# 2012 NCAA March Madness (Men's) thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503 "2012-03-12T00:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/141 "2012-03-19T03:08:35Z")
WOW! What a finish to that Kansas-Purdue game! The Jayhawks wisely went man-to-man on those last couple of possessions, and Purdue stood around in a futile attempt to wait it out or something. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/142 "2012-03-19T04:16:18Z")
That was one of the most brutal, physical and tenacious basketball games I’ve ever seen. Loucks lost his damn mind with about 3:30 left in the game, and it cost FSU any chance they had at winning. Grats to the Bearcats (and the state of Ohio, btw). ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/143 "2012-03-19T04:17:21Z")
That’s four Ohio teams in the Sweet 16. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/144 "2012-03-19T04:23:04Z")
On ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, I’m in the 99.6th percentile. I got thirteen of the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan, Georgetown, and New Mexico failed me. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/145 "2012-03-19T04:34:47Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > The NBA and the players union have had a negotiated age limit for years. > > The NBA fully supports it because prior to the rule they were spending a whole lot of money on unproven talent, and it’s free advertising for the future NBA players. The NBA has an age limit but not an experience limit like the CBA of the NFL and the NFLPA. LeBron James can go from high school to the NBA. That option is not available to a football player due to the CBA in football. In any future negotiation the NBA players can point to LeBron to bolster their case. A change of the current agreements aren’t going to happen in either football or basketball. The NBA will take any 18 year old player that they think is a stud. The NFL can’t do that because of the CBA. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/146 "2012-03-19T04:39:45Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > On ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, I’m in the 99.6th percentile. I got thirteen of the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan, Georgetown, and New Mexico failed me. UofM is a total failure. Doctors and Lawyers. They will always screw you if given the chance. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/147 "2012-03-19T14:53:53Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > That’s four Ohio teams in the Sweet 16. Hey, there’s four Michigan teams in the NCAA hockey field of 16! Woo-hoo! Anyone else have a Beavis and Butthead moment on seeing the Saint Louis cheerleaders with SLU on their uniforms and think (heh heh, they just need the “T”)? Bravo to four Big Tenners for surviving the weekend. MSU played just well enough to top St Louis, next up Louisville. Not happy that they can be in the Fri-Sun group one week and the Thu-Sat group the next. Doesn’t seem fair that they get stiffed out of a day’s rest. Gotta think carefully about how they pick the arenas, some players could have been injured in Columbus with the constant water formation caused by the ice surface below the court. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/148 "2012-03-19T16:20:38Z")
Well, Wisconsin is exactly where their seed says they should be. Bo Ryan is easily one of the best coaches going. As for Syracuse, I don’t think the Badgers can hang, When Vandy switched to Tue 2-3 the Badgers had problems. Having said that, I think the defense will keep them in the game and if they are reasonably hot shooting the 3 they could win. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/149 "2012-03-19T17:08:29Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > On ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, I’m in the 99.6th percentile. I got thirteen of the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan, Georgetown, and New Mexico failed me. I was up to 99.8 with 13/16, 8/8, and 4/4, pending a Florida State win. Then they lost. Jerks. Now it’s 12, 7, and 3, and I’m sure my empire will collapse. If I had stuck with Syracuse for the Final Four even though Fab Melo was ruled out, then I’d be sitting pretty. So it goes… ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/150 "2012-03-19T18:01:06Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > The NBA has an age limit but not an experience limit like the CBA of the NFL and the NFLPA. LeBron James can go from high school to the NBA. That option is not available to a football player due to the CBA in football. In any future negotiation the NBA players can point to LeBron to bolster their case. A change of the current agreements aren’t going to happen in either football or basketball. The NBA will take any 18 year old player that they think is a stud. The NFL can’t do that because of the CBA. I’m sorry R.P. but they changed the rule just after LeBron. A player coming out of high school has to either play a year of college, a year for a foreign team, a year for the D league, or sit out for one NBA season. > [@](#): > > From the NBA collestive bargening agreement > > A player shall be eligible for selection in the first NBA Draft with respect to which he has satisfied all applicable requirements of Section 1(b)(i) below and one of the requirements of Section 1(b)(ii) below: > (i) The player (A) is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and (B) … at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player’s graduation from high school ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/151 "2012-03-22T05:05:22Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I’m sorry R.P. but they changed the rule just after LeBron. A player coming out of high school has to either play a year of college, a year for a foreign team, a year for the D league, or sit out for one NBA season. OK, I’ll stand corrected but it still has to do with the CBA. The change has little effect other than to prevent immediate high school graduates from entering the draft. It was a very minor response to the situation of high school kids forgoing college. Calipari had exploited this. Again, his MO is not about winning college championships, it’s about getting the kid drafted as high as possible. He love’s the “one-and-dones”. Send the talented idiot off to become someone eases problem. He doesn’t want four years with these knuckleheads. I know a basketball player that attended a prestigious school with a respected basketball program. The coach was a college coach, not a promoter of his talent. The coach didn’t promote the guy and he didn’t get drafted. Yet, the player somehow caught on and had an 11 year career in the NBA. He was lucky. Today, he probably would have been completely dismissed. Had the coach promoted him he certainly would have been drafted. The coach conveyed his limitations, not what he could bring to a team. That’s what Calipari is all about. Nobody inside the program is worrying about championships other than for window dressing. They get the talent, do what they will with them and get them into the NBA. The outsider fans get frustrated for the dearth of championships but WTF. That’s not what it is all about. There could be a championship in it for them this year. They have the talent, They certainly had the talent last year, but that’s not the design of a Calipari team. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/152 "2012-03-23T02:18:03Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > OK, I’ll stand corrected but it still has to do with the CBA. The change has little effect other than to prevent immediate high school graduates from entering the draft. It was a very minor response to the situation of high school kids forgoing college. Calipari had exploited this. Again, his MO is not about winning college championships, it’s about getting the kid drafted as high as possible. He love’s the “one-and-dones”. Send the talented idiot off to become someone eases problem. He doesn’t want four years with these knuckleheads. > > I know a basketball player that attended a prestigious school with a respected basketball program. The coach was a college coach, not a promoter of his talent. The coach didn’t promote the guy and he didn’t get drafted. Yet, the player somehow caught on and had an 11 year career in the NBA. He was lucky. Today, he probably would have been completely dismissed. Had the coach promoted him he certainly would have been drafted. The coach conveyed his limitations, not what he could bring to a team. > > That’s what Calipari is all about. Nobody inside the program is worrying about championships other than for window dressing. They get the talent, do what they will with them and get them into the NBA. The outsider fans get frustrated for the dearth of championships but WTF. That’s not what it is all about. There could be a championship in it for them this year. They have the talent, They certainly had the talent last year, but that’s not the design of a Calipari team. This is all conjecture on your part. Calipari being a good enough recruiter to get the very best talent doesn’t mean he’s a promoter for the NBA. It means he gets the _best_ talent, which is the\* least\* likeliest to stay in college anyway. Its Kentucky, dude. Whaddya want? Plenty of other schools, including even the oft-fellated Duke (and Syracuse with Melo) with its academic standards and all, have the same issue. Now, I agree that it sucks the way the basketball/football mills in the NCAA feed the professional leagues, but short of making an assurance that basketball scholarships have a time requirement (which I am in favor of), what’s Calipari supposed to do? Recruit sub-standard guy that will stay four years to the detriment of the team? Really? Its the environment we are in and its dictated by the NBA and the NCAA..not the uber-villain John Calipari. I get it…you think he’s scum because Bobby Knight thinks so, or because you believe in his questionable culpability in the two incidents that have affected his career at UMASS and Memphis…I disagree… I happen to think Bobby Knight is a complete asshole and the rest of the stuff is unproven. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/153 "2012-03-23T03:22:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is all conjecture on your part. Calipari being a good enough recruiter to get the very best talent doesn’t mean he’s a promoter for the NBA. It means he gets the _best_ talent, which is the\* least\* likeliest to stay in college anyway. Its Kentucky, dude. Whaddya want? Plenty of other schools, including even the oft-fellated Duke (and Syracuse with Melo) with its academic standards and all, have the same issue. > > Now, I agree that it sucks the way the basketball/football mills in the NCAA feed the professional leagues, but short of making an assurance that basketball scholarships have a time requirement (which I am in favor of), what’s Calipari supposed to do? Recruit sub-standard guy that will stay four years to the detriment of the team? Really? Its the environment we are in and its dictated by the NBA and the NCAA..not the uber-villain John Calipari. > I get it…you think he’s scum because Bobby Knight thinks so, or because you believe in his questionable culpability in the two incidents that have affected his career at UMASS and Memphis…I disagree… I happen to think Bobby Knight is a complete asshole and the rest of the stuff is unproven. No, you don’t get it. I think Bobby Knight is scum just because of his behavior, not his opinions. I was actually at a dinner (when he was still coaching Indiana) where he was on the dais and the guy really behaved like an asshole. Calipari is scum because he has shown himself to be scum wherever he has gone. I know a big UMass supporter who saw him in action outside the basketball court. Calipari was a self-serving scum even before he got any national notoriety. [He is the only coach to direct three different colleges to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, although two of those appearances (1996 at UMass and 2008 at Memphis) have been officially vacated by the NCAA.](He is the only coach to direct three different colleges to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, although two of those appearances (1996 at UMass and 2008 at Memphis) have been officially vacated by the NCAA.) Again, he is not about winning championships. He’s about attracting talent that might win him something by default just based on their talent. It’s not his genius, work ethic or commitment. It’s about him accumulating an overwhelming arsenal. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/154 "2012-03-23T11:08:35Z")
So close and yest so for for Wisconsin. Have to mention I was at UW-Platteville at the same time that Bo Ryan. Though IIRC the undefeated seasons were after I graduated. Brian ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/155 "2012-03-23T11:40:39Z")
Bad news- my Spartans are out. Good news- after tonight, I won’t see Izzo’s mug on the local news every night until November. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/156 "2012-03-24T01:31:45Z")
Ohio hanging tough with UNC! ---
**Author:** ![Kitten\_Mitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@Kitten\_Mitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitten_Mitten)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/157 "2012-03-24T01:52:48Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Bad news- my Spartans are out. Good news- after tonight, I won’t see Izzo’s mug on the local news every night until November. And just what, pray tell, is wrong with seeing [http://media.247sports.com/Content/Img/Smilies/king-1.gif](http://media.247sports.com/Content/Img/Smilies/king-1.gif) on the local news every night? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/158 "2012-03-24T02:10:07Z")
Ohio got frigging screwed by the refs. Roy must suck a lot of ref cock. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/159 "2012-03-24T13:15:53Z")
Keep on rolling BIG BLUE! ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503/160 "2012-03-25T16:44:47Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Ohio State got out of Kentucky’s bracket, which was nice (let Duke deal with Baylor in the Sweet 16), but still has to play Gonzaga in round 2. It’s all going to come down to their outside shooting. When William Buford is on they’re damn near unbeatable, but when he struggles so do they. Assuming he has a good tournament, I expect the Buckeyes to get to the Final Four. > [@Zakalwe](#): > > Copied from the ACC thread re: FSU v OSU in the Sweet 16: Don’t see why not. We match up well physically. FSU almost always plays a stifling defense and when our shooters also get hot… > > Overall, we’re now an experienced Tourney team - our 6 seniors have 20 years of Tourney play collectively and they seem to have finally gotten past some of the early season bullshit. This should be a Sweet 16 for sure, an Elite 8 as an attainable goal, and a Final Four as a realistic stretch goal. After that, it’s in the hands of the Hoops Gods. A couple of breaks and who knows. TOLD YOU SO! 😛 It’s too bad the officiating in the Syracuse-OSU game was the worst ever. Ruined a good game. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-ncaa-march-madness-mens-thread/615503.md?page=9)