March Madness

[O Really]

Norfolk State 54 App State 53.
Apparently the Zags can rest easy.

Too bad billy.p will have to put up with the bluefield guys another round.

[Vrede too]

Norfolk State 54 App State 53.
Apparently the Zags can rest easy.

Great minds, I was going to post something like that. Go Zags!

Too bad billy.p will have to put up with the bluefield guys another round.

Also by 1 but it’s the NIT, who cares? They should get a blue court.

11. Michigan State/UCLA
???!!!

9:57 PM ET TBS.
Go Bruins, underdogs by 2.

In OT!

[Vrede too]

8. North Carolina
9. Wisconsin

UNC surprises me, I haven't looked up why it made it.

Legacy votes.
And, they had quality late season wins over Virginia Tech and FSU, and ran FSU to the line last week. Plus a total stomping of ND and Dook (of course, Dook may have been sick that night)

Ah, I gave up on them many weeks ago. That was a strong finish.
https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/teams/n- ... a/schedule
10-6, 18-10 ain't awful. It's better than Duke's 9-9, 13-11 . . . or Miami's 4-15, 10-17 .

We'll see, I don't hate Wisconsin.

'Heels have lost only 2 first round games since 1941ish. Of course, most of those games they were seeded much higher than 8, typically 1 or 2 playing some hamburger meat team. But still - it's a long record that no team wants to break.

7:10 PM ET, CBS, UNC favored by 1.5
The game interests me, but I don't really care who wins. Sorry. Otherwise, without gambling I'm impressed by how little today's games matter to me. I mostly want to see underdogs 15 Oral Roberts, 13 Liberty and 7 Clemson LOSE. I'll root for you and 6 San Diego State (favored by 3) > 11 Syracuse.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... e/20210319

[O Really]

I'll root for you and 6 San Diego State (favored by 3) > 11 Syracuse.

One of our local sports guys is an Aztec alum - another is Syracuse. They've been throwing substantial friendly trash at each other. Syracuse guy is definitely in the minority around here, though. The city, deprived of its former NFL team, and with no NBA team, no major league hockey, and no PAC-12 level school has really rallied around the Aztecs.

[Vrede too]

One of our local sports guys is an Aztec alum - another is Syracuse. They've been throwing substantial friendly trash at each other. Syracuse guy is definitely in the minority around here, though. The city, deprived of its former NFL team, and with no NBA team, no major league hockey, and no PAC-12 level school has really rallied around the Aztecs.

. . . no MLB team - not counting 2020's shortened, weird, empty stadium and ultimately swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. 9 losing seasons prior to that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... es_seasons

[O Really]

One of our local sports guys is an Aztec alum - another is Syracuse. They've been throwing substantial friendly trash at each other. Syracuse guy is definitely in the minority around here, though. The city, deprived of its former NFL team, and with no NBA team, no major league hockey, and no PAC-12 level school has really rallied around the Aztecs.

. . . no MLB team - not counting 2020's shortened, weird, empty stadium and ultimately swept by the Dodgers in the NLDS. 9 losing seasons prior to that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... es_seasons

They claim this year will be better. Variation on the "wait til next year" theme, I guess. Cactus League standing 13th out of 15, 7-11. Maybe it's the brown uniforms. I'm guessing they'll be in line soon for a trashing for their "Padres" name, reminiscent of Father Junípero Serra and Don Caspar de Portolá who abused the Indians.

[Vrede too]

I'd say they and everyone else, including App St, would be shocked. A 16 seed has only beat a 1 seed once, in 2018 when UMBC upset Virginia.

... I mostly want to see underdogs 15 Oral Roberts, 13 Liberty and 7 Clemson LOSE. I'll root for you and 6 San Diego State (favored by 3) > 11 Syracuse.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... e/20210319

15 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 75
2 Ohio State Buckeyes 72
Final/OT
, but an Ohio State loss does not wreck my day. I'll root for OT winner vs VA Tech today 7 Florida in the next game.

Also:
12 Oregon State 70
5 Tennessee 56
, first NCAA tournament win in 39 years.

[O Really]

Carolina is like a box of chocolates - ya never know what you're gonna get.

[O Really]

Apparently a season of beating up on Mountain West schools doesn't help much in March. Aztecs and Utah State go down bigly.

[Vrede too]

Apparently a season of beating up on Mountain West schools doesn't help much in March. Aztecs and Utah State go down bigly.

Neither they nor UNC were ever close. Sorry. You had as bad a day as the Big 10 did. I wonder if there's ever been a 1st day or even a 1st round where a 2 (OH St), 4 (Purdue), 5 (Tennessee), 6 (SDSU) & 7 (Clemson ) all lost. I’ll bet that not one of the big pot ‘every pick correct’ selections is still valid.

Sat, go:
13 UNC Greensboro > 4 Florida State
14 Eastern Washington > 3 Kansas
10 Maryland > 7 UConn, go Terps!
11 UCLA > 6 BYU
3 Texas > 14 Abilene Christian, finally a favorite
7 Oregon > 10 VCU

Sun, go:
12 Oregon State > 4 Oklahoma State
7 Florida > 15 Oral Roberts
9 Wisconsin > 1 Baylor

No, these would mostly NOT have been my picks if I was gambling.

[O Really]

At least I didn't play a bracket this year. It's miserable if your favourite teams (a) don't get in or (b) get their asses kicked in the first round and you still have to follow your bracket to what is most assuredly a wipe out.

[O Really]

UNC Obituary here...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/n ... 774535001/

[Vrede too]

Neither they (SDSU) nor UNC were ever close. Sorry. You had as bad a day as the Big 10 did. I wonder if there's ever been a 1st day or even a 1st round where a 2 (OH St), 4 (Purdue), 5 (Tennessee), 6 (SDSU) & 7 (Clemson ) all lost. I’ll bet that not one of the big pot ‘every pick correct’ selections is still valid....

At least I didn't play a bracket this year. It's miserable if your favourite teams (a) don't get in or (b) get their asses kicked in the first round and you still have to follow your bracket to what is most assuredly a wipe out.

Seriously?

Only 108 NCAA tournament brackets in ESPN's Tournament Challenge remain unblemished after first day

Maybe all 108 are on heavy drugs . . . or people are using proxies and random bracket generators to submit many, many pick sets.

[Vrede too]

12 Georgetown 73
5 Colorado 96

It's weird to see how far the once great Hoyas have fallen. This was their first MM game under their 4th year coach, the once great player Patrick Ewing. A fifth year will surprise me.

Sat, go:
13 UNC Greensboro > 4 Florida State
14 Eastern Washington > 3 Kansas...

UNC-G did show up, even tied early in the 2nd, 54 - 64.
EWa did show up, even led at the half until 9:13 left, 84 - 93.

[Vrede too]

Sat, go:
7 Oregon > 10 VCU

Oregon-VCU declared no-contest due to COVID-19 protocols; Ducks advance

Disease-free Ducks rule!

[O Really]

8. North Carolina
9. Wisconsin

UNC surprises me, I haven't looked up why it made it.[/quote]

[/quote]

And now everyone else wonders why, too.

One bad season might be accepted as a bad run of luck, fluke, loss of veterans to NBA, yada, but two bad seasons in a row and some heads may have to roll. The team had some very good games, but in a way that made the lack of consistency and overall team quality look even worse. I'm not sure they pay ol' Roy $4 mill a year in the top 10 highest paid coaches so he can tank two seasons in a row. Of course, Duke, Kentucky, and Mich St. didn't really get their money's worth either this year.

[Vrede too]

8. North Carolina
9. Wisconsin

UNC surprises me, I haven't looked up why it made it.

And now everyone else wonders why, too.

One bad season might be accepted as a bad run of luck, fluke, loss of veterans to NBA, yada, but two bad seasons in a row and some heads may have to roll. The team had some very good games, but in a way that made the lack of consistency and overall team quality look even worse. I'm not sure they pay ol' Roy $4 mill a year in the top 10 highest paid coaches so he can tank two seasons in a row. Of course, Duke, Kentucky, and Mich St. didn't really get their money's worth either this year.

And Ohio St!

Seeds have been winning today . . . until:

13 Ohio 62
Reigning champ 4 Virginia 58
I didn't have a favorite, but I do like Cinderellas.

Bad weekend for the ACC, too. FSU is the lone survivor.

Sat, go:
10 Maryland > 7 UConn, go Terps!

10 Maryland 63
7 UConn 54



Next up on Mon: Crushing 2 AL!

[O Really]

Go Traitor Terps!

[Vrede too]

Go Traitor Terps!

Another upset I really really like:

Sat, go:
11 UCLA > 6 BYU

11 UCLA 73
6 BYU 62
Babylon > LDS

16 Norfolk State 55
1 Gonzaga 98
See? App St would have kicked Zag ass, but they got caught looking ahead.

[O Really]

I hope the Zags rested their starters after the half. App's lucky they didn't have to face that slaughter.