Bracket Talk

Well someone had to start one!   Even though I know little about college hoops, I’ll go first:

how about Rutgers!   And ORU??!

With the cancellation of a lot of non-conference games, I think the annual assessment of relative conference strength might be more skewed than usual. Already, three Big Ten teams (all three losses came in overtime) and four ACC teams are out.

Ohio State got a two-seed even though they finished in fifth place with a 12-8 conference record. The committee didn't hold that record against them because the losses were mostly to other highly regarded teams, but if everyone is just playing each other, it's hard to know how good they really are compared to the rest of the country.

Well, Ohio State did win the Big Ten tournament. They were up against Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan and Illinois in that one tournament. So taking down 3 other NCAA tourney teams in a row did give them some props. That said, having them lose right away to Oral Roberts has fulfilled all my hopes for this year's big dance.

Rutgers has been playing tough teams all year. I'm not surprised they beat Clemson. I hope they do well. 

I'm a Michigan man. I don't think they deserved a 1 seed though. They had those losses down the stretch. I would have given them a 2 or 3 but you're right. The field has been mucked up by the pandemic. Michigan had those 3 weeks where they didn't play any games. They just lost an important player though. They go bow out today.

And I loved Syracuse's win. I grew up there and they were like a second religion. They didn't really deserve to be there though, definitely not a seeding that high.

To hell with my bracket. The games, on the whole, were terrific.

These two guys still have a perfect bracket. 

"Hey Beavis, it says 'oral'. Heh."

I also know little about basketball, but major props to the Scarlet Knights!  First time in 38 years. -- that's got to be an impressive stat, no matter how long they're in.  Wearing my t-shirt in their honor today.  (MLIS, 2012.)

I always think of Obama when it comes to brackets - here's his picks:

bikefixed said:

Well, Ohio State did win the Big Ten tournament. They were up against Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan and Illinois in that one tournament. So taking down 3 other NCAA tourney teams in a row did give them some props. That said, having them lose right away to Oral Roberts has fulfilled all my hopes for this year's big dance.

Rutgers has been playing tough teams all year. I'm not surprised they beat Clemson. I hope they do well. 

I'm a Michigan man. I don't think they deserved a 1 seed though. They had those losses down the stretch. I would have given them a 2 or 3 but you're right. The field has been mucked up by the pandemic. Michigan had those 3 weeks where they didn't play any games. They just lost an important player though. They go bow out today.

And I loved Syracuse's win. I grew up there and they were like a second religion. They didn't really deserve to be there though, definitely not a seeding that high.

After losing their last four regular season games, Ohio State played well in the Big Ten Tournament, but Illinois beat them in the final.

Michigan's a tough team to figure. I was certain it would take them a few games to return to form after the long layoff, but they came out and played so well. Illinois took them apart in Ann Arbor, but every team has  a game like that. However, since then they've seemed to lose a bit of what made them so good, even before the Livers injury. Still, they have several weapons, more than OSU who in clutch spots either had Washington shoot or jammed the ball into Liddell.

Syracuse is a tough tournament opponent because of the unique zone defense that Boeheim runs. San Diego State had an incredibly long dry spell in the first half. 

Whoops, my bad on the ILL-OSU. Let's see what Rutgers can come up with next.

bikefixed said:

Whoops, my bad on the ILL-OSU. Let's see what Rutgers can come up with next.

 When things are working, Rutgers' toughness can be very disconcerting for a team not used to playing them. I think they have a good shot against Houston.

chalmers said:

 When things are working, Rutgers' toughness can be very disconcerting for a team not used to playing them. I think they have a good shot against Houston.

 We should remember that they played in the same league as Illinois, OSU, Michigan, Purdue, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Early in the season, they did beat Syracuse, Illinois, and Purdue. Lately they may not have shined so brightly but they have been playing tough squads. Houston may not have been playing the same caliber teams on their way to that 3 seed.

Had Ohio State and Illinois in my Final Four. Last year my bracket finished in the bottom 6 percent on ESPN.com. I’m going for bottom 1 percent this year. Fingers crossed.

There's a part of me that wonders if any of the Big 10 teams will make it out of this weekend, much less the final 4. It would be great to see Rutgers as their sole survivor though

Random thought.

I kept wondering why Abilene Christian rang a bell. “Abilene Christian. Abilene Christian. Why do I know that school?”

Then a name jumped out at me from the Wikipedia page, with a welcome flashback.

Good ol’ Wilbert Montgomery.

Bracket seeding seems to mean very little this year.   Lots of bracket upsets.   

What a game! The three pointer shooters on both squads...

Well that was heartbreaking.

Brutal way to lose. Such a great game. 

Blame me. I had Rutgers making the Sweet 16.

DaveSchmidt said:

Blame me. I had Rutgers making the Sweet 16.

 So sorry for Rutgers!

Slight thread drift (sorta):  My ex & I were looking at houses in Maplewood in '88/'89--Seton Hall was in the Final Four.  You couldn't go anywhere in town & not be able to see a TV!

Geez, so far the Big Ten is being thoroughly shown up and shown the door. 

It is hard being a Rutgers fan.   Kind of like being a Mets fan.   By the way, did you know Patrick Hobbs grew up in Maplewood?   He did a lot of good work at Seton hall before taking the job at RU.   

Michigan just did enough to win that game.  Not looking like final 4 material.  Hoping I’m wrong. 

GO BLUE!

Sorry, Michigan is my last surviving Final Four team. They're doomed.

Yikes, and Michigan is the sole survivor from the Big 10... Two #1 seeds and two #2 seeds. SMH.

Pac-12, man. 

(My kid, a Pac-12 student and the spawn of two Tar Heels, is lapping it up.)

I was a little sad to read in the Star-Ledger today that Geo Baker wanted his legacy to be as a "winner."  He said he is not so sure now of this legacy.   I hope he learns soon from coaches and friends that he is indeed a winner.   All of us who played sports learn the lesson of how to be a good winner and a good loser.  A real important life lesson and this is one reason that sports, while they are "just a game", are really important to character building.  So, the student-athletes still in the tournament have to play as hard as they are able and this is also an important life lesson.  I love watching a good hard played game and college basketball is really exciting.  

For some it builds character, for others it immunizes them from having to build character.  Being placed on a pedestal and fawned over simply for being good at some physical task, especially from an early age, isn't always the greatest character builder.

RobertRoe said:

I was a little sad to read in the Star-Ledger today that Geo Baker wanted his legacy to be as a "winner."  He said he is not so sure now of this legacy.   I hope he learns soon from coaches and friends that he is indeed a winner.   All of us who played sports learn the lesson of how to be a good winner and a good loser.  A real important life lesson and this is one reason that sports, while they are "just a game", are really important to character building.  So, the student-athletes still in the tournament have to play as hard as they are able and this is also an important life lesson.  I love watching a good hard played game and college basketball is really exciting.  

Here's a video an Illinois student caught on the school's Quad today of Kofi Cockburn and three teammates having fun playing spikeball, like any other college kids. Even more than the usual pressure these young student-athletes have to face, this year, they were virtually quarantined with the same 30 people for about five months.

https://twitter.com/Yiannithemvp/status/1374438519280562176

Certainly, Geo Baker and the Illinois guys are disappointed about when their season ended, but they've earned some time to enjoy themselves.