I know there is a similar thread already up, but that seems to be dealing with the bracket challenge rather than the actual games intself. Still, if the mods feel like this should be merged with that one, oh well...
I saw some of the Mt. St. Mary's-Coppin State game last night. While neither of the teams figure to give North Carolina much trouble on Friday, I thought the game was well played and quite competitive. Whatever your feelings about this "play-in" game, I'd say that you really couldn't argue that these teams don't deserve to be there. I think they would be able to hold their own with the majority of the "bubble" teams that got left out of the tournament this year.
So onto Thursday. My Jayhawks play early (11:25 a.m. Central time), which is good and bad. Good in that I can watch it (or most of it) before having to go into work! Bad in that KU doesn't always play well in these games with early start times. I'm a little surprised they were scheduled as the first game in Omaha -- I would have thought they'd be in the late session -- a KU/Portland State, K-State/USC evening doubleheader would have been sweet. But I guess organizers thought there would be no fans at the early session if they did that.
Anyway, I guess Westwood Radio doesn't think much of the 1-16, 2-15, 3-14 matchups; I heard their schedule for tomorrow, and the primary games are all 6-11, 7-10, 5-12 contests.
So, sticking to the THURSDAY games only, which ones are you looking forward to the most? Got any upsets you are picking?
Here are the Thursday games I'm looking forward to the most:
KU-Portland State (DUH) pick: KU
K-State-USC pick: USC
West Virginia-Arizona pick: West Virginia
Xavier-Georgia pick: Xavier
I'm picking USC because they have better talent around Mayo than K-State does around Beasley. Everyone's talking about Beasley v. Mayo, but don't forget that Mayo & Bill Walker are high school teammates and best friends. So Walker may be out to prove something (which could be great or disastrous for K-State)
I'm picking Xavier because I don't think Georgia can continue this miraculous run. Although I heard Drew Lavender has a bad ankle -- Xavier could be in real trouble if he's not near 100%
I'm picking West Viriginia because Arizona has underachieved all year and I don't like their coach.
And I'm picking KU because -- well because they're KU! (and because I don't think this is the year a 16 seed beats a 1 seed)
This should be a fun tourney...looking forward to it even more than usual!
NCAA Tournament Game Thread
Moderators: HomoSapien, AshyLarrysDiaper, coldfish, Payt10, Ice Man, dougthonus, Michael Jackson, Tommy Udo 6 , kulaz3000, fleet, DASMACKDOWN, GimmeDat, RedBulls23
NCAA Tournament Game Thread
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girlygirl
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NLK
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I have Kansas getting to the Sweet 16. Alas, I'm not sure how they'd pit against an upstart ACC team like the Tigers. I had to guess on that one, plus, every time I've picked the Jayhawks to get far, they've let me down.
NLKs Picks for the 2008 Tourney
And yes, I have K-state beating USC. Why? I think K-State will be more physical than USC will. But I could be way off here.
NLKs Picks for the 2008 Tourney
And yes, I have K-state beating USC. Why? I think K-State will be more physical than USC will. But I could be way off here.
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"You don't truly know someone, until you fight them."
"To deny our own impulses, is to deny the very essence that makes us human."
"You don't truly know someone, until you fight them."
"To deny our own impulses, is to deny the very essence that makes us human."
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girlygirl
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I took care of the Clemson threat to Kansas by having Clemson get knocked out in the first round by Villanova! Part of that is my Big 5 love (I grew up outside Philly and went to a ton of games at the palestra as a kid), part of it is I think Villanova, when they are on their game, are better than the Clemson Tigers. Clemson's run through the ACC tourney was impressive, but I don;t think they are actually that great of a team.
I actually have KU facing Vanderbilt in Sweet 16, then Davidson in the Elite Eight.
I actually have KU facing Vanderbilt in Sweet 16, then Davidson in the Elite Eight.
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NLK
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girlygirl wrote:I took care of the Clemson threat to Kansas by having Clemson get knocked out in the first round by Villanova! Part of that is my Big 5 love (I grew up outside Philly and went to a ton of games at the palestra as a kid), part of it is I think Villanova, when they are on their game, are better than the Clemson Tigers. Clemson's run through the ACC tourney was impressive, but I don;t think they are actually that great of a team.
I actually have KU facing Vanderbilt in Sweet 16, then Davidson in the Elite Eight.
I live in the Philly Area (south of it at least) and seen a bunch of 'nova games. I like Scottie Reynolds, Dante Cunningham, and the coaching job by Jay Wright. But alas, I think when it comes to athletic talent, I see Clemson being not only bigger, but a bit more physical (something I don't see 'nova being able to withstand over 40 minutes).
-NLK: Offending Djiboutians since November 2007
"You don't truly know someone, until you fight them."
"To deny our own impulses, is to deny the very essence that makes us human."
"You don't truly know someone, until you fight them."
"To deny our own impulses, is to deny the very essence that makes us human."
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bullboy
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House wrote:Is Memphis as awesome as everyone says? I haven't seen them play this year. I actually have them losing to Pitt. Is that a really bad idea?
I love Memphis, but I think them losing to Pitt is definitely possible. Not so much a dig against Memphis, but Pitt has been fiery of late and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them in the final four.
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girlygirl
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Early impressions of the early games:
Georgia doesn't seem affected by having to play 4 games in 4 days or the whole tornado-confused SEC tournament, as they have jumped on Xavier early. The Muskateers have been cold from the field and have struggled to slow down the Dawgs.
Temple has been unable to get its top 2 scorers (Christmas and Tynsdale) involved offensively and after a slow start, Michigan State has heated up from the field.
Kansas has a big lead on Portland State. Portland State's little (5'6") guard has caused some problems finding teammates off slip screens when the Jayhawks have doubled him. But they aren't hitting their 3-poiners. Meanwhile, Kansas has shot close to 60% from the field and gotten a bunch of points off turnovers. A good sign for KU fans (like me!) is that brandon Rush has been very aggressive on both ends of the court so far.
Side note: I have the March Madness package from Directtv, but it isn't doing me much good, as the KU game is on the local CBS channel out here in LA, so it is backed out on Directtv...so when the local CBS channel cut away to go to a more competitive game, I couldn't see the rest of the first half! They shouldn't black out ANY games on the Directtv package -- they need to understand that fans want to watch their schools, and that these fans aren't always living in the local telecast area for that school. I was trying to watch on the mix channel that shows all the games at once, but those little boxes are too small to really follow what's going on.
Georgia doesn't seem affected by having to play 4 games in 4 days or the whole tornado-confused SEC tournament, as they have jumped on Xavier early. The Muskateers have been cold from the field and have struggled to slow down the Dawgs.
Temple has been unable to get its top 2 scorers (Christmas and Tynsdale) involved offensively and after a slow start, Michigan State has heated up from the field.
Kansas has a big lead on Portland State. Portland State's little (5'6") guard has caused some problems finding teammates off slip screens when the Jayhawks have doubled him. But they aren't hitting their 3-poiners. Meanwhile, Kansas has shot close to 60% from the field and gotten a bunch of points off turnovers. A good sign for KU fans (like me!) is that brandon Rush has been very aggressive on both ends of the court so far.
Side note: I have the March Madness package from Directtv, but it isn't doing me much good, as the KU game is on the local CBS channel out here in LA, so it is backed out on Directtv...so when the local CBS channel cut away to go to a more competitive game, I couldn't see the rest of the first half! They shouldn't black out ANY games on the Directtv package -- they need to understand that fans want to watch their schools, and that these fans aren't always living in the local telecast area for that school. I was trying to watch on the mix channel that shows all the games at once, but those little boxes are too small to really follow what's going on.