rawaction

Duke may not be the weakest #2. Georgetown probably is but can't be the 2 in Louisville's bracket.

No. Jim Jackson's son and Ryan Evans are not white

Iowa State, Kentucky I'm thinking only 1 of those 5 get in.

I'll take the East draw over the Midwest draw. Miami is the best #2, but very beatable. I think got the worst 3 and 5s and maybe the worst or 2nd worst 4 seed.

UNLV a 5? LOL If Miami is the #2, I love this bracket.

UCLA a 6, Oregon a 12?

Ouch, Wolverines.

Oh [expletive], IUs gonna be a 2 aren't they?

That is a bear of a bottom half between MSU and Duke. Tough draw for Louisville as far as the Final Four goes. Shouldn't the #1 overall get the wort #2 and best #3? I'd be surprised if Duke got bumped all the way down to #8 overall on the S curve. Should, but never seems to work out that way.

Midwest looks tough

Its possible. Though I don't know how Kansas or Duke could have an argument. Stranger things have happened though.

Maybe not. But it's sure nice to be in the conversation again. Including this year, IU has only been higher than a No. 5 seed three times since 1993--and two of those are Crean teams (and both were No. 4 seeds prior to this year). IU had not been much of a national player for twenty years. They are again. Yeah they have not had a team capable of any thing for 20 years. People equate that to losing Knight but it happened long before he left.

They can win in spite of him. I keep thinking the zone will be scrapped, but it's not. But as has been said, it's all about the half court execution on offense. And despite Crean, IU can win because they are most likely going to have the best players on the court in any game they will play. Zeller, Watford, and Oladipo are all capable of taking over regardless of the play called. Of course, none of them have shown the personality to do so on a consistent basis.

Those are some annoying ass 8 seeds that are going to give the 1s some trouble. UNLV, Memphis and NC State are athletic teams with some length that will all probably lose but will be very tough outs.

Me too. But IU is pretty much clueless in physical half court games. It's why the second/third NCAA Tournament games concern me (maybe moreso than playing some other top-tier teams). It's not the players. It's Crean. This team has all the pieces you look for in a half court offense. 7-footer in the middle, inside/outside combo big that's a matchup problem, one of the best shooters in the country, the most athletic player in the country on the wing, a high basketball IQ, pass-first PG and a versatile slasher off the bench. There's need to be more running Hulls off screens. More high/lows with Watford and Zeller. More pick and rolls. And for God's sake scrap the damn zone defense. Agreed. And I expect this to be a continuing problem (it may be way, way worse next year). Crean's system and recruiting style are geared towards up-tempo finesse, which can be difficult in the Big Ten (at some point, IU could really use a bruiser inside). Under Crean, I could envision IU developing into sort of being the anti-Wisconson, in that they're better out of conference than in. Be honest, I know Crean has really turned you back in the right direction, but don't yo wish you could get Stevens to get back over the hump? I know Stevens at IU would scare the crap out of me. What do you mean by "back over the hump"? If u mean a national title, I think they can win it this year with Crean. But yeah Stevens is amazing, I'll take him over most of the world as coach.

Going to be interesting. Think winning the best conference outright should keep IU as a #1. But Kansas won their conference (albeit much weaker) and Miami may win theirs (with the best #2 team in it). Either way, I don't think IU keeps #1 in the midwest. Louisville has earned that. I'm thinking IU goes to #1 in the South if Miami loses and #1 East if they lose (Kansas #1 South).

How do u beat a team that can hold u basketless for 11 minutes and it not being a fluke?

Me too. But IU is pretty much clueless in physical half court games. It's why the second/third NCAA Tournament games concern me (maybe moreso than playing some other top-tier teams). It's not the players. It's Crean. This team has all the pieces you look for in a half court offense. 7-footer in the middle, inside/outside combo big that's a matchup problem, one of the best shooters in the country, the most athletic player in the country on the wing, a high basketball IQ, pass-first PG and a versatile slasher off the bench. There's need to be more running Hulls off screens. More high/lows with Watford and Zeller. More pick and rolls. And for God's sake scrap the damn zone defense.

I hate losing to this [expletive] team.

If Cody comes to play like yesterday IU will win. Of course, much better defensive big man he's facing today.

Not necessarily. Every other team has laughed their asses off if thats true as well. If he wants to retire though, its a good strategy for him to stick to that. That's actually the exact contract I expected him to get before I saw what players were actually signing for. There's been a few big time deals, but they've been given out by teams who need to spend that type of money to get good players (Miami, Cleveland, Tennessee). So, I'd expect Urlacher's demands to come down a little. That being said, I'd be fine with him earning up to 11Mil in 2 years if it is an incentive laden contract. I'd probably even be willing to do 2/11 provided he gets no more than 3.5-4.5 this year with plans to cut/restructure/retire after this season.

You trying to reverse-jinx him for tomorrow? I just want to see a Crean/Ryan cage match more than anything. Sweaty and smiley.

Bowman was very good on special teams last year and looked decent outside at cb in a pinch in the Seattle game. Draft a nickel and there is little drop off at db.

If its 1m per year why eould he take that? If its 3-4m per year, glad the Bears didn't pay that.

What about the fact that the new DC is from a cover 2 scheme and explicitly stated that he wasn't changing anything?