Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

Probably had VCU penciled in and there wasn’t enough time to change. They already likely had to do one contingency bracket because no way in hell was Temple going to be a 12.

 

I wondered about that after I posted … my grasp of southeastern U.S. geography is not great.

Still, I do know it’s a much shorter trip to Memphis than Spokane for Alabama, Auburn and UAB fans! (I know the Blazers are a No. 12 seed).

 

Michigan St. could go 12-23 and still make the tournament, as long as Izzo is coach. The minute he retires, boom the knives come out.

 

Wisconsinburger!

 

I just took a look at the bracket -- the upper East section has three of last year's Final Four, and if the Aztecs can make it back to the Sweet 16, they most likely will be facing UConn again. (Triva tidbit: The Aztecs have made the Sweet 16 three times, and in each of those years, UConn won the tournament, eliminating SDSU in two of those years.) Florida Atlantic is a possibility there also.

NC, yes the defensive play has been the bread and butter for SDSU ever since Steve Fisher got the program pointed in the right direction. I wouldn't necessarily say they can lose to anybody, but they can come out cold against teams they should beat, and they get into stretches where they can't hit a shot to save their lives.

I don't know a heck of a lot about UAB either, but I'm definitely not taking this game for granted. Like you said, that's why they play the games. Plus there's that whole reputation with 5-12 games where at least two of them are expected to be upsets. Good luck to you, and may the best team win.

 

I'm surprised they broke up the set and Samford only has to go to Salt Lake City. They should've swapped them and Charleston and then they could've sold travel packages all the way through Alabama.

It's like that one year when three D.C.-area schools (I think it was Maryland, Georgetown and George Mason) all got sent to Boise. That fiasco helped usher in the pod system, which by 2024 apparently is no longer a big factor in deciding how to group teams.

On another note, I know we've often heard from @Neutral Corner about the bitterness between Alabama and UAB. Does the same level of animosity exist between Auburn and UAB? That's a potential second-round match-up.

 

You didn't even mention that they don't know what fucking days these teams will play on, and we'll be lucky if they announce it by midnight.
They do this every year and it drives me insane. You're trying to tout yourself as a major college sport. Act like it.

 

Samford was sent to Salt Lake City as well. Someone has a sense of humor, sending the Baptist kids to dance among the Mormons.

 

I knew the NIT was going to be a shit show with the new seeding format and yet I still find it insulting as shit. Not only do LSU and Georgia host as 4 seeds (Ole Miss opted out), but they get pitiful matchups. Georgia hosts a Xavier team a game under .500 for chrissakes!

 

Bucky’s poor Mountain Brook cronies will have to get lubed up on the flight out.

 

We've known since December that the only way UAB would dance is to win the conference tournament. The early season featured three ugly losses in a row that absolutely killed the NET, plus losses to Bradley by two and Clemson by one. They were 4-5 by December 9th. They won a number of close games, displayed no ability to hold big leads, and in general contributed to Blazer fan's coronary damage. Beat Memphis at home, and when we played them in Memphis scored 58 in the first half but hairballed up a 106 - 87 loss.

That said, they've avoided the injury bug and the team has really jelled over the last two or three weeks. Could be a decent game, we'll see. I've kinda giving up on expectations this season.

SDSU (and everyone else in that bracket) still has UConn between them and a deep run this season, but I 'spect you already knew that.

I sure am glad we're in the East Region. Lord knows where the committee would have sent us if we'd been in the West.