NCAA Basketball 09-10 Thread

[Atlas]

North Texas won the Sun Belt

Seton Hall beat Providence by 3 to advance to face ND tomorrow

i cant believe SHU was up by 29 and Providence almost came back... Friars showed well in the second half...

 

[Archer]

i cant believe SHU was up by 29 and Providence almost came back... Friars showed well in the second half...

Shows what can happen if you miss your FT's. Providence caught fire and didn't look back from that point on.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Butler on the verge of pulling away from Wright St, much to the delight of multiple bubble teams.

Butler is a nice team, but I have a rule against picking team to go far in my bracket who's two best players are both white guys over 6'6".

The Bulldogs will lose to the first big time team with any size that they face. Monroe & Julian Vaughn killed them inside when the Hoyas knocked them off in December.

 

[Sportsbuck]

Butler on the verge of pulling away from Wright St, much to the delight of multiple bubble teams.

Butler is a nice team, but I have a rule against picking team to go far in my bracket who's two best players are both white guys over 6'6".

The Bulldogs will lose to the first big time team with any size that they face. Monroe & Julian Vaughn killed them inside when the Hoyas knocked them off in December.

Plus they could barely beat Ohio State at home... in the first game without Evan Turner.

 

[Argath]

Can't spell cocksucker without OSU


lulz I just saw this tonight

 

[Carmelo]

Lol @ UConn not winning a Big East tourney game in the last five years.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention Charlotte losing to UMass in the first round of the A10 tourny, which pretty much pops their bubble.

I told you guys they stunk, even when they were 16-3 or whatever it was. So yay me, m'fers.

 

[Senser81]

Wisconsin has never gone deep in March with Bo Ryan, but I'll be a Superman fan before I stop picking them for the Final Four this year. :rockwoot:

Wisconsin is usually good for a couple wins in the NCAAs. I remember one year they were matched-up against Michael Beasley's KSU team, and everyone predicted a KSU blowout. Wisconsin killed them. I think their tough, disciplined style gives non-Big10 teams a lot of trouble (although I hate them).

 

[Senser81]

You're best out of conference wins are against Cal and FSU, and you're 14-4 in what's probably the 4th best conference, a conference that does not have a very impressive out of conference resume.

They won the Big10/ACC challenge for once.

What conference DOES have a very impressive out of conference resume?

 

[Woy]

http://woysword.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-wants-to-dance.html

If you are near a television around 7:00 PM (EST) on Wednesday, tune into ESPN2. You will not regret it, trust me.

Robert Morris (22-11, 15-3 NEC) travels to Quinnipiac (23-8, 15-3 NEC) in a match-up between the conference's best. The winner will clinch an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, while the loser will [most likely] settle for the NIT.

The Bobcats defeated the Colonials, 87-79, in their only regular season bout behind sophomore James Johnson's 28 points. Quinnipiac shot over 50 percent from both the field and behind the arc, while Robert Morris's star freshman guard Karon Abraham struggled (3-11 FG).

However, despite having the head-to-head win over the Colonials, Quinnipiac might come in as a bit of an underdog. Their play in the tournament so far has impressed few and their inexperience in these types of games could cost them. Robert Morris comes in after demolishing a red hot Mount St. Mary's squad; plus they have the experience in this game after winning last year against those same Mountaineers.

Let's break down the main areas, shall we?

BACKCOURT
RMU - Freshman Karon Abraham (13.3 PPG), Freshman Velton Jones (8.3 PPG), Senior Mezie Nwigwe (8.4 PPG)
QU - Sophomore James Johnson (12.2 PPG), Senior James Feldeine (17.1 PPG), Senior Jeremy Baker (9.2 PPG)

Quinnipiac's stats are inflated a little because of their lack of bench production [more on that in a bit]. However, all three of their starting guards are good shooters from all around the court, whereas Abraham is the only true three-point threat on the Colonials. Jones and Nwigwe get most of their points driving towards the basket and are usually left open for long range shots.

Advantage: Quinnipiac​

FRONTCOURT
RMU - Senior Rob Robinson (10.1 PPG), Senior Dallas Green (6.5 PPG)
QU - Junior Justin Rutty (15.2 PPG), Junior Jonathan Cruz (5.3 PPG)

Both teams possess a player that made the all-conference team. Robinson has been finding his stride lately after struggling part of the season and Green has been an offensive threat the last two games with double-digit efforts. On the other side, Rutty is an absolute stud and won the NEC Player of the Year award, but Cruz isn't much to worry about with only four games over 10+ points. He's a solid defensive player, but nothing special.

Advantage: Push​

BENCH
RMU - Freshman Russell Johnson (7.2 PPG), Junior Gary Wallace (5.8 PPG), Senior Josiah Whitehead (3.9 PPG)
QU - Junior Deontay Twyman (7.2 PPG), Freshman Jamee Jackson (4.0 PPG), Freshman Dave Johnson (4.0 PPG)

This is a total mismatch. Robert Morris has the deepest bench in the conference with three guys that could start for various teams throughout the NEC. Johnson is a very athletic forward that can shoot from outside or drive towards the basket, Wallace is a good defender and floor general and Whitehead is a good jumpshooter from inside the arc. For Quinnipiac, Twyman provides some instant offense but the two freshmen aren't threats whatsoever.

Advantage: Robert Morris​

COACHING
RMU - Mike Rice
QU - Tom Moore

Rice's experience in these types of games gets the check. A Jamie Dixon clone, the Colonials head coach has done a fine job adjusting his rotation after senior Jimmy Langhurst was lost with a knee injury during late Decemeber. He also boasts a 72-29 record in his three years at Robert Morris. Moore is a former assistant under Jim Calhoun at UConn and is looking to lead the Bobcats to their first NCAA Tournament. They haven't been in the NEC title game since 2002.

Advantage: Robert Morris​

PREDICTION

These two teams have been the NEC's best the entire time and it was a shame they only faced each other once in the regular season. If Quinnipiac has another hot shooting night, they should take it, but you can't expect them to shoot over 50% from the field and behind the arc again against the same team. This has all the makings of a classic, but the Colonials' experience and the momentum they have going for them after smacking down Mount St. Mary's gives them just enough to win.​

Robert Morris 65, Quinnipiac 60

 

[Atlas]

http://woysword.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-wants-to-dance.html

you should be a SID...

 

[Archer]

Main games on today/tonight

USF-G'Town
Marquette-St.John's
ND-Seton Hall
Louisville-Cincy
Texas Tech-Colorado
Oklahoma-Oklahoma St
Iowa St-Texas
Robert Morris-Quinnipiac [for Woy]

 

[Archer]

G'Town crush USF

They advance to play 'Cuse in the next round

 

[Esjay]

IU will win the Big 11 tourney.

:jonesy:

 

[Archer]

Marquette beat St.John's in a good one

They play Villanova next which imo could be game of the tourney

 

[Sportsbuck]

You're best out of conference wins are against Cal and FSU, and you're 14-4 in what's probably the 4th best conference, a conference that does not have a very impressive out of conference resume.

I wouldn't say OSU is "overrated" per say, but I would not put them in with the upper echelon of teams at this point.

Syracuse's lone big out of conference win is against Cal... Kentucky's is against Louisville. Half of our conference losses came without Evan Turner. I'm not trying to make excuses here, but we are an elite team when we have Evan.

Ohio State deserves to be with the upper echelon teams IMO. Kansas, Kentucky, and Syracuse are on a different level than the rest of the country IMO, and behind them you have a glut of very good to elite teams (Duke, OSU, Purdue, West Virginia).

------

Oh, and here's a list of the Top 25 teams by conference:
Big East: 5 (Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Villanova, Georgetown)
ACC: 2 (Duke, Maryland)
Big Ten: 4 (OSU, Purdue, MSU, Wisconsin)
Big 12: 4 (Kansas, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor)
Pac-10: 0
SEC: 3 (Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee)

 

[Argath]

http://woysword.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-wants-to-dance.html

I wish I could watch it but I'm on my way out the door to go get an MRI

 

[Atlas]

Ohio State deserves to be with the upper echelon teams IMO. Kansas, Kentucky, and Syracuse are on a different level than the rest of the country IMO, and behind them you have a glut of very good to elite teams (Duke, OSU, Purdue, West Virginia).

OSU is behind all those teams, IMO...

look at this (and yes, Evan Turner played):http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300240277

 

[Blick]

Wisconsin is usually good for a couple wins in the NCAAs. I remember one year they were matched-up against Michael Beasley's KSU team, and everyone predicted a KSU blowout. Wisconsin killed them. I think their tough, disciplined style gives non-Big10 teams a lot of trouble (although I hate them).

That's not how I remember it, but okay. There were a lot of people predicting OJ Mayo's USC team to beat K-State in the first round that year.

I agree with your point about Wisconsin, though.

 

[Archer]

Don't know if anyone has been watching the Big 12 tourney today but so far Texas Tech beat Colorado pretty easily and Nebraska upset Missouri