Conference Tournaments Thread

[Eggon]

Got to think Notre Dame losing by 31 dropped them a seed line. A performance like that as a final impression has to have consequences.

Wow. Missed that. Now that's a let down!

Glad we did not lay an Egg, much the opposite. No Pun....

 

[CVilleBuff]

Hoos and Heels final in the ACC. As it should be

 

[CVilleBuff]

Saturday games to keep an eye on for bubble/seeding purposes:

Michigan 22-11 vs Purdue 25-7: Wolverines are right on the bubble. Their victory over Indiana was a big step, but they've still got work to do. Both Palm and Lunardi still have Michigan in their "First Four Out". Michigan's RPI remains in a dangerous place at 54. Their record against the top 100 is a horrendous 3-11. That drops to 3-12 with a loss to Purdue. It's going to be a damn close call with Michigan if they drop this. If they win, you get the feeling it might be just enough unless the committee chooses to be lazy.

St. Joseph's 25-7 vs Dayton 25-6: Two potential first round opponents. St. Joe's is probably more likely than Dayton. St. Joe's is likely to land in the 8-10 range, while Dayton is likely to be 6-7. Dayton has not been playing well down the stretch.

UConn 22-10 vs Temple 21-10: UConn is coming off of that incredible 4OT win over Cincinnati that just might have put them in the field. Both Lunardi and Palm have moved UConn into their "Last Four In". RPI is currently 45. They've avoided bad losses. I don't see the Huskies being left out at this point. Could UConn be a potential CU opponent? It seems possible as the Huskies are likely be in that 9-11 seed range. Temple is another possible opponent. The Owls are also likely to be in that 9-11 range. In fact, Palm has CU playing Temple in a match up.

VCU 23-9 vs Davidson 20-11: VCU is another in that 9-11 range. Rams should be safely in even if they lose. They wasted all of their golden opportunities OOC, but they've had a strong enough A10 season that they should be safe. They are prone to the occasion puzzling bad loss, but I would rather not face them. Not a good style for us.

Seton Hall 24-8 vs Villanova 29-4: Seton Hall is in the mix for a 6-8 seed. Seton Hall stacks up pretty well in terms of resume. No bad losses. 5-3 against the top 50. 7-4 in away games and 4-1 on neutral courts. I think Seton Hall's stock is rising. They're a big win away from being more on the 5/6 side of things than 7/8.

 

[Buffenuf]

This Dance, more than any other recent tourney, will come down to match-ups. No clear cut favorites, even among the top seeds. Every team a Cinderella!.

There is a reason Warren Buffett is willing to risk a BILLION $$$ for the perfect bracket..........

 

[Buffnik]

 

[CVilleBuff]

Lunardi is growing deeply worried about the struggles of South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt (none of them deserve a bid) and is thus searching for a new SEC team to pimp. He's quietly moving to sneak Georgia into his realm of possibilities. Here's a look at the Bulldogs: 19-12, RPI 59. All you need to know at the moment is that Georgia has ZERO top 50 wins. None. Zip. Zilch. It's nice that they've beaten South Carolina 3x and exposed the Gamecocks as a fraud, but Georgia is just another in a long line of NIT-bound SEC teams. The only reason I won't complain if the SEC gets more than 2 teams in the field (they only deserve 2) is if CU draws one. The SEC sucks at basketball. This myth being pushed by ESPN that this year is somehow different is false. If I'm the 13 seed that draws Texas A&M, I am licking my chops.

 

[slider]

CU vs USCe would be a dream matchup

 

[CVilleBuff]

Any hope of LSU grabbing the auto-bid is all but gone. 35-13 Aggies at half. What a waste

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

The fan reaction was better than the dunk itself.

 

[Buffnik]

Any hope of LSU grabbing the auto-bid is all but gone. 35-13 Aggies at half. What a waste

That's a disinterested team. Hell, Simmons could have just decided he was going to take the ball up and get whatever shot he could without passing... and LSU would have more than 13 points at the half.

 

[CVilleBuff]

St. Joe's handling Dayton. Dayton is a clear example of a team peaking too early (like my Hoos did last year). I would not at all mind Dayton. A few extremely close wins over mediocre/bad opposition in recent weeks is all that has prevented them from complete collapse instead of just dropping a couple seeds like they have. They do not look good right now

 

[CVilleBuff]

Old Dominion vs Middle Tennessee in CUSA. Winner of this is going to be a 13 or 14 and absolutely capable of springing an upset on the right day. ODU is a solid program and has a coach with plenty of Dance experience in Jeff Jones

 

[CVilleBuff]

St. Joe's tops Dayton in the A10 semis. Dayton is limping in. They've been poor for a month now. Some 10 seed is going to be lucky

 

[CVilleBuff]

I'm not sure Syracuse isn't more deserving than some of these SEC sides and Michigan. Michigan has a sub-.500 mark against the top 150. That's not good.

 

[CVilleBuff]

MTSU wins in the final seconds over ODU, 55-53 to win CUSA

 

[CVilleBuff]

UConn about to go final with a win over Temple. They're going to play probably make it simple for the committee as they'll be facing the winner of 18-14 141 Memphis/12-21 223 Tulane and thus are going to get the auto-bid unless they have an epic fail. Buffs could meet either UConn or Temple. Doesn't say much for the Owls to get beaten pretty easily by a team that played 4OT yesterday

 

[Johnny Juzang]

Yante Matin - remember him? - has 20 points against Kentucky so far. Leading scorer for Georgia.

 

[Buffnik]

Kentucky's about to close out Georgia. UGA's tourney hopes are very thin.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Kentucky's about to close out Georgia. UGA's tourney hopes are very thin.

They needed this win. You just can't put in a team with no top 50 wins. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Florida sits 55, Vandy 62, Georgia 63, SC 64. Not much to separate....Gamecocks lost to Georgia 3x, can you put them in? Vandy was right on the bubble then took that horrible loss to the Vols. Florida may have the best case of the bunch despite being 19-14. Better RPI and OOC wins over West Virginia and St. Joes, but combined. 0-3 against Vandy and South Carolina. Yuck.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Michigan State beats Maryland 64-61. Season of what could have been for the Terps so far. They should have been contending for a 1, not being a 4 seed.

 

[Buffnik]

VCU looking strong in its win today. Shaka didn't leave that cupboard bare.

 

[CVilleBuff]

VCU looking strong in its win today. Shaka didn't leave that cupboard bare.

Not at all. And Will Wade is a good coach. They had a bit of a bumpy transition at first with the change, but they found their groove in conference play. VCU is the one A10 side that I do not want to meet. Going back and looking at their OOC is a waste. Different team now. They still aren't above the occasional dud performance (a completely unacceptable recent loss to George Mason being an example), but that's very much the exception to the rule. We would have our hands full.

 

[scoob]

Lunardi is growing deeply worried about the struggles of South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt (none of them deserve a bid) and is thus searching for a new SEC team to pimp. He's quietly moving to sneak Georgia into his realm of possibilities. Here's a look at the Bulldogs: 19-12, RPI 59. All you need to know at the moment is that Georgia has ZERO top 50 wins. None. Zip. Zilch. It's nice that they've beaten South Carolina 3x and exposed the Gamecocks as a fraud, but Georgia is just another in a long line of NIT-bound SEC teams. The only reason I won't complain if the SEC gets more than 2 teams in the field (they only deserve 2) is if CU draws one. The SEC sucks at basketball. This myth being pushed by ESPN that this year is somehow different is false. If I'm the 13 seed that draws Texas A&M, I am licking my chops.

There's prop bets out there on Lunardi picking the field. The over/under is:

Over 66.5 -110
Under 66.5 -130

With his pimping the SEC, thinking the under may be a good bet this season.

 

[Buffnik]

Seton Hall continues to play great basketball. Up 40-29 on Villanova at half.

If Seton Hall wins, I think the Committee will be watching the Pac-12 final very closely. Oregon would be a very worthy 1-seed in the West Region with the win.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

They needed this win. You just can't put in a team with no top 50 wins. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Florida sits 55, Vandy 62, Georgia 63, SC 64. Not much to separate....Gamecocks lost to Georgia 3x, can you put them in? Vandy was right on the bubble then took that horrible loss to the Vols. Florida may have the best case of the bunch despite being 19-14. Better RPI and OOC wins over West Virginia and St. Joes, but combined. 0-3 against Vandy and South Carolina. Yuck.

On the latest scroll Lunardi only has 2 SEC bubble teams with only one of those in the field - USC as one of the last 4 in and Vandy as one of the last 4 out. It's very possible that the SEC only gets 2 bids.

 

[Buffnik]

On the latest scroll Lunardi only has 2 SEC bubble teams with only one of those in the field - USC as one of the last 4 in and Vandy as one of the last 4 out. It's very possible that the SEC only gets 2 bids.

Lunardi is the master of playing the hype game as an ESPN corporate shill until the final weekend when he gives his real bracket that he's trying to get right.

 

[MtnBuff]

Somebody is going to get to play an SEC team that doesn't deserve to be there.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

WV up 1 on KU at the half of the Big 12 Championship. Good game with this WV press defense, although not much on the line as KU is locked into a 1 seed and WV likely a 2.

Another good game going on in the BE Championship. Both teams are in but Nova not only playing for a 1 seed but also hoping to play in the East Regional in their hometown. A win here likely secures that.

 

[CVilleBuff]

62-58 Seton Hall, 4 min

And yes, Seton Hall is in the mix as a potential CU opponent and Villanova is fighting for a 1 seed

 

[Johnny Juzang]

Kansas and Kenthcky both moved away from the one and done model this season.