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I'm going to lose again. I seem to be really good at sucking something awful at these brackets. Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I need someone to keep me out of the basement this year, and since Wisconsin and Marquette are doing so well, it probably won't be Jeni. Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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It would take a lot more than Wisconsin and Marquette doing poorly to keep you out of the basement anyway. Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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George Mason is a win away from getting the CAA automatic berth. I'd say they're playing good basketball at the right time of the year.
Still think they'll be out in the first round even if they do win tomorrow. And if they do, I think Old Dominion can say goodbye to any hope of an at-large spot in the tourney.
And Jeni, all it takes to keep me out of the basement is for UNC to play well*.
*(see: 2005 Hatrack March Madness [1st place]) (see also: 2006 Hatrack March Madness [9th of 12, UNC upset by none other than George Mason in second round]
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I used to do a bracket every year as a traditional family thing with my father. I have very little interest in basketball, but I'll throw in for old time's sake.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I'm in. Thanks for setting this up. Now that I work from home and not an office, I miss out on these things.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
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It's a fair bet this year to bet against Big East teams early and often.
Just sayin'.
Our conference got hammered in the offseason by graduation and the NBA draft. 11 of the top 40 draftees were from the Big East, and every team lost at least two of their top three scorers.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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But of those 11, 8 were from teams who aren't even in the tournament this year. Your point makes little sense.
On the other hand, Georgetown and Louisville are two of the hottest teams in the country and the Big East sports 5 ranked teams (even though the middle of the pack and bottom are relatively weak).
The Big East also went 8-7 against the ACC this year...no small feat, seeing as the ACC has 7 out of its 12 teams in the tourney (and three more who were only a win away).
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:But of those 11, 8 were from teams who aren't even in the tournament this year.
My point, Frisco, was exactly that. The Big East got hit hard this year by personnel depletions, and was a weaker conference overall. Teams that were dominant last year were not nearly as good this year, bringing the level of competition in the whole conference down.
UConn isn't even a conference factor this year and might not even go to the NIT.
Villanova, which was a 1 seed last year, dropped to a 9 seed and 9th in the conference this year.
Rutgers, who had 19 wins last year, struggled to even get 10 this year.
The conference was depleted heavily at the end of last year, and doesn't have the talent base that it had going into last year's tourney. It played against weaker in-conference competition all year, and isn't exactly its former self.
While there are 5 teams ranked in the Top 25, they aren't exactly powerhouses (at least in my mind... certainly not compared to last year).
As high as G'Town is ranked, who has it beaten out of conference? Against other tourney teams, it's 2-3 (beating a slow-starting Vandy and Oral Roberts, and losing to ODU, Oregon, and Duke).
Pitt has beaten one ranked opponent all year (G'town), and also had a pretty weak nonconference slate.
Louisville managed to go 2-4 against ranked opponents this year, beating only Pitt and Marquette (splitting games with both). And they also had a very weak nonconference schedule.
Notre Dame probably has the most impressive wins, but also has some pretty ugly losses. I mean, they let Nova score 102 points on them in regulation, and are 4-6 on the road (with two of those wins coming against BE bottom feeders Rutgers and Cinci).
I'm not sure where you're seeing an 8-7 record vs. the ACC, though. Do you have a link to that? From my count, the BE was actually 9-4 against the ACC this year... with 6 of those wins coming against those teams that aren't going to the dance.
Now, I'm a big BE fan, but this was a rebuilding year for the conference after losing a massive group of talented players last year.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I'm not the least bit confident in my picks this year... I doubt I'll repeat as champ. I miss living in a place where college basketball is everything in the winter.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I heard a guy from ESPN say that last year, out of all the entries on ESPN online for tournament picks, only four people picked George Mason for the final four. Two were George Mason grads, and one thought he was picking George Washington.
So, sometimes just going with your alma mater on a lark pays off. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I have a question about the scoring. If you pick the right team that wins a round but they beat a team that you didn't pick for them to play against, would you still get the points? For example, I pick Team A to beat Team B in the finals. Team A wins the finals, but against Team C. Would I still get the 32 points?
Posts: 2054 | Registered: Nov 2005
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And FC, the teams who didn't get hit hard with defections to the NBA are now the ones with upperclassmen-laden rosters. It's cyclical. I think the BE will do okay. Marquette's going to have a tough first round with their starting guard out with a sprained ankle, but Pitt, Georgetown, ND, 'Nova, and Georgetown are, I think, all going to win at least a game.
And the BE's games against the ACC were:
UNC over Rutgers VT over Seton Hall WV over NC State Louisville over Miami South Florida over Wake Forest Cincinnati over NC State FSU over Providence Georgia Tech over UConn Maryland over St. John's Notre Dame over Maryland Marquette over Duke Duke over Georgetown Duke over St. John's Providence over Boston College Pitt over FSU
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I didn't see the games played after the start of conference play - and somehow I neglected Seton Hall entirely. Looks like you missed a matchup of DePaul over Wake, too. So, it looks like the BE went 9-7 overall against the ACC - with the only BE win over one of the top 4 teams in the ACC being ND over MD.
I do think that the BE will win a fair amount of their first round matchups, but I don't see any of them going very deep into the tourney. I'm not expecting any in the Final Four certainly, and probably not in the Elite Eight either (aside from perhaps G'town if they get lucky).
There is a huge amount of young talent in the conference though. While it is cyclical to a certain extent, this year was a particularly deep dip - mainly because we lost a lot of juniors and even sophomores last year.
I can't wait to watch though - I'll be rooting for the BE teams, though I'll likely be thinking them underdogs more often than not. Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Three of the BE's wins are over ACC tourney teams, though, compared to one of the ACC's.
And I still disagree about the talent pool in the Big East. Out of 16 teams and over 250 roster spots, the BE lost 6 underclassmen to the draft. Two of them were from perennial non-contenders Rutgers and South Florida.
Cincinnati, 'Nova and UConn had the others.
So five of the six tourney teams are flush with upperclassman leadership. Jeff Green, Aaron Gray, and Russell Carter are a few of the best players in the college game right now, and all are capable of leading their teams to deep runs.
I think you're trying to sabotage peoples' brackets with all this BE negativity. If any conference is down, it's the SEC this year. And I see more of the ACC bowing out early than the Big East.
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I'm really worried about the SEC. Yes, I picked em all over the place, but they were totally homer picks. Expect me to come in last.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: Woah - what happened to George Mason?
A .500 conference record probably stopped them from making the NCAA or NIT tournament. ODU (my bro's alma mater) and VCU made it from the CAA.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Maybe I just have overall NCAA negativity this year. Many of the games I've seen (mostly BE games) have been sloppy.
You're right, though, in that there are 16 teams and over 250 roster spots in the BE, but between graduation and the draft it seems like so many of the best of them left.
Last season, there were twelve players who scored 16.0 or more points per game, this year there are six. Of the top 20 scorers from last year, only 2 names still show up in the top 30 from this year.
Last season, seven players shot better than .400 from behind the arc, this year there are three. There were 10 players who hit 2.5 or more 3's per game, and this year there are 5.
Still, the FG% went up slightly from last year, average team scoring remained relatively constant, and defensive numbers remained relatively constant. Maybe it's better that there are fewer superstars, if it means better team play? Or maybe the averages are constant... but against teams that aren't as good.
I don't know. It just feels to me that the Big East has a bunch of solid, but not outstanding teams. I can't look at any of them and honestly say to myself that they are one of the best eight teams in the country.
Still, though, I'd love to see G'town or Pitt win it. Just as long as it isn't Notre Dame... Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Well, my picks are in. It's a halfhearted effort, honestly I'm not into it this year as most years. Still, March Madness is the best college sports thing going.
I manage a pool for my mother's workplace, and I'm thinking of letting my six year olds into the mix by letting them pick teams. (We do it for fun, not money, and bragging rights, of course.) I'd love to see how they do, just picking names at random.
Edit: Well, Abigail, my six year old picked her brackets just now. (she's home because she had some detal work done this morning.) She actually did pretty well, considering I refrained mightily from coaching her, I really did.
Her final four is: Winthrop, Kansas, Boston College, and Ohio State. She picked Boston College to win it all. When I asked her why she liked Boston College she said that college players were probably better because they were bigger and older. Then I told her every player in this was in college and she said "Oh."
[ March 14, 2007, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Belle ]
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I'm in, even though I have no idea how most of these teams play, and actually don't care - but since I "had" to fill out a bracket for work, I figured I'd join in the fun here too
quote:Her final four is: Winthrop, Kansas, Boston College, and Ohio State. She picked Boston College to win it all.
Well, I have Boston College getting knocked out RIGHT NOW as they face Texas Tech. Because I've seen Texas Tech play (but know nothing about the Boston College team.
But isn't that mascot for Wake Forest (show on the floor of the court this game is being played on) a funny looking mascot? Who came up with that, I wonder?
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Seems like. Ah well, I picked Louisville to be upset... but I picked Texas A&M to win in the next round anyway, so I don't think it will matter if the 'Ville wins.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I started with a loss, but it's now evened out with the Maryland win.
(Oh, and we've also got a TV here, but because of my eyesight and the size of the screen, the audio is all that matters. )
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Yeah, at least I had Tech getting beat out the next round by Georgetown, just as you do, Tstorm. So this shouldn't hurt me too terribly bad.
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Many of the games I've seen (mostly BE games) have been sloppy. ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
