Who would you rather play

[NateDoggMarq]

For arguements sake lets say we end up as a six seed in the tourney who would you rather play


Team 1.
From one of the major confrences, finished 5th in their confrence,
an average team from a good confrence. Team has lost a few games in the last couple weeks, team is a big name school though that has won in the past

Team 2.From A major Confrence, Finished 6th in their confrence.  Needed to win a bunch of games in the Confrence Tourney to get in.  Have lost to some bad opponents but have beaten some decent opponents

Team 3. From a small confrence, Finished first by going 16-0 in a bad confrence, won confrence tournament.  Has never won a game in the tourney
has a scared a few HUGE teams during the non-confrence

or

Team 4.  From a mid-level confrence (MWC, WAC, MVC, C-USA, Colonial, A-10)
Finished 10-6 in mid level confrence,  Has a huge win VS a top seed earlier in the year, plays very good basketball but some have debated whether or not another team should have gotten the bid.


If you ask me I want to play team 4, and want to avoid teams 1 and 2 like the plague.
As I said before when I saw Alabama name on the 10 line last year I damn near wanted to crap myself.   A team like 1 and 2 have tons of talent and can turn it on at any time, and when that time comes you dont want to be on the other end (See MU vs Bama last year)
I feel very confident against team 4 as you are playing a team with only some talent, who is pretty consistent and you know what you are going to get.
Team 3 would be okay, but if you win, you are supposed to win, but if you lose, you lost to a somebody from a nobody conference.


Of course I modeled the teams after MSU, Purdue, Winthrop, and Missouri State
all of these are possible first round opponents and to be honest bring on Miss State if I had the choice

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

Team two or four. Occasionally teams in the dumps that get hot and win their conference tournament go far (ie: Florida 2006), but there's also a fair amount of Syracuse 2006's thrown in there as well. Teams that got hot to get in, otherwise they wouldn't be in.

Hotness and streakiness are some of those vague indefinable qualities, and after a layoff of nearly a week, seem to dissipate.

[Mayor McCheese]

Bring on Purdue, come on now, Miss St beat Wisconsin, and in my opinion MVC was a more competitive league than the Big Ten this year (besides WI, OSU and MSU, will gladly play any team in the Big 10).... Purdue is garbage.... would hate to play Mich St with Neitzilla!  Winthrop's tempo scares me since its like ours, so our intense play wouldn't be that rough on their players... bring on Purdue


and looking at the 11 seeds that Lunardi has right now (Purdue, Old Dominion, Winthrop and Missouri St), I still pick Purdue...  and then looking at the 3 seeds that we could possibly play in the second round (S. Ill, Pitt, Memphis, Wash St.)   I would pick Southern Illinois.... no way Memphis should be a 3 seed.

[NateDoggMarq]

Havent they ran off like 17 straight wins?

[StillAWarrior]

It also is worth noting that Winthrop (Team No. 3) has only four losses:  UNC, Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Maryland (2, 2, 2 and 4 according to Lunardi; 8, 3, 7 and 17 according to the AP) .  All on the road, naturally.  Lunardi has Winthrop at an 11 right now -- playing ND.  I would NOT want to play Winthrop in the first round.

[MarquetteVol]

The problem for Memphis is that C-USA is a borderline mid-major conference now, and they can win 50 straight and still not be a candidate for a #1 season if they play an average non-conference schedule. I think they're very good, but there's no way to tell since that conference is garbage. Thank God we didn't get left there...the thought makes me shiver.

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

The problem for Memphis is that C-USA is a borderline mid-major conference now, and they can win 50 straight and still not be a candidate for a #1 season if they play an average non-conference schedule. I think they're very good, but there's no way to tell since that conference is garbage. Thank God we didn't get left there...the thought makes me shiver.

You mean we WOULDN'T have gotten College Gameday if we were playing East Carolina on Senior Night?

[DoubleMU0609]

The problem for Memphis is that C-USA is a borderline mid-major conference now, and they can win 50 straight and still not be a candidate for a #1 season if they play an average non-conference schedule. I think they're very good, but there's no way to tell since that conference is garbage. Thank God we didn't get left there...the thought makes me shiver.

I'd say "borderline mid-major" is being generous to C-USA right now.  They are closer to the WCC of previous years where you knew that Gonzaga was going to get in the tournament and maybe one more if there was an upset in the conference tourney.

I'm with you, glad we aren't stuck there having only Memphis to battle as a resume booster.

[AlumKCof93]

I hope Winthrop becomes an 8/9 seed.  Otherwise, they'll become the team all the experts expect will win their first game.  They have experience, speed and as an 11 seed, a grudge about respect especially now that they're ranked in the top 25.  I hope they're an 8/9 seed cause I don't want to play them.

[Mayor McCheese]

Although Conf USA is weak, Memphis is 27-3, 7 RPI, and ranked 5th in both the AP and ESPN ranks...... worthy of atleast a 2 seed.