Villanova after a great season seemingly struggling to the end. They barely got by Seton Hall last night. I saw a prediction that the ACC would get 9 and the SEC 8 teams in the tourney , Big East would get 6 (only 9 teams in the Big East). Big 10 still only predicted to get 4 teams.
One thing for sure, when they announce the field there will always be 5 or 10 teams that feel like they should have gotten in to the field. I don't know about Penn State and Neb, but even though OU has lost 10 out of it's last 12 games they are still predicted to make the field. Go figure. I do know that the committee has said that they are going to look at the whole season (duh, why wouldn't they) and they are going to use a new metric called Quadrant 1 wins along with the usual SOS, and RPI metrics. Typically what causes isssues is when some team comes out of no where and wins their conference tourney and grabs the auto bid. That frequently knocks out a team that would have been in and deserved to be in based on metrics.
First upset of the Big Ten Tournament tonight with Rutgers beating Indiana 76-69. This has to be a low point for Hoosier basketball. First time for a #14 seed to advance to the quarterfinals.
I didn't see the game but apparently Louisville had UVA beat leading 66-64 and having the ball with .9 sec left, but they turned it over by failing to get the ball inbound correctly, they were called for traveling and the UVA kid hit a unlikely 3 point shot to win. BTW a week ago Sean Miller was dead as a college coach, some said he'd never coach in college again. Now he's on the attack and says he never talked to the guy they said he did and never would have said what they claimed he said. He must have made his case to Arizona as the board and the President back him. It will be interesting to find out if all the tapes that ESPN claimed exist do in fact exist.
It would appear to me that Yahoo Sports and ESPN both may not have checked out some of those charges. Sean Miller always seemed like a very respectable coach to me. He might very well consider filing suit down the road. Bridges ended up paying $40.00 to a charity for his meal infraction? Does not make any sense to me. The media is always out for a horror story.
Looks like Archie Miller to Indiana was a lose-lose-lose for all parties. At Dayton he excelled and was reaching cult status with the Flyer faithful. They took a serious dump year without him. IU had to be expecting much better results than Miller delivered this season. And Miller's personal stock has taken a hit in the process.
George, I happened to read an article this morning where Knight had returned to Indiana for an informal visit with Hoosier fans. He thanked all of them for their support while he coached at Indiana and had high praise for Archie. just another viewpoint.
Not a follower of IU, did Archie have a good squad to work with to start? How is his recruiting going for IU. I think he's a good coach and if he can get recruits which IU should be able to do, then I would think he'll be OK.
Terry, the current squad probably average, they have struggled with turnovers and have been very inconsistent. Archie is a good recruiter and has picked one of the top players in Ohio for next season. When Thad Matta was fired the Buckeyes lost several potential recruits, including the young man here from Pickerington & Goodwin who has committed to Notre Dame.
Penn State beat us for the third time this season, 87-86 to end our Big Ten Tournament hopes. Toney Carr seemed to score at will when they needed a bucket. They were just more aggressive than we were and outrebounded us as well.
I would say Penn State has your number this year. OSU probably the better team but sometimes there is a team out there that just gets your number and there is nothing you can do about it. Irish definitely benefited from Matta being fired, Dane was an excellent pickup for Mike Brey and the Irish. We have one of our best classes coming in and he's a big part of it. With the turnaround that your new coach has made this year I doubt if you lose anybody out of your next recruiting class.
Re: IU, it was a season of coulda beens. They had no post presence after soph De'ron Davis went down early with injury. They filled in with true 4s all season. Defense was a bright spot, but like Don said, they were inconsistent and turnover prone. They lost only one starter, will have Davis and Juwan Morgan back, and will have better depth. I'm confident they'll be very competitive next season.
Well Michigan is the B1G tournament champions. Getting hot at this time of the year is a good thing. Duke beat UNC and UVA won a close game vs ND. I think Duke is the team to beat in the ACC tournament. They have so much talent, young but by now with a lot of games under their belts. Xavier is the Big East Champs, can Villanova get on a run in the Big East tournament? They need to get back on track. I think KU will need to win the B12 tournament to hang on a 1 seed.
Bobda, according to an article on CBS Sports: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/big-ten-tournament-2018-scores-analysis-picks-the-latest-from-madison-square-garden/ The Big Ten Tournament in Manhatten was a huge success! Michigan played extremely well and now is looking at what might be an NCAA Championship run. Jim Delaney, the ole Fox, may have outsmarted all of us who criticized him for his actions in moving the tournament, from the midwest area to test the New York City market. Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines for a thrilling and enjoyable tournament.
Thanks Don, With Wager, an abundance of 3 pt. shooters, excellent defense, and Beilien, we have an opportunity to make a nice run in the NCAAs. It will be onteresting to see how the long rest impacts the BT teams that make the tourney. All the teams will be well rested but I worry about a team coming out a little rusty after such a long break.
I notice in that article that they held out that they might come back to NYC some time in the future. They mentioned Brooklyn, but that is of course where the ACC holds it tournament. I don't know to tell you the truth if Brooklyn is the new permanent home for the ACC tournament or what. Of course for years that tournament was held in Greensboro. Big East will never give up the slot they have for their tournament. It does seem like Indy is a terrific spot for the B1G tourney, everybody always says what a great venue it is and that the downtown and the hotels are all very nice and walkable for the fans. Travel and cost of attending would be better than NYC for the majority of B1G fans it would seem.
Although I do not travel to these events, that is my primary concern for Big Ten fans as well. Of course, many changes may be down the road for all concerned.