tournament by a decent margin (I have 123 possible - next is 108). If Michigan wins, I think I'm a lock.

My wife had already informed me that if Michigan played Carolina and I cheered for Carolina I'd have been spending that night on the couch so I did indeed dodge that conflict. Clears the path to root for Michigan to win it all (but they haven't looked like they will the first two of this tourney).

[Remus West]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Ima blame you for this last game.
Casting aspersions right before we laid the biggest egg I've ever seen UNC lay. Yuck.

Whoops! My bad! But losing to A&M wasn't much of a surprise (although the margin was); they are the type of big and physical team that gave us trouble all year. Combine that with our horrific shooting (5 for 30 from three, I think?) and you have a recipe for disaster. Tough way for Berry and Pinson to go out, but they've had great careers.

Agreed. I like May a lot but he is not the dynamic inside presence we really needed with this team. Never had a real inside/outside game the whole season.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Yep. Hopefully Brooks and Manley will continue to improve; we'll definitely need them to step up next season.

[LordMortis]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Izzo is not drafting to his strengths. He needs young coachable players that will stick around four years and buy into his method over time. He has bought in to Kentucky style ball which does not work well with him. He needs to let go of the idea of recruiting five star talent for which the NBA is just waiting for a mandatory period before drafting them.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Once again MSU flames out early has a high seed, this time against a terrible Syracuse team. I completely don’t understand Izzo’s reputation as a great tournament coach.

Izzo is not drafting to his strengths. He needs young coachable players that will stick around four years and buy into his method over time. He has bought in to Kentucky style ball which does not work well with him. He needs to let go of the idea of recruiting five star talent for which the NBA is just waiting for a mandatory period before drafting them.

I haven't noticed a bunch of one-and-done players at MSU; seems like most of his players stick around for at least a few years? But maybe I just haven't been paying much attention.

[LordMortis]

Of the 16 person squad there are three juniors and two seniors (and one grad student) and vast vast majority of playing time went to sophomores.

http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-bas ... l-mtt.html

Living here, I have to pay attention.

[ImLawBoy]

Now that was more like it! If Michigan can keep hitting 58% from 3, I think we've got a decent chance.

And I can't believe I have to start worrying about a potential Michigan-Loyola final four battle if they each win their next games. We're both playing 9 seeds, so it's quite possible. (Here's where I pat myself on the back for having Loyola go to the Elite 8 - where I have them losing to Virginia.)

[Remus West]

Now that was more like it! If Michigan can keep hitting 58% from 3, I think we've got a decent chance.

And I can't believe I have to start worrying about a potential Michigan-Loyola final four battle if they each win their next games. We're both playing 9 seeds, so it's quite possible. (Here's where I pat myself on the back for having Loyola go to the Elite 8 - where I have them losing to Virginia.)

Hopefully Michigan does not revert to the first two games' form and remains playing the way they did last night. Their defense triggered so much easy offense for them. Really fun to watch as a fan.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Other than Michigan, I don’t think any of the teams on the left side of the bracket could give Duke, Nova, or Kansas a decent game in the championship. For that reason alone, I guess I need to cheer for Michigan...

[Chrisoc13]

Woot Loyola! Of the two schools I have a degree from (BYU and Loyola) if you had told me it would be Loyola to get to the elite eight next I would have never believed it. But... I'm loving their ride. Very fun to watch. I didn't watch any college games this year until the tourney so I was a bit surprised by how good they are as normally everyone just talked about their historical greatness.

I think they could possibly ride their momentum to the final four but either way it's been a special season.

[Jeff V]

I think I just watched the first college basketball game in a decade. The buzz on Loyola was they win close games. I was robbed. This was not a close game. Kansas State sucked

Fun fact #1 - the Kansas State coach was the Illini coach the last time I watched a college basketball game. He lost that one too.

Fun fact #2 - Loyola of Chicago won the national championship when I was less than 1 year old. They've not advanced so far since.

[Chrisoc13]

Final four! Wow. Crazy!

[Jaymann]

Take that Shashevski!

[YellowKing]

Duke wouldn't have made it past Villanova anyway, but it's still frustrating to have the game come down to Grayson's roll around the rim twice but fail to drop in final shot and a blown charge call by the refs. The latter really handed the game to Kansas.

[Pyperkub]

Duke wouldn't have made it past Villanova anyway, but it's still frustrating to have the game come down to Grayson's roll around the rim twice but fail to drop in final shot and a blown charge call by the refs. The latter really handed the game to Kansas.

Eh, I had picked duke to win that game, but when watching it I was pretty amazed at how easily Kansas carved up the Duke defense. Kansas should have actually won in regulation rather easily save for some dumb plays. Duke was lucky to be where they were - their defense was awful, and that was with a pretty decided talent advantage.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Duke wouldn't have made it past Villanova anyway, but it's still frustrating to have the game come down to Grayson's roll around the rim twice but fail to drop in final shot and a blown charge call by the refs. The latter really handed the game to Kansas.

Allen would've probably made that shot if he hadn't been doing his normal histrionics in an effort to get the refs to blow the whistle. The Carter block/charge call was crap, but he had also gotten away with at least two fouls in the last few minutes of regulation.

Obviously, I'm not sad that Duke lost. I do wonder if, however, in the OAD method that Coach K has embraced, there will ever be another four year Duke player that everyone hates. Would be a shame if Allen was the last.

[Skinypupy]

In the interest of winning my office bracket pool, I'm rooting strongly for a Kansas/Loyola final. If Nova or Michigan wins it all, I'm out.

[ImLawBoy]

If Michigan wins it, I win my office pool. Anyone else, and I'm out.

As if I needed another reason to say Go Blue!