March Madness - 2012

[Devil Diver Down]

lol. That one gets me every time. It's a timeless classic.

Tom, of course there is a bias at work but it's more East Coast bias than any of the Grassy Knoll theories you've tossed out so far. You want to look at indicators for who will make the dance and who will get to travel, etc? Look at RPI first, second and screw everything else.

There is a reason guys like Lunardi can predict, almost to the letter, who is in and who is out EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I was hoping UW would be in but they had a dreadful OOC record and then lost to the Beavers in the Pac 12 Tourney. They crossed themselves off the list. Name their big out of conference win. It's laughable. As for keeping small schools from having to travel great distances, wouldn't that be exactly the kind of favoritism you're claiming exists for others?

 

[JoseCuervo]

Now worrying about UNLV.....

JOSE CUERVO
OWNER: JOSE CUERVO

BRACKET SUMMARY
POINTS >>>>> 11

CORRECT PICKS >>>>> 11 OF 12

OVERALL RANK >>>>> 15360

 

[BRI]

Damn Uconn. I spoke to soon.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Damn Uconn. I spoke to soon.

I didn't like them, and I don't like Syracuse much longer, Sweet 16 loss. Too much drama for the good Big East teams.

JOSE CUERVO
OWNER: JOSE CUERVO

BRACKET SUMMARY
POINTS >>>>> 12

CORRECT PICKS >>>>> 12 OF 13

OVERALL RANK >>>>> 4207

 

[shoots-straight]

13 of 15>>>>>>> 42802

 

[JoseCuervo]

13 of 15>>>>>>> 42802

UNLV crawling back into it....

JOSE CUERVO
OWNER: JOSE CUERVO

BRACKET SUMMARY
POINTS >>>>> 13

CORRECT PICKS >>>>> 13 OF 14

OVERALL RANK >>>>> 3888

 

[Oak]

UNLV crawling back into it....

UNLV crawling home....

 

[shoots-straight]

UNLV petered out. I'm fading fast now. Figured I would.

 

[bobbydean]

I picked the Mountain West to win 4 of 4, So far they are 1 out of 3. New Mexico won and San Diego St plays today. The only good thing in my bracket were teams losing first game and I had losing the 2nd. The exception is West Virginia getting stomped by Gonzaga. I had West Virginia winning a couple more rounds. That pretty well eliminates me.

 

[smalls]

Opening round of the bracket challenge is amatuer hour. No one wins or loses in the first round...That's why I'm saving my dominance for later on.

I'm with Jose, Syracuse w/out Melo is in trouble and I have KState knocking them off in the round of 32. To me, there is no more entertaining coach to watch than Frank Martin. He reminds me of the gym teacher from Beavis and Butthead.

 

[kansasdad]

smalls....where did you find that picture of Frank smiling???? You should see him when he gets mad!!

 

[TOM IN TENNESSEE]

DDD, don't think much favorism would have to be shown to let many small schools in the bracket closest to home....most are 12 or worse seeds....what difference does it make which 5 seed you pair them against?
Agree with other comments....but reviewing the brackets doesn't look like the NCAA ever considers the S-curve in seeding and pairing.
Anyone besides me get to watch SYR v. UNC-Ash ??? NCAA must have felt guilty about such harsh academic standards that disqualified Melo---they gave SYR a crew of Refs to replace him! But if Ashville's leading scorer/conference player of the year had shown up, blown ref calls would not of mattered....Asheville's star went 1 for 13...

 

[BuzzH]

I watched the SYR/UNC game...credit Ashville, they left it all out on the floor.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

My opinion is that there should not be automatic favoritism to any team--big or small. The top seeds earn it by their body of work during the season. Those that get the #1 seed, get to stay in their region if they play strong down the stretch. I don't think it has anything to do with tv ratings--most major schools are not in major tv markets anyway. The committee's guiding stat is RPI and they follow it religiously. They also try to keep regional/conference match-ups from happening within the first few rounds, so there is some artificial balancing and unbalancing of the brackets to be expected.

Believe me: I have had my gripes with the selection committee--ASU was left out 2 years straight while winning 20+ games each year and finishing higher in conference ahead of UA (who did get in)--but I think they do a pretty good job of a tough task. Pretty much every team left at the doorstep could/should have done something more to punch their ticket.

The officiating in the Syracuse game was terrible. I think the lane violation call was correct but they missed 2 critical calls badly. Protecting Syracuse? Maybe. But, the first ever 16 knocking off a 1 would equal big tv ratings too. And, as you pointed out, if UNC-Ashville's guy had showed up at all = moot point.
I still see the 'Cuse going Elite Eight more because of the scare than despite it.

 

[JoseCuervo]

DDD, don't think much favorism would have to be shown to let many small schools in the bracket closest to home....most are 12 or worse seeds....what difference does it make which 5 seed you pair them against?
Agree with other comments....but reviewing the brackets doesn't look like the NCAA ever considers the S-curve in seeding and pairing.
Anyone besides me get to watch SYR v. UNC-Ash ??? NCAA must have felt guilty about such harsh academic standards that disqualified Melo---they gave SYR a crew of Refs to replace him! But if Ashville's leading scorer/conference player of the year had shown up, blown ref calls would not of mattered....Asheville's star went 1 for 13...

Bitching about the NCAA selection committee is pretty stupid. It might be the ONLY thing the NCAA does correct.

I think their seedings and brackets are way more correct than not.

BRACKET SUMMARY
POINTS 15
CORRECT PICKS 15 OF 17
OVERALL RANK >>>>>>>>>>>>> 7551

 

[Big Fin]

I'm wearing out the remote bouncing back and forth between the Norfolk St. - Mizzou basketball game and the Univ. Minnesota, Duluth - Denver U college hockey tournament now heading to 2OT.

Norfolk is going to mess up some brackets if they pull this one off.

 

[ERSS]

That Mizzou loss is gonna drop a bunch of the leaders out! 14 people above me have them in the F4. Nice! Isn't this tax season Big Fin? My accountant seems to busy to be watching sports! At least that is what he said when he took my check.

 

[Big Fin]

That Mizzou loss is gonna drop a bunch of the leaders out! 14 people above me have them in the F4. Nice! Isn't this tax season Big Fin? My accountant seems to busy to be watching sports! At least that is what he said when he took my check.

I am working on priority issues at this time. Watching Bulldog and Gopher hockey is more important than files on my desk and floor.

I am soooooo glad I didn't fall for all the Mizzou love the experts were throwing around. I had thought about picking them in the Final Four, but decided against it. I surely thought they would make the Sweet 16, but Norfolk St. proved me wrong.

And as I am typing this, some DU freshman scores his first collegiate goal to end the game in 2OT.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

I've got the power of the Mexican beach and lots of beer behind my picks. Rest of you guys are playing for second place. Norfolk State ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How's that for a pick?


Except I had Mizzou winning the whole ball of wax. March Sadness for me.

 

[Big Slick]

Wow! I made it to the first page but Mizzou sure screwed a whole bunch of us.