Selection Sunday thread

[Ellis Redding]

Exactly, Moderbutt. There are few teams as dangerous as A&M when Law's hot, or UT with Lofton. It's not a bad wagon to hitch yourself behind.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

All the top seeds made sense. And UCLA is a two in name only, as their travel will be minimal.

But yeah, that "who would I not want to play?!" explanation was dumb and unnecessary.

 

[Freelance Hack]

Freelance, I have them getting in because I have BYU beating Ohio State in the second round. And I have Notre Dame going far because they're a forking pain in the ass to play all the time. That's a weird bracket.

I also have UNC, Florida, and Kansas in my final four.

I also have Tennessee going far too.

Absolutely agree on Tennessee, because I believe Chris Lofton is the best shooter in college basketball.

If he gets hot, watch out.

 

[Oz]

They are overrated, but unlike Iowa State, the Aggies have an Alpha Dog. Acie Law could just say, "fork it," and go on a two-week run. That's why A&M scares me so much; I have no idea what to expect. Ditto Tennessee with the Lofton factor.

Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley weren't exactly terrible collegiate players. In fact, they did come within one game of making the Final Four the year before they lost to Hampton. Just saying.

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

"Watch out for Louisville, getting a game in Lexington. Home-court advantage!"

What an idiot. :

I agree. I think Kentucky fans just became Texas A&M, Penn and especially Stanford's new best friends.

Kentucky could get killed in Chicago, but UK fans would call it a moral victory for Louisville - and ex-Kentucky coach Benedict Rick Pitino - to get the one-and-done service at Rupp.

Ask Duke fans what it was like when the Devils got stuck there for a NCAA Tournament game.

If I'm Xavier, I'm glad to be playing 90 minutes from home.

For Louisville, though, don't expect the arena to be decked out in red. Some die-hard folk in the Lexington area will spend hundreds of dollars in tickets and won't care who wins three of the other four games if they can help cheer/boo Stanford to victory.

 

[BYH]

Attention *microphone feedback*:

The NCAA and NIT selection committees can suck my left testicle...






That is all. *click*

Akron fan?

I've never seen a team get prison sex violated like that. Wow. I had a lot to complain about last year, but Akron takes the cake...26 wins, a last-second loss in the conference title game and NO POSTSEASON BID ANYWHERE?!?! My goodness.

And again: Listening to Jim Boeheim cry about getting screwed over is awesome. Screw you. Now you know how the rest of the world feels.

You almost get the feeling they just completely forgot about Akron. Maybe they thought Akron beat Miami. You couldn't bump Ole Miss, Providence or San Diego State for 26 wins? Dubious.

Not that this should really be an issue, but the NIT had harder choices this year than usual. I'm pretty sure all the 7 and 8s were regular season champions and thus automatically qualified. The tournament dropping to 32 meant there were actually 24 spots open. Then Nevada/Xavier/Butler falling meant that better teams were getting relegated to the NIT. Then N.C. State decided to relive 1997.

But none of that explains Mississippi State as a 1 seed. None of it.

the most bizarre thing about Akron is they led off the ESPN2 telecast. So you figured they were in for sure.

The only thing that makes any sense, aside from them declining a bid, is that the committee did indeed forget about the Zips. Like it was 9:10 and they said "shirt!!! We forgot Akron!"

No idea how San Diego State and Hofstra made it.

Amazing how the mid-majors still get screwed in the NIT. Dropping to 32 teams allows the NCAA to talk out of both sides of its mouth...hey we're giving a postseason chance to mid-majors who don't win their conference tourney (and reducing the number of at-large bids for mid-majors who don't win their conference tourney).

How is Drexel a 3 there? And Syracuse a 2?

 

[Ellis Redding]

They are overrated, but unlike Iowa State, the Aggies have an Alpha Dog. Acie Law could just say, "fork it," and go on a two-week run. That's why A&M scares me so much; I have no idea what to expect. Ditto Tennessee with the Lofton factor.

Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley weren't exactly terrible collegiate players. In fact, they did come within one game of making the Final Four the year before they lost to Hampton. Just saying.

No, they weren't terrible. But Tinsley was pass-first, and Fizer couldn't create his own shot. Law's damn-near unstoppable when he's on -- from anywhere on the court. You never could really say that about Tinsley and Fizer.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Know how? Because it's the Not Intersted Tournament. Who gives a fork?

 

[Freelance Hack]

"Watch out for Louisville, getting a game in Lexington. Home-court advantage!"

What an idiot. :

I agree. I think Kentucky fans just became Texas A&M, Penn and especially Stanford's new best friends.

Kentucky could get killed in Chicago, but UK fans would call it a moral victory for Louisville - and ex-Kentucky coach Benedict Rick Pitino - to get the one-and-done service at Rupp.

Ask Duke fans what it was like when the Devils got stuck there for a NCAA Tournament game.

If I'm Xavier, I'm glad to be playing 90 minutes from home.

For Louisville, though, don't expect the arena to be decked out in red. Some die-hard folk in the Lexington area will spend hundreds of dollars in tickets and won't care who wins three of the other four games if they can help cheer/boo Stanford to victory.

Of course Louisville has a distinct advantage. They need to travel just 70 miles. Stanford must travel 2,500. Advantage U of L.

Maybe not in the crowd, though there will be plenty of Cardinal fans there. If you honestly think UK fans will go just to boo the Cards, you're seriously misguided. Yeah, most Kentucky fans need lives, but it's not that bad. Plus, Ohio State fans will be happy to pay top dollar to see one last glimpse of Oden.

 

[BYH]

Know how? Because it's the Not Intersted Tournament. Who gives a fork?

Me! It's all I've got!

And you're just saying that because your team got smoked in the second round last year...to Manhattan...at home...at 11 am on a Saturday...during spring break...in front of like 23 fans.

 

[Central-KY-Kid]

http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/story/10055408

Q. I was curious if you could talk about why Drexel is out.

GARY WALTERS: You know, it's a tough call. I think one of the issues when we were looking and comparing and contrasting Drexel against any number of other teams, and it's always difficult, but one of the I think concerns for the committee was Drexel's performance in its own conference, being 1 5 against the top teams in the conference. That's just one factor.

I mean, again, I also we also recognize the fact, and certainly as someone who lives in Princeton, which is a stone's throw from Philly, we on the committee were very aware of the impressive road record that Drexel was able to achieve in the pre season and then their victory against Creighton.

As it related to their own neighborhood, which is in the conference, the feeling was that Old Dominion was more worthy by virtue of what they were able to achieve within their own neighborhood.

Q. Was it clearly between Drexel and Old Dominion? Was that the deciding factor?

GARY WALTERS: What we tried to do was look at all these teams, comparing and contrasting all these teams across the board, no.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

I watched about 30 minutes of that. And not game minutes, actual minutes including commercial breaks, time outs, what have you. Even I wasn't interested and the ole alma mater was in it.