March Madness thread

The Game Room
1

I did a search and didn’t find any thread dedicated to the discussion of the tournament, or the draw, teams left out or teams given incorrect seeds, so I thought I’d start one.

If this is a duplicate, feel free to close it. The only threads I’ve seen were on starting up the SDMB polls, on yahoo and ESPN, so i hope this thread serves the purpose of discussing the tourney.

So, what are your thoughts on the seedings? What about who was left out of the dance this year? Who are your final 4 picks? And any other topics you want to discuss…

I’ll start with some of some of the seeding issues I have with this year’s tournament.
I really have no problems with the number 1 seeds. Wichita State deserved one, despite what anyone says. Especially those basketball snobs that are affiliated with one of the big power conferences, who turn up their noses at a “mid-major” going undefeated.

I hate to tell you, but Wichita State was a final four team a year ago, so they are no fluke. And to go undefeated is impressive and difficult in just about any sport at any time, but especially a college basketball season, where you have to be not only really good on the court, but really lucky too. No major injuries, no mental lapses or letdowns, no flukey mid-court shots to beat you, no kid missing a game because of the flu… Just being able to navigate a 5-6 month schedule and finish undefeated is so impressive to me.

I think Wichita State deserved their seeding, but. I think what the committee did to them in their bracket was obnoxious. Putting them in the same region as (2) Michigan, (3) Duke and (4) Louisville was a major overload, and sort of a “Fuck you” by the selection committee to the mid-major.

Think you are going to go undefeated? Well good luck getting to the final four! You will have to earn it, you mid-major, played nobody this season, never-should-have-been-a-number-1-seed-but-we-were-forced-to-give-it-to-you upstarts!

I am rooting for Wichita State this year more than any team I can remember that isn’t Pitt (which is a yearly waste of time and energy anyway).

Kansas as a #2 seed is a bit high to me, especially since they have 9 losses.

And Pitt getting a #9 seed to me in the South region was about the worst possible seed they could have received (except maybe the #8 seed in the south). I know I am a Pitt alum, so I am not the most unbiased person here, but you have virtually eliminated a team that deserved a much better draw.

Assuming they beat Colorado (which I believe they will), they are then rewarded by facing. The number one team in the entire tournament. That seems to be a bit harsh for a team that came close to beating Virginia twice this season (and UVa won the ACC and got a number 1 seed for their effort), and took out UNC in the ACC tourney. They also lost some very close games during they year, including a couple of last second shots against Syracuse and UVa.

I would have preferred if Pitt would have been give a 12 seed, and I think they deserved a 6 or 7 seed. But to have to play a region’s number 1 In the second round is cruel. Pitt was not going to win the whole thing, but. I thought if they could get a couple of wins, they might have built up some momentum to make the elite 8. Alas, the 8/9 seeds are the worst seeds in the bracket outside the 16 seed.

I guess the good news is that if Pitt somehow pulls the upset over Florida, the only other team that I’d worry about in the entire bracket is Kansas. It would be ironic if Pitt was able to get deep into the tourney from such a lousy spot. But there is one thing that Pitt does very well in March. They never play better than you would expect them to, they never upset anyone, and if favored, they play down to the level of their opponents and usually roll over for a quick and painful elimination from the tournament.

Oh, and like most everyone else, I was surprised that SMU was snubbed. But it wasn’t the greatest shafting I’ve ever seen, so i’m not losing any sleep over that one.

2

I’m happy to report that my Florida State Seminoles won their first game in the NIT.

I’m sad to acknowledge that they didn’t beat the (somewhat ridiculous) spread.

3

Robert Morris also won, beating number 1 seeded St. John’s in New York.

Robert Morris should have gone to the NCAA’s but lost to a 16-15 Mount St. Mary’s in the CAA tournament finals. They were 14-2 in the conference, so I was surprised to see them seeded so low in the NIT. But this is the 2nd year in a row they are an 8 seed in the NIT, and the second year in a row they pulled the upset.

I’m glad they didn’t go to the NCAA’s. They would have been either a 14, 15, 16 or even possibly one of the play in teams (i doubt it, but the CAA gets zero respect), and odds are they would be one and done. In the NIT, they could string a few wins together, which would be great for the program. They have a couple of very good players, and it would be great to see the program get some positive publicity.

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Plus they’ll look like gods at the NIT. At the NCAA they would have been another valiantly struggling underdog that loses in the first or second round to a much, much better team. At the NIT they can shine like superstars.

ETA: Go Wolfpack! Go ACC!

5

By my count, 10 RS conference champs were relegated to the NIT. Are there really 10 middling power teams more deserving of NCAA bids?

I say: go to 96, both RS on conference tournament champs “dance” Ivy does some form of postseason.

BTW, if Wichita gets by Kentucky (and I don’t think they will) they won’t get by Louisville.

6

I think Louisville is the biggest hurdle to anyone in that bracket. I am rooting for Wichita, but if I was betting, Louisville would be my pick.

7

The Cal Poly-Texas Southern game was boring but the Iowa-Tennessee game made up for it.

I don’t see either Cal Poly or Tennessee advancing again tho. I mean, no way is Cal Poly beating the soon-to-be-Champion Shockers and Mass is far too solid a team to fall to Tennessee, IMO.

8

What a surprise, Duke gets to play its first two games in its home state again. My final matchup will be a repeat of the Big Ten tourney- Michigan State routs Michigan in the NCAA finals.

9

I enjoyed this:
Why play basketball when you can make mascots battle to the death?

10

I really wish people would realize what an advantage this is for Duke. To play in front of a home crowd virtually guarantees them a spot in the sweet 16 each year. It’s obnoxious.

It’s one of the reasons it is so easy to hate Duke. They don’t usually need the location advantage, but they get it anyway.

I think if you gave most teams what amounts to two home games, they would do much better in the tourney every year, also.

11

Not to mention, less travel time = less stress on the players. Nearly every year Duke gets to play the first two games close to home. Doesn’t matter if they’re seeded high or low.

12

Duke at “home” does make filling out the brackets easier for me. They almost always win in the state of NC (14-1 since 2000), then they usually lose the next game to a lower seed. Let’s see how they’ve done when their first two games are scheduled to be in the state of NC:
2012: #2 seed loses to #15 seed in 1st round
2011: #1 seed, win 2 at home, lose to 5 seed in next round
2009: #2 seed, win 2 at home, lose to 3 seed in next round
2006: #1 seed, win 2 at home, lose to 4 seed in next round
2005: #1 seed, win 2 at home, lose to 5 seed in next round
2004: #1 seed, win 2 at home, lose in final four
2001: #1 seed, win 2 at home, win overall title
2000: #1 seed, win 2 at home, lose to 5 seed in next round

Note that in 2002, their first two games were in Greenville, SC. They won both of those, then lost to the 5 seed in the next round.

I note that other teams playing at home this year are Florida (in Orlando), and Wisconsin (in Milwaukee). Syracuse (in Buffalo) can probably be considered a home game too. I would bet that these three and Duke get to the final 16. I’m not sure that I trust Syracuse at this point, though.

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Absolutely. Travelling can be a real drain on a team, and the further from home, the harder it is for the team to recover. Add to that time zone changes, and it makes a big difference.

This was interesting to see laid out in front of me. I wonder how many Duke teams would be sweet 16 material if they were forced to go on the road every year.

Take Pitt, for example. A few years, they were given very high seeds, but they were in the West. They never travel west well. If they were able to play those games within an hour or two feom campus, would their record be better? I would imagine it would.

Syracuse is another team which if I had to guess, would more often than not be playing close to home. They always seem to get to play in NY state somewhere, or at the most a very short teip away from home. Buffalo is a home game for Syracuse… Certainly moreso than any other team playing there.

I hate Syracuse as much as I hate Duke, and this is one of the reasons why. I’d like to see all teams have to travel somewhere. I understand why the committee puts a local team in a close locale (at least the stated reasons), but I doubt if attendence would be hurt significantly in Buffalo if Syracuse was playing in say Orlando instead.

I have gone to a couple of opening round tourney games, and didn’t have a real rooting interest in any of the teams playing there. It is still fun to go and watch teams playing in a one and done tourney, and I always end up rootijg hard for the underdog because it’s fun.

Florida gets to play in Orlando. That’s a huge advantage. They are the number 1 team in the dance this year. They would pack an arena anywhere in the country, and they should be good enough to win anywhere against anyone. Why give them the added advantage of playing a “home” game?

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Because they’re the number one team in the tournament.

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I know that.

I have no real problem with number one seeds being rewarded by playing nesr home. I really don’t. However, the home games seem bery arbitrary to me. If you look at Duke, for example. This year they aren’t a 1 seed. Either is Syracuse, why give either of those two schools an advantage?

If you are going to use the “playing close to home” reward as an insentive for teams to go for the top seed in a region, fine by me. But does each two, three or 4 seed have home games for their opening round, like Syracuse and Duke do?

I don’t know the answer, but I’ll go look. To me, though, it seems unfair to give that benefit out without some sort of a process to make it as equitable as possible.

16

One reason is they want to put fannies in the seats. It isn’t like a bowl game where you have weeks to make travel plans, they want to make sure that the arenas are full for the first couple games where they have unattractive matchups. Sure, it’s totally unfair that Duke gets sucked up to nearly every year, but they also know they can fill the arena.

17

DAYTON WINS! DAYTON WINS! Go Flyers!

18

Is Colorado this bad? I’m not near a TV, just saw score. This has to be the least competitive 8/9 game ever.

19

I thought Colorado was seeded high, but I don’t think even SFP would have hoped for a blowout like this.

20

My friends and I are having a field day with the weed puns at Colorado’s expense. They’re getting Bowled over. They’re getting Vaporized. They’re getting LIT UP. They’re getting SMOKED…

But I already lost out on the billion in the very first game with Ohio State. They were in my sweet 16. It also doesn’t look good for my Cincy pick as Harvard goes for the classic 5-12 upset.