The Official NCAA Tournament Thread

[Erik W.]

Originally Posted by marc

So you won't feel the slightest bit unsatisfied that one of the best FIVE teams in a given sport won't win the championship?

Did one of your top five teams win enough games to get to the final four? No? Then they aren't one of the best teams, are they?

[marc]

Originally Posted by Azamien

Did one of your top five teams win enough games to get to the final four? No? Then they aren't one of the best teams, are they?

You're joking right?? You can't possibly be saying that the best 4 teams in College Basketball are George Mason, LSU, UCLA, and Florida.


Whoever wins this thing could very well be the worst champion in team sports since 85 Villanova.

[marc]

Originally Posted by imation

Beating Georgetown, and Vilanova wouldn't help prove that Florida is a little better than you are giving them credit for. They really have no weakness. They may not be super strong everywhere, but they play Defense well, Shoot well, run half court offense well, force turnovers, go 8 deep, big on the interior, good at shooting 3's. They are high on effenciency as well. Really what don't they do well? Plus Florida beat LSU twice. A team that took out Texas and Duke.

I'm giving them plenty of credit, they are right in the discussion with UCLA and LSU as the 6th best team in college basketball, that's quite an accomplishment.

[The Professor]

[Cooleyvol]

Originally Posted by marc

You're joking right?? You can't possibly be saying that the best 4 teams in College Basketball are George Mason, LSU, UCLA, and Florida.


Whoever wins this thing could very well be the worst champion in team sports since 85 Villanova.

I'd be interested in how you'd fix this 'fiasco'.

Seriously dude, this is why they play the games. Just b/c a team might be better than an opponent doesnt mean they'll beat them.

The national champion is the winner of this tournament. That doesnt necessarily mean that the winner of this tournament is the best team in the country, but it will mean that they are national champions.

.............and where's those guys who were dissing the SEC a few weeks back?

[His Own Bad Self]

Originally Posted by Melo

George Mason v. LSU will be a great final.

Isn't that the best-case scenario... I'd know I'd rather watch that than any other matchup that's for sure.

I think it will be an all-SEC matchup, but I hope GMU beats Florida.

[Erik W.]

Originally Posted by marc

You're joking right?? You can't possibly be saying that the best 4 teams in College Basketball are George Mason, LSU, UCLA, and Florida.


Whoever wins this thing could very well be the worst champion in team sports since 85 Villanova.

Who's better? Duke? Lost. UConn? Lost, to a mid-major no one has ever heard of outside of the DC area.

If they're the best, they should win the games. If they don't win, how can you quanitify them being the best?

[marc]

Originally Posted by Azamien

Who's better? Duke? Lost. UConn? Lost, to a mid-major no one has ever heard of outside of the DC area.

If they're the best, they should win the games. If they don't win, how can you quanitify them being the best?

Yes, UCONN in particular is better than every team in the Final 4.

I understand how the tourney works and I'm not calling for it to be changed or saying that those teams don't deserve to be there.

I simply made the statement that I'll feel unsatisfied (as many others will) watching the Final 4 knowing that pretty much all of the elite teams are out already. If you cup of tea is to watch the underdogs take it down then congrats, this should be great for you but it's not something I'd rather see.

So again, congrats to the teams that made it, the champion will certainly have earned it but to say that these are the BEST four teams in college hoops is ludicrous. Especially saying these teams aren't the best because they don't win 6 games in a row against quality competition.

[His Own Bad Self]

Originally Posted by marc

You're joking right?? You can't possibly be saying that the best 4 teams in College Basketball are George Mason, LSU, UCLA, and Florida.


Whoever wins this thing could very well be the worst champion in team sports since 85 Villanova.

Would you rather watch Connecticut half-a$$ their way to a championship? Either they were just wildly overrated, or (as I think) they were coasting and it finally bit them in the back. Seriously, they were down to Albany by 12 in the second half, and they were playing from behind for the last 15 minutes of today's game... UConn was the least impressive team of the tournament all the way around.

[marc]

Originally Posted by jdawgsenior

Isn't that the best-case scenario... I'd know I'd rather watch that than any other matchup that's for sure.

I think it will be an all-SEC matchup, but I hope GMU beats Florida.

I don't think I could stomach it if George Mason won but I have to admit it would be crazy to watch if it happened. Other then that I guess I'd rather see LSU or UCLA win based on the fact that they won power conferences.

I think an all SEC matchup is likely at this point but we shall see. Even though I can't stand Noah, I'll be happy for Jax if the Gators pull it off.

[marc]

Originally Posted by jdawgsenior

Would you rather watch Connecticut half-a$$ their way to a championship? Either they were just wildly overrated, or (as I think) they were coasting and it finally bit them in the back. Seriously, they were down to Albany by 12 in the second half, and they were playing from behind for the last 15 minutes of today's game... UConn was the least impressive team of the tournament all the way around.

I guess this is a bit hypocritical of me but if you look a few pages back I cheered really hard for GM over UCONN for the exact reason you stated, they were just half assing it the whole way through the tourney and I was glad it bit them. That being said, I would have liked to see a FEW of the elite teams make it. I obviously wanted Nova to win but if not them then seeing Texas or someone else atleast make the Final 4 would have been nice.

[Hondo]

w00t!!!

i'm goina to win a ton of money if George Mason can win this tournament. They really deserve this great rpess, they were severely underrated heading into the tourny and are way better than an 11.

Go Pats!

[Cooleyvol]

Originally Posted by marc

I think an all SEC matchup is likely at this point but we shall see. Even though I can't stand Noah, I'll be happy for Jax if the Gators pull it off.

Now I'm not saying that they'll win, but I think to discount George Mason (or anyone who reaches the Final Four) is foolish.

I think its a statement of what we've heard throughout the tournament--parity has reached college basketball. Whether GM wins or not, you can't discount that statement.

[marc]

Originally Posted by Cooleyvol

Now I'm not saying that they'll win, but I think to discount George Mason (or anyone who reaches the Final Four) is foolish.

I think its a statement of what we've heard throughout the tournament--parity has reached college basketball. Whether GM wins or not, you can't discount that statement.

Not discounting GM at all, saying Florida is "likely" to beat them isn't much of a stretch, they will be favored.

I was amazed that they won today mostly because UCONN didn't play like garbage, they actually played their best game of the tourney and GM was still able to get it done.

That being said, they were unconscious in the 2nd half and I don't know if they can repeat that type of shooting.

On the other hand, Florida presents the size problem that UCONNvict possesses except for the fact that Florida's big men can really score.

[BleacherBum]

Originally Posted by Melo

George Mason v. LSU will be a great final.

Originally Posted by jdawgsenior

Isn't that the best-case scenario... I'd know I'd rather watch that than any other matchup that's for sure.

I think it will be an all-SEC matchup, but I hope GMU beats Florida.

The best story would be Mason vs UCLA, with their 11 national titles. And an all SEC final would be an awful draw for CBS.

[twins15]

Originally Posted by marc

So you won't feel the slightest bit unsatisfied that one of the best FIVE teams in a given sport won't win the championship?

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree about Duke, Texas, and maybe Memphis being in the top 5 teams in the nation.

[BleacherBum]

Originally Posted by Cooleyvol

Now I'm not saying that they'll win, but I think to discount George Mason (or anyone who reaches the Final Four) is foolish.

I think its a statement of what we've heard throughout the tournament--parity has reached college basketball. Whether GM wins or not, you can't discount that statement.

Also, notice that Mason's 3 top players are all Seniors. That continuity is a bit of an equalizer for these mid-major schools vs the power schools who are lucky to keep any talented players for more than 2 seasons.

[andymac]

Originally Posted by twins15

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree about Duke, Texas, and maybe Memphis being in the top 5 teams in the nation.

I would disagree with Memphis, but I would definitely have put both Texas & Duke in the top 5 teams in the nation heading into the tournament.

Actually, the teams I pegged as having a chance to win it all before this thing started were: Texas, Duke, Connecticut, Villanova, UCLA, Kansas, Florida, and Ohio St. in that order.

[Melo]

Originally Posted by BleacherBum

The best story would be Mason vs UCLA, with their 11 national titles. And an all SEC final would be an awful draw for CBS.

Yeah but Howland brought that fugly Pitt basketball out west with him

I don't think UConn half assed it. I think they were finally exposed. When you have just one player who can create opportunities for his teammates it doesn't really matter how much talent is on the team. UConn peaked too soon. In the middle of the BE season they were unstoppable. Once teams started keying their D on Marcus Williams it became harder to get the ball inside. Having just one bona fide ball handler is what killed UConn.

[twins15]

Originally Posted by andymac

I would disagree with Memphis, but I would definitely have put both Texas & Duke in the top 5 teams in the nation heading into the tournament.

By their resumes, I totally agree with you. I was also unsure of Duke though because of their reliance on Redick and Williams, and I didn't think Texas really had any type of bench. So I might leave them out of my top 5. But maybe this is just a case of hindsight bias.