# March Madness
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233
**Category:** The Game Room
**Tags:** basketball-nba
**Created:** [March 15, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233 "2023-03-15T21:21:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/1 "2023-03-15T21:21:32Z")
I’m finishing up my bracket. Tipoff is tomorrow. Anyone have any insights to some big upsets? I think Houston is overrated, AZ is underrated, don’t know about Kansas, and I’d take any insights anyone has. I’m in $20 on my work bracket.
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### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/2 "2023-03-15T21:48:32Z")
I didn’t see the other thread on this topic:
Time once again for the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament pool. Enter your brackets at [ESPN.com](http://espn.com/) or download the tournament app.
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### Author:  [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/3 "2023-03-16T01:17:56Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#):
>
> don’t know about Kansas
IMO their offense just isn’t good enough. They can D up pretty well, and if Gradey Dick is hitting his shots they can beat anyone. But I can’t see them doing that in enough games in a row to defend their title.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/4 "2023-03-16T02:04:10Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#):
>
> I didn’t see the other thread on this topic:
>
> Time once again for the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament pool. Enter your brackets at [ESPN.com](http://espn.com/) or download the tournament app.
Join the pool!
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/5 "2023-03-16T19:14:59Z")
Furman for the win
Tony Bennet: Huge upset loss → Win Championship → Huge upset loss → Huge upset loss
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/6 "2023-03-16T19:27:18Z")
C’mon Corpus Christi!
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### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/7 "2023-03-16T22:01:35Z")
I had Corpus Cristi too. #4 Virginia kinda set me back a bit. No really big upsets yet for my brackets. Kansas, Alabama look good. Arizona is only up 3 points over #15 Princeton. Yikes! Looking forward to Houston and UCLA
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### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/8 "2023-03-16T22:20:55Z")
#2 Arizona is **down!**
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/9 "2023-03-16T23:16:37Z")
And once again my bracket is officially dead within he first 10 games.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/10 "2023-03-17T00:31:14Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#):
>
> …AZ is underrated
Missed it by _that_ much.
Well, Joe Biden had Arizona winning it all, so don’t feel too bad.
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### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/11 "2023-03-17T20:50:28Z")
Let’s go Pitt. My bracket sucks so far, but Pitt could help. And let’s go Drake!
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### Author:  [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/12 "2023-03-17T20:52:29Z")
> [@wolfman](#):
>
> And once again my bracket is officially dead within he first 10 games.
Who’s your final 4? You can’t be dead just yet??
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### Author:  [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/13 "2023-03-17T22:08:16Z")
I almost always root for the underdog. Except when the underdog is coached by Rick “Larry Bird Isn’t Walking Through That Door” Pitino.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/14 "2023-03-18T01:24:17Z")
16th seed Fairleigh Dicksinson knocks off #1 Perdue
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### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/15 "2023-03-18T01:38:50Z")
Only the second 16-over-1 upset of all time, the first being Maryland-Baltimore County over Virginia in 2018. Reading some commentary, this FDU-over-Purdue game makes the UMBC-over-UVA game look like a mild surprise. To wit:
FDU’s conference, the Northeast Conference, never had a team win in the NCAA tournament before.
FDU ranks somewhere around #300 out of 360 Division I teams in the KenPom power rankings.
FDU did not win the Northeast Conference regular season title. They finished tied for second, two games behind Merrimack. FDU’s regular season record was only 20-15.
FDU did not even win the Northeast Conference tournament. The only reason they qualified for the NCAA tournament was because their opponent in the NEC tournament championship game, Merrimack, is not eligible for the NCAA tournament. (Merrimack recently jumped from Division II to Division I.)
During the regular season, FDU won exactly ONE GAME against teams that were in the top 75% of teams in the KenPom rankings. All their other wins were against bottom-feeders in the lowest quartile.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/16 "2023-03-18T03:09:27Z")
That FDU win was great to watch! Incredible.
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### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/17 "2023-03-18T04:30:07Z")
> [@Ponch8](#):
>
> Reading some commentary, this FDU-over-Purdue game makes the UMBC-over-UVA game look like a mild surprise.
On top of that, FDU finished 4-22 last season.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/18 "2023-03-18T05:45:45Z")
And in a mild upset in the Midwest Region, #11 Pittsburgh beat #6 Iowa State convincingly, 59-41.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/19 "2023-03-18T13:50:50Z")
Listening to NPR this morning, they mentioned that the average height for FDU was 6’1", and that Purdue had the _second tallest_ player in the tournament at 7’4". Holy crap, which team has someone taller than 7’4"?
(Speaking of 7’4" players, after Virginia lost the other day I joked to a friend “Where’s Ralph Sampson when you need him?” 😛)
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-madness/981233/20 "2023-03-18T14:07:46Z")
It’s Connor Vanover from Oral Roberts, who is 7’5.
> [@](#):
>
> Nor is Edey is the tallest player in Division I basketball this season: Western Kentucky’s Jamarion Sharp and Oral Roberts’ Connor Vanover (another March Madness participant) both have listed heights of 7-5. Indeed, Edey is tied for third nationally in height with two other players: Naheem McLeod of Florida State and Matt Van Komen of Saint Mary’s.
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