Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

St. Joe's was the 9th seed, but had 19 wins. GMU was the 8th seed, and they had 20.

Top 4 seeds knocked out. Somebody's gonna steal a bid if Dayton still gets an at-large, which everyone says is a lock but I'm not sure they get in over the 7th or 8th-place team from some power league. They don't have a quality win since game 4 over St. John's, who sucked at the time.

I hate the tournament being in Brooklyn. It would be better in DC or Richmond or at the freaking Palestra.

 

I may take a day off work next month and drive downtown to go yell obscenities at Greg Sankey.

 

I would love love love to see Tech beat Houston tonight.

 

I follow VCU very closely, and they were a total inconsistent mess for much of the season. Lost some terrible home games--Norfolk State and George Washington immediately come to mind. And yet here they are with the best path possible to get back to the tournament. They beat St. Joe's at home but went 0-3 against Duquesne and Bona, though Bona rallied from 20 down to win the game against VCU in Olean. VCU will have by far the best fan representation in Brooklyn this weekend. Crazy turn of events.

 

I would love love love to see anyone beat Houston.

 

DJ Burns nails it.

It wasn't that the arena was cheering for NCSU. But they were cheering against Duke. (IYKYK, etc. ... )

 

I am gobsmacked at the disconnect some conferences have between the crowds they attract and the venues they rent out to hold them. I doubt the American has had more than a third of the seats full at any point this week in Fort Worth, and the end of the SMU game last night (theoretically the tentpole team for that location) was a ghost town.

 

A terrific win for N.C. State and Kevin Keatts. I was happy for both - and yes, especially happy for another soft Duke loss. (I may regret writing that out loud, but Duke has been the softer team against UNC this season and N.C. State last night. Scheyer called them out on it after losing in Chapel Hill, and it didn't change.) I do wonder how happy State fans were for Keatts, though...

I think mine is the generation where the rivalry officially split. I'm 48, and if you ask the next generation of Carolina fans older than me, they still most want to beat N.C.. State. Everything below that, though, it's Duke as the most hated rival. I don't like UNC losing to N.C. State, of course, but I don't get angry about it. I lose my mind over losing to Duke.

I assume this has everything to do with Coach K and Duke becoming a true powerhouse as we have been coming of age and watching our favorite teams.

I do ask, though, how is it for N.C. State fans? Hate and want to beat UNC more than Duke, correct? That's what it feels like to me, and that's completely fair.

 

I'm the wrong person to ask.

I have a mother who is a passionate Duke alum. I was brought up supporting Duke ... and long before Mike Krzyzewski started winning national titles. So I have zero issues with them. While I understand some of the resentment, I'm not sure some understand that not all Duke students, supporters and alums are fractionally as bad as perceived. I mean - seriously - because I used to go with my mother to Duke football games growing up, I did so one time during my freshman year in school. So I'm wearing the band T-shirt we wore under our marching unis - white with obvious red markings - because the game is at Wallace Wade and we agreed to meet there, but we didn't march a halftime show. So I'm helping a longtime friend of my mother's, a Duke instructor, at an Iron Dukes pregame tailgate. People ask about the shirt. Friend explains to some, "he's the son of an alum, he's helping me and he wants to be here." Zero resentment, no issues, a lot of people got a kick out of the story. My point? Not all Duke people run around with sticks up their rear ends looking down on everyone. Not everyone is like the most obnoxious of the Cameron Crazies.

Apparently, I don't dislike Chapel Hill fractionally as much as most other NCSU fans/supporters/alums. It's not just because of at least three posters on this board - though all of you help the cause - but I just don't hold them in nearly the bad place many others do who wear red on game days do.

And, believe me, I don't lack for enthusiasm or willingness to throw my weight against teams and players I don't like. I love rivalries, but we throw the word "hate" around a little too much. While it would be nice if the deep political divisions we're dealing with nationally would teach us to temper our use of the word, I'm not holding out hope that we'll learn.

 

I thought having it in Atlantic City the few times they did was a good idea.

 

DC is a good spot for the A-10 but the ACC is there this year. Very central to most schools, save for the schools that no place will be central for (SLU, Loyola).

 

Is it finally on the upswing there? When I went for one of those tournaments in the mid-2000s, A.C. was depressing as hell. I think it was Patton Oswalt in the Comedians of Comedy show that said the Atlantic City boardwalk is where desperation takes a dump on sadness.

I think Brooklyn is an OK centralized venue for the east coast portion of the Atlantic 10, but they should probably throw a bone toward the more westerly teams and go with a neutral site venue out there once the Barclays contract runs out.