I see that the latest bracketology has us as an 8 seed, playing #9 Arizona in the first round. Winner would play #1 Oklahoma. This would be in Kansas City.
While I don't put too much credence in these early/mid-season speculations, I certainly fear an 8 seed and worry that a team like Oklahoma, with a player like Blake Griffin would be terrible for our tourney chances.
Thoughts?
My prediction early in the year is we end up 7 to 10 seed so this would fit the bill.
tough to say this early, but my gut tells me an 8 might be right. AZ would be an awful draw for us, having watched them against Kansas last night. Wow, what a second half. Their length would be tough enough, but they are also very quick. Depending on how each team performs in that particular game, it could be 1 and done.
Its my only complaint of the NCAA tourney, I don't like how the matchups shake out. You shouldn't be punished for being a 7-10 seed in the NCAA tourney. You are better off being a 12 or 13 seed where you can play two good teams each of the first two rounds, rather then playing a good team and a great team.
I understand logistically that there isn't much you can do about it, but it would be nice to see the brackets being reorganized each round. Meaning the 8 seed shouldn't have to play the one seed if the 12 seed is still alive, its not fair. Similar to the NFL's playoff format.
It would take half the fun out of the tournament. Why penalize a team for pulling off an upset? Force the 8/9 seed to pull off their own upset if they want to advance. If a team doesn't like it, it's their own fault for not playing well enough to get a good seed. Plus, it's logistically impossible when a first round site features the 1,16,8,9 seeds to fly a 12 seed into town and ship the 8 seed out in the middle of the weekend.
Well thanks for the insight Chapman, I already said that it wouldn't work logistically.
As for taking the fun out, how do you figure. Why punish a team for having a successful season? The team that finishes 5th or 6th in the big east is worse off then a team that finsihes 8th or 9th. How is that fair? Your argument holds no weight; how can you say that they should have played better when they finished better then the 8th or 9th place team. So you can either punish a team for pulling off an upset or punish a team that had a better season overall. THere's a huge difference between pulling an upset over a 4 or 5 seed then a 1 seed....and I think history has proven that.
I'm sure someone will be willing to look it up, but I would be willing to bet that a 12 seed makes the sweet 16 just as much as a 8 seed.
An 8 seed?? That is way, way, WAY too low for this team. If they end up as low as an 8 seed, it will be the biggest disappointment in college basketball this year, with a team this talented. They SHOULD be no lower than a 5 when all is said and done IMO.
Last year's team was a 6 seed when all was said and done. If this year's team is lower than 6, is that a dissappointment?
* Lose Mbakwe, Ooze and Fitz
* Gain Butler, Fucle and Outle
* Gain one more year of experience.
* Lose Crean
* Gain Buzz.
Are we willing to concede all of this is a net minus for this team? I don't think it is. While I'm not worried about a December guess as to our seed, if we are not AT LEAST a 6 when the tourney schedule comes out in March, I think it will be a disappointment.
At this point, we have only really gained Butler. Nothing against Butler, but he cannot effectively replace our best big man (Barro).
The injuries to Fulce and Otule bring into question how effective they will be. Matthews struggled a bit his freshman year after missing extensive time...and he actually got some games in before he was injured. Mbakwe was a non-factor last year, despite showing glimpses of potential, due to lost practice/play time. Will Otule or Fulce be able to integrate into the team when we start playing the Big East? Buzz won't be able to give them in-game experience when we are playing Big East games.
Add to all that the fact that the Big East got stronger and essentially all teams gained "one more year of experience," and I think you may be seeing a "net minus."
This thread and $1.00 will get you a can of Coke, or Diet Pepsi for those so inclined.
Quote from: 4everwarriors on December 25, 2008, 09:59:36 AM
This thread and $1.00 will get you a can of Coke, or Diet Pepsi for those so inclined.
Sorry to waste your time, if you could please let us know what topics would be worth discussing we'd appreciate it.
esotericmindguy -
Simply twist the thread into something to do with Crean and I am sure that 4everwarriors will find it much more interesting. He is a wealth of unbiased knowledge when it comes to all things "Crean." He has an uncanny ability to cut past the tired old one-liners, while developing rich, in-depth and intelligent discussions about the former head man at MU.
A close review of his most recent posts shows the true, unmatchable value that 4everwarriors brings to the board.
The problem is as a whole the Big East is better, which will make it harder for MU to get a 6th seed.
First of all, December is wayyyyyyy too early to have this debate. Second, who cares? Some writer made us an 8 seed in December, which means.......nada. What ESPN thinks before Christmas has zero impact on our season. We control our destiny and what seed we get. If we bring our A game for the next 19 games, we will get a much higher seed than 8. If we don't, we won't. But our play will decide. To quote that great philosopher, Rasheed Wallace, "ball don't lie."
Quote from: esotericmindguy on December 24, 2008, 11:54:47 AM
Its my only complaint of the NCAA tourney, I don't like how the matchups shake out. You shouldn't be punished for being a 7-10 seed in the NCAA tourney. You are better off being a 12 or 13 seed where you can play two good teams each of the first two rounds, rather then playing a good team and a great team.
I think if you're not going to be in the top 7, you're best of at the 11. I think the fun of the tournament is making thorugh each weekend, so winning two games is where you really start having fun, and you have a much better chance of beating a 6 and a 3 than you do a 9 and a 1.
The biggest reason why I would be against re-seeding after each round or each weekend is that it would ruin the whole filling out your brackets thing, which is the most fun part of the NCAA tournament besides following your favorite team, which in our case, has meant surviving the first weekend only twice in the last 30 years.