1233 replies to this topic

[DCDuck]

Oh, Will Barton...

Seriously, the only reason Memphis made the NCAA Tournament at all last season was because C-USA absolutely refuses to be a halfway decent basketball league. Southern Miss, Marshall and UCF evidently all have some sort of moral opposition to playing good basketball for an entire season.

[RyanMcD29]

Midnight Madness sweeps across the nation tonight!

[DCDuck]

Why do they still call it "midnight madness" if it doesn't happen at midnight anymore?

[AnythingChicago]

Realignment based solely on football (as if football is the only college sport that matters ) will eventually ruin college basketball. They're tearing up the Big East, adding TCU to the Big 12, rewriting Big 10 rivalries, and combining C-USA with the Mountain West Conference (as if that makes sense geographically).

These schools do take basketball into consideration when they make these ridiculous moves, right?

[rams80]

I'm not quite sure how adding TCU to the Big XII is nuking old basketball rivalries.  If anything, it'll rekindle some of them.  Everybody in the Big Ten is still going to play everybody, just some less often than others.  And the MWC-USA, which again is likely going to simply be an agreement to hold a mid-major Super Bowl during Conference Championship weekend, is only for football.

[north dakota]

The two teams I follow, Buffalo and Marquette, are both looking to have a good year next year. UB has never played in the NCAA Tournament before and I think this is their year to win the MAC. Watch out for Javon McCrea.

[DCDuck]

north dakota, on October 17, 2011 - 21:05, said:

The two teams I follow, Buffalo and Marquette, are both looking to have a good year next year. UB has never played in the NCAA Tournament before and I think this is their year to win the MAC. Watch out for Javon McCrea.

Buffalo is also one of six teams who have been playing D-1 basketball for over 100 years but have never made the NCAA Tournament.

Can anyone name the other five?

[RyanMcD29]

DCDuck, on October 17, 2011 - 21:39, said:

north dakota, on October 17, 2011 - 21:05, said:

The two teams I follow, Buffalo and Marquette, are both looking to have a good year next year. UB has never played in the NCAA Tournament before and I think this is their year to win the MAC. Watch out for Javon McCrea.

Buffalo is also one of six teams who have been playing D-1 basketball for over 100 years but have never made the NCAA Tournament.

Can anyone name the other five?

Hmm, Northwestern's obvious, I'll also go with Dartmouth. Yeah, that's all I can think of right now

[willmorris]

Very nice job, Josh! (Side note: this player here went to my old high school and I got to see him play a lot!)

[MoHardGoHard]

I'm really excited to watch super sophomores Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes, Terrence Jones, and Jared Sullinger. There are a bunch of great freshman this year as well. Kentucky is going to be a force this year with freshman Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist, Marquise Teague and Kyle Wiltjer. Baylor is going to be very exciting this year, tons of talent. The true frosh duo of Quincy Miller and Duece Bello is going to be fun to watch, and Pre-season Big XII P.O.Y. Perry Jones III is a beast. This is going to be a great year of college basketball

[Bravo96]

P.J. Hairston will dominate frontcourt. Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall will run a good offense reminiscent of the Frasor/Lawson - Hansbrough one. Kentucky will be the team to beat come tourney time.

[MoHardGoHard]

Bravo96, on October 19, 2011 - 11:44, said:

P.J. Hairston will dominate frontcourt. Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall will run a good offense reminiscent of the Frasor/Lawson - Hansbrough one. Kentucky will be the team to beat come tourney time.

I agree, once all those freshman get some games under their belt, they're gonna be scary.

[DCDuck]

Bravo96, on October 19, 2011 - 11:44, said:

Kentucky will be the team to beat come tourney time.

I disagree. John Calipari's teams generally do terribly at the foul line and it has come back to haunt them on many occasions in the tournament (National Championship game in 2008 comes immediately to mind). Even last season, the poor free throw shooting doomed them in a narrow loss to Connecticut. Until John Calipari makes free throw shooting more of a priority, I'll continue to discount their chances of winning the whole thing.

[EskimoAldus]

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. Connecticut
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Louisville
9. Memphis
10. Florida
11. Pittsburgh
12. Baylor
13. Kansas
14. Wisconsin
15. Xavier
16. Arizona
17. Alabama
18. Michigan
19. Texas A&M
20. UCLA
21. Marquette
22. Cincinnati
23. Gonzaga
24. California
25. Missouri

[AnythingChicago]

EskimoAldus, on October 20, 2011 - 15:11, said:

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. Connecticut
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Louisville
9. Memphis
10. Florida
11. Pittsburgh
12. Baylor
13. Kansas
14. Wisconsin
15. Xavier
16. Arizona
17. Alabama
18. Michigan
19. Texas A&M
20. UCLA
21. Marquette
22. Cincinnati
23. Gonzaga
24. California
25. Missouri

YES! Now don't disappoint, Bearcats.

[Bravo96]

EskimoAldus, on October 20, 2011 - 15:11, said:

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. Connecticut
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Louisville
9. Memphis
10. Florida
11. Pittsburgh
12. Baylor
13. Kansas
14. Wisconsin
15. Xavier
16. Arizona
17. Alabama
18. Michigan
19. Texas A&M
20. UCLA
21. Marquette
22. Cincinnati
23. Gonzaga
24. California
25. Missouri

Day made.

[RyanMcD29]

The Orange starting off the season at #5 sounds about right. We'll look good all season with a bit of a cold stretch in January/February then look amazing heading into the Big East tournament and get like a 1-3 seed for the NCAA Tournament then lose in the Sweet 16 when all the expectations are there to win it all as usual

[DCDuck]

EskimoAldus, on October 20, 2011 - 15:11, said:

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

9. Memphis
13. Kansas
18. Michigan
24. California

Memphis - too high
Kansas - too high
Michigan - too low
California - wtf?

On the subject of UNC being ranked no. 1, it's a pretty obvious choice.

[RyanMcD29]

DCDuck, on October 21, 2011 - 09:23, said:

EskimoAldus, on October 20, 2011 - 15:11, said:

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

9. Memphis
13. Kansas
18. Michigan
24. California

Memphis - too high
Kansas - too high
Michigan - too low
California - wtf?

On the subject of UNC being ranked no. 1, it's a pretty obvious choice.

I think the most absurd thing was St. John's getting 11 votes, losing 11 seniors (or 8 I forget which) and having 3 incoming freshman ruled ineligible be damned. I mean, I'm glad St. John's is back to being relevant in the Big East, but come on

[DCDuck]

RyanMcD29, on October 21, 2011 - 09:28, said:

DCDuck, on October 21, 2011 - 09:23, said:

EskimoAldus, on October 20, 2011 - 15:11, said:

ESPN/USA Today Top 25

9. Memphis
13. Kansas
18. Michigan
24. California

Memphis - too high
Kansas - too high
Michigan - too low
California - wtf?

On the subject of UNC being ranked no. 1, it's a pretty obvious choice.

I think the most absurd thing was St. John's getting 11 votes, losing 11 seniors (or 8 I forget which) and having 3 incoming freshman ruled ineligible be damned. I mean, I'm glad St. John's is back to being relevant in the Big East, but come on

I love my Rams but I think the fact that we got four votes is also pretty high on the absurd-o-meter. Drexel should be the favorites in the Colonial and yet they somehow only got two votes. Ah well.