2009 NCAA Basketball Thread

[Drew22]

We just received a report from our sources in Chapel Hill that Ty Lawson had to leave practice early yesterday on crutches after injuring his left big toe. Initial x-rays did not reveal a fracture and UNC still has not announced the diagnosis or extent of Lawson’s injury, but if he isn’t able to play against Duke on Sunday the Tar Heels could be in trouble. If it is anything more serious that hampers the mobility of the Tar Heels lightning quick point guard for a longer period of time (e.g. turf toe) it would be a devastating blow for the Tar Heels’ chances of winning the national title. We’ll keep you updated on this story as it unfolds.

Update: Now we’re hearing that the plan is for Lawson to practice today and play tomorrow unless something changes, but a final decision will probably be made after today’s practice

Oh .

[jkrdevil]

I hate this :censored:ing Maryland team. You can't find a dumber group.

They are in a game they have to win to get into the Tourney against a god awful Virginia team. They get out to a big lead then get 3-point happy and blow it. They finally get back in the game by making some 2's and finally some big 3's. Virginia then hit s a big 3 with 38 seconds to go to go up by 3. What does Maryland do, with 10 seconds to go they drive for a 2 and miss. You been teying 3's all game and when you finally have to shoot a 3 you go for 2? Know the god damn situation.

Oh well that's 4 out of 5 years in the NIT!! Yea!!!! Of course that will be perfectably acceptable and no changes will be made.

Thanks for allowing me to rant.

[rams80]

Why must Bradley always suck in the MVC tournament?

[TFoA]

Who the hell is Radford?

[jkrdevil]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

[Seadragon76]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

[Drew22]

Damn, I wanted VMI to win. Then we could of had VMI/UNC. The score to that game would be like 132-104.

[sc49erfan15]

Who the hell is Radford?

They'd be the Big South's representative. Usually, the Big South's representative is penciled in as "Winthrop."

Seriously though, congrats to the Highlanders - Winthrop will be back strong next year. I sure would have rather rushed the court today... but I can't complain, I've done it the past 3 seasons - this is the first time I've had a Spring Break not involving traveling to the NCAA Tournament, and I'm a senior.

Tickets punched:

Ivy - Cornell Big Red

Big South - Radford Highlanders

Atlantic Sun - Eastern Tennessee St. Buccaneers (pending they don't squash the 20 point lead @ 2:13 left, over Jacksonville)

[Seadragon76]

Who the hell is Radford?

They'd be the Big South's representative. Usually, the Big South's representative is penciled in as "Winthrop."

Seriously though, congrats to the Highlanders - Winthrop will be back strong next year. I sure would have rather rushed the court today... but I can't complain, I've done it the past 3 seasons - this is the first time I've had a Spring Break not involving traveling to the NCAA Tournament, and I'm a senior.

Tickets punched:

Ivy - Cornell Big Red

Big South - Radford Highlanders

Atlantic Sun - Eastern Tennessee St. Buccaneers (pending they don't squash the 20 point lead @ 2:13 left, over Jacksonville)

Well, no blown lead here. Congrats to ETSU on their first trip in five seasons (and their first as A-Sun members. Remember, for many seasons, they were in the SoCon).

Also of note today, America East has seen two of it's top four seeds bite the dust in overtime games.

[rams80]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

ESPN was saying they needed to make the semis, which they did. They also did win 26 games and were the regular season champions of the MVC-which should be enough based on history. That said, getting demolished in such a manner does not look well to the committee. Fortunately, just about everyone else has lost as well.

/DAMMIT BRADLEY!!!! If you had kept it together for 20 more minutes, we would have had "War on 74" Part 3 with a dance ticket on the line! Do you not understand how awesome that would have been?! There would have been blood on the court tomorrow!

[Seadragon76]

One last bid was given out last night and....

Congrats to the Morehead State Eagles! Morehead State survived a double OT thriller against Austin Peay in the OVC Championship game. This will be their first trip to the dance in 25 years.

Today, one bid is on the line...

Missouri Valley Championship

#1 Northern Iowa Panthers vs. #3 Illinois State Redbirds

UNI has made itself look even better thanks to the Redbirds' romp against Creighton. Now, UNI has a chance to steal the auto bid provided Illinois State doesn't pull out another game like yesterday.

In other action...

America East Semis - At Albany, NY

-Albany vs. UMBC

-Binghamton vs. New Hampshire

CAA Semifinals - At Richmond, VA

-VCU vs. Old Dominion

-George Mason vs. Towson

MAAC Semifinals - At Albany, NY

-Fairfield vs. Siena

-Niagara vs. Rider

Northeast Semifinals - At Higher Seed

-Quinnipiac at Robert Morris

-Sacred Heart at Mount St. Mary's

Patriot League Semis - At Higher Seed

-Army at American

-Colgate at Holy Cross

Southern Semifinals - At Chattanooga, TN

-Davidson vs. College of Charleston

-Chattanooga vs. Samford

Summit 1st Round - At Sioux Falls, SD

-IUPUI vs. Southern Utah

-Oakland vs. IPFW

Sun Belt Quarterfinals - At Hot Springs, AR

-Western Kentucky vs. Florida International

-North Texas vs. Middle Tennessee

-UALR vs. Denver

-Troy vs. South Alabama

West Coast Semifinals - At Las Vegas, NV

-Gonzaga vs. Santa Clara

-St. Mary's vs. Portland

[buzzcut]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

ESPN was saying they needed to make the semis, which they did. They also did win 26 games and were the regular season champions of the MVC-which should be enough based on history. That said, getting demolished in such a manner does not look well to the committee. Fortunately, just about everyone else has lost as well.

Hate to break it to you, but I the Bluejays wont make the field after what happened. The stench will linger for days if not weeks. Heck, they may not get an NIT bid at this stage.

[Seadragon76]

You really think that loss to Illinois State was THAT bad? Wow... Here I am thinking that a 26-7 record with wins over fellow bubble teams Dayton and New Mexico and a decent RPI would be enough.

[floydnimrod]

Damn, I wanted VMI to win. Then we could of had VMI/UNC. The score to that game would be like 132-104.

With VMI winning of course.

That loss really got me down. Aside from Cincinnati, they're my favorite team, and was even worse now that Tennessee-Martin (and country's best player Lester "The Jester" Hudson) will miss the tourney field, and most likely any postseason berth whatsoever. Hopefully Niagara can make it in

[buzzcut]

You really think that loss to Illinois State was THAT bad? Wow... Here I am thinking that a 26-7 record with wins over fellow bubble teams Dayton and New Mexico and a decent RPI would be enough.

Hey, I've been doing this bracketology stuff for over a decade, so I know what I'm talking about. If you're a bubble team, the absolute last thing you want to do is have a bad loss be your last loss. And in Creighton's case, their last loss was indeed a bad loss(Hell they never as so much tied the score, much less have a lead). Already, some bracketologists are leaving the Bluejays out of the field now.

[rams80]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

ESPN was saying they needed to make the semis, which they did. They also did win 26 games and were the regular season champions of the MVC-which should be enough based on history. That said, getting demolished in such a manner does not look well to the committee. Fortunately, just about everyone else has lost as well.

Hate to break it to you, but I the Bluejays wont make the field after what happened. The stench will linger for days if not weeks. Heck, they may not get an NIT bid at this stage.

Are you like Will and insanely overrate mid-to-low tier BCS teams because they are BCS teams? Sure the ACC may get...oh...7, and the Big East 8, but the SEC collectively sucked massively, the Big Ten has quite a few iffy bubble teams, and the Pac 10 and Big XII won't snap up that many bids.

Creighton is the regular season champion of a top 10 RPI Conference, has 26 wins, and fairly good computer numbers....History says that is enough for an at large. Besides, not many folks get FSN Midwest.

[rams80]

You really think that loss to Illinois State was THAT bad? Wow... Here I am thinking that a 26-7 record with wins over fellow bubble teams Dayton and New Mexico and a decent RPI would be enough.

Hey, I've been doing this bracketology stuff for over a decade, so I know what I'm talking about. If you're a bubble team, the absolute last thing you want to do is have a bad loss be your last loss. And in Creighton's case, their last loss was indeed a bad loss(Hell they never as so much tied the score, much less have a lead). Already, some bracketologists are leaving the Bluejays out of the field now.

Please. Nothing's worse than Kentucky's loss to Georgia last year, and yet they made the tournament. I'm sure we had teams get blown out before and still blunder into the dance.

[Seadragon76]

Damn, I wanted VMI to win. Then we could of had VMI/UNC. The score to that game would be like 132-104.

With VMI winning of course.

That loss really got me down. Aside from Cincinnati, they're my favorite team, and was even worse now that Tennessee-Martin (and country's best player Lester "The Jester" Hudson) will miss the tourney field, and most likely any postseason berth whatsoever. Hopefully Niagara can make it in

Not so fast, fnz. Since UT-Martin won the OVC Regular Season title, it gives them an automatic berth into the NIT so there is still some hope for you yet.

Oh, and BTW: I did watch the Creighton game yesterday. That wasn't their best showing. All you're doing, buzzcut, is basing a team after one (bad) game when you have the overall body of work to look at. I have to think that being co-champs of the MVC, a top 10 conference in terms of RPI, and going 11-1 in their last 12 games (Which is something the committee really looks at) and having wins over Bubble teams Dayton, New Mexico, and George Mason ought to be enough to get them in.

If I sound like a broken record, it's because outside of Creighton and (possibly) UNI, this area of the nation is void of NCAA bound teams.

[buzzcut]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

ESPN was saying they needed to make the semis, which they did. They also did win 26 games and were the regular season champions of the MVC-which should be enough based on history. That said, getting demolished in such a manner does not look well to the committee. Fortunately, just about everyone else has lost as well.

Hate to break it to you, but I the Bluejays wont make the field after what happened. The stench will linger for days if not weeks. Heck, they may not get an NIT bid at this stage.

Are you like Will and insanely overrate mid-to-low tier BCS teams because they are BCS teams? Sure the ACC may get...oh...7, and the Big East 8, but the SEC collectively sucked massively, the Big Ten has quite a few iffy bubble teams, and the Pac 10 and Big XII won't snap up that many bids.

Creighton is the regular season champion of a top 10 RPI Conference, has 26 wins, and fairly good computer numbers....History says that is enough for an at large. Besides, not many folks get FSN Midwest.

No, I'm not like Will, I try to judge every team as fairly as possible. In case of the Bluejays, the non-conference schedule was rather lacking in my eyes. Nothing too terrible, but not overly impressive. Unfortunately the rest of the Valley was in the same boat in terms of non-conference heft. That said, I DO think the Bluejays will get consideration for an at-large, however they won't get in.

And yes, I did see part of the 2nd half of that game.

[rams80]

Who the hell is Radford?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Radford+University

Gotcha.

Anyway, congrats to the Radford Highlanders for their 2nd trip to the Big Dance. I don't expect them to last long unless the opponents get the flu or something.

And speaking of sucking in the MVC tourny: What the hell is with Creighton? I guess that last second win took all it had from them. Now, provided that they do lose (and they're down 18 with 10:12 to go in the game), what does that mean for the Bluejays? Would they get an at-large bid?

ESPN was saying they needed to make the semis, which they did. They also did win 26 games and were the regular season champions of the MVC-which should be enough based on history. That said, getting demolished in such a manner does not look well to the committee. Fortunately, just about everyone else has lost as well.

Hate to break it to you, but I the Bluejays wont make the field after what happened. The stench will linger for days if not weeks. Heck, they may not get an NIT bid at this stage.

Are you like Will and insanely overrate mid-to-low tier BCS teams because they are BCS teams? Sure the ACC may get...oh...7, and the Big East 8, but the SEC collectively sucked massively, the Big Ten has quite a few iffy bubble teams, and the Pac 10 and Big XII won't snap up that many bids.

Creighton is the regular season champion of a top 10 RPI Conference, has 26 wins, and fairly good computer numbers....History says that is enough for an at large. Besides, not many folks get FSN Midwest.

No, I'm not like Will, I try to judge every team as fairly as possible. In case of the Bluejays, the non-conference schedule was rather lacking in my eyes. Nothing too terrible, but not overly impressive. Unfortunately the rest of the Valley was in the same boat in terms of non-conference heft. That said, I DO think the Bluejays will get consideration for an at-large, however they won't get in.

And yes, I did see part of the 2nd half of that game.

Creighton vs. Penn State. Who gets in?