The College Basketball Post

[ThaxbyChamblis]

You f'n Big East guys....

 

[airant23]

YO!


YOU ALREADY KNOW...

The boys will pull this one out. I wanna punch Lance Thomas in the face for being a scrub. DF!!!

 

[petey yup]

Jack (Boston): How do you like Jim Calhouns schedule now? Doesn't seem so light as you always say it is.

Joe Lunardi: (2:30 PM ET ) I think this week's seed answers should answer thye question, Jack. How did you like the Super Bowl?

My dude Lunardi is hilarious

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by dreClark

You f'n Big East guys....

Duke would get worked if they played in the Big East.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by SCuse7

Originally Posted by dreClark

You f'n Big East guys....

Duke would get worked if they played in the Big East.

The boys will pull this one out. I wanna punch Lance Thomas in the face for being a scrub. DF!!!

 

[N41D]

Texas A&M as the 7 in a bracket with Tennessee as a 2 and Notre Dame/Drake as a 6/3 = Elite 8 run for the Aggies...

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by dreClark

Originally Posted by SCuse7

Originally Posted by dreClark

You f'n Big East guys....

Duke would get worked if they played in the Big East.

I mean. If you played in the Big East you would not be #3 right now. I am sure top 25, but the Big east has harder teams and better environments. Surethere is no team like UNC but there is only 3 team that are sure wins. USF,Rutgers, and Saint Johns.

 

[allen3xis]

Sure there is no team like UNC
How so? (you know where I'm goin with this

)

Duke would win anywhere, but yeah I agree, they wouldn't have only 1 loss right now (which came to Pitt)

 

[JND1]

He WILL get it done.

 

[notoriouslar]

Agree about Duke in the Big East, would definitely be at least a 3 loss team, you can't win them all in this conference, Uconn #19

 

[blazinjkid]

Which is exactly our point - Clemson and Miami are two pretty shakey teams, and they're your 3rd and 4th best as of today. But yet you think the league is solid from top to bottom?

I never understood all this "conference pride" people get... the only reason you need your conference mates to be good is to help your SOS - beyond that, screw 'em, they're your biggest enemies. Be honest with yourself, the ACC is DOWN this year.. deal with it.

edit: I should restate myself a little here... The ACC is definitely down... but they do have the least amount of cupcakes in their league, I guess I will give them that. However, there are really only two teams in the league that are worth a damn right now. So there's a backhanded compliment I suppose.. but other conferences have 3-6 very solid teams, whereas the ACC has 2 and then a bunch of wannabes. Their overall conference ranking will be 1st, but that's because they don't have a team like oregon (rpi in the mid 200's

) dragging their numbers dow

The ACC is definitely down... but they do have the least amount of cupcakes in their league, I guess I will give them that.
what was the point of typing all that, arguing against me, when you essentially agreed with what i said?

all of the 6 BCS conferences are pretty much equal (i'd say the Big 10 is slightly behind the other 5 but that's beside the point). the 2nd tier teamsin every conference are pretty much the same. they all have somewhere between 4-9 losses, with games that they should've won but probably a couple qualitywins/upsets to balance it out (USC over UCLA, UMD over UNC, etc.) there's no sense in arguing over the bottom tier teams, but i'd say the Big East andACC have the most solid lower-end teams. and while i admitted earlier that the ACC only has 2 solid teams, they are #2and 3 in the country. basically, there's no stand-out conference in my eyes. you could make the argument for any of the top 5 conferences. the Big East isobviously going to get the most bids, but parity is still ruling in college bball right now.

 

[allen3xis]

you can't win them all in this conference
23 outa 25 aint bad tho

If I had to rank the conferences

1a. Big East
1b. Pac 10

Big 12
SEC
ACC
Big 10

 

[notoriouslar]

Haha you got me there^^^ ....it aint bad at all lol

 

[23michaeljordan45]

Good looks again allen3xis on that link about Lawson.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

OK.....So, we might have Two Losses if we played in the Big Least.....

Big Deal....

 

[mben32]

what games are on espn tonight?

 

[allen3xis]

Louisville/Marquette - 7
Missouri/Kansas - 9
Gonzaga/St Marys - 11 (ESPN2)

 

[craftsy21]

what was the point of typing all that, arguing against me, when you essentially agreed with what i said?

Well - i was going to be brief, before the edit there.. but decided that I didn't explain myself very well, and the statement we are bothmaking is misleading.

all of the 6 BCS conferences are pretty much equal (i'd say the Big 10 is slightly behind the other 5 but that's beside the point). the 2nd tier teams in every conference are pretty much the same. they all have somewhere between 4-9 losses, with games that they should've won but probably a couple quality wins/upsets to balance it out (USC over UCLA, UMD over UNC, etc.) there's no sense in arguing over the bottom tier teams, but i'd say the Big East and ACC have the most solid lower-end teams. and while i admitted earlier that the ACC only has 2 solid teams, they are #2 and 3 in the country. basically, there's no stand-out conference in my eyes. you could make the argument for any of the top 5 conferences. the Big East is obviously going to get the most bids, but parity is still ruling in college bball right now.
See - we DO disagree a bit. The ACC based on numbers, is the number 1 conference in the country... But I feel that's misleading because teams3-9 are all going to end up in the 50-100 range come seasons end... whereas most other conferences will have at least 4 or 5 teams in the top 50, but the verybottom dragging their rankings down because of a team like Oregon State or Northwestern tearing that RPI average way down (sub 200 rpi's in some cases)...

So the ACC ends up looking the same, but only on the average which happens to be how they generally "rank" conferences.

There are really only probably 3 teams that deserve a bid from the ACC based on current performances, but they'll probably get more in based off that"toughest" conference deal.. see how I'm bothered by that?

Sorry - didn't mean to be so confusing... just pointing out the rare instance where Iam bothered by the use of numbers in the selection process.

 

[craftsy21]

Originally Posted by petey yup

Jack (Boston): How do you like Jim Calhouns schedule now? Doesn't seem so light as you always say it is.

Joe Lunardi: (2:30 PM ET ) I think this week's seed answers should answer thye question, Jack. How did you like the Super Bowl?

My dude Lunardi is hilarious

got 'em.



By the way - the statement about Memphis having 3 losses already if they played in the pac-10 is just ridiculous.. i couldn't let that one slide,somebody needs slapped in the face for saying that.

Would they still be undefeated? I don't know.. that's definitely arguable.. but 3 losses ALREADY in conference play? That's maybe the dumbeststatement in this entire thread so far... take it back.

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by allen3xis

Sure there is no team like UNC

How so? (you know where I'm goin with this

)

Duke would win anywhere, but yeah I agree, they wouldn't have only 1 loss right now (which came to Pitt)

LOL yeah I know. G'town may be as good as unc but I would have to see them play. So Unc and Gtown may be a toss up.

 

[allen3xis]

I really don't think people are understanding that Memphis is completely legit

This isn't St Joe's of 04 (who were very good in their own right, but not like this)

 

[craftsy21]

Some good bracket buster matchups... they did a good job this year, considering there aren't as many standout mid-majors.

[h1]Missouri Valley, Horizon showcase BracketBuster weekend[/h1]

The Missouri Valley Conference and the Horizon League will take center stage in late February on ESPN's sixth annual BracketBuster weekend, the network announced Monday.

[h4]BracketBuster Weekend[/h4]Friday, Feb. 22
UC Santa Barbara at Utah State
Davidson at Winthrop

Saturday, Feb. 23
VCU at Akron
Siena at Boise State
UW-Milwaukee at Bradley
Drake at Butler
Rider at Cal State Northridge
Marist at Cleveland State
George Mason at Ohio
Creighton at Oral Roberts
Kent State at Saint Mary's
Nevada at Southern Illinois
Miami (OH) at Valparaiso

Sunday, Feb. 24
Wright State at Illinois State
Both conferences will have five teams represented, including the marquee matchup of current Horizon League leader Butler (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today) taking on the Valley's top team Drake (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today) on Feb. 23. Among the other big games that weekend, all three current Mid-American co-leaders are in action including Akron hosting CAA leader Virginia Commonwealth, Kent State traveling to face No. 23 Saint Mary's and Ohio entertaining the CAA's 2006 Final Four participant, George Mason. In other games, Winthrop hosts Davidson, the Southern Conference's top team, while Rider (10-2 in the MAAC) takes on Cal State Northridge (7-1 in the Big West). In total, 28 teams will square off on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com and ESPN Classic on Feb. 22-24. With the Valley and Horizon leading the way with five schools playing in BracketBuster weekend, the Mid-American has four participants while the MAAC and WAC have three schools each. The CAA and Big West have two teams apiece while the Southern, Big South, Summitt and West Coast conferences have one school represented. The times and networks for each game will be unveiled on Monday, Feb. 11.

[h1]Must-win for Gaels tonight?[/h1]
posted: Monday, February 4, 2008 | Print Entry

The WCC race might come down to Monday night's matchup. According to Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett, if the Gaels don't beat Gonzaga at home (ESPN2, 11 p.m. ET), then it's over.
How can that be if the No. 23 Gaels (with a loss to the Zags) would only be two games out with still seven games remaining? "I don't see Gonzaga losing in the league,'' Bennett said of the Zags losing outside of the Gaels.
Bennett said that on Friday night, the night before the Zags had to go double overtime to win at Santa Clara. But it's hard to argue his point. The Zags play at San Francisco and Portland, two of the worst teams in the league. There is still a road trip to San Diego and former Zag coach Billy Grier, but when the teams met in Spokane on Jan. 19 the Zags beat the Toreros by 10. It's hard to imagine that a conference title could be on the line on Feb. 4. However, in the WCC, where teams play only 14 games and there are few chances to knock off the Zags, it's not a reach to think this is the showdown for the title. The Gaels still go to Spokane on March 1, but if Saint Mary's doesn't win Monday and is two games behind Gonzaga, its chances are almost zilch. And that's because the Gaels were upset at San Diego for its first and only loss in the league. Amazingly, the Gaels are ranked No. 20, and the Zags aren't even ranked despite a one-sided nonconference schedule. Saint Mary's did play Oregon and Seton Hall at home and went to Texas, but Gonzaga played Connecticut in Boston, Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and two pretty good teams from the state of Tennessee -- at Memphis and Tennessee in Seattle. "If you want to win the league, then you've got to win,'' Bennett said. "It's not the biggest gamed of the year but it's a big game. We're trying to build a résumé for the NCAA Tournament, and this would be an important step.'' [h2]Final nuggets[/h2]
• Assuming there are no other missteps, suspended Connecticut guard Jerome Dyson will be eligible to play at Rutgers on Feb. 26 and will be able to practice after the Feb. 23 game at Villanova.
• Missouri coach Mike Anderson said late Saturday night that he would make a game-time decision whether or not Darryl Butterfield and/or Jason Horton will be taken off suspension for the game at Kansas on Monday night. Anderson didn't say he was satisfied that he was able to win a game against Kansas State with some players still suspended, but it was obvious in talking to him that he was empowered by winning without having to compromise discipline. Sound familiar? The same thing happened at Connecticut when Jim Calhoun was empowered by sitting Dyson and Doug Wiggins and then beating Indiana.
• Beating Florida State without Ty Lawson shouldn't come as a shock. North Carolina won at Ohio State earlier this season without him. The Tar Heels couldn't win the national title without Lawson, but they can win road games against lesser competition in the ACC. A North Carolina spokesperson said Sunday night that his status for Wednesday's Duke game won't be known until Tuesday -- at the earliest -- when the Tar Heels are next scheduled to practice.
• UCLA assistant Scott Garson went searching for the next Cameroonian connection over December. He took a culturally eye-opening recruiting trip to the home nation of UCLA juniors Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya for 10 days over Christmas. The Bruins don't have a pipeline going since it's hard to count on a high-level player from Cameroon but know this: UCLA head coach Ben Howland loves the work ethic of Mbah a Moute and Aboya so much if he can find similar players, then he'll gladly add them.
• The entourage that greets UCLA star freshman center Kevin Love after every home game is like a line at a wedding reception. This isn't new for the local scribes, but for the second time in three weeks I saw Love go through a throng of admirers a good hour after the game ended at Pauley Pavilion with autograph seekers and photo ops going on for a good 15 minutes. Love's father, Stan, is always right there, too.
• No one is dismissing the Washington State talent, but the teams that I was around this week in the Pac-10 aren't surprised that the Cougs have slowed a bit lately. The consensus was that suddenly being the team to beat may be a bit hard to handle for the upstart Cougars. We'll see if that carries over in the NCAA Tournament, where teams won't be as familiar with WSU as they are in the Pac-10.
• Bracket Buster pairings will be announced Monday afternoon with the games being held Feb. 22-24 on the ESPN family of networks.

 

[allen3xis]

Why does it always seem that the East coast schools are the ones traveling for the Bracket Buster?

 

[craftsy21]

I'm very amped for this St. Mary's - Gonzaga game... can you believe St. Mary's is actually a 2.5 point favorite? I know it's at their placewhich is good for a few points, but when is the last time the Zags weren't favored in a conference game? Not to mention St. Mary's is the ranked teamin the game, not the Zags, despite the Zags being ahead in the conference as well. Should be a really intense matchup.

 

[tmay407]

Texas A&M as the 7 in a bracket with Tennessee as a 2 and Notre Dame/Drake as a 6/3 = Elite 8 run for the Aggies...

Dear God please give me that bracket.