Week of 3/2 Bracketology

Status
Not open for further replies.
#3      
Anyone wanna share their earliest tourney memory?

Mine was 97 when we last to Chattannooga. I could not understand how we lost to a team i had never heard of

Then of course 2 years later we lost to Florida in 2nd rd who somehow was a 5 seed?
 
#4      
Anyone wanna share their earliest tourney memory?

Mine was 97 when we last to Chattannooga. I could not understand how we lost to a team i had never heard of

Then of course 2 years later we lost to Florida in 2nd rd who somehow was a 5 seed?
For the elder statesmen on here, the Tourney was no where near where it is today. In the early 70’s, I used to take construction board and drew out the bracket and hung it on the wall in my bedroom. It wasn’t until 1979 when it expanded to 40 teams and NBC, who was the broadcast network pushed it especially the Finals which featured Magic Vs Larry. But the year before it was Goose Givens and the Kentucky Wildcats vs Jim Spanarkle/Mike Gminski led Duke team. We made the Tourney as a 4 seed in 1981 where we had a buy in the Oregon State Region. What’s frustrating was we barely got by a Wyoming team in the Round of 32, thank you Perry Range for knocking down crucial Fts late in the game, we caught a break as the overall number 1 seed Oregon State lost to Kansas State team. That didn’t work out well for us as we lost 57-52 on a poorly shot game by us. Ed Nealy, Ro Blackmon and Tim Jankovich outplayed us. I really thought that team of EJ, Mark Smith, Derek Holcomb, Derek Harper. Perry Range would make noise and get to al least the E8. But losing to a lower seed as frustrating. I remember talking to Harper years later in Dallas about that game and his Maverick teammate Ro Blackmon. It was colorful to say the least. LOL
 
#5      
For the elder statesmen on here, the Tourney was no where near where it is today. In the early 70’s, I used to take construction board and drew out the bracket and hung it on the wall in my bedroom. It wasn’t until 1979 when it expanded to 40 teams and NBC, who was the broadcast network pushed it especially the Finals which featured Magic Vs Larry. But the year before it was Goose Givens and the Kentucky Wildcats vs Jim Spanarkle/Mike Gminski led Duke team. We made the Tourney as a 4 seed in 1981 where we had a buy in the Oregon State Region. What’s frustrating was we barely got by a Wyoming team in the Round of 32, thank you Perry Range for knocking down crucial Fts late in the game, we caught a break as the overall number 1 seed Oregon State lost to Kansas State team. That didn’t work out well for us as we lost 57-52 on a poorly shot game by us. Ed Nealy, Ro Blackmon and Tim Jankovich outplayed us. I really thought that team of EJ, Mark Smith, Derek Holcomb, Derek Harper. Perry Range would make noise and get to al least the E8. But losing to a lower seed as frustrating. I remember talking to Harper years later in Dallas about that game and his Maverick teammate Ro Blackmon. It was colorful to say the least. LOL
That Kansas State game was a killer - we shot 3 FTs and Harper didn't score. Had KSU made their FTs, they would have buried us. That was a terrific team.
 
#6      
Being an old guy, I remember listening to the radio of Illinois basketball games with my father in the mid 1950s with Bill Ridley, Bill Altenberger and the Judson brothers among others.
 
#8      
Space Office GIF
 
#9      
The last #2 seed. I don’t see us passing any of the teams currently higher. But looking at the current #3s, it’s really gonna come down to who goes furthest in the Big 10 tourneys. IL, Purdue, MSU, Nebraska all battling for the last #2 seed. The only way Purdue passes us is if they beat us in the BTT. MSU is the one that worries me bc they could move above us simply by going further and not running into Michigan till the last game
 
#10      
The last #2 seed. I don’t see us passing any of the teams currently higher. But looking at the current #3s, it’s really gonna come down to who goes furthest in the Big 10 tourneys. IL, Purdue, MSU, Nebraska all battling for the last #2 seed. The only way Purdue passes us is if they beat us in the BTT. MSU is the one that worries me bc they could move above us simply by going further and not running into Michigan till the last game
Nebraska bothers me. They played an absolutely atrocious non conference schedule and are being rewarded for it because they won all those games. Most of the teams in the last 2/3 seed convo would've likely done the same. New Mexico is their only decent non conference win but doesn't stack up to anyone else in the convo in my opinion.
 
#11      
For the elder statesmen on here, the Tourney was no where near where it is today. In the early 70’s, I used to take construction board and drew out the bracket and hung it on the wall in my bedroom. It wasn’t until 1979 when it expanded to 40 teams and NBC, who was the broadcast network pushed it especially the Finals which featured Magic Vs Larry. But the year before it was Goose Givens and the Kentucky Wildcats vs Jim Spanarkle/Mike Gminski led Duke team. We made the Tourney as a 4 seed in 1981 where we had a buy in the Oregon State Region. What’s frustrating was we barely got by a Wyoming team in the Round of 32, thank you Perry Range for knocking down crucial Fts late in the game, we caught a break as the overall number 1 seed Oregon State lost to Kansas State team. That didn’t work out well for us as we lost 57-52 on a poorly shot game by us. Ed Nealy, Ro Blackmon and Tim Jankovich outplayed us. I really thought that team of EJ, Mark Smith, Derek Holcomb, Derek Harper. Perry Range would make noise and get to al least the E8. But losing to a lower seed as frustrating. I remember talking to Harper years later in Dallas about that game and his Maverick teammate Ro Blackmon. It was colorful to say the least. LOL
Ed Nealy - a name I hoped I would never hear again. Grr.
 
#12      
Nebraska bothers me. They played an absolutely atrocious non conference schedule and are being rewarded for it because they won all those games. Most of the teams in the last 2/3 seed convo would've likely done the same. New Mexico is their only decent non conference win but doesn't stack up to anyone else in the convo in my opinion.
They aren’t being rewarded for their non con schedule. They’re being rewarded for their overall resume, which includes a better Q1 win percentage than us btw (they’re 8-4, we’re 8-6).
 
Last edited:
#14      
They aren’t being rewarded for their non con schedule. They’re being rewarded for their overall resume, which includes a better Q1 win percentage than us btw (they’re 8-4, we’re 8-6).
That Q1 percentage includes the non con schedule which in Nebraska’s case was very weak. Their Q1 record is the result of the Big 10 not their non con.

There’s also the factor of every team’s conference schedule isn’t the same. Nebraska didn’t have to play at Purdue ( even they lost to them at home) nor at Michigan State.
 
Last edited:
#15      
Are we in control of our destiny for earning a 3 seed in the B1G tournament? Or does someone else also have to lose?
 
#16      
Nebraska is going to lose 1 of UCLA or Iowa. Sparty will lose to Michigan. Go 2-0 this week and we will still be on the 2 line headed to the BTT.
And of course you mean a #2 seed in the Big Dance. (No real chance of a 2-seed in the BTT).
 
#17      
They aren’t being rewarded for their non con schedule. They’re being rewarded for their overall resume, which includes a better Q1 win percentage than us btw (they’re 8-4, we’re 8-6).
All of their Q1 games are conference games minus New Mexico. And that's the issue. Hard to swallow rewarding them/dinging us on winning % for losing to Bama and UConn when they played nobody. They are 3-4 in Q1A games (all B10), zero non conf 1A wins. We have played TWELVE Q1A games (4 out of conference) and are 6-6 including 2 premiere non conference wins. Their resume doesn't hold up to us (or others in 2 seed convo) when you dive in beyond just the #s.
 
#19      
Nebraska is going to lose 1 of UCLA or Iowa. Sparty will lose to Michigan. Go 2-0 this week and we will still be on the 2 line headed to the BTT.

Well even so, if Nebraska/MSU are the #2/#3 seeds in the BTT, I’d honestly expect the winner of that game if they matchup in the semis to jump IL for #2 seed in NCAA.

If it’s MSU, they already have the H2H on Illinois. So I’d expect it. If it’s Nebraska, the H2H is 1:1, and IL metrics are better. But Nebraska did play Michigan to a much closer loss than Illinois did in the regular season. That may give them the bump
 
#20      
That Kansas State game was a killer - we shot 3 FTs and Harper didn't score. Had KSU made their FTs, they would have buried us. That was a terrific team.
Plus Tucker shot poorly which hurt. We just could not get any traction in that game. Almost as frustrating of a game as the 38-33 PSU debacle
 
#21      
That Q1 percentage includes the non con schedule which in Nebraska’s case was very weak. Their Q1 record is the result of the Big 10 not their non con.

There’s also the factor of every team’s conference schedule isn’t the same. Nebraska didn’t have to play at Purdue ( even they lost to them at home) nor at Michigan State.
The committee doesn’t sort by non-con vs conference schedule. They look at resumes as a whole. Nebraska has ~3 seed type resume based on their overall resume, which is similar to ours.
 
#22      
And of course you mean a #2 seed in the Big Dance. (No real chance of a 2-seed in the BTT).
We need Nebraska to lose both their remaining games to have a shot at getting out of the 4 seed. MSU has Rutgers at home and Michigan on the road and they hold the tie breaker. That is where we stand.
 
Last edited:
#23      
The committee doesn’t sort by non-con vs conference schedule. They look at resumes as a whole. Nebraska has ~3 seed type resume based on their overall resume, which is similar to ours.
Their poor Non Conference schedule puts them squarely on the 3-4 line depending on how things end up in a couple of weeks.
 
#25      
It's looking more and more likely that the B1G will have one 2 seed and three 3 seeds. Normally I would say there is not much difference. But this year I see a pretty large difference.

If we are a 3 seed our Sweet 16 matchup would be UConn, Florida, Houston, or Iowa St. I think we can all agree the worst possible outcome is a 3 seed having to play arguably the best team in the country right now in the Sweet 16 (Florida).

If we can get the 2 seed then we are most likely playing Kansas, Gonzaga, or Texas Tech. I like any of those matchups 100x better than the ones above.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back