NCAA Tournament Thread

[TruffleShuffle]

I've been picking pools for 15 years, and have never picked a 2 seed to lose in the first round. This year I picked Winthrop, and damned if they didn't almost pull it off. Oh well.

[sweetpeteman]

haha, of the 7 ESPN experts, 5 had Kansas picked to make the final four.

[TruffleShuffle]

haha, of the 7 ESPN experts, 5 had Kansas picked to make the final four.

 

Yeah, that bandwagon just got out of control after they won the Big XII title. I thought they had a better team than they showed tonight, but I had 'em getting knocked off by Pitt in the second round. Actually, I have Pitt in the Final Four, and like that pick more after the Bradley upset and Pitt's strong performance tonight.

[NCCubFan]

HAHAHAHA! I hate Iowa! And I hate Steve Alford (as a coach). Keep him away from his alma mater.

I'm not holding my breath for it, but I'd love to see Rick Pitino as the next IU coach. Maybe he's restless in Louisville and ready to move on. :D

[Andy]

I've been picking pools for 15 years, and have never picked a 2 seed to lose in the first round. This year I picked Winthrop, and damned if they didn't almost pull it off. Oh well.

I have yet to pick a 1, 2, or 3 to lose. Probably won't ever happen either. I believe I picked a 4-13 upset one time and it didn't come even close to happening. I usually stick to prying 5-12s and 6-11s (the latter turned out to be my specialty as I went 4-0 in those games; however I went 1-3 in 5-12s, I always struggle with them).

 

However, I appreciate the help getting Pitt into the Sweet 16, Bradley. Just don't screw it up by actually beating them. :-P

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It was a lot of fun watching that Bradley game with a buddy of mine who's from Peoria. Took the pain away from MSU's abomination earlier in the evening.

[illiniguy]

It was a lot of fun watching that Bradley game with a buddy of mine who's from Peoria. Took the pain away from MSU's abomination earlier in the evening.

I am from Peoria and couldn't be happier. Now I get to tell all the Kansas fans I live near they are lucky they only played the third best team from Illinois this year.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've been picking pools for 15 years, and have never picked a 2 seed to lose in the first round. This year I picked Winthrop, and damned if they didn't almost pull it off. Oh well.

I have yet to pick a 1, 2, or 3 to lose. Probably won't ever happen either. I believe I picked a 4-13 upset one time and it didn't come even close to happening. I usually stick to prying 5-12s and 6-11s (the latter turned out to be my specialty as I went 4-0 in those games; however I went 1-3 in 5-12s, I always struggle with them).

 

However, I appreciate the help getting Pitt into the Sweet 16, Bradley. Just don't screw it up by actually beating them. :-P

\

 

No guts. Winthrop this year was my first 15 ever, I've been on their bandwagon since about February. And Tennessee was ridiculous as a 2. Picked Bucknell last year. I did go a little overboard in my NSBB bracket with Murray St. over UNC, but even in my money bracket I had Winthrop, Iona, and Bradley.

 

My proudest moment in my brackets was nailing Kent St. to the elite 8 in '02.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Well I had KU in the Final Four, but I hafta enjoy their loss now, especially because in 1-2 years they'll be cutting down the nets in April.

 

I'm pumped for my good friend who goes to Bradley, he was excited and cautiously optimistic about his team.

 

snood, no doubt you guys are a great team, but you gotta understand that us Mizzou fans are happy. See you guys in football season :)

[NCCubFan]

24-8, second place (tied with one other person) out of 36 teams in the NSBB bracket contest (I'm not counting the person who registered but didn't submit picks). Sweet 16 picks gone: Syracuse, Southern Illinois, Kansas (Final Four pick :( ), and Nevada.

[hawkeyecub]

HAHAHAHA! I hate Iowa! And I hate Steve Alford (as a coach). Keep him away from his alma mater.

 

I picked Iowa, but that's a loss I'll gladly take!

 

I suppose you probably should when we've owned you guys for 3 years now with 4 straight wins. Must be rough when you're a fan of a one-sport school and you get dominated in the one sport you're supposed to be successful in.

 

Other than that I have no idea why you would hate Iowa. Honestly what is there to hate about us? It's not like we've been a longtime rival or been a threat to your success for a long time. We don't cheat and I don't think we had any players this year that give other teams a reason to dislike us.

 

I can't stand Illinois (mostly because of their fans) and I'm not a big fan of Weber, but I'm pulling for them in the tournament this year. I don't necessarily like Dee Brown and James Augustine, but I can respect them because they seem like generally good kids who have played clean and been great competitors in this league for 4 years. Pretty much everyone in that group is someone I would like to have on our side.

I can't imagine anyone in our league looking at Brunner, Horner, Haluska, Hansen, Thomas, Hansen or Henderson and dislike them for any reason other than being successful or not want them on their team.

[Derwood]

Other than that I have no idea why you would hate Iowa. Honestly what is there to hate about us? It's not like we've been a longtime

 

Steve Alford is a tool

[Mark Priors Calves]

Congrats SweetPete, I hope you are enjoying this victory. As a Bradley alum, I've never really had a big reason to be excited about my school, except for the girl I knew who was on Average Joe. Now that's change, bring on Pitt.

[snoodmonger]

Well I had KU in the Final Four, but I hafta enjoy their loss now, especially because in 1-2 years they'll be cutting down the nets in April.

 

I'm pumped for my good friend who goes to Bradley, he was excited and cautiously optimistic about his team.

 

snood, no doubt you guys are a great team, but you gotta understand that us Mizzou fans are happy. See you guys in football season :)

 

I'd rather not. I think we lost our entire defense. But I'm already slowly getting over it. And I really can't blame the Mizzou and UI fans for being happy. Oh well. It's on to six months of baseball, aka Who's on the diabled list, now?

[SouthSideRyan]

HAHAHAHA! I hate Iowa! And I hate Steve Alford (as a coach). Keep him away from his alma mater.

 

I picked Iowa, but that's a loss I'll gladly take!

 

I suppose you probably should when we've owned you guys for 3 years now with 4 straight wins. Must be rough when you're a fan of a one-sport school and you get dominated in the one sport you're supposed to be successful in.

 

Other than that I have no idea why you would hate Iowa. Honestly what is there to hate about us? It's not like we've been a longtime rival or been a threat to your success for a long time. We don't cheat and I don't think we had any players this year that give other teams a reason to dislike us.

 

I can't stand Illinois (mostly because of their fans) and I'm not a big fan of Weber, but I'm pulling for them in the tournament this year. I don't necessarily like Dee Brown and James Augustine, but I can respect them because they seem like generally good kids who have played clean and been great competitors in this league for 4 years. Pretty much everyone in that group is someone I would like to have on our side.

I can't imagine anyone in our league looking at Brunner, Horner, Haluska, Hansen, Thomas, Hansen or Henderson and dislike them for any reason other than being successful or not want them on their team.

 

I hate Brunner for blowing the free throw and rebound yesterday. I don't like you guys due to rivalry, but I sure as hell was pulling for you yesterday, and just for my bracket.

[hawkeyecub]

You hate him because he missed the final free throw of his fantastic career because it hurt your little bracket?

 

Wow. You should be proud.

[TruffleShuffle]

My proudest moment in my brackets was nailing Kent St. to the elite 8 in '02.

 

Same here. I also had SIU as an 11 seed making the Sweet Sixteen that year, #8 seed UCLA beating #1 seed Cincy, and Mizzou in the Sweet Sixteen as a 12 seed, all of which happened. Plus I had 3 of the final four right that year (except Indiana) and had Maryland as the champion. Normally I'm only average at these pools but that year, it was like I could do no wrong. I went back and figured out what I would've scored in the ESPN bracket (I didn't do one that year on ESPN) and I would've been in the top 100 out of a million nationwide.

 

I guess the Kent St to the Elite 8 is my proudest pick. Winthrop would've made it up there as well. And the year that UConn won it all, my pick of #8 seed Alabama over #1 seed Stanford was the difference in me winning that office pool.

[SouthSideRyan]

You hate him because he missed the final free throw of his fantastic career because it hurt your little bracket?

 

Wow. You should be proud.

 

Or because I was rooting for the Big 10, and Iowa blowing an 18 point lead with 8 minutes left made us all look like jackasses.

[Andy]

My favorite year: 2003. I had 12 seed Butler going to the Sweet 16, ND in the Sweet 16, Syracuse in the final game, and if not for a miracle shot by Drew Nicholas, I would've called a UNC-Wilmington over Maryland upset. I won my pool that year, and my only blunder was picking UK to win it all before they ran into the Dwyane Wade Buzz Saw. However, I was nearly perfect up until the Elite 8 that year.

[TruffleShuffle]

I won my pool that year, and my only blunder was picking UK to win it all before they ran into the Dwyane Wade Buzz Saw.

 

Quick quiz... which team came closest to taking Wade and Marquette out before their eventual loss to Kansas?

 

Answer - Holy Cross, which lost to them by 4 points in the first round. Holy Cross would have pulled the upset if not for bad free throw shooting and Travis Diener playing the game of his life.

[Mizzou]

I won my pool that year, and my only blunder was picking UK to win it all before they ran into the Dwyane Wade Buzz Saw.

 

Quick quiz... which team came closest to taking Wade and Marquette out before their eventual loss to Kansas?

 

Answer - Holy Cross, which lost to them by 4 points in the first round.

I don't know about that. Mizzou took them to overtime in the second round that year.

[UK1679666180]

Answer - Holy Cross, which lost to them by 4 points in the first round.

 

Didn't Holy Cross lose to UK by 4 that year? I thought it was 72-68 or 62-58.

[hawkeyecub]

You hate him because he missed the final free throw of his fantastic career because it hurt your little bracket?

 

Wow. You should be proud.

 

Or because I was rooting for the Big 10, and Iowa blowing an 18 point lead with 8 minutes left made us all look like jackasses.

 

How does it make you look like a jackass?

 

But yeah, that's an even better reason to hate someone. Good logic.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't like Brunner. He complained to the officials a lot and flopped more than any player I've seen since Shane Battier.

[Coach C]

As for the KU issue,

 

Seeing KU lose kinda really sucked, since the Big XII was stinking up the joint in the post-season.

 

Then again, I am a Wichita St. Fan, and I root for the MVC, which was tough as well.

 

I guess I was more of a neutral site during this game. But I'll tell you what. Having seen that O'Bryant kid play aganist the Shockers in Wichita, that boy has a bright future of playing in the NBA.