2019 NCAA Basketball -- "The Big Dance"

[PT7]

The bracket is built, and the BB teams started the face-paced road to the Final Four today.
I'll watch my alma mater play, of course. But mainly what I like is plain 'ole good, clean, crazy, competitive basketball.

And there was basketball in Abu Dhabi today, too. A cool video was just released this afternoon showing Team USA make an exciting score at end of the game with Canada.

US was ahead, but this was a fantastic last-second shot to end the game. Nothin' but the net! Talk about a long-distance bull. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/03/team-u ... l-olympics

For all the BB lovers on the Forum...
Enjoy the NCAA season finale!

PT7

[Rifletom]

March Madness! The greatest sports thing going. Hoping Purdue can go FAR, but, dang, Duke looking mighty good again.
Who will be the Cinderilla? Did I spell that right?

[PT7]

March Madness! The greatest sports thing going. Hoping Purdue can go FAR, but, dang, Duke looking mighty good again.
Who will be the Cinderilla? Did I spell that right?

Yeah, Duke almost always is tough. That type of rep always draws a lot of good players to the school, and they repeat those strong teams often.

Kansas has not had a stellar season so far this year....struggles (one player ineligible), and some injuries. Three top players are already out of the tournament. Coming out of the Midwest region, there are N. Carolina and Kentucky....both great teams. TN looking pretty strong this year, as well. It's especially fun to watch the game whenever Roy Williams (former KU head coach) brings his NC squad to play the Jayhawks. Still like to root for my home team though.

BTW, Rifletom, everyone got who is "Cinderilla" with your spelling....close enough! Just adjust the second "i" to an "e" and you're all set to twirl in glass slippers at the dance!

PT7

P.S. After BB season ends, I always look forward to my favorite sport to watch ---- MLB. Sure is quiet and relaxing after all the March wildness.

[Rifletom]

Oh yeah! MLB for sure! Wife and I are huge Dodger fans. Heck, we're watching the exhibition games.

[ESquared]

Gotta love the tourney! Yes, KU is in for a tough stretch. We've seen them get bounced early before, and this may be a year where it happens again.

Went to a Bracket Picking gathering on Sunday where everyone fills in the bracket live and in real time as they announce it on TV, and you have to turn in the sheet before you leave. No homework or time to handicap! Very fun. I don't probably have a prayer, but it's fun!

[PT7]

For the First Four, a scrappy game between Belmont & Temple. Belmont took it 81-70. Lots of coaching history in this game. The long-time Belmont coach, Rick Byrd, achieved his (and the team's) first-ever NCAA tourney win! He was a quite happy camper.

Coach on the Temple side is 70-year-old Fran Dunphy. Last year as head coach, retiring after 13 years at Temple. His coaching career was 30 years, and Temple has tourney-danced a lot over the years. In terms of wins, this program is the fifth-most winningest in Division I...quite a record.

What a way to start "The Big Dance!"

PT7

[Redthies]

I love the NCAA tournament. It’s full of guys busting their asses to become the next disgustingly rich NBA cry babies, rather than the actual disgustingly rich crybabies. It’s pure sporting goodness!

[ChefDuane]

My alma mater is a little tiny school in California but my wife is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As such, I have been sucked into the Vol Nation bigtime. If the Volunteers play their best, they can beat anybody and can win it all. They have the talent and are well coached. But its a loooong tourney and anything can happen. But I think that Vol fans will be disappointed with anything less than the Final Four.

[ESquared]

The fun of it is that everyone knows there will be upsets but nobody knows when or where. The old saw about bracket-building is true: it's not about picking winners, it's about picking upsets.

This year seems more wide open than some, so it will be exciting to follow along (or try to..)!

[ChefDuane]

"... it's not about picking winners, it's about picking upsets."

That is an EXCELLENT point. I'm stealing it.

[PT7]

As the Big Dance continues, 13 out of 32 teams got their toes stepped on and are heading home. I don't know the actual records of % of upsets in the starting round of 32, but this year's has hit close to 41%! I think ESquared and Chef Duane have the right selection criterion for bracket lovers.

Yesterday I watched two of those upsets: OR Ducks taking down WI Badgers, and Iowa St Cyclones getting their wind punched out by OH State. The lower seeds were really pumped up, and the "March Madness" was quite evident. (BTW, the Ducks are the only 11-seed left in this tourney).

The remaining "Field of 32" ought to be fun to watch.

"... it's not about picking winners, it's about picking upsets."

That is an EXCELLENT point. I'm stealing it.

The fun of it is that everyone knows there will be upsets but nobody knows when or where. The old saw about bracket-building is true: it's not about picking winners, it's about picking upsets.

This year seems more wide open than some, so it will be exciting to follow along (or try to..)!

[ESquared]

I've spent many Marches in Vegas with various friends and family, and the first rounds of games were always the hardest to bet, as that's when the totally unseen upsets always happen (see UC-Irvine vs. K-State yesterday, not to mention the Ducks and Buckeyes). After that, it was a little easier to sort out, but the spreads also got tighter.
Today and tomorrow will be a blast, no doubt!

[JEBar]

we live in the heart of the ACC and would love to see 4 teams from the ACC in the finals .... the odds are most certainly against it but that would really be something

[ChefDuane]

we live in the heart of the ACC and would love to see 4 teams from the ACC in the finals .... the odds are most certainly against it but that would really be something

I think they set the brackets so that actually cannot happen. And I can't really say I remember that it really has. I grew up in California during the era of John Wooden and UCLA. As a kid I just figured that they played basketball, the Bruins won everything, and they'd do it again next year.

[PT7]

Another upset as the BB teams head toward the Sweet Sixteen. This time it was my alma mater, the KU Jayhawks, which are now coming home to neighboring KS. Actually, it wasn't so much an upset as a real, down-to-earth thumping by Auburn! And the final score of 89-75 doesn't indicate how rough the thumping was. KU was down by as many as 25 points during the game...Auburn practically could not miss making those treys. So goes the road to the hoedown in Minneapolis.

Some good games yet to play...

[ESquared]

There are still quite a few High Seed/Low Seed matchups left, and those tend to play out accordingly, but I'm looking forward to Buffalo/TxTech and UCI/Oregon (a 13 vs. 12).
It's all just a lot of fun!

[JEBar]

we live in the heart of the ACC and would love to see 4 teams from the ACC in the finals .... the odds are most certainly against it but that would really be something

I think they set the brackets so that actually cannot happen. And I can't really say I remember that it really has. I grew up in California during the era of John Wooden and UCLA. As a kid I just figured that they played basketball, the Bruins won everything, and they'd do it again next year.

that was most certainly the case but with the last expansion of the field, times have changed .... this year :

UNC #1 in the Midwest
Duke #1 in the East
Virginia #1 in the South
Florida State #4 in the West

I wouldn't put money on it but there is a possibility ....

[PT7]

So very, very close for UCF! Just finished watching the last 9 seconds of the game, and Duke held on to win by a single, lonely point. What a basketball game.

Now that would have been a huge upset....

[Rifletom]

PT7, you ain't kidding! That was close! Purdue won big yesterday, that's my son's school[2016], so, guess who we're pulling for. March Madness NEVER fails to deliver. Always great to watch. This UCI team could be a team to watch.
Thur is gonna be good!

[PT7]

By some remote chance, I'd take a long-shot guess and say you favor Purdue!
Since KU is my school (grad in 1987), I keep an eye on them each year. They have their ups/downs like all schools do.

BTW, when they won the 1988 "Big Dance," I was working on the KU campus in the Alumni Office. That campus exploded after Manning and crew brought home the trophy. Not a surprise that another explosion happened in the work load in my office, too! Something else to be on any campus after a national championship win.

You are right.....always fun to watch.
PT7