March Madness Discussion (Men's Nat'l Championship Game: Mon 4/8: Purdue vs UCONN)

[azcatz11]

Man what a night. Caleb Love gets bounced and UNC gets bounced and so ends the 5 year career of Bacot.

What a great night!

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[Repeat 3-peat]

Man what a night. Caleb Love gets bounced and UNC gets bounced and so ends the 5 year career of Bacot.

What a great night!

[BigGargamel]

This may be the best bracket I've ever filled out in my life

You picked Clemson and Illini?

Yup, I got UConn, Illinois and Clemson. Just missed out on North Carolina. That's my first Elite 8 miss. Tomorrow I got Marquette, Duke, Creighton and Purdue.

Of course I didn't do this for money this year.

[RookieStar]

So Bacot has 1 mlore year right? Right?

Just like the fast and the furious franchise? One last ride and all?

[RookieStar]

Go Tides

Surprisingly competitive right now.

Yes it is.... great night. Duke fans feel less pressured now.

[___Rand___]

This may be the best bracket I've ever filled out in my life

You picked Clemson and Illini?

Yup, I got UConn, Illinois and Clemson. Just missed out on North Carolina. That's my first Elite 8 miss. Tomorrow I got Marquette, Duke, Creighton and Purdue.

Of course I didn't do this for money this year.

I like defense and size in tournaments so I'd never have made Illlini and Clemson picks but good for you. Iowa State just disappointed me with their lack of ability to score this game. Credit Illini who showed they can play defense too.

Tomorrow I picked Duke, NC State (my cinderella pick), Purdue and Tennessee. I think Houston can beat Duke. picked Duke pre tourny thinking 1 of Houston's starting forwards will be hobbled in the tournament, but he isn't, and the bench being injured hasn't hurt Houston.

Ah March madness.

[___Rand___]

Go Tides

Surprisingly competitive right now.

Yes it is.... great night. Duke fans feel less pressured now.

because UNC's out? That's so silly.

[RookieStar]

Surprisingly competitive right now.

Yes it is.... great night. Duke fans feel less pressured now.

because UNC's out? That's so silly.

Hmmm lets ask Dukefan4lyf his reaction

[Duke4life831]

Yes it is.... great night. Duke fans feel less pressured now.

because UNC's out? That's so silly.

Hmmm lets ask Dukefan4lyf his reaction

Yes one of the best nights of March each year is when UNC gets bounced out of the tournament. Not ashamed to admit that at all haha.

[azcatz11]

I'm curious what everyone thinks of the lines. Any strong leans today?

NC State + 7.5 vs. Marquette
Gonzaga +5.5 vs. Purdue
Duke +4.5 vs Houston
Creighton +3.5 vs. Tennessee

[Dirk]

Hope Clemson wins it all now. Would make me feel a little better.

Not me. I’m rooting against them. I’m pulling for UNC

You two need to make better life decisions. Seems like Arizona just always disappoints.

Find a better school to cheer for.

They have bad vibes. I hope they dont root for Duke.

[Duke4life831]

I'm curious what everyone thinks of the lines. Any strong leans today?

NC State + 7.5 vs. Marquette
Gonzaga +5.5 vs. Purdue
Duke +4.5 vs Houston
Creighton +3.5 vs. Tennessee

I think State's run of high level play comes to an end, I think Marquette covers that. And Ive got Zaga beating Purdue (depends on how its reffed) and Ive got Creighton over Tennessee.

[azcatz11]

I'm curious what everyone thinks of the lines. Any strong leans today?

NC State + 7.5 vs. Marquette
Gonzaga +5.5 vs. Purdue
Duke +4.5 vs Houston
Creighton +3.5 vs. Tennessee

I think State's run of high level play comes to an end, I think Marquette covers that. And Ive got Zaga beating Purdue (depends on how its reffed) and Ive got Creighton over Tennessee.

I may roll with your picks...feel like everyone is going to be on NC State...but I like the Marquette pick...

[Duke4life831]

I'm curious what everyone thinks of the lines. Any strong leans today?

NC State + 7.5 vs. Marquette
Gonzaga +5.5 vs. Purdue
Duke +4.5 vs Houston
Creighton +3.5 vs. Tennessee

I think State's run of high level play comes to an end, I think Marquette covers that. And Ive got Zaga beating Purdue (depends on how its reffed) and Ive got Creighton over Tennessee.

I may roll with your picks...feel like everyone is going to be on NC State...but I like the Marquette pick...

Marquette is such a better team overall. And I do think sooner or later this run State is on is going to come to an end.

But I will say, they do have 2 things going for them. Crazy high confidence with how theyve been playing over the last month. And Im not sure how Marquette is going to matchup with Burns. Marquette is a tiny team. Are they going to put Oso on him to start the game? He's 6'8 and maybe 215. He's going to get pushed around by Burns, or worst case scenario he gets into early foul trouble. And if they double him, Burns is a damn good passing big man.

I think that game is decided in the first 10 minutes of the game. If State is still in it at that point, I think they will be in it for the rest of the game. If Marquette is up by double digits, they will cruise.

[bwgood77]

Hope Clemson wins it all now. Would make me feel a little better.

Not me. I’m rooting against them. I’m pulling for UNC

That was probably short lived, though I know you love rooting for teams that BJJ does. I like rooting for a team that knocked out AZ, since it will show AZ was maybe 2nd best.

However, I kind of like Clemson. Shef and Hall were great and Hunter played really well. And the fans with the chef hats were hilarious. They are well coached.

I give AZ credit though for getting it very close by the end despite Caleb Love playing like absolute ****. This is the PAC 12 player of the year. Larsson was very disappointing as well. And Boswell did nothing.

Excited for next year with a young team, but still some returnees, particularly Jaden Daniels and KJ Lewis, but also Krivas. Then you have Boswell (though not too excited for him), but top recruits in Carter Bryant, 4th ranked PF with serious size, Jamari Phillips, 5th ranked SG, and 7 footer Emmanuel Stephens, 14th ranked C. It also looks like they have Joson Sanon, a highly ranked SF. So solid freshman class with some good returnees. Should be 7 or 8 deep. They are also good at getting transfers.

[bwgood77]

I think State's run of high level play comes to an end, I think Marquette covers that. And Ive got Zaga beating Purdue (depends on how its reffed) and Ive got Creighton over Tennessee.

I may roll with your picks...feel like everyone is going to be on NC State...but I like the Marquette pick...

Marquette is such a better team overall. And I do think sooner or later this run State is on is going to come to an end.

But I will say, they do have 2 things going for them. Crazy high confidence with how theyve been playing over the last month. And Im not sure how Marquette is going to matchup with Burns. Marquette is a tiny team. Are they going to put Oso on him to start the game? He's 6'8 and maybe 215. He's going to get pushed around by Burns, or worst case scenario he gets into early foul trouble. And if they double him, Burns is a damn good passing big man.

I think that game is decided in the first 10 minutes of the game. If State is still in it at that point, I think they will be in it for the rest of the game. If Marquette is up by double digits, they will cruise.

Looking forward to watching Kolek. Such an interesting player. He doesn't look the part of an NBA player but is such a master at floor vision, passing, and getting to the rim and finishing with his left hand. Uses the backboard really well. I wouldn't mind the Suns taking a flyer on him.

He's averaging like 20 and 11 in the tourney and led the NCAA in assists this year.

[bwgood77]

Surprisingly competitive right now.

Yes it is.... great night. Duke fans feel less pressured now.

because UNC's out? That's so silly.

Yeah, if anything that doesn't bode well for them, unless what he is saying is that they feel less pressure because NC fans can't brag about going further if they lose.

I had Houston losing to UConn in the final, but Houston is pretty injured overall so I won't be too surprised if they lose. Marquette/NC St should be interesting. NC State rolling and Marquette struggled with Colorado, though I do think the Buffs were playing really well.

Creighton vs Tennessee was my hardest pick in my bracket, but I finally went with Tennessee. The SEC has been weird. Kentucky out early, Auburn out early, but Bama doing really well.

I expect Purdue to take care of Gonzaga. I wasn't really high on Purdue coming in, but they have looked good. I wasn't really high on the Zags either.

[Duke4life831]

I may roll with your picks...feel like everyone is going to be on NC State...but I like the Marquette pick...

Marquette is such a better team overall. And I do think sooner or later this run State is on is going to come to an end.

But I will say, they do have 2 things going for them. Crazy high confidence with how theyve been playing over the last month. And Im not sure how Marquette is going to matchup with Burns. Marquette is a tiny team. Are they going to put Oso on him to start the game? He's 6'8 and maybe 215. He's going to get pushed around by Burns, or worst case scenario he gets into early foul trouble. And if they double him, Burns is a damn good passing big man.

I think that game is decided in the first 10 minutes of the game. If State is still in it at that point, I think they will be in it for the rest of the game. If Marquette is up by double digits, they will cruise.

Looking forward to watching Kolek. Such an interesting player. He doesn't look the part of an NBA player but is such a master at floor vision, passing, and getting to the rim and finishing with his left hand. Uses the backboard really well. I wouldn't mind the Suns taking a flyer on him.

He's averaging like 20 and 11 in the tourney and led the NCAA in assists this year.

Ya the dude is a straight up stud at the college level. He really does just put on a masterclass basically each night at the guard spot. And I agree, Im not really sure if he will have a role at the next level and I wont be shocked if he decides to return to school for 1 more year.

But the guy is so smart and so skilled on the offensive end, I wouldnt be surprised if he finds himself sticking as a bench guard for a NBA team.

[bwgood77]

I'm curious what everyone thinks of the lines. Any strong leans today?

NC State + 7.5 vs. Marquette
Gonzaga +5.5 vs. Purdue
Duke +4.5 vs Houston
Creighton +3.5 vs. Tennessee

I think State's run of high level play comes to an end, I think Marquette covers that. And Ive got Zaga beating Purdue (depends on how its reffed) and Ive got Creighton over Tennessee.

I may roll with your picks...feel like everyone is going to be on NC State...but I like the Marquette pick...

I loved Creighton coming in. They struggled with the Ducks quite a bit though. The Ducks are a good tourney team but Creighton really should have taken care of them more easily. That being said, Tennessee struggled with Texas also, and I don't think Texas was that great....and the Big 12 doesn't seem too impressive in the tourney so far...UT was worse than Kansas, Iowa St, Texas Tech, etc.

[bwgood77]

Marquette is such a better team overall. And I do think sooner or later this run State is on is going to come to an end.

But I will say, they do have 2 things going for them. Crazy high confidence with how theyve been playing over the last month. And Im not sure how Marquette is going to matchup with Burns. Marquette is a tiny team. Are they going to put Oso on him to start the game? He's 6'8 and maybe 215. He's going to get pushed around by Burns, or worst case scenario he gets into early foul trouble. And if they double him, Burns is a damn good passing big man.

I think that game is decided in the first 10 minutes of the game. If State is still in it at that point, I think they will be in it for the rest of the game. If Marquette is up by double digits, they will cruise.

Looking forward to watching Kolek. Such an interesting player. He doesn't look the part of an NBA player but is such a master at floor vision, passing, and getting to the rim and finishing with his left hand. Uses the backboard really well. I wouldn't mind the Suns taking a flyer on him.

He's averaging like 20 and 11 in the tourney and led the NCAA in assists this year.

Ya the dude is a straight up stud at the college level. He really does just put on a masterclass basically each night at the guard spot. And I agree, Im not really sure if he will have a role at the next level and I wont be shocked if he decides to return to school for 1 more year.

But the guy is so smart and so skilled on the offensive end, I wouldnt be surprised if he finds himself sticking as a bench guard for a NBA team.

I won't be surprised either. He does remind me of Nash at the college level. They are the same size but Kolek is probably a better defender. He also averages more assists and shoots better from 3 than Nash did in his last year. Obviously I don't see him as good as Nash in the NBA, but maybe somewhere between him and McConnell, but a bit closer to Nash. You do have some small guards who have done well coming in, like Brunson, though he was better in college, but is also a star now at the pro level.