Thoughts on this year's field of 68? Kentucky is listed by at least one Vegas sports book at even money to win it all for the first time in at least 20 years. The seeding was a little odd to me. I don't like Oklahoma and Baylor as 3-seeds and I think Maryland deserved a 3-seed over one of them.
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3507734/NCAA_Printab…
I don't think Maryland is that great either. MSU (unranked) was favored by 4-5 in the B10 semifinal against them (top-10), so gamblers don't trust them. Wisconsin is good but they have a tough path - probably UNC, Arizona, Kentucky just to reach the championship game. I'm having trouble with that region and the Duke/Gonzaga/Iowa St. region.
ISU is garbage, so there's that....Niang is so overrated it's ridiculous...personally I think dook and Kentucky are the two shoo-ins to the Final Four and I think that as a 2 seed UVA got the best draw of a 1 seed...I think 9/10 times UVA beats Nova (if Nova makes it that far)
Serious question: what is the best way to fill out a bracket if you know nothing about college basketball?
Here's a primer: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2396232-2015-ncaa-bracket-prediction…
Theres a sports website, might be CBS or Yahoo that gives every team a random name and a 1-5 ranking on 5 major stats, this way there's no name/seed bias, you just pick based on what you see there. So even if you dont know what teams are better, you can pick a team to win over another because they have a "5" in 3 point shooting and the other has a "1" in defense.
Pick the highest seeds in every contest and play the math. Your co-workers and friends will hate you--they may even lose respect for you as a human being--but you'll be playing the odds. It'll at least prevent you from being in dead last place.
I think one of the most interesting 1st round games is Buffalo (1st time tourney berth, coached by Bobby Hurley) vs WVU ... may be an upset in the making
That's definitely a trendy pick for an upset (in fact, it's right there in the BR article I just posted). Buffalo led both Kentucky and Wisconsin on the road at halftime this season, so they can compete for sure.
Buffalo Cinderella upsets until Sweet 16!
I love the betting the field rather than Kentucky since they are even money to win the tourney
Personally, I'm with John Oliver on this one. I'm putting my money on the NCAA and the Advertising Companies winning the Tournament with Mark Emmert getting the MVP nod here.
John Oliver has been killing it between this and the FCC show.
I just saw that last night. Spot on and a shame how little they seem to care about all of these "student-athletes" when they aren't on television promoting their respective schools. I thought Oliver's point on the store clerk selling the player's jersey and making $10 an hour while the player gets nothing is a clear an example of how ridiculous all of this really is.
No... This explains how ridiculous the NCAA is. And this is a few years before Oliver's rant.
The seeding was hilarious this year, but I also don't think it matters as much as which region you were placed in. Putting MSU and Iowa both as 7-seeds, when MSU had just beat Maryland and lost in OT to Wisconsin, does not make much sense. However, I think MSU has as good of a chance as making it out of that part of the bracket as anyone.
For Kentucky, it is all about who they have to play. If they get lucky with upsets around their bracket, they will walk to an NCAA championship. However, if they have to play 3 or 4 top ten teams in a row, I think they will lose a game in their.
This year makes for an interesting tournament. Can't wait. Best tournament in sports.
Agreed about MSU. I thought before the Big Ten Tourney they might take people by surprise but after the way we played (yes, "we") I don't think that's going to happen anymore -- probably opened some eyes by leading Wisconsin by 11 late.. what a horrible way to lose.
because they're in my state, Mark Few is a genius, and most importantly because of Adam Morrison, I will always root for Gonzaga. GO BULLDOGS
p.s. i hate that they're on the frontpage of espn right now, i swear espn does this every year... They're a horrible tourney team, they may not even get past Iowa state, though this is probably the best team they've ever had so who knows.
Wrong bulldogs bro, go Butler.
My final four prediction: Kentucky, UNC, Louisville, and Duke. Final is Kentucky over Duke. Tempted to take Kansas over Kentucky though. No doubt Kentucky is good, but they haven't exactly been pushed, at all, over the past x months.
You heard it here first: Eastern Washington over Georgetown
Going to make a killing on Gtown winning, E. Washington is terrible and has gotten murdered by every team they have played this year that plays D. Gtown doesn't have a bad loss all year and has a stud in Smith-Rivera. Getting a ton of hate right now so I have them getting to the 2nd weekend
Going to make a killing on Gtown winning, E. Washington is terrible and has gotten murdered by every team they have played this year that plays D. Gtown doesn't have a bad loss all year and has a stud in Smith-Rivera. Getting a ton of hate right now so I have them getting to the 2nd weekend
I kind of want to gamble and go with Gtown winning it
Duke always busts
If dook busts that still leaves over a dozen teams better than Georgetown....
Upsets I see happening:
Buffalo over WVU: Buffalo is well coached and this is a bad matchup for West Virigina Butler(!) over Texas: Should not really be an upset but for whatever reason Texas is favored. Butler has a stud in Dunham and Roosevelt Jones is a machine. Rick Barnes is going to Barnes another tourney. Witchita St. over KU: They have been looking forward to this game for decades, Kanas is very inconsistent BYU over Baylor: Little out there, but BYU is an offensive machine and Baylor has not impressed me. Play in game winners have also historically been doing very well in the dance Gtown over EWU/Utah/SFA: Gtown is overseeded, but the amount of hate they are getting for what is a quality basketball team that not so long ago murdered Villanova is astounding. Play everyone tough and have no bad losses all year. ISU over Gonzaga: ISU is scary and no lead is safe around these whirling dervishes. Whoever said Niang is overrated is insane.
couldn't help myself....though I didn't have them losing to UAB that just solidifies my pick of SMU to the Sweet 16.
And might I add.... Niang was 4-15 from the field....
I wasn't expecting Ole Miss to beat BYU in the play-in game. I had BYU making it to the Sweet Sixteen, so now I have to revise my bracket...
I had them over Baylor too....can't believe how badly they played that second half....
Unfortunately we do a written bracket so know I gotta hope that Ole Miss pulls one over (which I think can happen considering Baylor is not that good)
These play-in games are so lame in general ... they should just go back to a 64 team field without them
Agreed. Or at least make the play-in teams all the crappy small conference champs that don't deserve to make the tourney anyway.
Has Georgetown EVER made it out of the first round? Biggest bust team in the tourney, consistently. Duke has such an easy opportunity to make it to the Final Four. Hands down the easiest possible matchups, but they will choke like always
Duke (nor UNC for that matter) will have the ACC refs to help them out...
While Kentucky still has a good chance to win, I think they're going to have to get through much harder teams than they've played recently. Notre Dame --> Wisconsin --> Duke would be a tough road for them.
Arizona, Kentucky, Virginia, and Duke Final Four.
Arizona beats Kentucky, Duke beats Virignia, Arizona wins it all
Teams I can see legitimately beating UK: Arizona and Wisconsin. Arizona has the size to match up with them, If Wisconsin has a good game offensively it will be hard for UK to keep up. Either way I think Kentucky will have to have an off game to lose; nobody can beat them at their best.
With that being said, I can see UK losing to the Notre Dames of the tournament just because its march madness. But only by fluke.
So who else did Iowa State just fuck over?
Double.
UAB dumped about 1/6 of the people in my survivor pool
Picked UAB in one bracket. Of course, it's the same one where I had Oregon in the final.
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