College basketball

[GoCubsGo]

WOW!

[Vrede too]

WOW!

I was wondering where the jinx came from.

[GoCubsGo]

WOW!

I was wondering where the jinx came from.

My bad.

[Vrede too]

[GoCubsGo]

Their defense is too good and their bench is insanely deep.

[Vrede too]

Their defense is too good and their bench is insanely deep.

We were among a record "in years" - Men/Women/Pro - 18M viewers. The Women's Final 4 was 14.2M viewers.

[Vrede too]

Rolled over Tide

Go overall 1 UConn (-6.5 ) > 1 Purdue, but I'm only about 5/10 enthusiastic.

Yay

[Vrede too]

Do brackets take skill?

Second-graders’ NCAA bracket finishes 5th out of 23 million

Now that March Madness is behind us, how did your bracket fare?

Probably not as well as a second-grade class in Wake County that made its own Cinderella story, finishing fifth out of 23 million brackets on ESPN’s bracket leaderboard....

Falcone, who is in his second year of teaching at the school, is a 2021 NC State graduate. He’s a huge Wolfpack basketball fan and had an amazing March Madness run with his team making it to the Final Four. Falcone says the bracket win made the run even more incredible.

So, this year he had his class of 18 students help fill in a bracket. How did they decide who would win? It came down to a show of hands....

x 19

Maybe I'll get a second-grader's input on my next bracket

[Jasmine]

The new season is underway! On the women’s side, South Carolina is the early favorite to repeat as national champions, but watch out for UConn, which is ridiculously talented this year.

The Huskies have Paige Bueckers, who is a “Player of the Year” candidate who returns for her senior season. She is almost guaranteed to be the top pick in next year’s WNBA Draft. She isn’t as spectacular as Caitlin Clark, but she is a better defender and has a great all-around game. She might be basketball’s best mid-range shooter.

UConn also has a great recruiting class with three high school All-Americans. Included is forward Sarah Strong, who was undeniably the country’s most sought-after recruit. In her college debut yesterday, she led the Huskies with 17 points. She is big and burly, but has a high hoops IQ and court vision.

The team also returns sophomore sensations KK Arnold and Ashlyn Shade. Arnold is an elite PG and defender, and Shade is the team’s top long-range threat.

They have also added transfer guard Kaitlyn Chen, who last year was the Ivy League Player of the Year.

They also have center Jana El-Alfy, a heralded international recruit (from Egypt) who sat out last year with an injury.

And that’s not even counting Azzi Fudd, a former high school Player of the Year (and Paige Buecker’s good friend) who has been plagued by injuries at UConn. She is expected to be ready to play sometime in December.

Talent-wise, this team is loaded. Plus, they have Geno Auriemma as their head coach. They just need to stay healthy, which is a huge IF considering their bad luck in recent years.

In their season opener yesterday, UConn Boston University, 86-32.

[O Really]

What's the TV availability of the womens' games?

[Vrede too]

What's the TV availability of the womens' games?

11 Top 25 games were played Thurs eve, not one was on TV Not sure about streaming.

Selected Winners
2 UConn
11 Duke over Liberty
15 North Carolina
18 Maryland Go Terps!
19 Florida State over Illinois
Harvard over 25 Indiana, opps

Mostly early season mismatches. Maybe that's why no TV

[O Really]

Looks like it's gonna be ESPN+

[Jasmine]

What's the TV availability of the womens' games?

They’re basically all over the place: ESPN, ESPN2, BTN, FSI, etc. A lot of games on ESPN+.

Unfortunately, a lot of UConn games are behind a paywall: SNY.

[Vrede too]

billy would not have had a good week.

Report: Auburn CBB Plane Turns Around Mid-Flight After Near-Fight Between Players

The Auburn men's basketball team is set to face the Houston Cougars in an early-season showdown on Saturday, but the SEC team reportedly encountered some trouble getting to Texas for the contest.

Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 reported Friday that the team's flight returned home after about 45 minutes because of "horseplay between players on the flight that could have escalated into a fight."

Seriously?

Goodman noted the expectation is the Tigers will still fly to Houston later Friday on a different flight....

Saturday's game is expected to be one of the best on the nonconference slate this season. Houston is No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25, while Auburn is No. 11 and looking to earn a critical win away from home that could resonate on Selection Sunday....

Saturday has the chance to be a measuring-stick contest for both teams, but this adds another storyline ahead of tip-off.

It is slated to start at 9:30 p.m. ET, but a late arrival the night before could alter the Tigers' overall schedule ahead of the game....

Kids, settle down or I'll turn this plane around. Don't push me, I mean it! KIDS . . .

[Vrede too]

Finally, good news for billy:

No. 11 Auburn upsets No. 4 Houston day after flight incident

74-69

... The incident involving reserves Jahki Howard and Ja'Heim Hudson was over before it escalated into anything serious, sources told ESPN's Jeff Borzello, but flight personnel opted to turn around the plane. The replacement flight took off for Houston late Friday night, according to sources.

Sources told Borzello that Howard and Hudson did not travel with the team....

Double OPPS.
New AP ranking Monday. Auburn will be Top 10!

Awww:

No. 1 Kansas blows 20-point lead but edges No. 9 North Carolina

92-89

... the Jayhawks (2-0) narrowly avoided matching the biggest blown-lead loss in school history.

... the Tar Heels (1-1), who were able to come back from their 49-29 deficit in part because of a 28-for-31 performance at the foul line....

It is the shared history of North Carolina and Kansas -- the quality of their matchups, including five Final Four tussles and two national title games, along with the Hall of Fame coaches that bind them together -- that has made their series a rivalry.

In fact, this was only the second game on campus, and it came more than six decades after eventual Kansas coach Larry Brown led the Tar Heels to victory in the Phog. Despite the rarity of home-and-home series in an era of enlarged conference schedules, in-season tournaments and interleague showdowns, the 14th game between Kansas and North Carolina is due to take place Nov. 14, 2025, when the Jayhawks visit Chapel Hill for the first time.

Until then, the bragging rights in a series deadlocked at six wins apiece before Friday night remain with Kansas....

Fine game, O Really.

[Jasmine]

Introducing the next “big thing” in women’s basketball…

Well, she’s not big yet. She stands 5’6”.

And she’s not yet a woman. She’s only 16 and still in the 10th grade.

But Kaleena Smith is the most heavily recruited player in girls basketball. Top schools including defending national champion South Carolina have already made scholarship offers. She is incredibly skilled, has a natural feel for the game and has a strong work ethic.

I just hope she stays healthy and doesn’t suffer from the weight of huge expectations. I’m rooting for her to do great. She seems like a nice kid.

Adidas announced Thursday it has signed 16-year-old Kaleena Smith, a five-star recruit from Ontario Christian High School, to its first NIL deal for a high school women's basketball player. Smith becomes the company's first signing under three-time WNBA champion Candace Parker, who earlier this year was named the company's president of women's basketball.

Smith was dominant as a freshman at Ontario Christian, as she was named the 2023-2024 Girls Basketball MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year and also a member of the 2024 USA Women's U17 National Team. Now the top-ranked prospect in the Class of 2027 per 247Sports' composite rankings, Smith picks up an Adidas sponsorship not only for herself, but also for Ontario Christian's team and her AAU team as it joins the 3SSB circuit. Smith also joins a group of women's basketball players sponsored by Adidas that include Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Aliyah Boston, Aaliyah Edwards and more.

"I embrace any opportunity to challenge myself and improve my game, and I believe that's what has fostered the confidence and skill I have on the court," Smith said in a statement. "I'm blessed to be part of something Candace is creating, and to get to do that with a brand like adidas who is taking a different approach to play a role to help grow the game for players like me. Plus, I'm really excited to get to rock the Harden sneakers this season."

https://youtube.com/shorts/7fWhjQRtbkk? ... wsVCxE7N2P

https://youtu.be/VkLrlum0KH8?si=x-MTf2kPjzl8-bt4

As an eight-year-old:

https://youtu.be/LBT0qDHuKug?si=zGdSvVV8HPe2KMOf

[Jasmine]

Oh, here’s a cool documentary about her:

https://youtu.be/k4C73WFDGFU?si=btoEftBIxPi0jQCO

[O Really]

Western Carolina only put up 36 points in the whole game against Tennessee?! Seriously? Did they leave the tall guys home?

[Vrede too]

Western Carolina only put up 36 points in the whole game against Tennessee?! Seriously? Did they leave the tall guys home?

The Catamounts do have plenty of tall guys:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... /_/id/2717

They're basically a 1-AA team, 3-7, playing the unbeaten #1. So there's that.

Not following them, but I see that 6-5 North Carolina - 1 game away from .500 - lost to 7 Florida 11-0, 90-84.

San Diego State is #23.
Maryland is (35).

[Jasmine]

Western Carolina only put up 36 points in the whole game against Tennessee?! Seriously? Did they leave the tall guys home?

The Catamounts do have plenty of tall guys:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... /_/id/2717

They're basically a 1-AA team, 3-7, playing the unbeaten #1. So there's that.

Not following them, but I see that 6-5 North Carolina - 1 game away from .500 - lost to 7 Florida 11-0, 90-84.

San Diego State is #23.
Maryland is (35).

On Monday, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff - you won’t believe this - 56 to 15! I watched the entire game, and I felt so bad for the visitors, whose leading scorer was out with an injury.

In the first quarter, the Lions only scored 2 points. In the third quarter, they had ZERO POINTS!

For the entire game, they took 55 shots and made only 6. That’s just over 10 percent. They were 1 for 22 from the three-point line.

You know what really made me sick? Two of my favorite Rainbow Wahine players went down with serious injuries in that final quarter. My heart just sunk.

https://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2024/1 ... bluff.aspx