NCAA Tourney / March Madness Thread

[Human_Action]

@racepug

Yup. Exactly. What’s happened in Lexington over the decades and what conTINues to happen in Lexington, KY…

“Continues”, eh? Present tense, I note. Have any luck getting that evidence I asked for?

@racepug

…with respect to its men’s basketball team paints a pretty clear picture of what that community thinks of sports (or at least men’s basketball) vs. people actually getting an education at their school. You defend 'em - you have that right. You won’t see ME doing that any time soon, though.

Ahem:

All 10 players at UK under Calipari who have been eligible to graduate by the end of their senior years have walked away with a degree in hand, while two (Jarrod Polson and Patrick Patterson) have earned a degree in just three years.

Notably, neither the '51 scandal nor the '89 one had anything to do with academics (ie, Florida State- and Syracuse-style grade fixing), so I don’t know where you’re getting this stuff.

@Quercus

Given the widespread testimony about special classes, tutors, and grading for elite (revenue-generating, anyway) athletes, it’s justified to have some skepticism about whether an elite (revenue-and-prestige generating) athlete’s grades are a true reflection of their academic effort. So, yeah, I wouldn’t bet too heavily on the UK basketball team actually showing up at lectures five days a week.

Not saying I have any reason to think UK is any worse or better than any one else in that regard, but generally, if you’re trying to attract ‘one-and-done’ basketball players, trumpeting and enforcing rigorous academic requirements isn’t a winning strategy.

I can’t speak to their class load, or how much tutoring they get, but as you say, there’s no reason to think it’s worse than any other big-time program, and reason to think they’re better than some-to-most. What numbers we have seem to be quite reasonable; from the above cite:

In May, UK posted a four-year composite score of 989 in the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate report, well above the 930 four-year average needed to compete in the 2014-15 championships. The NCAA’s APR measures academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes. The four-year composite score covers the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, Calipari’s first four teams at Kentucky.

Of course, I question how much the NCAA cares about grades vs. revenue, but that’s a separate issue.

[That_Don_Guy]

For those of you interested in such things, practice for teams that have a game against a Division I opponent on the earliest possible date (11/13) can begin on 10/2.

[BobLibDem]

@That_Don_Guy

For those of you interested in such things, practice for teams that have a game against a Division I opponent on the earliest possible date (11/13) can begin on 10/2.

Good- that should give me over five months without seeing Izzo’s puss on the local news.

[Spoke]

@BobLibDem

Duke gets the calls when it matters.

At the end of the half, Duke had its two best players on the bench in foul trouble. At that point, Duke had been called for seven fouls, Wisconsin two. In the second half, Okafor had a nice, clean strip. He was called for a foul. He spent most of the half on the bench in foul trouble.

Quit whining.

Duke nearly always gets to play its first two tournament games in North Carolina.

The NCAA rewards top seeds by letting them play close to home in the first round.

Duke earned this advantage by being a number 1 seed.

They became a number 1 seed by doing such things as, oh: beating Wisconsin on its home court; beating Michigan State on a neutral court; beating Louisville on its home court; beating Virginia on its home court; beating UNC on its home court.

Quit whining.
.