bukie

As frustrating as they've been in their Illini careers, Meacham, Frazier and Brock will be missed next year, at least early on.

Yes it is, UCLA won.

If anything, I'm most pissed about the complete lack of energy and hustle the Illini showed tonight. I'm just glad they didn't play a really good team.

The Bulls have the pieces to be a good team now, and the roster at this point in the year is much better constructed than it was 3 weeks ago. However, they don't look like they have any sort of offensive or defensive game plan, and that really reflects poorly on coaching. This team can beat anybody at home and lose to anybody on the road, which to me indicates that they live off crowd support and officiating more than any concrete game plan.

I'm sitting at 4/7 right, which goes to show that probability and statistics really mean little in these things. :)

Looks as if Cal will be the first major conference team to lose in the tournament.

Dangerously close to 0-3 so far. Stupid Butler.

Florida State got a 5 seed. That was a team that beat by Northwestern, a team in our league, that's not in the tournament.

I have 4 Big Ten teams in the sweet 16, which I know is too high. I have 4 Big East teams in the sweet 16, which I am expecting to be too low.

:shock:

First round games: Thursday 12:20 PM ET (9) Butler vs. (8) LSU 12:25 PM ET (15) Cal State Northridge vs. (2) Memphis 12:30 PM ET (9) Texas A&M vs. (8) Brigham Young 2:30 PM ET (12) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Purdue 2:50 PM ET (16) Radford vs. (1) North Carolina 2:55 PM ET (10) Maryland vs. (7) California 3:00 PM ET (16) Chattanooga vs. (1) Connecticut 5:00 PM ET (13) Mississippi State vs. (4) Washington 7:10 PM ET (10) Michigan vs. (7) Clemson 7:10 PM ET (10) Minnesota vs. (7) Texas 7:20 PM ET (14) American University vs. (3) Villanova 7:25 PM ET (13) Akron vs. (4) Gonzaga 9:40 PM ET (15) Binghamton vs. (2) Duke 9:40 PM ET (15) Morgan State vs. (2) Oklahoma 9:50 PM ET (11) Virginia Commonwealth vs. (6) UCLA 9:55 PM ET (12) Western Kentucky vs. (5) Illinois Friday 12:15 PM ET (14) Stephen F. Austin vs. (3) Syracuse 12:25 PM ET (9) Tennessee vs. (8) Oklahoma State 12:30 PM ET (14) North Dakota State vs. (3) Kansas 12:30 PM ET (11) Utah State vs. (6) Marquette 2:45 PM ET (11) Temple vs. (6) Arizona State 2:55 PM ET (16) East Tennessee State vs. (1) Pittsburgh 3:00 PM ET (11) Dayton vs. (6) West Virginia 3:00 PM ET (14) Cornell vs. (3) Missouri 7:10 PM ET (16) Morehead State vs. (1) Louisville 7:10 PM ET (12) Arizona vs. (5) Utah 7:20 PM ET (10) USC vs. (7) Boston College 7:25 PM ET (13) Portland State vs. (4) Xavier 9:40 PM ET (9) Siena vs. (8) Ohio State 9:40 PM ET (13) Cleveland State vs. (4) Wake Forest 9:50 PM ET (15) Robert Morris vs. (2) Michigan State 9:55 PM ET (12) Wisconsin vs. (5) Florida State

So...new thread for the NCAA tournament discussion, or shall we continue adding to this behemoth? :)

I'm not convinced he'd be any better than Vasher. Take that as you will.

How many teams have beaten the Celtics, Cavs and Magic this year? Any of them lose to Washington and OK City?

The best things that have happened to the Bears this offseason has been addition by subtraction. JSC signing elsewhere, Tait retiring, Booker released, etc.

Next 3 games: at Oklahoma City, vs. LA Lakers, at Washington. Which one is the most likely win?

Yeah, part of the reason I was so excited when I saw Illinois' draw (other than they got a 5 seed when they are probably a 6-7 without Frazier) was that their opponent was both overseeded and a terrific matchup for them that plays right into their strengths. Most experts that are picking Western Kentucky are giving reasons like "well they won 2 games last year" or "Illinois is shorthanded and overseeded" or "the Big Ten is so bad they barely deserve 4 bids" (even Bilas and Lunardi, who I normally respect).

If BC was Michigan's 7 seed opponent, I'd have them winning, no question. Clemson though? Tough draw.

Illinois was probably overseeded as a 5, especially without Frazier. I'm just glad they have the opportunity to play the weakest 12-seed.

Goran Suton was out for the early part of the schedule, including the UNC and Maryland losses. Raymar Morgan was out during the middle of the Big Ten season, which included the PSU and Northwestern losses. They are allegedly healthy now. Who was out for the Morgan St. loss? The entire team, I guess, since they didn't have Morgan St. on the schedule.

Because they choked their way out of the last 2 NCAA tourneys and lost as a 4/5 seed in the previous 2, maybe? :)

Goran Suton was out for the early part of the schedule, including the UNC and Maryland losses. Raymar Morgan was out during the middle of the Big Ten season, which included the PSU and Northwestern losses. They are allegedly healthy now.

Generally it's very good. Of course, even a team given a 80% chance of winning will lose on occasion. Difficult to get hard numbers on accuracy without spending hours doing calculations, since it's not really posted anywhere.

At least Nantz is doing early round games, even though it's the UNC and Duke pods. It's progress.

As far back as I can go, there's only been one case of a first round underdog (11 seed or higher) being a statistical favorite that lost: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=274000004 :(