I have found one positive with the lack of upsets today. Assuming UCONN wins, it will be the 2 biggest jerks in college basketball playing against each other on Sunday. Mighty Mouse Cronin for UCLA vs Hurley for UCONN. ….we get to see one of them lose & then most likely blame the refs or their own players.
NCAA Tournament Thread
- Thread starter TU_BLA
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That's a good point. I am probably not fair just because of my limited viewpoint. I simply have little idea of how OSU is doing because I don't follow the scores nor do I watch them at all. Just one example but I will admit that surely limits the scope of my analysis.
I didn’t mean to imply the basketball was high quality due to a lot of big schools winning the last two days. I was simply commenting on what I view as some really good basketball games.
I wrestled in high school so I have a love for the sport. I’ve spent hours and hours watching wrestling on the Big10 network the past several years. College wrestling was a sport in decline up until the last 4-5 years. Nice to see the resurgence
NIL has really hurt OSU in football and basketball imo. They simply don’t have the money to compete with their conference mates. It is what it is. TU is more competitive in the AAC from an NIL standpoint than OSU is in the Big12.
I agree. Part of my blue & gold perspective shows through in how I view the NCAA tournament. I almost always root for the underdogs. And, my favorite 2 days are always the Thursday & Friday first round games! I used to take vacation days just to watch those games.
This made me reflect on something tonight. What if TU were to drop football as a sport? I am pretty sure I wouldn't watch college football at all. Not out of spite really. I just doubt it would interest or engage me. There is very little I watch now anyway other than Tulsa and conference mates. At least not for more than 5 minutes flipping channels before getting bored.
I don’t even want to think that could happen! It would definitely reduce my interest in college football.
BTW, I do think one of the reasons the NCAA tournament became so popular is the Cinderella stories. I noticed the first four game of Miami-Ohio & SMU drew 2.8 million viewers vs Texas vs NC State drawing 1.8 million viewers. Considering the huge alumni advantage of the Texas-NC State game, that’s very impressive.
Anyone wanna venture a guess what decade wins out in # of cinderella seeds 2000-2009, or 2016-2026? (no 2020) And I am including Gonzaga every year between 2000-2009, and not including them in this past decade. It's debatable whether they should be considered every year before 2010.
Behind door #1 this decade.... 6.1 teams per year.
Behind door #2....
(w/ Gonzaga)
Behind door #1 this decade.... 6.1 teams per year.
Behind door #2....
(w/ Gonzaga)Now do this year.Anyone wanna venture a guess what decade wins out in # of cinderella seeds 2000-2009, or 2016-2026? (no 2020) And I am including Gonzaga every year between 2000-2009, and not including them in this past decade. It's debatable whether they should be considered every year before 2010.
Behind door #1 this decade.... 6.1 teams per year.
Behind door #2....
I watch for trends.
The NIL and the transfer rules have destroyed college sports. IMO.
Power 4 will get 8-10 teams in a piece going forward.
Most mid major conferences will get 1.
I suppose some may like it.
I don't.
What’s our definition of a “Cinderella”?Anyone wanna venture a guess what decade wins out in # of cinderella seeds 2000-2009, or 2016-2026? (no 2020) And I am including Gonzaga every year between 2000-2009, and not including them in this past decade. It's debatable whether they should be considered every year before 2010.
Behind door #1 this decade.... 6.1 teams per year.
Behind door #2....
That is quite an absurd jump. Yes, NIL has change college athletics to being semi-professional from ammature. Calling out that FACT is not a reflection on any player. That's an unfair assumption you made.
I always root for the underdog. That isn’t even a question for me. The more of the “power” teams that we can take down a notch makes me happy and if that school or that coach cries and moans about it, I am damn near at fetish level with my excitement. I watch college basketball during tournament time only unless it’s TU or something for TU. I watch college football regardless of who it is. I watch college softball when it’s the World Series or if it is TU. Outside of college, I watch the NFL and some soccer. That is it. My life is in turmoil from April to August because all I have is NBA and MLB and I couldn’t care less about both of them.
last thing, I believe that NIL as it currently sits is bad for college sports.
I’m a college basketball fan. I can develop a rooting interest for a team during a game. March Madness, specifically the first weekend, is something I look forward to all year. TU basketball is also something I think about all year. I enjoy college football and am happy when the season starts but basketball is number 1.
High Point has a very financially well off benefactor.
I took the label “semi professional athlete” as a dig toward the current college football and basketball players who are paid to play.
Did everyone notice a coach we fired is the assistant head coach of Michigan state Doug wojcik lol since he left Tuisa and joined the big 10 he goes to the ncaa tournament every year
Must be a great coach that’s a legendary program
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Did you know what happened at Charleston? Even better gossip that everybody knows about. The same as they know about his work place now. Everybody knows that's where we hired him from, and that will always be his fall back job. You really did just fall off the turnip truck.Did everyone notice a coach we fired is the assistant head coach of Michigan state Dave wojcik lol since he left Tuisa and joined the big 10 he goes to the ncaa tournament every year
Any non power conference teams in basketball that are in the tourney, with the exception of Gonzaga, that turned themselves into a power conference over the years. I could include Wichita St and Butler in that category, but they didn't manage it over time. So they are still consdered a cinderella even during those years. The only exception is Gonzaga, but early on they count as a cinderella. If I did it in a way I consider honest, I'd stop considering them a cinderella around 2006 or 2007. Big East is not considered after they were realigned in 2013.Anyone wanna venture a guess what decade wins out in # of cinderella seeds 2000-2009, or 2016-2026? (no 2020) And I am including Gonzaga every year between 2000-2009, and not including them in this past decade. It's debatable whether they should be considered every year before 2010.
Behind door #1 this decade.... 6.1 teams per year.
Behind door #2....
The answer is 5.1 if Gonsaga is considered every year up to 2009.
If ending Cinderella status for Gonzaga in what I consider a reasonable amount of time, 4.7.
Being 6.1 for this past decade, it is amazing so many cinderellas win at least one game every year, especially in todays day and age.
Where they are killing it is # of teams making the sweet 16. First decade of the century is 2 .2.
This decade is 1. There are three years for the first time ever, that there was none. That is why we have begun to lose interest.
That's what Nil and unlimited transfers have done to shock the system. And it will get worse if we go from 2021 or 2024 and consider the next decade, unless they change it. Check it in 2030 or 2033. I think 2023 will be the last gasp with San Diego St and USF advancing far into the tourney.
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I thought it was Doug?Did everyone notice a coach we fired is the assistant head coach of Michigan state Dave wojcik lol since he left Tuisa and joined the big 10 he goes to the ncaa tournament every year
Have you factored in that fact that there are 4 schools in the tourney which weren’t Power conference schools 5 years ago but are now? The non power conference pool is shrinking. I still believe NIL and the transfer portal is the single largest reason for the decline but when you have programs like Houston, BYU, TCU, etc no longer considered “cinderellas” it’s going to affect the numbers.
If we ever dropped football, the remaining sports would probably end up in that conference with ORU and I don’t think I could stand to watch that.
I would still watch college football though and if I ever wanted to attend a game in person it would probably be in Fayetteville of all awful places.
No I wasn't considering that. I was just considering it straight up, but teams have moved up before. BYU, Utah, Louisville, SMU(paid entry) and as you said before TCU. And in this specific case Gonzaga, and before that the Big East. They have filled in around the moves up, with newer schools joining the party. Some of them for a little while(Butler, Wichita St, & Memphis( until Butler joined the big boys permanently when the joined the Big East) But yeah the teams joining the big boys hurts too.
As you said, the Nil and unlimited transfers are causing the problem to get much more serious. It has become not fair for the St Louis', Miami(Ohio's), High Point's, USF's, Tulsa's. I don't even want to consider what is about to become of the MWC and the PAC and this hybrid affair. What do we consider them now. Side Note: I'll always call it Memphis Community College and laugh at them, even if the SEC decided to offer them membership next year.
Division III men’s tournament is set. Mary Washington Eagles vs the Emory Eagles square off on April 5 in Indianapolis. I am stoked!!!
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Nope they are the exception to the rule that everything is guided by conference. But that ends next year when they join this hybrid Pac 12.
The ending of Nebraska and vandy was crazy. The ball on the half court heave by vandy went off the backboard and hit every part of the inside of the rim and then bounced out
It's fun to watch every team that does well this year and think about the total rebuild they will have to endure next year.
If high point just plays Arkansas straight up and not going for those rushed 3 point shots, they would be beating Arkansas. The 3 can kill you if you are not careful
So Iowa State is beating Kentucky by about 20 near the end of the game. Apparently 22 mil does not buy as good as team as it used to.
If anyone has a few extra seconds they should check out High Point’s campus
Nebraska is a great story. They had never won an NCAA tourney game in the history of the school. They are now in the Sweet 16.
Pitino vs Self in a round of 32 matchup is good stuff for basketball fans
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