If Cleveland State beats Butler tonight...

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

Any outsider thoughts on the 'Noles? I know you following the gambling/betting circuit. I'd say right now we're a solid 5 seed, and with a good showing in the ACC tourney we could jump to a 4 or even a 3 (we'd probably need to get to the finals to get a 3). An early loss and i see us probably dropping down to a 6 seed. This team could make a tourney run. I'm hoping for them to make an appearance in the sweet 16.

 

Florida St. is a really tough team to get a good pulse on IMO. They are a very long, athletic team that can really give a lot of teams trouble with their length on defense. Which is evident by how tough they've played North Carolina and Duke. Can't forget about Toney Douglas either, who is one of the best scorers and defenders in the country that no one seems to talk about. Still, they sometimes go on too long of droughts on offense, and the fact that they don't have a go-to-scorer outside of Douglas contributes to this fact. Need to maintain focus on defense too. They are a team, similar to Syracuse, who has the potential of making a deep run to the Sweet 16/Elite 8, or could almost as easily not make it out of the first weekend IMO. Tough team to read.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I'm just hoping Cornell somehow manages to pull a 14 seed. Teams like Morehead State upsetting the OVC help, but the Red were only 11-3 in conference play this year. Last year, we were 14-0 and got a 14 seed.

[Gordio]

Any outsider thoughts on the 'Noles? I know you following the gambling/betting circuit. I'd say right now we're a solid 5 seed, and with a good showing in the ACC tourney we could jump to a 4 or even a 3 (we'd probably need to get to the finals to get a 3). An early loss and i see us probably dropping down to a 6 seed. This team could make a tourney run. I'm hoping for them to make an appearance in the sweet 16.

 

 

I like them. They are kind of a wild card. I see them being either a 4 or 5 seed. If they win the ACC tourney, they could move down to a 3. I put them & Clemson on the same tier. Both real athletic teams that could create mismatches all over the floor. Alot of teams are going to have a tough time matching up against them. They have been playing pretty solid the last month or so. They could lose in the first round because being a 4/5 seed their 1st round matchup will not be a cake walk but if they get a decent draw, I could easily see them making it to the 2nd weekend of the tournament(sweet 16/Great Eight) & once you get that far, all bets are off, who know how far they could go.

[Gordio]

No, East Tennessee St. is in the Atlantic Sun conference. Not historically the best college basketball conference, but has improved over the past couple of seasons, giving a good deal of teams from bigger conferences tough games often. For example, Belmont was the third best team in the conference and went on the road to Pitt and Tennessee and only lost by 14 (which really isn't bad @ Pitt) and 2 points respectively. The only thing that worries me about East Tenn St. is that they played a weak non-conference schedule. However, they will be a very hot team entering the NCAA, winners of their last 5 including their conference tournament by an average of over 20 points. Like always, it really depends on who they draw, but there is most definately some upset potential with this team.

 

 

Thanks guys. Interesting. Belmont gave Duke all they could handle last year so their conference does have some recent success against the bigger schools in the tourney.

[Gordio]

I'm just hoping Cornell somehow manages to pull a 14 seed. Teams like Morehead State upsetting the OVC help, but the Red were only 11-3 in conference play this year. Last year, we were 14-0 and got a 14 seed.

 

 

if you got a 14 seed last year you will probably get a 14 seed this year. It has always been my thought unlesss a team wins almost all their games, that the 15 & 16 seeds are reserved for 8-10 conferences every year. If your not playing in one of those conferences & did not by some big upset win your conference tournament, you will be no lower then a 14 seed. Of course 2 years ago they stuck Niagara in the play in game so it is just a guess.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

if you got a 14 seed last year you will probably get a 14 seed this year. It has always been my thought unlesss a team wins almost all their games, that the 15 & 16 seeds are reserved for 8-10 conferences every year. If your not playing in one of those conferences & did not by some big upset win your conference tournament, you will be no lower then a 14 seed. Of course 2 years ago they stuck Niagara in the play in game so it is just a guess.

 

There are a few factors on why Cornell might get stuck with a 15 this year (not that it really even matters haha)...

 

1. The Ivy League's conference RPI is pretty bad this year

2. Cornell had a bunch of opportunities for statement wins and blew them all...We had halftime leads over Minnesota, Indiana, Syracuse, and St. Joseph's and blew them all in the second half

3. The biggest win this year (in terms of RPI) was against La Salle

4. I suspect that we were only given the 14 seed last year BECAUSE we were undefeated in conference.

 

It will be a very interesting selection Sunday.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

Thanks guys. Interesting. Belmont gave Duke all they could handle last year so their conference does have some recent success against the bigger schools in the tourney.

 

No problem. Wow, almost forgot about that Belmont game against Duke last year. Very true. I love talking NCAA basketball. As much as I love my favorite teams in the 4 major sports, there is no better sporting event out there than than the NCAA tournament IMO.

[Gordio]

No problem. Wow, almost forgot about that Belmont game against Duke last year. Very true. I love talking NCAA basketball. As much as I love my favorite teams in the 4 major sports, there is no better sporting event out there than than the NCAA tournament IMO.

 

 

Totally agree, hands down the NCAA Tourney is the best sporting event of the year.

[Gordio]

There are a few factors on why Cornell might get stuck with a 15 this year (not that it really even matters haha)...

 

1. The Ivy League's conference RPI is pretty bad this year

2. Cornell had a bunch of opportunities for statement wins and blew them all...We had halftime leads over Minnesota, Indiana, Syracuse, and St. Joseph's and blew them all in the second half

3. The biggest win this year (in terms of RPI) was against La Salle

4. I suspect that we were only given the 14 seed last year BECAUSE we were undefeated in conference.

 

It will be a very interesting selection Sunday.

 

Your probably right, it will be a 15 seed. I know even the years Princeton was pretty good they usually got stuck with a 15 seed. I want to say the one year Penn was something like 26-2 & they were like a #11 seed.

[tennesseeboy]

To those of you who hate the Florida Gators:

 

Cleveland State winning last night may have knocked them out of the tourney.

 

You're welcome.

 

Sincerely,

 

Cleveland State fans like myself.

I hate the gators as much as I hate the dolphins. We think of Steve Spurrier (THE FORMER COACH) a graduate of Science Hill High who spurned UT and played at and coached at Florida as something akin to Benedict Arnold.

 

On a happier note..ETSU men and ETSU women won their conferences and are going to the dance! See you all at at least one of the tournament games. Last times we were there we lost to Cincinnatti by a basket and the time before gave Wake Forest a scare. Last year's team fromthe A-Sun lost by 1 point to Duke in the opening game.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

I hate the gators as much as I hate the dolphins. We think of Steve Spurrier (THE FORMER COACH) a graduate of Science Hill High who spurned UT and played at and coached at Florida as something akin to Benedict Arnold.

 

On a happier note..ETSU men and ETSU women won their conferences and are going to the dance! See you all at at least one of the tournament games. Last times we were there we lost to Cincinnatti by a basket and the time before gave Wake Forest a scare. Last year's team fromthe A-Sun lost by 1 point to Duke in the opening game.

 

East Tennessee State is going to be a tough out for almost any 2-4 seed they play. Beware the Atlantic Sun

[KD in CA]

Let the automatic bid debate begin.....I don't even know where I stand on it. It obviously makes the conference tournaments much more interesting, but it does suck seeing better teams from better conferences not get into the tournament just because some team from the Horizon League like Butler, who is already going to be in the field, lays an egg in a game that means very little to them and everything to a team like Cleveland St. Not to say Cleveland State isn't a good basketball team this year, because they are, but I can sympathize with the teams that know their tournament hopes took a HUGE hit last night.

 

I don't have too much of an issue with the automatic bids. I think it's good that basketball actually allows the whole country to compete for its championship (gee, imagine that). I have a bigger problem with teams finishing 7th in their conference and getting a bid over teams that finished 2d or 3d in smaller conferences. Every year the tourney shows that the small conference teams can play right up there with the bigger ones, yet there is still enormous weight given to the 'power' conferences.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

I don't have too much of an issue with the automatic bids. I think it's good that basketball actually allows the whole country to compete for its championship (gee, imagine that). I have a bigger problem with teams finishing 7th in their conference and getting a bid over teams that finished 2d or 3d in smaller conferences. Every year the tourney shows that the small conference teams can play right up there with the bigger ones, yet there is still enormous weight given to the 'power' conferences.

 

I love that about college basketball too, it's clearly a much better system than football's BCS. However, as far as teams finishing 7th in their conference getting in over some teams that finish 2nd or 3rd, it depends on the year, but most years that is how it should be. Teams that play in the major conferences have to play a very tough basketball team almost every night they play once conference play begins. The Big East and ACC are perfect examples of that this year, as they are both loaded right from top to bottom with quality teams, which means that good teams are bound to have more losses at the end of the year because they are just beating up on eachother. Look at some of the teams in the Big East Tournament that are not seeded in the top 5: Syracuse (23-8), West Virginia (21-10), Providence (18-12), Cincinatti (18-13), Notre Dame (17-13), Georgetown (16-13). All of these teams would be easily capable of having the best record in almost any mid-major conference this year IMO. Yet, they beat up on eachother night in and night out, and we haven't even mentioned Pitt, UCONN, Louisville, Marquette, etc. Same thing goes for the ACC with teams like Va Tech, Miami (Fl), Boston College, and Maryland. Very good teams that would be in the top two-three of a mid-major conference if given the opportunity. The schedules that teams from the major conferences play are so much more difficult than the majority of the mid-major teams, and thats where the double digit losses come from. Not because they are not really good basketball teams for the most part, that could probably beat most mid-major "powers" 7-8 out of 10 times. That's why I feel it is a shame that Miami(Fl), Virginia Tech, or even Notre Dame probably won't get in the tournament due to automatic bids. IMO, most times teams like those are clearly better than the ones getting in, and have had to play and had wins against better teams to prove so.

[KD in CA]

...

 

And other than Syracuse, none of those Big East or ACC teams you listed deserves to be in the tourney IMO. It shouldn't be about what they might have done if they were in a different conference, it should be about what they did do on the floor. Most of those teams were .500 teams in conference. And a team like G'town is barely above .500 overall! 16 wins? That's a joke. I'd much rather see a hungry 2d team from a smaller conference.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

And other than Syracuse, none of those Big East or ACC teams you listed deserves to be in the tourney IMO. It shouldn't be about what they might have done if they were in a different conference, it should be about what they did do on the floor. Most of those teams were .500 teams in conference. And a team like G'town is barely above .500 overall! 16 wins? That's a joke. I'd much rather see a hungry 2d team from a smaller conference.

 

West Virginia, Providence, Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami (Fl) all definately deserve to be in the NCAA tourney IMO. West Virginia is 21-10 and 10-8 in by far the best conference in the nation, and that should be enough by itself. They have also beat Villanova and beat a pretty good Ohio St. team by 24 on the road. Providence is also 10-8 in the Big East this year, beating Pittsburgh (who many feel may be the best team in the nation some nights), Syracuse, Rhode Island, and Cincinatti twice in the process. Virginia Tech has wins @ Wake Forest, @ Miami (Fl)-which is a tough place to play, and @ Clemson, who has lost only two other games at home all year. Boston College is 9-7 in the conference and has beaten two teams who have been in the top 5-10 in the country all year long in Duke and North Carolina. Finally, Miami (Fl) has beaten Wake Forest on the road, Florida State, Boston College twice, and only dropped a game to UConn by 3 earlier in the year before conference play. They are a very good team as well. Of course a lot is going to depend on the ACC and Big East tournaments, but name 5 mid-major teams currently on the bubble that have those kind of tournament resumes. As far as Georgetown goes, 16-13 is obviously not good enough to get into the tournament unless they win their conference tourney. I was just putting things into perspective a bit, because IMO the same Georgetown team would easily have 20+ wins had they been playing the same schedule as mid-major conference teams.

[Lori]

'Gratz to Jayson Gee (Cleveland State) and John Brannen (VCU), both former assistants at St. Bonaventure, for making it to the show! And here's hoping Jim and Jimmy Baron find a way to join them.

[tennesseeboy]

East Tennessee State is going to be a tough out for almost any 2-4 seed they play. Beware the Atlantic Sun

last year Belmont lost to Duke 71 70....it is scrapping for a major upset. Last time ETSU was there Cincinnatti won with a last second three. We've beaten Arizona and Florida in the tournament as well. I think someone better watch out. We got a two thousand point scorer in gaurd Courtney Pigrim and Kevin Tiggs, who played on the national champ JUCO team has scored over a thousand points in two years. The Bucs play a vicious full court press...so keep your eyes open!

[tennesseeboy]

And for those of you old enough to remember A-Sun's Jacksonville is the team that put the hurts on Bonaventure in 1970 with Artis Gilmore.

[Lori]

And for those of you old enough to remember A-Sun's Jacksonville is the team that put the hurts on Bonaventure in 1970 with Artis Gilmore.

The refs, not the Dolphins, put the hurts on the Lanier-less Brown Indians in that game.

[Lt. Dan's Revenge]

last year Belmont lost to Duke 71 70....it is scrapping for a major upset. Last time ETSU was there Cincinnatti won with a last second three. We've beaten Arizona and Florida in the tournament as well. I think someone better watch out. We got a two thousand point scorer in gaurd Courtney Pigrim and Kevin Tiggs, who played on the national champ JUCO team has scored over a thousand points in two years. The Bucs play a vicious full court press...so keep your eyes open!

 

I'm with ya, Tennessee. I can't wait to see who they get matched up against in the 1st round. If it is a team that has weak guard play, you really have to consider that press and those scorers from East Tenn St. and look out for an upset. Either way, cannot wait to watch their first round game. Does that make me a loser....?