• NCAA tourney

 #1109  by Fessor
 Tue Mar 20, 2018 8:31 am
Not sure how Mich State getting knocked out of the round of 32 by a Syracuse program built for March and with a HoF coach justifies allowing Louisiana into the field, but whatever. (Must be Berea logic.)

You can make an argument for expanding the field but if only one team gets a bid, UVA gets it over UMBC ... and so on on down the line.
 #1166  by tya1
 Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:38 am
Entertaining night tonight in the Sweet Sixteen games. Well, half of the games. Loyola (IL) with another upset and another down-to-the-final-buzzer game. Kansas State with a narrow win and an upset over Kentucky. So the South region will have the #11 seed going against the #9 seed for a trip to the Final Four. Florida State with an upset over higher seeded Gonzaga. Michigan crushes Texas A&M. A #9 seed versus a #3 seed in the West region.

Loyola, Kansas State, Florida State, Michigan. One of those teams will play for the national championship this year. Michigan is the only one I gave a chance before the tournament.
 #1176  by Mr. Taggart
 Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:05 am
If you could combine John Beilein's offensive coaching with Tony Bennett's defensive coaching, you would have an unstoppable force.
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 #1183  by Fessor
 Fri Mar 23, 2018 2:59 pm
Mr. Taggart wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:05 am
If you could combine John Beilein's offensive coaching with Tony Bennett's defensive coaching, you would have an unstoppable force.
It will be called the 2018-2019 Boston Celtics.
 #1216  by tya1
 Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:33 pm
Mr. Taggart wrote:
Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:05 am
If you could combine John Beilein's offensive coaching with Tony Bennett's defensive coaching, you would have an unstoppable force.
Pomeroy has Michigan's defense ranked as the third best in D1.

How about Loyola (IL) blasting Kansas State to reach the Final Four? Love it.
 #1218  by apaladin
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:36 am
I am sure everyone, including myself will jump on the Loyola bandwagon. Always pull for any team that is not from a conference that is on ESPN every night. The thing is, had Loyola lost in their conference tourney the committee would not even given them a thought. Teams like Loyola prove there are other good teams that need to be considered instead of taking teams with 14/15 losses from the wealthy conferences. I would bet money that no committee member has seen Loyola play all year because they have not been on ESPN. Of course nothing will change because we know who controls the selection process. Go Retrievers!
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 #1224  by FUBeAR
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:19 am
apaladin wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:36 am
Go Retrievers!
and Go Ramblers!
 #1227  by Monday
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:49 am
apaladin wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:36 am
I am sure everyone, including myself will jump on the Loyola bandwagon. Always pull for any team that is not from a conference that is on ESPN every night. The thing is, had Loyola lost in their conference tourney the committee would not even given them a thought. Teams like Loyola prove there are other good teams that need to be considered instead of taking teams with 14/15 losses from the wealthy conferences. I would bet money that no committee member has seen Loyola play all year because they have not been on ESPN. Of course nothing will change because we know who controls the selection process. Go Retrievers!
I watched the MVC championship and the announcers made a point of saying that, despite an excellent RPI, Loyola had to win or be left out of the big tourney.
 #1228  by The Jackal
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:34 am
apaladin wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:36 am
I am sure everyone, including myself will jump on the Loyola bandwagon. Always pull for any team that is not from a conference that is on ESPN every night. The thing is, had Loyola lost in their conference tourney the committee would not even given them a thought. Teams like Loyola prove there are other good teams that need to be considered instead of taking teams with 14/15 losses from the wealthy conferences. I would bet money that no committee member has seen Loyola play all year because they have not been on ESPN. Of course nothing will change because we know who controls the selection process. Go Retrievers!

As someone who really isn’t a basketball fan, I’m more inclined to watch the little guy. NCAA loses that interest level by selecting underwhelming teams from overpaid conferences.
 #1233  by Jasper
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:57 am
The Jackal wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:34 am
apaladin wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:36 am
I am sure everyone, including myself will jump on the Loyola bandwagon. Always pull for any team that is not from a conference that is on ESPN every night. The thing is, had Loyola lost in their conference tourney the committee would not even given them a thought. Teams like Loyola prove there are other good teams that need to be considered instead of taking teams with 14/15 losses from the wealthy conferences. I would bet money that no committee member has seen Loyola play all year because they have not been on ESPN. Of course nothing will change because we know who controls the selection process. Go Retrievers!
As someone who really isn’t a basketball fan, I’m more inclined to watch the little guy. NCAA loses that interest level by selecting underwhelming teams from overpaid conferences.
The Missouri Valley Conference should get at least 2 bids on their history alone. Not only has Loyola actually won the NCAA before but schools like Bradley (runner-up in 1950 & '54), Evansville, Valparaiso, Southern Illinois ( Walt Frazier), Indiana State ( Larry Bird) and the recently departed Wichita State have made great contributions to the tourney and all of basketball over the years. It's just flat out fun to see those schools compete.
 #1234  by Paul C
 Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:22 am
Final Four representatives, by Conf, 2003 to present...

MVC - 2
Big 12 - 1
Pac 12 - 1
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 #1314  by tya1
 Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:01 pm
So tough to see a dream snatched away. Loyola was up as much as 10 points in the second half but weren't able to hold off Michigan's slow grind and lost.

The bench and Michigan big man Mo Wagner were the difference. Wagner was the one guy keeping them around for a long time. Michigan's bench outscored Loyola by about 10 points and that ended up as the difference in the game.
 #1316  by apaladin
 Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:46 pm
..... and Villanova is proving to be really, really good you have to shoot the 3. The 3 has been an equalizer in college basketball for sure.
 #1381  by tya1
 Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:42 pm
Interesting note from the tournament. Television ratings were much higher for the semi-finals (29%) with Loyola playing than the last time the semis were on TBS (a couple of years ago.)

Ratings were also high in previous years when teams like Wichita State, VCU, George Mason, and Davidson, etc made deep runs in the tournament. Maybe fans like having an underdog mid major team to root for instead of another match between P5 also-rans.
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 #1386  by Fessor
 Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:13 am
tya1 wrote:
Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:42 pm
Interesting note from the tournament. Television ratings were much higher for the semi-finals (29%) with Loyola playing than the last time the semis were on TBS (a couple of years ago.)

Ratings were also high in previous years when teams like Wichita State, VCU, George Mason, and Davidson, etc made deep runs in the tournament. Maybe fans like having an underdog mid major team to root for instead of another match between P5 also-rans.


Chicago is #3 largest tv market in US; Philadelphia is #4.