The Official NCAA Tournament Big Dance Thread

[WJMorris3]

I'm posting the chances for everyone to win or place here. It's in percentages, since there are still over 32,000 possibilities.

[pcgd]

btw...I just felt it neccesary to mention that the "mighty" acc has 3 sweet 16 teams while the "extremely weak" big ten has...what's this...3 sweet 16 teams!

[RyanB06]

Looks like this three-horse race is gonna be a photo finish, which means it comes down to the all-important total score tiebreaker (since we all have Illinois, which means we need the tiebreak even if we're all wrong).

Here's what the top 3 have:

Me - 170

Jake Whitacre - 138

Jeff Henderson - 149

Two guys rooting for a defensive battle, with me hoping for a shootout. Makes for an interesting final!

Good luck to everybody!

[OB33]

I have to root for a defensive struggle???? I'll do it but I don't have to like it. Or I could hope Illinois wins 136-2

[WJMorris3]

Ryan, what about JP? If UNC wins, he's got it!

Incidentally, if UNC wins, I'll tiebreak 2nd through 5th (Matt McFarlan would tie the three of you, but if Illinois wins, I refuse to tiebreak Drew Kiriny and Joshua Mings for 5th. I'm not tiebreaking a player out of a placing.

[HatCityEnforcer]

Wellp, should be fun tonight..

Here's hoping the Illini confirm what I've thought they've been all year long..a team of destiny.

Good luck to the guys I'm tied with for the top spot....

[RyanB06]

Ryan, what about JP? If UNC wins, he's got it!

Incidentally, if UNC wins, I'll tiebreak 2nd through 5th (Matt McFarlan would tie the three of you, but if Illinois wins, I refuse to tiebreak Drew Kiriny and Joshua Mings for 5th. I'm not tiebreaking a player out of a placing.

Sorry. I'm not too familiar with the points system. No slight intended to JP by any means whatsoever.

Go Illini! :-)

[nitroseed]

TAR HEELS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

[See Red]

I got second place. That's not too bad at all.

It was Illinois getting into the Championship game thta killed me.

[TFoA]

TAR HEELS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

*does Snoopy Dance*

[slapshot]

woot

[See Red]

The best team in the nation won -- no excuses for Illinois, they had their chances. Open 3-pointer after open 3-pointer late, the refs not calling moving screens, etc. Illinois was weak downlow, they relied on their '3 headed monster' and UNC is not the team you want to be weak against down low. May will tear you apart, if that's the case.

[Phil]

As I sit here in my Carolina sweatshirt, I congratulate the University of Illinois Fighting Illini on an amazing season and a terrific game. One of the best games in the history of the tournament.

Very few teams could emotionally come back from 15 points down to come within a hair of victory. Illinois did just that. They played well enough to win, and yet walk away with nothing, destined to be relegated to the loss column of some future statbook. They deserved better, and I know we will see many of those kids again, be it the NBA or next year's big dance.

But how 'bout them Tarheels. People will always remember Sean May's dominating performance, but lest we forget the contributions of Rashad McCants, who controlled the pace in the first half, Raymond Felton who played through foul trouble and made the game-sealing steal, Marvin Williams (who struggled all game) and his timely tip-in, and the rest of the 2005 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Champions, the North Carolina Tarheels.

[STL FANATIC]

The best team in the nation won -- no excuses for Illinois, they had their chances. Open 3-pointer after open 3-pointer late, the refs not calling moving screens, etc. Illinois was weak downlow, they relied on their '3 headed monster' and UNC is not the team you want to be weak against down low. May will tear you apart, if that's the case.

I wasn't gonna start it but I will rebuttle.

One of the top two teams in the nation beat the other. They've been two close all year and this game was too close to decidedly say one was better than the other.

The Illini weren't weak downlow. Augustine got crap fouls called. For instance, his third foul occured when UNC player drove, lept, and kneed Roger Powell Jr. Was that a foul? Possibly, but it was on Powell...Augustine was standing about 3 feet away and made no contact. His fifth foul was a foul, but the ref should have called it both ways. UNC's player was holding Auggie, and Auggie pushed him off. The ref called the push.

And then, there was May. Your right he tears guys up literally. It's ridiculous that he can shoulder guys the way he does. He can travel the way he does. Stand in the key for more than 3 seconds the way he does. And every time if there was a foul called, it went against the Illini. Sean May is the NCAA's version of Shaq, complete with getting away with just about anything.

Were there moving screens? Some. But the only reason anyone will mention that is because Packer absolutely went on a raid about that. Nice how he ignored just about everything else--oh wait, he picked up on ONE travel that they didn't call on May.

I'm sure I sound like a homer, a whiner, a whatever. I'm heartbroken right now, cut me some slack. But that doesn't mean I don't believe what I said.

These two teams are way too close to be claiming without a doubt that one team is better, and the officiating was very shaky and very one-sided.

And now I must say congratulations to the Illini. You went farther than any Illinois team ever has. You are one of the top team's in the history of college basketball. You played great and you deserved better.

[sacker12]

For once, something in the tournament actually happened the way I wanted it to. I really wanted UNC to beat the Crying Illini.

[slapshot]

Hmm...during the stretches when Illinois came back from 15 point deficits to tie the game with UNC, all I saw were fouls against UNC. Three or four offensive fouls, plus a few over-the-back fouls that weren't called against Illinois.

If you're a homer, you see what you want to see.

Illinois had many chances to take over the game. There were a few double-digit-to-zero runs by Ilinois against UNC. Illinois must have outrebounded UNC, the Tarheels had few offensive rebounds. But Illinois kept shooting the 3. It kept them in the game, but if they drove a few more times inside the perimeter, the game would have been much different.

[See Red]

I don't believe the foul calls against Augustine were bad at all -- only that one you mentioned was at all questionable... but then their were bad calls on UNC, as well. Like when, on a missed free throw, May gets called for pushing Powell when he simply just fell down. Granted, May missed the tip in on that particular play, but he would've been in position to make another tip. Even if they called a double foul on Augustine's last fall... he's still out of the game... and it's still UNC ball. Except in that case, I'm not sure they'd shoot the 1 and 1, which they failed to cash in on.

I think you're just digging up stuff to accuse May of, personally -- the amount of refs it takes to referee 30 games over the course of the season can't all miss those calls -- and in every UNC game I've seen over the course of the year, they were no-calls in those game too, in terms of his 'shouldering'.

And for the record, May has not just been like Shaq. He's a very good passer, for a big man... and he's undersized, in terms of height. Plus he can shoot free throws. May is an amazingly talented player -- frustration because of a loss is really no excuse for not recognizing that.

Also, in terms of foul calls -- don't complain because there's a good chance Illinois wouldn't even be where they were if the refs hadn't sat on their whistles in the final 4 minutes of the game against Arizona.

And when I say UNC is better... It's my opinion -- I'm entitled to it. They're fielding a team that could easily have 4 Future NBA Lottery Picks on it -- they're not exclusive to getting points downlow or from the perimeter and they run the break better than any team in the country. I agree though, Illinois is one of the top teams in NCAA History. I've never seen a team show the heart that they did -- it's certainly commendable that they got as far as they did, given the circumstances of the Arizona game.

[STL FANATIC]

I don't mean to argue or deny any credit to UNC.

I got caught up in the fouls and didn't give May enough credit. I do however know that he hasn't been called for that stuff all year, and every time I've watched UNC I've always felt he's gotten away with that stuff. I didn't mean to imply it was only in this game.

As for that one foul on the rebound...May clearly put his elbow on Powell's back and pushed over top of him.

Your right, your entitled to your opinion, and I to mine. I personally don't feel the best team one this game, but I think if these teams played 10 times it'd be about a 6-4 or maybe even 5-5 split.

I still feel the refs played too huge a part in this game. UNC shot 19 (made 12) free throws, the Illini had just 6 (made 4). I understand part of that comes from UNC going inside more than Illinois, but I think that descrepancy is too big to be ignored. And actually, now that I think about it, I remember a number of occasions when a UNC defender would make pretty good contact with an Illini three point shooter, but never once was it called.

I'm sorry I'm complaining, I just hurt real bad now. Your a sports fan, you probably have some idea, but this just hurts unbelievably bad.

Another team of destiny comes up just short.

[See Red]

I'm sorry I'm complaining, I just hurt real bad now. Your a sports fan, you probably have some idea, but this just hurts unbelievably bad.

Another team of destiny comes up just short.

It's cool. I understand the feeling. Over the course of the season, one can become emotionally attached to a team -- and with some of the wins Illinois had in the Tourney ('Zona game, in particular), feel it's a team of destiny. Losing in a championship always sucks... especially when you grow an attachment to these guys, maybe even more-so than pro sports and when it could be a teams one really good chance to win it (Not sure how many guys Illinois has coming back next year).

Once again.. I don't mean to sound like I don't think Illinois was an amazing team... they never gave up, they deserve all the credit in the world for that. In a game like that... two or three breaks go the other way and Illinois could've won it.

[pcgd]

Just got back from st. louis...

It was a hell of a run. A season I won't ever forget. Best part of this weekend had to be the drive home, talking about all the past Illinois memories we've had over the years. Losing to Michigan in '89 by a point, beating shaq in champaign, beating iowa on a last second 3, Serio McClain wearing the buckwheat fro a few years back, Illinois nearly running the table in the Big Ten tourney after finishing dead last in 99, the first paint the hall orange against Michigan State in 2000. These memories will now be joined by Jack Ingram nailing 2 three's in wisconsin, Being up on wake by 30 at one point, Dee Brown grinning through his orange mouth guard, The most incredible 4 minutes of basketball I've ever seen to make it to the final four, making our first championship game ever. Wow, its just been a year I'll never forget, and one of the best weekends of my life hands down, even after the loss.

Now, for UNC. I ripped them a bit this week, and I still stand by the things I said. I never claimed Illinois had it easy or would beat them hands down. But UNC played the best game of the year for them tonight, and Illinois didn't. Scoreboard showed that. Illinois never quit, and everyone still had faith even with 9 seconds left. Although the outcome wasn't different, it was still a great game to end a terrific season on.

UNC is a hell of a team. Out of 10 games...UNC wins 6 or 7. Illinois was beaten by a more talented team. North Carolina played their best game all year, played as a team, passed well and played great defense. Illinois played their worst half of the year. It doesn't discount the team at all, its a year we all will remember. They still have the most wins (tied) ever in a season, that's nothing to look down on.

I do think Augie got a few calls against him that weren't fouls, but I'm a homer. It didn't matter cause Jack Ingram played an outstanding game considering everything, and he more than made up for Augie fouling out. May was too much to handle. Roy Williams is an idiot for not giving him the ball every single trip down court. May should have had 50 points. May got away with some stuff, but Illinois got away with some screens. I complained about the refs, but no more than usual so I'd have to say it was an evenly officiated game.

It has to be one of the better championships in recent memory. Down to the wire the whole second half.

The real question for Illinois to me is...Will Brown come back. I really think he will, Williams is gone but no way is Brown a draft pick right now. If he proves he can be the guy next year, he'll be a legitimate 1st rounder. With brown and augie back, Warren Carter getting experience in big games (incredible move by Webber to start playing him more in the tourney) and finally getting rid of nick smith...we should be alright. We've got some guys off the bench right now that you'll hear about. Remember Calvin Brock, he'll be a redshirt freshman probably playing Luther Heads role. Plus we've got a big man transfer from Illinois State that will play next year. Size similar to sean may, he would have given up an inch and 10 lbs to may.

As for Sean May in the NBA....he had a great College career. I have 2 words for Sean May...Oliver Miller. He's too small to be a center, and no shot for a forward. He's an amazing college talent don't get me wrong. I just can't see him succeding in the NBA.

Last note on the Bandwagon fans. I hate them. On both sides. How many North Carolina fans were there, that have no affiliation with the state of North Carolina what so ever? How man chicago fans have no clue who Warren Carter is? Nothing pissed me off more than being at the bar in St. Louis, mad as hell at halftime, seeing everyone that was there just to be there because it was the place to be. They have none of those memories I have because they didn't weren't there, and they won't be next year. They didn't suffer through the early Lon Krueger days, knowing he was the guy to turn this thing around. The Last place finish in '99. They don't remember exactly where they were when Illinois beat Iowa to beat a top 10 team for the first time since beating Shaq. (I was in my house running around like a mad man as soon as Andy Kaufman hit the 3 with no time left) They have no idea who Steve Roth is, or Tommy Micheals, or Jerry Gee, they probably don't even remember Richard Keene. Seeing them pretend to be heartbroken broke my heart even more.

Congratulations to UNC and Illinois. I will never forget this year.