Running 2017-18 college rings thread

We’ve been hearing the “no great teams” drumbeat ever since Villanova dropped a couple of games. Call me crazy, but I don’t think people would be saying that if UNC or Duke (or Cuse or Louisville, for that matter) was 28-2, 17-1.

DeCourcy just put more starkly what the Tobacco Road mafia has always held: Any first-place finish that didn’t run through Durham or Chapel Hill is suspect.

 

Interesting to note that it's been since 2012 that the March UNC-Duke game has had the ACC title on the line.

 

Funny how nobody applies this logic to teams that only play Virginia once.

It is easy to doubt a team that scores 65 points per game. I predict Virginia will become the first overall No. 1 seed to bust brackets by making the Seeet 16. And I get why.

 

There's definitely a perception that if a relatively uncommon team wins a league, said league is by definition down.
That is part of it. But a lot of it is tied to this particular team's style, which is underwhelming.

 

Presumably DeCourcy would have given more deference to Duke’s murderous schedule that featured home-and-homes against the 6th-, 7th, 14th- and 15th-place teams in the league.

That said, as much as I bitch, I don’t see myself picking the Wahoos in my bracket.

 

The unbalanced schedule argument would have more sway if they had won by one or two games. They won by four. That's only ninth time in 65 years that a team has had that degree of cushion.
Nothing except a first-round NCAA exit will surprise me about this team from here on in. I expect a second round loss. I am bracing for it.

 

In winning by four games, UVa went undefeated on the road, beating the No. 2 and No. 3. It held No. 4 to 37 points in 40 minutes and beat No. 5 and 6 by an average of 15 points.

This year in particular the schedule argument holds no water.

 

They were one free throw from a 90-percent shooter away from 18-0 and DeCourcy is downplaying their season!

I’ll shut up now. I can just already see the disclaimers being lined up.

 

And as proof that I can talk about things that only tangentially relate to UVA, Jim Larranaga should be getting more credit for the job he did this year. To lose his best player, place nobody on any all-ACC team and finish third is pretty impressive.

 

Agreed. Should also be credited for recruiting the second coming of Muggsy Bogues. Chris Lykes can play.

 

Exactly! He did it with Bushwick Bill at point guard!

 

Kind of like being a Caps fan.