Another nite of college hoops another 3 teams in top 15 lose

[KWilt43atbuzz]

#2 UNC
#12 SMU
#15 Baylor

Ho hum.

Im still not convinced UK cant make a serious run at a 2 seed.

This season is off the charts for upsets.

 

[docholiday51]

#2 UNC
#12 SMU
#15 Baylor

Ho hum.

Im still not convinced UK cant make a serious run at a 2 seed.

This season is off the charts for upsets.

As we get closer to seasons end the ranked teams will start beating each other in the ACC and Big 12.You could see Xavier,Nova,Iowa and aTm or someone else in a dog fight for 2 of the #1 seeds. This whole thing could turn into a mad scramble,with brackets skewed all to hell and overloaded or sandbagged like never before.

 

[dave5164]

If we can still finish strong like we have played in last 4 games and finish the SEC and SEC Tourney strong with the teams in the Top 12 right now most have 3 or 4 losses. Its not like last year when UK, WIsc, Duke, and MSU in fina four and UK was 38-0, Wisc 34-4, Duke 34-4, and MSU 27-12 was lowest seed. This year now with UNC loss they now have 3 losses and most teams now have 3-4 losses. The ACC and Big12 have 10 games left and most of the top teams are playing each other so there will be multi losses in these last 10 games. If UK can finish strong in the SEC and SEC Tourney we could still finish #3 or even #2 in the Seeding for this year and be seeded in Louisville for Sweet 16 and elite 8 games to goto Final Four for the 5th time in 7 Years!

 

[HenryMuto]

Would have been huge to get that win at Kansas. Could have flipped this season right into a 2 or 3 seed if they kept on winning.

Joe Lunardi has Vanderbilt in his first 4 out ? Wow. I thought they were pretty far off right now considering they resume is exactly 1 home win over Florida by 1 point.

 

[Sithlyone]

Honestly, while I normally love to see our Cats in the best seed possible, having a lower seed won't kill us this year. As long as we just keep improving and playing consistent we can win at any venue and against any team. There isn't a team in this field that I truly dread seeing in our bracket. Which is kinda ironic that last season we had a team that was far more dominant than this years and yet I dreaded seeing Wisconsin in our bracket.

Plus having a lower seed can take a lot of pressure off of these kids. We know we can play with everyone and while having an easier path (on paper) would be nice, its not that big of a deal since almost everyone is playing at the same mediocre level.

 

[Orville Boggs]

Dookie V just climaxed in his khaki's!

 

[AGEE11]

This season has been fun, March madness will be a blast

 

[blubo]

Honestly, while I normally love to see our Cats in the best seed possible, having a lower seed won't kill us this year. As long as we just keep improving and playing consistent we can win at any venue and against any team. There isn't a team in this field that I truly dread seeing in our bracket. Which is kinda ironic that last season we had a team that was far more dominant than this years and yet I dreaded seeing Wisconsin in our bracket.

Plus having a lower seed can take a lot of pressure off of these kids. We know we can play with everyone and while having an easier path (on paper) would be nice, its not that big of a deal since almost everyone is playing at the same mediocre level.

totally agree but i'd sure like to see us play in the cluck bucket.

 

[runt#69]

Would have been huge to get that win at Kansas. Could have flipped this season right into a 2 or 3 seed if they kept on winning.

Joe Lunardi has Vanderbilt in his first 4 out ? Wow. I thought they were pretty far off right now considering they resume is exactly 1 home win over Florida by 1 point.

^^True, dat^^

KU game would've been huge, but I do know that it's pretty rare for me to be feeling so upbeat after a loss as that Kansas game. I'm guarding against me having a bad game.

Might choose the wrong drink watching the game, or something, enjoying the ride this year!

hehehe

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

If we run the table and win the SECT a #1 seed may not totally be out of the quest.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

I think we have to win out to have a shot at 2 seed. 1 is out of the question.

 

[caneintally]

We can lose one more and still be a 2 seed but the loss has to be at Texas A&M IMO. I think that is the only loss left this season at least til the 3rd week of the tourney. I suspect we get a 3 seed though due to committee bias after winning the SECT and play in Louisville .

 

[BigAbe4UK]

I think losing the KU game knocked us totally out of competition for the 1 seed. Win that one- we could have still got a 1 if we won out. Remember the 1 seeds are going to have like 5 losses this year. Iowa already has 4. We still are well in the running for a 2. Win out- even with the exception of an L at A&M and I think we can get the 2 the way these other teams are losing.

 

[BlueBomb]

I just want a 3 seed. That way we don't have to play the 1 until the Regional Championship.

 

[wldktz8]

Would have been huge to get that win at Kansas. Could have flipped this season right into a 2 or 3 seed if they kept on winning.

Joe Lunardi has Vanderbilt in his first 4 out ? Wow. I thought they were pretty far off right now considering they resume is exactly 1 home win over Florida by 1 point.

If we would have beaten Kansas we probably would have been in the conversation for a possible 1 seed.

 

[yoshukai]

I just want a 3 seed. That way we don't have to play the 1 until the Regional Championship.

True but honestly , I don't know if the 1 seeds will be any better than the 2 seeds this year . I think our kryptonite this year is big , physical inside guys . I'm hoping to avoid teams like that . I'm REALLY looking forward to the Texas a&m game . We will learn a lot about our team that night . Our bigs better be ready to play .

 

[Untouchables22]

At this point it's all about playing in Louisville.....it's pretty obvious that college basketball officials are heavily influenced by large home crowds. So let's get that advantage for ourselves. But I really feel strongly we have to be a #2 or a #3 seed to get Louisville. Technically they could put us in Louisville if we are in the top 16 seeded teams but they won't think it's fair to the #1 seed to make them play us in the Sweet 16 in our home state in front of a predominantly home crowd.

 

[wldktz8]

At this point it's all about playing in Louisville.....it's pretty obvious that college basketball officials are heavily influenced by large home crowds. So let's get that advantage for ourselves. But I really feel strongly we have to be a #2 or a #3 seed to get Louisville. Technically they could put us in Louisville if we are in the top 16 seeded teams but they won't think it's fair to the #1 seed to make them play us in the Sweet 16 in our home state in front of a predominantly home crowd.

The committee though is was fair in 2003 when they put us in Minneapolis against Marquette and Wisconsin.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

So a while back alot of you were saying that UK wouldn't get the Louisville Reg. unless they were a #1 seed...now are you saying a top 4 seed?

 

[*Bleedingblue*]

#2 UNC
#12 SMU
#15 Baylor

Ho hum.

Im still not convinced UK cant make a serious run at a 2 seed.

This season is off the charts for upsets.

No doubt we can be a 2 seed or maybe even a 1. But certain things needs to happen, one of those is for us not to lose games. We all know playing in the SEC that is very difficult especially on the other teams home floor where it is 5/8. Also we need other teams above us to lose and lose several games. If we win out and not lose again we can be a 1 seed with other teams losing.
That is unlikely as I still see a couple more losses ahead of us in SEC play. I think NCAA play will be easier as the referring is not so lopsided and more evenly called.

 

[Untouchables22]

The committee though is was fair in 2003 when they put us in Minneapolis against Marquette and Wisconsin.

The NCAA doesn't hate Marquette and Wisconsin they loathe us. For some reason and this happens with college football too in Bowl selection like putting Iowa in the Rose Bowl over a superior Ohio State there is a prejudice against traditional powerhouses in favor of the upstart schools that are having exceptional years. For example I think Xavier and Iowa will fade but if Xavier or Iowa is the #1 seed in Louisville they are going to try and protect them and I just don't think they would give us #4 in Kentucky. In a weird way it would help our cause if UNC or Kansas was the #1 in Louisville because then they go for the big sweet 16 matchup that generates high tv ratings and they don't feel like they need to "protect" a UNC or Kansas.

 

[docholiday51]

We will play somebody somewhere,the NCAA committee will try to do us no favors.That is the only thing we can be sure about,they will have to do their homework to screw us this year though,college basketball is so watered down this year they could make a mistake and give us an even break.

 

[yoshukai]

So a while back alot of you were saying that UK wouldn't get the Louisville Reg. unless they were a #1 seed...now are you saying a top 4 seed?

Personally , I think we have to be a 1 seed . Just because they won't do us any favors . It's not like we are North Carolina or Duke .

 

[Untouchables22]

Here are the top 16 now in the AP poll and which region they are closest to:
1. Oklahoma (Chicago)
2. North Carolina (Philadelphia)
3. Villanova (Philadelphia)
4. Maryland (Philadelphia)
5. Iowa (chicago)
6. Xavier (Louisville)
7.Kansas (Chicago)
8. Texas A&M (Louisville)
9. Virginia (Philadelphia)
10. Michigan State (Chicago)
11. Providence (Philadelphia)
12. SMU* not eligible for post season play
13. Iowa State (Chicago)
14. West Virginia (Philadelphia)
15. Baylor (Louisville)
16. Oregon (Anaheim)

So as you can see there is going to be a logjam for Philadelphia and Chicago. I b!tch about it every year but it's ridiculous they keep putting regionals in the West when there aren't very many good teams in the West. Even the Texas schools are closer to Louisville then they are to Anaheim. They need to tell California no and start having regionals in Denver, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix to benefit the schools in the Southwest too. If Arizona and UCLA are down the whole west coast turns into garbage.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Here are the top 16 now in the AP poll and which region they are closest to:
1. Oklahoma (Chicago)
2. North Carolina (Philadelphia)
3. Villanova (Philadelphia)
4. Maryland (Philadelphia)
5. Iowa (chicago)
6. Xavier (Louisville)
7.Kansas (Chicago)
8. Texas A&M (Louisville)
9. Virginia (Philadelphia)
10. Michigan State (Chicago)
11. Providence (Philadelphia)
12. SMU* not eligible for post season play
13. Iowa State (Chicago)
14. West Virginia (Philadelphia)
15. Baylor (Louisville)
16. Oregon (Anaheim)

So as you can see there is going to be a logjam for Philadelphia and Chicago. I b!tch about it every year but it's ridiculous they keep putting regionals in the West when there aren't very many good teams in the West. Even the Texas schools are closer to Louisville then they are to Anaheim. They need to tell California no and start having regionals in Denver, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix to benefit the schools in the Southwest too. If Arizona and UCLA are down the whole west coast turns into garbage.

I agree. I'm actually ok with them keeping the West regional but why on earth do you have to have two sites out West for the opening games? Why Denver AND Washington this year? Keep one of them so that when you do have some West teams they can play close to home but the need for two West locations is silly. All this does is make some 4 seeds have to travel out West because those slots are never filled by the top 3 seed lines.

They need to do a study, see where the majority of teams that make the tournament are situated and then have more locations in those areas.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Honestly they only protect teams in the opening rounds.

we could very well be a 4 seed and end up in Louisville.

Picking regions tho is just so hard. Opening round games are much easier to pick location. If UK ends up a 4 seed, we are looking most likely out West in either Denver or Washington. So I think to play closer to home the first weekend we really need to be a 3 or better.

But as far as regions go, it just depends on where we are on the seed line. If we are the best 4 (and another SEC team isn't already there ie Texas AM) we probably do go South. If we are the worst 4, most likely go out West. But it will also depend not just where we are on the line but what other teams are also on that line.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Tho the way it's setup might be the part of the reason that 12s tend to upset 5s.

Not the complete reason mind you but part of it. I would venture to guess the 12s don't have to travel as far as the 5s do. The NCAA is perfectly fine pairing them up because the 12s still have to travel so it's not as if the 5 is at a home court disadvantage. But studies have shown teams that are forced to travel do worse than teams situated closer to the location. And that advantage gets larger as the distance does,.

 

[docholiday51]

I'm hoping for a Monmouth v Duke match-up or a Monmouth v KU match-up.A UL v IU would be cool as well

 

[The_Answer1313]

I'm rambling but I guess I answered my own question.

Yeah there's a lack of West teams at the top but you have a ton of auto bid teams from the West. They try to keep those teams closer to home as well. So maybe there is a need for two opening sites out West.

 

[The_Answer1313]

I'm hoping for a Monmouth v Duke match-up or a Monmouth v KU match-up.A UL v IU would be cool as well

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/

Right now the consensus is Duke 6/7 seed range with Monmouth 12th seed. Maybe Duke eventually climbs to a 5 and we see another 12 vs 5 upset lol

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

It could very well boil down to UK having to win at College Station to get to the Louisville Bracket.

 

[NCukcat62]

I think we lose one or two more in the regular season and those being a&m and possibly Florida. Finishing the regular season with a 24-7 record is still pretty good. If we can get a win over a&m that would be huge.

 

[The_Answer1313]

It could very well boil down to UK having to win at College Station to get to the Louisville Bracket.

Possibly. It hurts somewhat if A&M happens to be the team ahead of us as the South would be their natural region of course.
Tho it actually could benefit us. If A&M is a weak 2 or a weak 3, that probably pushes them to another region, making the likelihood of us ending in Louisville all the more possible.

That's why it's just so hard to figure that out. Moving one spot even on the same line can have a substantial impact.

 

[docholiday51]

Conference tourneys could monkey wrench things even more than usual this year.Since there will be plenty of losses to go around and extra 2 or 3 off the wall teams could clutter up things nicely.

 

[jarms24]

To the guys citing the AP Poll ... that means nothing. You need to look at the top 20 teams in the RPI instead. The committee does not factor in the hack AP voters. For crying out loud, Bozich voted UL #10 before the UNC game and that was after they got bent over on their home floor.