NCAAT (MBB)

[PushupMan]

Have to admit that, after watching SMU and NC State both go down in the first four, I am even less confident in our outcome today than I was prior to the Mikel Brown news.

And although I was rooting for SMU last night, I did think about how much fun it must be to be a Miami(OH) fan today. They probably have a NIL budget closer to 0 than seven figures, and they are 32-1, with a team that’s incredibly fun to watch - the way they share and shoot the basketball.

 

[JTMPR]

First Push, I'm pulling for us to win, period. But, I watched that game last night with the same interest. While Miami did have a 60 mile from home advantage, they practically won that game from start to finish. And, looked pretty darn good doing it, right? Actually, they sort of reminded me of our last year's team. You leave us open and we're going to nail you! You were also right on about fun to watch, share and can definitely Shoot the Ball!! 2 ACC teams have played, 2 have lost. Please Lord, don't let us be the 3rd. to lose 2day.....Go Cards!!

 

[PushupMan]

First Push, I'm pulling for us to win, period. But, I watched that game last night with the same interest. While Miami did have a 60 mile from home advantage, they practically won that game from start to finish. And, looked pretty darn good doing it, right? Actually, they sort of reminded me of our last year's team. You leave us open and we're going to nail you! You were also right on about fun to watch, share and can definitely Shoot the Ball!! 2 ACC teams have played, 2 have lost. Please Lord, don't let us be the 3rd. to lose 2day.....Go Cards!!

You’re absolutely right - seeing how excited those Miami fans were last night definitely reminded me of how we felt about our ReviVille team last year. It’s a wonderful feeling to greatly exceed expectations like we did in that 2024-25 regular season, and I am sure the Miami(OH) fans are feeling that way today.

 

[PushupMan]

Jamie Dixon sighting… I guess I knew that the old Pitt coach is now the coach at TCU. Didn’t realize that he is also a TCU alum. He had some seriously good teams at Pitt - 13 seasons there, won 30 games twice and won 20 or more in every other season but one.

TCU is now blasting the Buckeyes with a late first half run: 39-24 at the half.

 

[PushupMan]

Buckeyes made a great comeback and even took the lead late, but TCU prevailed 66-64.

12 seed HIgh Point takes down the 5 seed Wisconsin. Did not have that one!

Duke has battled back against former Syracuse star Gerry McNamara’s Siena team and now leads 65-61 with 3:26 to go. Will McNamara be the next Syracuse coach? Could definitely happen!

 

[PushupMan]

Stunning collapse by the Tar Heels. Led 70-56 with 6:42 to go (98.9% chance to win at that point) but were outscored 19-5 the rest of the way in regulation. Didn’t make a FG in OT and then missed 3 of 4 FTs, including failing to hit the rim on an attempted intentional miss while down 2 with 4 seconds to go.

 

[JTMPR]

You called it exactly how it happened....a collapse. Not a good luck for our league, for sure. What are we now - 2 out 5 I believe. Only Duke and UofL
have won, but correct me if I'm wrong. We have 3 teams to play tomorrow - Virginia, Clemson & Miami. Only Virginia is more than a 2 1/2 pt. favorite. They are 18 1/2 favorite over Wright St. Okay, we'll know by this time tomorrow evening how many ACC teams will make it to the weekend.
A win is a win! Good evening, folks.

 

[PushupMan]

Watched a little of the Georgia-St Louis game last night. The Billikens blew out the Bulldogs 102-77. Enjoyed watching “Cream Abdul Jabbar”, a white guy (Robby Avila) with a physique that makes Aly Khalifa look like a world class body builder.

He can hoop, though - 12 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks in 28 minutes.

 

[JTMPR]

Hey, I liked their coaching, their hustle, the basketball knowledge, etc. I'm sure that they didn't have any million $, 1/2 or even 1/4 million $ players.
But, they could play and play together. Reminded me alot of the way Belmont down here in Nashville plays. We could use 1 or 2 of those guys, right?

 

[JTMPR]

Hey folks, I've got a family member that wants some input on our feelings with the UT and Miami of Ohio game. He said that if he takes UT that he has to give 11 1/2 on the Vegas site that he works with. Man, myself, I like the 32 - 1 record of the Redhawks and the way that they play. Personally, I don't bet on college sports, but I would take Miami with the points. Thoughts anybody?

 

[PushupMan]

Ben McCollum and the Iowa Hawkeyes knock out the defending champion Florida Gators. I definitely recall at least one of our members (think now a former member?) was adamant that we should be looking at McCollum when we hired Kelsey. I also seem to recall that McCollum was Kobe Rodgers’ coach when he was a D2 player.

 

[Cardrock]

Ben McCollum and the Iowa Hawkeyes knock out the defending champion Florida Gators. I definitely recall at least one of our members (think now a former member?) was adamant that we should be looking at McCollum when we hired Kelsey. I also seem to recall that McCollum was Kobe Rodgers’ coach when he was a D2 player.

I was high on McCollum for sure but King was the guy that first brought him up and fought with all of the kids that don’t know quote as much as they think they do!

 

[Louis III]

After King introduced him, I went and looked at some of his games and then actually watched him in the D2 semi's 2 years ago before he went to Drake. I wasnt watching his every move, but kept up with him and I was VERY impressed after watching his NW Missouri St team play. Took several D2 players with him to Drake and won 30 games, won a NCAAT game, then was offered by Iowa. Fantastic hire by Iowa and I believe he is from right around there so I am guessing he will be there a long time. He had several offers to leave D2, but waited on the right opportunity. Looks like one of those guys that can flat out coach and was patient to land where he wanted.

 

[KingHenry_X]

McCollum’s a rockstar, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he wasn’t a cultural fit at Louisville. He needed to go somewhere that was not gonna demand blue-chip classes and a specific style of play. Iowa is a great fit for him. He’ll build a great program there.

I think Kelsey’s a better fit for us. I’d love to see him develop a better defensive mindset, but dude has won 50 games in his first two years. Can’t complain about that. Well, you can if you’re a whiney…

Those of you have known me for >20 years (like Pushup, et al) know I keep my ear to the ground about coaches, at all divisions. I was skeptical of Cooper, high on John L, led the demand to hire Bobby 1.0, etc. To his credit, Sultan was actually the first to bring up McCollum on this site, but I was definitely McCollum’s biggest cheerleader. He was already on my radar because I’m also a big fan of NW Missouri State’s football program and coach Rich Wright. I’ve also suggested often we give him a look as DC.

 

[JTMPR]

Hey King! It's good to hear from you, brother. Stay in-touch. Football on the horizon!!

 

[PushupMan]

Two exciting games tonight. Iowa got their first lead of the game with 2:10 left in the second half and held on to beat Nebraska 77-71. At the same time, Purdue got a tip in from Trey Kaufman-Renn from Sellersburg, Indiana, with 0.7 seconds left to outlast Texas 79-77.

 

[PushupMan]

Had not really watched Arizona much during the regular season, but they are very impressive. Arkansas has a lot of skill and size on the offensive end, but Arizona is showing so far that they have even more of both.

Zona even has their own version of Zougris in senior Tobe Awaka. 6-8, 255, 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Attempt to block one of his dunk attempts at your own peril - you may just lose an arm.

54-43 Zona at the half… and in the other game the halftime score is Illinois 24, Houston 22. Zona shooting 64% from the field in that first half.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Some interesting tidbits to Iowa’s victory:

Remember when “Division II is an entirely different game” and “it wont translate to Division I”? LOL

This is only McCollum’s 2nd year in Div 1 and he has advanced Drake and Iowa in the NCAA tournament.

Iowa is the lowest-seeded B1G team to advance to the Elite 8, ever.

Iowa has not reached the Elite 8 since 1987. I was 11.

Hopefully Coach Kelsey will make friends with McCollum, and he can pass on some of that March Magic gene that apparently Skip Prosser’s entire coaching tree is allergic to.

 

[JTMPR]

Hey King, I've just posted over on the Collision Course concerning Coach Ben, the Iowa team play, etc. It would not surprise me if Ben's team beats the FIGHTING ILLINI!

 

[PushupMan]

Another great game in the Sweet 16. Duke is back at full strength (PG Caleb Foster returns from injury), and just in the nick of time, because St. John’s was primed to pull the upset. Duke outlasts Pitino’s Johnnies 80-75.

Just Pitino’s second loss in the Sweet 16. I won’t mention what the other one was.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Hey King, I've just posted over on the Collision Course concerning Coach Ben, the Iowa team play, etc. It would not surprise me if Ben's team beats the FIGHTING ILLINI!

Gonna have to get this board riled up. What a ghost town this place has become. I let my subscription lapse here, cause it makes me feel dirty to consider giving money to On3. Thought I’d see what TOS had to offer but those same wankers who ruined this site (thanks to Ty, Dave and pEnnis) got me banned upon request - and this is honest-to-god, no exaggeration - because I defended Brady Allen, Will Stein and asked some low IQ clown for sources/proof when he claimed Aaron Rogers was a “locker room cancer whose own family hates him”

Mod’s literally capitulated to mob mentality without so much as a review on whether I had violated board rules (which I had not). So it’s okay to call a former cardinal a POS for taking a job at UK, but god forbid you try to talk some sense into a pack of hyenas.

I’ve wasted too much time on these boards and our fanbase is unfortunately no longer the higher-class fanbase it once was.

I miss Howie and Matt and Jack and Rod and Jock and Katie. The fanbase now wreaks of Jody, Ramsey, Ennis, Lauchlin and Deener takes.

 

[PushupMan]

King - that post reminds me of the old saying “Never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”

 

[PushupMan]

Tennessee to the Elite 8. I’m still salty about Nate Ament stringing us along for months only to eventually pick the Vols, and it makes me even saltier to think that he almost certainly made the right decision for himself.

Can’t believe I have to root for Michigan in any sport!

 

[KingHenry_X]

King - that post reminds me of the old saying “Never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”

Unfortunately, what I’ve come to realize is that I’m the pig. The problem is expecting intellectual debate from generations that are brainwashed to despise diversity of thought.

 

[JTMPR]

Yeah Push & King, the folks over across the line in TN., really like Nate A. I'm telling you when he was hurt, several had thoughts like, 'are we going to end up like Louisville did' (pertaining to Mikel). Nate has no doubt become a force @ TN. Of course, they have a coach (Coach Barnes) that shows few favorites. You show up for Coach B each game or you'll be on the bench! The Vols are a 7 1/2 pt. dog against the Wolverines. Could be a grinder or it could be a slugfest. Tennessee is only giving up app. 68 pts. p. game.& held Iowa St. to 62. I would say the 147 is about right.

 

[PushupMan]

This Arizona-Purdue elite 8 game is final four and possibly even final game worthy skill level. Really like the big center for Arizona (Krivas)- he’s long, athletic, and aggressive. He also gets down low and bangs - you won’t see him try very many threes. He’s definitely got that “dawg” in him - 6 points, 3 assists, and 12 rebounds last night.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Yeah Push & King, the folks over across the line in TN., really like Nate A. I'm telling you when he was hurt, several had thoughts like, 'are we going to end up like Louisville did' (pertaining to Mikel). Nate has no doubt become a force @ TN. Of course, they have a coach (Coach Barnes) that shows few favorites. You show up for Coach B each game or you'll be on the bench! The Vols are a 7 1/2 pt. dog against the Wolverines. Could be a grinder or it could be a slugfest. Tennessee is only giving up app. 68 pts. p. game.& held Iowa St. to 62. I would say the 147 is about right.

Oh, I'm familiar with the Vol fans. I live in White House, TN. Just to toot my horn once more, I also was very high on Mark Byington (Vanderbilt) and was really lobbying for the for the former JMU coach before we hired Kelsey. Vandy has a pretty solid core of coaches in Basketball (Mens' and Womens'), Football and baseball.

I don't know about y'all, but when a B1G team is considered the Dance's "Cinderella", the magic of march has been broken. Filling out my bracket just gave me despair, because I realize the gap between "haves" and "have nots" has grown so exponentially with the onset of NIL and the portal.

 

[JTMPR]

Yes, King concerning White House. We've discussed that (you may recall I have family in Westmoreland, Gallatin, etc.). I travel your way now/then. That said, I spoke on here several times about Vandy & their coach. Man, with Tanner, they play full court. Heck, they beat UT 2 out of 3 times this year. They've got the money train rolling. Football as well. As for UofL, I'm anxious to see who we sign and bring back. UT's a 7 1/2 dog against Michigan today. They'll have to keep it close in the 1st. half in order to try and cover that. What say you?