Running 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Thread

Penn State hockey almost made the Frozen Four. It's a program on the rise, Pegulas are their big donors/benefactors. Might take some of the pressure off the new basketball coach, if there is any anyways. Either way, I can't think of a Big Ten school where hoops is less relevant to the athletic culture. Maybe Nebraska.

 

This was the same thought percolating on the URI message board I'm on. Rhoades hasn't been a disaster, but he was certainly lower than the standard set by Smart and Wade. Six years, three NCAA tournament berths, 0-3. This year, VCU went 15-3 in a soft A-10 and won the tournament, but otherwise wouldn't have made the tournament. It's late in the coaching change cycle, so maybe his ties to the area and that made it an easy choice.

 

The TV programs with almost exclusively women audiences here in the Boston market, morning news, noon news, women-oriented talk shows, etc., are being deluged with ads for mobile betting websites. I mean deluged, more than car, cosmetics, or household products ads. So are the high number cable channels with old TV shows for us old folks. Those are the new markets the gambling industry is aiming for. Perhaps they're seeing success.

 

That is some serious trolling. Why Waco but not, say, Houston? Lemme think about that one for a second.

 

Waco's a lot closer to Dallas.

 

McCasland has had his guns up ever since Tech came open. Tech was just waiting for UNT's season to be over. It's a fait accompli.

Even with the recent success, UNT averaged only 3,800 home attendance in a 10,000-seat arena last year. That's better than the C-USA average, but down from the Aughts when the Pit was at least half full.

 

Kim’s definitely on the right.

 

"Would you rather make the NCAA tournament or win the NIT?" is one of those questions that gets kicked around every year. It was always an academic question for me. My general take was "NIT means Not In Tournament", and when it was asked after UAB got an NIT invite, my answer was "I'd rather be recruiting on back to back trips to the Dance."

It's no longer academic. UAB - North Texas in the NIT Final tonight, as the teams meet for the fourth time this season. Truth? I'm a lot more excited than I expected to be. The last time I was in anything approaching this situation was just before the Phi Slama Jamma - NC State final, as I was attending UH and a big fan. If they win it still won't be as big a high as it was when UAB dropped Kentucky as the #1 overall seed in '04, but there's still a national trophy on the line.

UAB ranks 10th in college basketball in points per game, with an 81.3 average. North Texas allows the fewest points per game in college basketball at 55.7. UAB is 1-2 vs UNT this season but beat them in the C-USA Tournament. UNT's all conference center, Abou Ousmane, is injured and out for the game. Secondary story line is UAB guard Jordan "Jelly" Walker vs C-USA POY Tyler Perry. Walker was Conference POY last season, is currently fifth in scoring in the NCAA, and is still grumpy that the award went to Perry. It's a sideshow, but Walker came out angry and showed Perry up in the conference tournament and I'm sure he'd love to do it again tonight.

Perry 17.2 ppg, 42.3% 3pt, 87% FT, 3.5 RB, 2.0 A, 1.7 TO, 1.2 S
Walker 22.3, 37.8 3pt, 86.2% FT, 2.9RB, 4.1 A, 2.7 TO, 1.2 S

ESPN 2 at 9:40 pm EST. I know where I'll be.

 

It's perfectly fine to want to be in the NCAA Tournament but to also appreciate how cool the NIT can still be. Your team is still playing basketball on baseball's Opening Day. That's pretty great.

 

Good luck, NC, I know it means a lot to you.

 

I think you would obviously never turn down an NCAA tournament bid and I don't think winning the NIT is better than losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. However, it can be something of a bragging point to get far in the NIT, especially if it is part of a greater program success. And I will likely always watch my school and want them to win no matter what the heck they are playing in.