The Official March Madness 2007 Thread

[RedKingGold]

Are they playing three halves of basketball in the Long Beach-Tennessee game? How could the score be 105-82 with five minutes remaining?

[timmynausea]

Man, Wisconsin is down by 11 with roughly 15 minutes to go. Don't count the Badgers out yet, though. These guys have been known to put up upwards of 25 points in a half. If you blink for like an entire hour you might miss it.

[KevinNU7]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Are they playing three halves of basketball in the Long Beach-Tennessee game? How could the score be 105-82 with five minutes remaining?

The 24 made three pointers so far seem to be helping

[BrianD]

Wisconsin is finally showing some life.

[kingfc22]

This Neveda/Creighton game has been well played so far. Looks like Wisconsin is making a comeback.

[dixieflatline]

And UT ends up with 121 points. Looks like we will get two good finishes with the other two games though.

[dixieflatline]

dola,

Tucker has 1/2 of UW's points. They need some scoring from others if they want to win.

[JeeberD]

Well shit...

[-Mojo Jojo-]

Kamron Taylor is still alive!

[INDalltheway]

Show me NEVADA & CREIGHTON!!!!!!!!!!

[dixieflatline]

ok I got one game on the TV and the other on the computer. TV over the internet rocks. Thanks NCAA.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Show me NEVADA & CREIGHTON!!!!!!!!!!

They FINALLY switched here.

[kingfc22]

Another offensive rebound. Nevada has had the ball for the last 90 seconds.

[wade moore]

Can't blame Creighton too much, some crazy bounces there.

[INDalltheway]

There is crap on the floor cause Sessions just shit his pants.

[kingfc22]

And ANOTHER turnover. Take care of the damn ball.

[kingfc22]

Just don't throw long and let it go out of bounds without being touched.

I have a bad feeling here...

[Mustang]

I think A&M-CC is gassed...

[adubroff]

Is Fazekas Greek for comes up small in the tournament?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by adubroff

Is Fazekas Greek for comes up small in the tournament?

He won the tip to begin OT. Does that count?

[wade moore]

And he's out of the game now.

[INDalltheway]

Fazekas is the man.. That's all I'm gonna say.

[kingfc22]

Looks like Oregon is on a huge run right now.

[JeeberD]

See ya, Fuh-weak-ass...

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

See ya, Fuh-weak-ass...

3-time WAC player of the year.. You should just be happy he wont be at Nevada next year beating UTEP's ass.

[JeeberD]

Nevada hasn't beat us in several years...

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Nevada hasn't beat us in several years...

I always think UTEP is in the WAC.. Honest mistake. What's with the hatred towards Fazekas around here?

[JeeberD]

I've hated him ever since we were in the WAC and he was tearing us up as a Frosh and Sophomore...

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

I always think UTEP is in the WAC.. Honest mistake. What's with the hatred towards Fazekas around here?

For me it's that he always looks on paper like one of those guys who's going to really carry a team in the tourney, toss up a 30 spot or something and he hasn't....

[Mateo]

Stupid LB State busted my bracket!!! Fuckers!!!

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Mateo

Stupid LB State busted my bracket!!! Fuckers!!!

Wow. Sounds like one hell of a bracket.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Dola - sorry if that was a bit rude, but I get very furstrated at the High-Major bias.

Just to pick a random post to respond to... I feel like I'm probably one of the biggest basketball fans on a football board, but I have no desire to read this thread b/c somehow in the last couple years the debate about mid majors has become as bad as any political debate/thread I can find.

Personally, I grew up on ACC Basketball. I root for all ACC schools except Duke. When no team in the ACC is involved, I root for the lower seed(with small exceptions, I will never root for Bobby Knight, for example). I love seeing mid majors get in and I love seeing them pull upsets.


There are some things to me about the last week that have simply been rediculous:

-- Pundits and fans bitching about mid major vs mid major matchups. Southern Illinois earned a 4 seed, Butler earned a 5 seed. That is awesome, I love seeing small schools come up big and earn those high seeds. But then you get complaints that Butler should be matched up with a power conference team and shouldn't be forced to knock another smaller team out. If Butler earns a 5, and ODU earns a 12, so be it!

-- The result of one game does not tell anyone anything about whether a seed, or a spot in the tournament was deserved. Thsi goes both ways. The fact that NC State beat Drexel doesn't mean Drexel doesn't deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. The fact htat Duke lost says nothing at all about their seeding. Poker players ought to understand this. Just because you lose a hand doesn't mean the decision you made to put money in the pot was wrong. The decision to make Duke a 6 may well have been wrong, based on the criteria the committee uses, but whether Duke gets upset or wins the national title has nothing to do with it. Stop pointing to the result of one game as if it is any sort of proof of anything!



Many of us in here call this the most exciting sports weekend of the year! Enjoy it!

[lordscarlet]

I believe most of the mid-major fans agree with you, Radii. It's the power conference fans (I am one of both) that do the things you mention. But, regardles... Update the top gun scores!

[timmynausea]

Can't we all just put our differences aside and take joy in the fact that both Duke and Notre Dame got knocked out in the first round?

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by wade moore

You don't think there is a valid discussion to be had about whether mid-majors belong in the tourney and how many? And whether there is an unfair bias towards the High-Majors?

That's right, of course not - you're a Razorbacks fan - my #2 candidate for teams that shouldn't be here.

Try not to jump to any conclusions there sport.

#1: I think it is silly to classify a team as whatever-major and then lump it with others. Every team is a separate entity. So, no, I don't think the discussion is valid. I think it is contrived.

#2: I'm barely a Razorbacks fan anymore. I have lost most of my interest in sports over the last few months and I would be one of the first to agree that there are teams that deserve the spot more than Arkansas.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

But, regardles... Update the top gun scores!

Yes!

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Radii

Poker players ought to understand this.

I'm surprised at how often this is true. I feel like my time spent learning to play poker was valuable in learning many concepts that apply all over the freaking place.

[kingfc22]

Oregon up 1 with 41 seconds left after they were up 11 a few minutes ago. Watching online since CBS does not start airing games until 4.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Radii

http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod

Thanks for the link, and thanks to kingfc for reminding me about it. Great stuff...

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

#1: I think it is silly to classify a team as whatever-major and then lump it with others. Every team is a separate entity. So, no, I don't think the discussion is valid. I think it is contrived.

I don't quite understand why people are so reticent to put labels on sports teams. We have conferences already, and people make a big deal about being a "blah conference fan". It's just a superset of conferences, so what's the big deal?

[Easy Mac]

Question:

Why is the online thing telling me that Kansas-Niagara is my local game when I'm being shown Illinois-VT?

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Question:

Why is the online thing telling me that Kansas-Niagara is my local game when I'm being shown Illinois-VT?

They go by whatever the default was for the slot...sometimes the network will switch and the MMOD never adjusts.

[JeeberD]

Go Horns! Death to the Laggies!

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by adubroff

I don't quite understand why people are so reticent to put labels on sports teams. We have conferences already, and people make a big deal about being a "blah conference fan". It's just a superset of conferences, so what's the big deal?

The big deal comes when we have to endure people complaining that members of this arbitrary lump of teams are playing each other in the first round when it MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE TO ANYTHING AT ALL.

Sorry. Just gets old.

[MJ4H]

dola: i dont want to come off as whining about this so i am going to drop the line of discussion now. i said what i think about it and that's enough for me.

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

The big deal comes when we have to endure people complaining that members of this arbitrary lump of teams are playing each other in the first round when it MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE TO ANYTHING AT ALL.

Unless your arguement is that every college basketball game is meaningless, I don't see where you get that.

A midmajor team making the tournament guarantees them exposure which they wouldn't get. If they happen to get up against a Duke/Carolina/Kentucky/etc, then they are guaranteed more TV time. Playing Duke will likely make you the main TV game in your slot, you might not get that much TV exposure in two games if you play another midmajor. If they play well or even win, then they get a credibility boost.

I don't think that's limited to a single team. I guarantee you every midmajor coach this past year when calling a recruit who said: "You know coach, I'd rather play in the ACC," told that recruit that if he went to his school he could have the George Mason experience, get to play for 4 years, get to go to the tournament, get to possibly advance deep. While this probably didn't work every time, I bet it worked a few times. It might work a few more times if those recruits watched Duke lose to VCU.

There are other impacts as well...if the big boys see the midmajor credibility going up, then they are going to be more likely to schedule them (and maybe even schedule them in a home and home, which is very difficult for most mid majors to get), because they will see that they can play the midmajor (and possibly lose) and still get in the tournament.

Edit: Also...all this being said, I do not believe the tournament seeding committee put the midmajors against other midmajors on purpose. I believe they generally look at other things, if they even look at this at all.

[MJ4H]

I understnad that you don't see it. I'm annoyed by the amount of attention that this topic is getting in this thread when I want to read and discuss actual games and teams instead arbitrary groups of teams so I am not going to discuss it further.

[MJ4H]

dola: Glad to see New Mexico State doing well. I would rather they knock off Texas than Arkansas having to do it if they survive that far.

[adubroff]

Other than the Kansas game, we might get 3 good ones in this block. VA Tech has been way too sloppy but the game is still manageable.

[MJ4H]

Kansas game looks pretty ugly at this point.