March Madness 2023

[patrickgpe]

Maybe we should start a thread with conference tournaments beginning this weekend. really excited to see how uwm performs in the horizon league tournament. They just don’t get the coverage they deserve. If they can get past weight state, their semi and hopefully championship games will be on one of the espn channels. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Great idea. Love the small conference tournaments, and the Big East will be so, so fun too. 

The Horizon seems to have suffered quite a bit from conference realignment (losing Butler and Loyola), and other programs haven't really been able to take the next step or keep up. Should be a wide open tournament.

The A-10 is down, but that'll be great too. Lots of pretty good teams competing for one bid (in all likelihood).

 

[MrTPlush]

The scrub league tourney's are always nice as they start a bit earlier and winning it is the difference between the tourney and your season being done. 

The #1 seeds seem to be almost set. Alabama/Houston/Kansas are all pretty destined to stay in their positions. The final spot has a lot of options though. Something tells me Purdue is not going to manage to cling to that spot the way they have played recently. Likely goes to a #1 seed that ends up winning their conference tourney. Though if Kansas State/Texas/Baylor win the conference tourney they might slide into the 1-seeds. 

The 2 and 3 seed lines could be really surprising at bracket reveal time. Right now it is chalk full of regular season conference champions and the three Big 12 schools behind Kansas. ESPN heavily favors the Big 12 schools, but I wonder if the bracket will really shake out that way.

[patrickgpe]

33 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

The Horizon seems to have suffered quite a bit from conference realignment (losing Butler and Loyola), and other programs haven't really been able to take the next step or keep up. Should be a wide open tournament.

 

 

The Horizon was one of the better mid majors but as conferences realigned the A10 and Horizon were solid places to pouch teams from. UWM enters tonight as an underdog against Wright State. I haven't watch them play all season but have been following the team online. Lundy really turned around the team much faster than expected. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Yeah, I haven't watched much of Milwaukee this year, but I'll be rooting for them. I'm a little surprised to see they're underdogs. I see KenPom has them as the 2nd "luckiest" team in the country (though I have no idea about the ins and outs of that methodology) and Wright State as 30 or so spots better per possession, but I'd think homecourt in a tournament environment would tip the scales. I also see Wright State swept them this year, so....

MVC tournament tips today too, and that's always one of the best...first year without Loyola in that league, and Drake, Bradley, and a few others (Indiana St., Southern Ill, maybe even Belmont) all look capable of potentially winning a game as a 13-14 seed.

[MrTPlush]

25 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

I'm a little surprised to see they're underdogs.

Milwaukee has lost to them both times they played. Probably why Wright State is getting a slight advantage. That along with Wright State just being much more relevant in recent history. 

[HarryDoyle]

They had a terrible loss to Green Bay last month. They'll have to win the tournament to get into the big one.

[patrickgpe]

Uwm up big and Youngstown state and Cleveland state are down in the 2nd. If it holds up, the panthers are in good shape to be dancing. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Watched a lot of the Youngstown game. Looks like they are playing with a ton of pressure. UWM looked great. Came out with something to prove.

[MrTPlush]

2 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

Uwm up big and Youngstown state and Cleveland state are down in the 2nd. If it holds up, the panthers are in good shape to be dancing. 

Well…the UWM part aged well, the rest did not.

[patrickgpe]

10 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

Well…the UWM part aged well, the rest did not.

no it didn't, would have been nice to have a few upsets. UWM will most surely be a decent underdog against Cleveland State on Monday. 

[jerichoholicninja]

If people like to have a little riding on the games and feel good about themselves I know of a couple groups that are doing squares fundraisers for the men's tournament. Send me a PM and I'll get you their info.

[HarryDoyle]

Houston avoids the upset with a buzzer beater. Memphis scored too soon.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Great day of games.

Crazy comeback from UNC-Asheville, and the atmosphere at Kennesaw State was awesome.

More fun to come!

[patrickgpe]

Youngstown states season is over. I know the uwm game will be hard this evening but they are in the drivers seat. 

[Oxy]

I'm 95% sure the announcer (Mark Adams) for the UWM-Cleveland St game dropped an F-bomb at the 6:50 mark of the first half...nothing malicious, just hilarious...somebody check my work...

 

EDIT: after reflection, I think he said "BUCKING" Bronco... not the other one...bed time for me...

[Jim French Stepstool]

Watched quite a bit of Cleveland State-UWM. It brought flashbacks of when I saw a lot of Milwaukee City Conference BB in the 80s-90s----up & down, people not getting back on defense. Quick shots, some of them good looks, many of them bad. Ugly turnovers. People thinking defense means "Press. Go for steals. Try to block shots. If you don't get the steal you give up an easy one, but it's OK cuz we get the ball right back!!!!" All that said, I think Lundy has done a nice job of invigorating that program vs some really tall odds. His style of play allows them to get back into games, which they almost did last night. Problem is it often leads to the sloppiness that gets them into a hole in the first place.

It's too bad they weren't able to get out of the Horizon when Butler, Valpo, Loyola & UIC bolted. If I'm their administration I'm embarrassed UIC was able to upgrade to the Valley while they couldn't. Of course I doubt the bigwigs there care all that much.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

58 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Watched quite a bit of Cleveland State-UWM. It brought flashbacks of when I saw a lot of Milwaukee City Conference BB in the 80s-90s----up & down, people not getting back on defense. Quick shots, some of them good looks, many of them bad. Ugly turnovers. People thinking defense means "Press. Go for steals. Try to block shots. If you don't get the steal you give up an easy one, but it's OK cuz we get the ball right back!!!!" All that said, I think Lundy has done a nice job of invigorating that program vs some really tall odds. His style of play allows them to get back into games, which they almost did last night. Problem is it often leads to the sloppiness that gets them into a hole in the first place.

It's too bad they weren't able to get out of the Horizon when Butler, Valpo, Loyola & UIC bolted. If I'm their administration I'm embarrassed UIC was able to upgrade to the Valley while they couldn't. Of course I doubt the bigwigs there care all that much.

Yeah, the Horizon is a mess. Complete mess. And men's basketball is THE opportunity for schools like UWM to get on the national radar. Just look at what St. Thomas is doing in Saint Paul. Getting massive exposure for a school that has always been a major player in Minnesota but will surely establish a firm national brand if they keep building up their profile in the Summit League. GB had that under Bennett for a while, and UWM under Pearl, but they just weren't able to sustain that level of success. I think it really takes the right coaching hire (and probably several in a row) to stay relevant. Gonzaga got this right. Saint Mary's got it right. Very few other teams (maybe Dayton) can say the same.

Speaking of Butler, they're maybe the team that hasn't managed realignment well (maybe Wichita State too, though I think Gregg Marshall's abuse and its fallout really hurt the program, as well as, probably, some Koch-brothers related backlash). Really struggled in the Big East while Creighton has been consistently impressive. I doubt they wish they'd stuck around the A-10, but they sure haven't turned a Big East schedule into an at-large resume very often lately.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Yeah, the Horizon is a mess. Complete mess. And men's basketball is THE opportunity for schools like UWM to get on the national radar. Just look at what St. Thomas is doing in Saint Paul. Getting massive exposure for a school that has always been a major player in Minnesota but will surely establish a firm national brand if they keep building up their profile in the Summit League. GB had that under Bennett for a while, and UWM under Pearl, but they just weren't able to sustain that level of success. I think it really takes the right coaching hire (and probably several in a row) to stay relevant. Gonzaga got this right. Saint Mary's got it right. Very few other teams (maybe Dayton) can say the same.

Speaking of Butler, they're maybe the team that hasn't managed realignment well (maybe Wichita State too, though I think Gregg Marshall's abuse and its fallout really hurt the program, as well as, probably, some Koch-brothers related backlash). Really struggled in the Big East while Creighton has been consistently impressive. I doubt they wish they'd stuck around the A-10, but they sure haven't turned a Big East schedule into an at-large resume very often lately.

Gonzaga is the rarest of birds, in that Few built up a fantastic resume but had zero desire to go anywhere else. Pretty much the same with Randy Bennett at St Mary's. 

It's always intrigued me to see a new D-1 program take flight & see how they go about their business. I imagine St Thomas will try to develop some sort of pipeline to the state after getting the two Brook Central kids. It was a lot of fun seeing Dick Bennett build at GB with talent that many thought wasn't good enough, even in the old MCC. Steve Antrim at UWM when they were new to D-1 played a fun brand of ball with local kids, beating UW & almost knocking off Utah & Illinois (and in the process assuring Marquette wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole until that group graduated).

I think you're right about Butler & Wichita State. They had success & their eyes got a little too big for their tummy. The realignment in college hoops is kinda a two-edged sword. I really feel Wichita State (and Creighton, even though they've had success) belong in the Valley, just as Maryland should've never left the ACC & Rutgers would probably fit best there too, or in the American. But ya gotta chase the dollars.

 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Yeah, I agree about realignment. I think part of the reason Creighton worked out is just the Big East becoming a basketball-first league. It was football dollar-chasing that created that scenario, and I think it's worked to the benefit of all of those schools, even though Butler might be a more natural A-10 fit.