Root for St John's.
3/26-3/27 Games Thread
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OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
In my opinion, they are the best team in the country and have been for a big chunk of the season. They have no obvious weakness.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Duke, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa State (especially if Jefferson is able to play meaningful minutes and be effective).
Who are we rooting for today?
Definitely want to see Duke go down. But other than that I just want to see good basketball and down to the wire games.
On one hand, it would be cool to see 5 B1G teams in the E8. On the other hand, Michigan and/or MSU losing would be satisfying to see.
Definitely want to see Duke go down. But other than that I just want to see good basketball and down to the wire games.
On one hand, it would be cool to see 5 B1G teams in the E8. On the other hand, Michigan and/or MSU losing would be satisfying to see.
I'm rooting for all the B1G teams - kinda like I do during bowl season. It feels weird to root for them, but I look at it as that's what's best for the B1G overall and thus U of I in the long run.
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Edit - Also I just saw that @the juiceman cometh posted over in the sweet 16 thread the below information. All credit to them. I just did the CTRL C/V.
I got curious about the financial payouts for Tourney success, and basically the way it works is each game a team appears counts as a "unit" and equates to an approximately $2 million payout to that team's conference. 135 units in all according to the below article, which means the winner of the championship game must get an extra unit? The total payout for each Tourney is paid out over 6 years (so for example if the Big Ten earns 30 units this tournament, that's $60 million in payments, so $10 million a year for the next 6 years just for this tournament). The conference determines how that gets distributed.
First Four, early rounds boost conferences’ NCAA payouts
The piece explains how NCAA men’s basketball tournament units are allocated and paid out and which conferences are cashing in through the first two roundsSo anyway, if you were on the fence about whether to root for Big Ten teams in the tourney or not, maybe the fact that each time a Big Ten team wins it nets over $100k (assuming even distribution) for the Illinois athletic department might be one factor to consider.
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SuperMetroid
- Evanston
Can I just say that I love love LOVE that Illini are in the Thurs/Sat pod for this tournament?
Probably just personal choice, but I hate watching a bunch of other teams advance before mine does. The rest of the games are much more enjoyable after your team has already won
Probably just personal choice, but I hate watching a bunch of other teams advance before mine does. The rest of the games are much more enjoyable after your team has already won
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Maddy’s tired too. She had to get up at 5am and do cat things. But she’s a trooper.You didn't have to be on an 8:30 AM work call this morning I see
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I hate Sparty and Michigan and I reject the goofy SEC logic of rooting for your own rivals.
.....and yet I kinda think it would be cool to have 5 of the Elite 8, especially from the "real" Big Ten.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Well… Michigan State was an expansion team, but we can let that slide.
And Michigan got kicked out for cheating, back when the conference cared about such things.Well… Michigan State was an expansion team, but we can let that slide.
Duke at the top would be a very tough matchup - but we all agree we want them to lose.
If you had the choice, would you rather play Michigan or Arizona?
If you had the choice, would you rather play Michigan or Arizona?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I mean let's be real here, we would all MUCH rather lose the NCG to Arizona than Michigan and if we win who cares.
Michigan.
AZ is the better team, we’ve already seen (and learned from) what scUM presents. Would also not mind an All BIG title game.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
updatedRooting for:
5 St. John's check
Meteor (radioactive)
Sinkhole (into magma pit)
6 Tennessee nah ISU
chrisRunner7
- San Diego
We are on the doorstep of the Final Four and are favored to beat Iowa to get there... at this point, I am rooting for the other top teams to lose, so give me:
St. John's
Michigan State
Alabama
Iowa St. <-- Only because they stand a better chance than Tennessee of beating Michigan and/or Arizona
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Always thought this was such a bummer for the teams whose fan sections weren't behind either bench, as it looks like crap on TV ... but I guess there really isn't much you can do about it!
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
Were the locations based on seeding?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
100% this for me. The Big Ten has already proven itself to be a great conference in the NCAA Tournament so far ... let's let the Illini carry the rest of the load, no need for teams like Michigan to hang around! Specifically for each one...
(1) St. John's is obvious, as I just think Duke is better. And if you are playing the odds game, St. John's stringing together three games in a row good enough to take down Duke and then UConn / MSU and THEN us is less likely than Duke doing the same (which would, of course, result in us getting knocked out in either scenario).
(2) First of all, I think MSU has a better chance at knocking off Duke than UConn. MSU played them really tough earlier in the year, and I just feel the likelihood that an "unexpected result" occurs because MSU mucks up the game is far more likely than UConn beating Duke, which I would actually predict to be an incredibly boring game where Duke leads by 6-8 the whole time and maybe wins by 13 after late FTs and desperation threes from the Huskies. Second of all, though ... I want ALL of that MSU smoke in the Final Four. I think our team would come knives out for a shot at revenge vs. MSU with a trip to the NC game on the line.
(3) See my comment on St. John's on why I'm rooting for Alabama ... I just don't personally want any part of Michigan again, so the sooner they're out the better. Michigan is also near the top of the list of programs that need knocked down a peg, and maybe an earlier Michigan loss makes it more likely one of these top jobs reaches perfect timing at poaching Dusty May away from the Big Ten?? A guy can dream! Also, and this really goes without saying here, this Michigan team is easy to dislike.
(4) This is the one I would be the most "happy with either result," but I agree with your point here. I like Illinois' chances vs. Iowa State or (especially) Tennessee if we get that far, but the bigger variable is who can send Michigan home.
All in all, this would be my dream order of events if EVERYTHING broke our way!
Sweet Sixteen
- St. John's upsets Duke, knocking out a huge threat for the title.
- MSU knocks off UConn. This both continues the trend of the Big Ten looking great and prevents what I see as an incredibly likely scenario that UConn just refuses to be knocked out of the Tournament by the Johnnies.
- Alabama knocks off Michigan, both giving those arrogant goons what they deserve and taking out a key title contender.
- Tennessee knocks off Iowa State, paving the way for two SEC teams that I would feel great about facing to be the ones out of the Midwest Region.
Elite Eight
- Illini of course defeat hated rival Iowa and advance to the FINAL FOUR!
- MSU beats St. John's, guaranteeing the Big Ten half of the Final Four and getting us a rematch with the Spartans for a trip to the Natty.
- As much as I can't stand them lately, Purdue somehow takes out the favorite Arizona, TRULY opening up the field to anyone else.
- Tennessee knocks off Alabama ... I like our chances vs. either, but we did beat the Vols and lose to the Tide, so there's the tiebreaker.
Final Four
- Illini continue to roll and send Fears and Co. packing with a dominant win.
- Tennessee beats Purdue ... don't even want to allow for the logical possibility that Purdue wins a National Championship before we do!
---> Illini complete both seasons by defeating the Vols in the postseason, this time to cut down the nets.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
Took Duke in my survivor - either I move on or can be extremely happy them getting knocked out
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