2023-2024 College Basketball Thread

[Mu8891]

3434 ...

Yes.  I think spot No 2 in INDY may come down to us or UW.  The more they lose the better

[MU82]

Gard owns Shaka

But February (and March) own Gard!

UCLA continuing their slow climb out of the depths of hell to potentially be a Q2 win for us.

It took UCLA a long time to recover from the way they lost to MU.

[MU82]

Real good article in The Athletic about Gonzaga.

https://theathletic.com/5256331/2024/02/08/gonzaga-basketball-ncaa-tournament-2024-mark-few/?campaign=5888993&source=dailyemail&userId=3738391

Items of note:

Few lamented that today's Gonzaga student body is spoiled by his program's quarter-century of success. He had to record a video begging them not to throw things on the court in frustration.

Few talking openly about Gonzaga looking to go to another conference. No specific league was mentioned.

Discussion about a former 5-star recruit (Hunter Sallis) transferring to Wake Forest, where he has become a standout. That kind of thing just never happened to Few's program.

[wisblue]

3434 ...

Yes.  I think spot No 2 in INDY may come down to us or UW.  The more they lose the better

The more they (the Badgers) lose the better is always true.

Looking at teams currently around the top 15-20, the other main challenger for that second spot in Indy seems to be Illinois. Like MU, they have several potential Quad 1 games remaining and the results of those games, plus the conference tournaments, could decide who is seeded higher.

Dayton would also have Indy as its preferred spot, but their schedule doesn't provide opportunities for Quad 1 wins to make a big move up.

MU has the inside track today, but the opportunities are there for Illinois and/or Wisconsin to bypass them.

[mugrad_89]

Real good article in The Athletic about Gonzaga.

https://theathletic.com/5256331/2024/02/08/gonzaga-basketball-ncaa-tournament-2024-mark-few/?campaign=5888993&source=dailyemail&userId=3738391

Items of note:

Few lamented that today's Gonzaga student body is spoiled by his program's quarter-century of success. He had to record a video begging them not to throw things on the court in frustration.

Few talking openly about Gonzaga looking to go to another conference. No specific league was mentioned.

Discussion about a former 5-star recruit (Hunter Sallis) transferring to Wake Forest, where he has become a standout. That kind of thing just never happened to Few's program.

Few messed it up with Sallis, only using him occasionally last year.  That doesn't sit well with 5 star recruits in today's portal and NIL world.

[MU82]

The more they (the Badgers) lose the better is always true.

Looking at teams currently around the top 15-20, the other main challenger for that second spot in Indy seems to be Illinois. Like MU, they have several potential Quad 1 games remaining and the results of those games, plus the conference tournaments, could decide who is seeded higher.

Dayton would also have Indy as its preferred spot, but their schedule doesn't provide opportunities for Quad 1 wins to make a big move up.

MU has the inside track today, but the opportunities are there for Illinois and/or Wisconsin to bypass them.

I know it's a body-of-work thing, but it would be pretty sucky if the teams are close to each other in most metrics and Illinois - which we beat on their home court - somehow got a more favorable seed/placement.

[Warriors4ever]

In 2003 they were both in Indy, different pods of course.  Went down to see both play, as I have degrees from both, and how often would I have that chance?  The Illini lost to I believe Notre Dame (ugh) and for awhile I was fearful that I was going to have made the trip down there only  to see both my teams lose, but luckily we came through in the end.  I was wearing my Illini shirt over my MU shirt for the first game, with my MU hat on, so I had orange with a bit of gold peeking out until the first game ended.
It would be nice to be in Indy, but we at this point need to take care of things on our end. 

[MU82]

In 2003 they were both in Indy, different pods of course.  Went down to see both play, as I have degrees from both, and how often would I have that chance?  The Illini lost to I believe Notre Dame (ugh) and for awhile I was fearful that I was going to have made the trip down there only  to see both my teams lose, but luckily we came through in the end.  I was wearing my Illini shirt over my MU shirt for the first game, with my MU hat on, so I had orange with a bit of gold peeking out until the first game ended.
It would be nice to be in Indy, but we at this point need to take care of things on our end.

Two exciting MU games in Indy. Diener totally bailed out MU vs Holy Cross ... making WADE! possible in later rounds. At one point, I was in such disbelief that we were losing to Holy Cross that I had to get up from my seat and go out into the corridor so my head didn't explode. Then came the Mizzou game, which was an unbelievably thrilling OT game in which the world got to meet Steve Novak.

Notre Dame barely beat UWM in their first game but then, as you said, defeated Illinois in the second round before getting crushed by Arizona in the Sweet 16 round.

[Carl]

Had Arizona -5.5 in that one. What a wild ride and lucky cover

Edit: not a response to the previous post. Was referring to AZ's triple OT game at Utah that just ended, which they led by 16 at half. Awesome game

[Scoop Snoop]

Had Arizona -5.5 in that one. What a wild ride and lucky cover

Edit: not a response to the previous post. Was referring to AZ's triple OT game at Utah that just ended, which they led by 16 at half. Awesome game

I wish that Utah won that game, as I want a cushion between us and Zona in the AP rankings just in case we do not run the table the rest of the season.  Never should have gone into OT, but Utah made only 40% of their FTs vs, Zona's 88% in regulation.

Nice OT win by UAB over FAU.

[PGsHeroes32]

Dayton vs VCU is horrendous basketball

People like Fanta love to hype Dayton. Wed blitz this team. Ive watched them many times this year. Holmes is good but he isnt enough.

[Shaka Shart]

Dayton vs VCU is horrendous basketball

People like Fanta love to hype Dayton. Wed blitz this team. Ive watched them many times this year. Holmes is good but he isnt enough.

I tuned into the final ten minutes and it was unwatchable basketball

[Carl]

SDSU @ Nevada is another really fun bball game. Marquette would seem to have to play very poorly to lose either of these teams

[MuggsyB]

I'm not sure what to make of the MWC.  I think they could get 5 teams but should they?

[PGsHeroes32]

I tuned into the final ten minutes and it was unwatchable basketball

Yeah some might look at the score and assume good D

It was mostly just horrendous play. Guys running out of bounds. Missing front ends. Throw ball directly the defender. Traveling.

Was not fun.

[brewcity77]

I'm not sure what to make of the MWC.  I think they could get 5 teams but should they?

If the tourney started today, they'd get 6 in. This is just what happens when leagues like the ACC and Pac-12 fall on hard times. Someone has to get those bids to fill out 68 teams, and the Mountain West has done a good job of having a clear line between the top and bottom of the league. There are 6 top teams and 5 bottom teams. As long as the top teams share wins and beat the bottom, they'll be fine. That's the problem the Big East has had. You have what's been a pretty clear three at the top, then teams 4-9 are pretty hard to distinguish. If a couple of those bottomed out, it would likely clear up the picture and you could end up with 7-8 bids in the Big East, but the muddier it gets between St. John's, Butler, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, and Xavier, the more likely it is they all end up near the cut line and more teams get left out.

The Mountain West top-6 are a combined 24-4 against the bottom 5. 3 of the 4 losses came on the road, so they don't hurt you as much. Two were to UNLV, who is a decent team that might be a good conference tourney dark horse (wins over Creighton, New Mexico, Boise this year). If you start to see teams like Wyoming, Fresno, Air Force, or San Diego State start reeling off wins over the top-6, then they'll lose bids. But as long as they take care of business, the league is in good shape for 5-6 bids.

[HowardsWorld]

Just looking at the spreads for todays games for teams close to Marquette for seeding purposes. Few games have some very questionable lines.

UNC - 3.5 @ Miami
Tennessee -1.5 @ A&M
Arizona +1.5 @ Colorado

Could be some possible upset of top 8 teams here.

[PGsHeroes32]

If the tourney started today, they'd get 6 in. This is just what happens when leagues like the ACC and Pac-12 fall on hard times. Someone has to get those bids to fill out 68 teams, and the Mountain West has done a good job of having a clear line between the top and bottom of the league. There are 6 top teams and 5 bottom teams. As long as the top teams share wins and beat the bottom, they'll be fine. That's the problem the Big East has had. You have what's been a pretty clear three at the top, then teams 4-9 are pretty hard to distinguish. If a couple of those bottomed out, it would likely clear up the picture and you could end up with 7-8 bids in the Big East, but the muddier it gets between St. John's, Butler, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, and Xavier, the more likely it is they all end up near the cut line and more teams get left out.

The Mountain West top-6 are a combined 24-4 against the bottom 5. 3 of the 4 losses came on the road, so they don't hurt you as much. Two were to UNLV, who is a decent team that might be a good conference tourney dark horse (wins over Creighton, New Mexico, Boise this year). If you start to see teams like Wyoming, Fresno, Air Force, or San Diego State start reeling off wins over the top-6, then they'll lose bids. But as long as they take care of business, the league is in good shape for 5-6 bids.

Doing the national runners up dirty

[CountryRoads]

Just looking at the spreads for todays games for teams close to Marquette for seeding purposes. Few games have some very questionable lines.

UNC - 3.5 @ Miami
Tennessee -1.5 @ A&M
Arizona +1.5 @ Colorado

Could be some possible upset of top 8 teams here.

Strongly dislike MSU, but we could use another Illinois loss. Would love to get Indianapolis, but Selection Committee loves giving BigTen teams favorable locations so it's still an uphill battle to overcome that.

[wisblue]

Doing the national runners up dirty

I saw that and assumed he meant San Jose State.

I always get my saints mixed up.

[brewcity77]

Doing the national runners up dirty

They never belonged there...if Tyler doesn't hurt his hand that's us and I'll never forgive them for that.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Strongly dislike MSU, but we could use another Illinois loss. Would love to get Indianapolis, but Selection Committee loves giving BigTen teams favorable locations so it's still an uphill battle to overcome that.

The committee uses software to make the bracket.  When Marquette comes up for site placement, the software will tell them the closest available site.

As long as Marquette is higher on the S-Curve, nothing to worry about.

[tower912]

Rutgers currently keeping Wiconsin's streak alive.

[CountryRoads]

Rutgers currently keeping Wiconsin's streak alive.

Wish Shaka could recruit studs like Gilmore, Ilver, and Lindsey.

[MuggsyB]

Maybe it's me but Chucky fouls a lot on the perimeter.  Hopefully Rutgers finds a way to win this game.