Sunday, March 12, 2023

The NCAA Tournament

Here are my Final Four picks:

Alabama
Duke
Texas
UCLA

That West Region is really tough.  The East Region is not.

The fact that Houston might have to play Auburn in Birmingham is absurd.

I don't blame UNC for turning down the NIT.

48 comments:

  1. I think the notion that Bryce Hopkins will be super-motivated to beat UK is overrated. Everyone is super-motivated to beat UK. I think the fact that Cal, Toppin, and Tshiebwe know a lot about Bryce Hopkins's game may be underrated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently, when they announced the pairing with Providence, someone among the players and coaches gathered at Coach Calipari's house could be heard saying, "That's B-Hop's team." The nicknames these days are so nothing.

      Delete
    2. I saw this clip. What happened was that Toppin was clearly very excited about playing Hopkins's team. As soon as the pairing was announced, and while the camera was still on Calipari, you could hear Toppin saying "BEEEEEE-HOP!" And then the camera swung over to Toppin, who had a big grin on his face.

      Delete
  2. I think Tennessee would have a great chance in their region if not for the injury to Zakai Ziegler. You can't beat Duke without a point guard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here are the latest matchups if the NCAA were regions:

    Duke v. UConn
    Alabama v. Tennessee
    Maryland v. Kansas
    Penn St. v. UCLA
    Marquette v. Gonzaga
    Arkansas v. Arizona
    Iona v. Xavier
    Purdue v. Houston

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In this tournament, my Final Four predictions would be: Alabama, UCLA, Gonzaga, and Houston.

      Delete
  4. Kentucky plays at 6:10 PM Central on Friday, which means that UK fans get to enjoy most of the first round. That always makes me happy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Of course, those of us out here in SEMO Nation are excited to see our Redhawks take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 5:40 Central Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SEMO lost to Texas A & M Corpus-Christi 75 to 71, in large part because the officials called 31 fouls on SEMO, to only 18 on TAMCC. Three SEMO players fouled out. TAMCC went 27-35 from the line, while SEMO went 9-20, and that was the difference in the game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Avery Johnson agreed. When SEMO missed its late three that would've tied, he talked about it being a good shot by the best player they had available to them.

      Delete
  7. Meanwhile, Vandy has jumped out to an early lead in their NIT game against Yale. People forget that Vandy won the 1990 NIT, and has an all-time record of 20-11 in the NIT. (Alabama and South Carolina are the only SEC teams with more NIT wins than Vanderbilt). Last year, Vandy won its first two NIT games, only to be edged out 75-73 by Xavier in the quarter-finals. Xavier ended up winning the whole thing and this year is a 3 seed in the NCAA. But Vandy is plugging away at the NIT, and the Dores currently lead Yale 29-16 with 3:28 left in the first half.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vandy roared out to a 37-23 lead over Yale at the half, but the Bulldogs have cut the lead to 50-44 with 8:33 left.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Vandy now leads 52-49 with 6:32 left. The Dores, who scored 80 points against UK on Friday night, have scored only 15 points in the second half so far.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Vandy clinging to a 60-54 lead with 2:53 left.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Vandy is fouled while shooting three-point shots on back-to-back possessions. The Dores now lead 65-56 with 1:34 left. Memorial Magic!

    ReplyDelete
  12. On December 10, UK beat this Yale team 69-59 -- that was the last game before the Cats got destroyed by UCLA, and their season unraveled.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vandy defeats Yale 71-62 -- almost the same score that UK won by -- and the Dores advance to the NIT Sweet 16. Next up: Michigan!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mother-in-law put on her Vanderbilt sweatshirt for this game. And she and my daughter baked chocolate-chip cookies, so I was very happy about last night's NIT results.

      Delete
  14. In 1965, Vandy reached the NCAA Elite Eight for the only time in its history. The Dores were eliminated 87-85 by Michigan in a heartbreaker in Lexington, Kentucky.

    ReplyDelete
  15. In 1992-93, Vandy had the best team its had since 1965. The Dores went 14-2 in the SEC and won the SEC Regular Season Championship, beating out a UK team that went to the Final Four and an Arkansas team that won the whole thing in 1994. Vandy was the number 3 seed in the West Region.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Dores smashed Boise State 92-72 in the first round, and rolled over Illinois 85-68 in the second round. They went to the Sweet 16, where they had to play Temple (the number 7 seed) for a chance to meet the Fab Five in the Elite Eight.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It didn't happen. Temple beat Vandy 67-59. In the off-season, Vandy lost its coach -- Eddie Fogler -- the guy who should have led Vandy for the next 20 years -- to South Carolina. Vandy's basketball program has never been the same. Fogler's career didn't recover either; in eight years he never got past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and his coaching career ended in 2001.

    ReplyDelete
  18. In four years at Vandy, Fogler was 38-30 in the SEC. In eight years at South Carolina, he went 57-71 in the SEC.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Meanwhile, in Dayton, Mississippi State and Pitt are playing for the chance to reach the NCAA Tournament. MSU leads 48-47 with 9:47 left.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved seeing the giant script yellow "P" on Pittsburgh's black jerseys.

      Delete
  20. Now Pitt leads 53-52 with 5:25 left. Last year, under Coach Ben Howland, MSU went 8-10 in the SEC and finished the year ranked number 49 on Ken Pom. The Bulldogs missed the tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons, and Howland was fired. This year, MSU again went 8-10 in the SEC and is again ranked 49 on Ken Pom, but they got invited to this play-in game. Sometimes life isn't fair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WRT Howland, WKU is hiring.

      Also WRT Howland, whenever I hear his name, I think of Beth Howland. I loved Alice even more than Matthew hated it.

      Delete
  21. Pitt is ranked 77th on Ken Pom, but the Panthers are going to win this game.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Vandy's win over Yale moves the Dores up to 79 on Ken Pom.

    ReplyDelete
  23. With 3:02 left, Pitt leads 58-52 and this game is over. MSU ranked 6th in the country for defense, but 163d in offense. Pitt was 141 in defense, but 24th in offense. Now in the NCAA Tournament, they are not going to let a defensive team like MSU hammer an offensive team like Pitt. So the offensive team will usually get enough open looks and free throws to win, while the defensive team can't score enough points to catch up.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Over the course of two minutes, MSU gets a steal that turns into a layup and they finally hit a three (they are 6-22 from behind the line). So Pitt's lead is now 58-57 with 1 minute left, but Pitt has the ball.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Pitt misses a fadeaway in the lane, MSU grabs the rebound and makes a layup at the other end. Bulldogs lead 59-58. But that lead doesn't last long. Pitt, who can actually shoot the ball, come down and make a jump shot in the lane. Pitt leads 60-59 with 9 seconds left.

    ReplyDelete
  26. MSU's terrible offense has to score against Pitt's bad defense to win the game.

    ReplyDelete
  27. MSU has outrebounded Pitt 46-28, but MSU has 14 turnovers to only 7 for Pitt.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Here we go: 10 seconds left. With 6 seconds left, Pitt commits a foul. They're not in the bonus, so MSU inbounds the ball.

    ReplyDelete
  29. With 2.7 seconds left, MSU's center drives to the basket but the Pitt defender blocks the ball out of bounds. Timeout and MSU now down to its last chance.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Pitt's bad defense completely breaks down. One of the MSU guards is left completely unguarded on the inbounds play. He has a corner three all alone -- there is no one within five feet of him to win the game. Unfortunately for MSU, the guard -- Shakeel Moore -- is 33-125 from three-point range this year. He misses, an attempted put-back misses, and Pitt rolls on with a 61-60 win.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Now if UK could play a team with an offense like MSU, the Cats would have a good chance. But the Cats have drawn Providence, who have the 16th best offense in the country, and who make 35.1 percent of their three-point shots.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Congrats to Pitt for making the NCAA Tournament.

    ReplyDelete
  33. It's important to state that MSU didn't just miss a wide-open three pointer; they also missed what appeared to be a straightforward tip-in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm happy for my brother-in-law. I'm not sure I know a UK fan who more purely hates Louisville as much as my brother-in-law (an Ole Miss guy) purely hates Mississippi State, in that his hate for Mississippi State seems to be almost independent of his love for Ole Miss. The UK fans who hate Louisville (and the Louisville fans who hate UK) seem to be driven as much as their love for their own team. It's almost as if my brother-in-law would still hate Mississippi State if Ole Miss had never existed. I don't understand why this be but it be.

      Delete
    2. Ole Miss and MSU are the poor man's Alabama/Auburn. More hate; less success.

      Delete
  34. I would never be a great coach because I would pay too much attention to offense. My best case scenario would be a Tom Crean-type team that scores a lot but gives up a lot.

    ReplyDelete