College Basketball 2009-2010

[JohnBM01]

Here's your men's brackets, courtesy of cbssports.com:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/viewable_men

Even though the University of Houston is in the tournament (f:censored:ing finally since 1992!!!), I'm not sure if I'll make my own bracket to challenge all others. Congratulations to all 65 teams. You all are winners even though a ball hasn't been dribbled yet. Here's a look at the teams taken in and out heading into this bracket setup:

Last Six in:
UTEP, Utah State, Minnesota, Florida, Missouri, and Georgia Tech

Teams Out:
Rhode Island, UAB, Memphis, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Mississippi, Arizona State, and Illinois



Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Joey D]

Oakland University all the way! OK they aren't going to make it that far but I'm excited. I need to get my OU gear out though and start wearing it again.

Let's go dancing Grizzlies!

 

[FoolKiller]

SEC champions!

Barely. And after that I am surprised Mississippi State didn't get into the tournament. They have taken us into OT twice now.

At least this time they didn't have any fans around to throw things at our players.

 

[JohnBM01]

This year, I don't think I'll do any bracket challenges. So I guess my "record" in my GTPlanet challenges will be 2-0-1. ANYBODY could possibly win the title this season. But really... I don't know who the hell to pick. Many favor Kansas, Syracuse, and whomever. No... I'm not picking my own Houston Cougars to return to the Final Four since the Phi Slamma Jamma days. I'm not even sure if we can beat Maryland.

And then there were 64. Let's get it on proper tomorrow, players!

 

[JohnBM01]

When next season starts, the University of Houston needs to improve their free-throw shooting. That game was ATROCIOUS! Maryland won, and my beloved Cougars are out after an 89-77 beating. We could have been MUCH better at the free throw line and maybe even have won this game. They also started committing the sign of a team that gives up- jack up too many threes.

With Round 1 in the books, feel free to comment as we get ready for Round 2 matches!

 

[Joey D]

Kansas just lost, I'm a bit shocked and I think my bracket just exploded. What's next? Kentucky losing?

 

[theM3rcenary]

Kansas just lost, I'm a bit shocked and I think my bracket just exploded. What's next? Kentucky losing?

Yeah my bracket is all messed up, I had Kansas winning the National Championship.

 

[Joey D]

I have Kentucky but the way things have been going I don't hold out much hope on them winning either.

 

[FoolKiller]

Kansas just lost, I'm a bit shocked and I think my bracket just exploded.

I thought mine did too, but then when I looked at the scoring saw that I am in the lead. I am the only one in my pool that had Kentucky winning the championship over Kansas, and most people have a lot of upsets messing them up. Right now I am tied with a guy that has Duke winning, so my bracket hopes are tied to my team's performance.

What's next? Kentucky losing?

Shush you!!! For the rest of the tournament John Calipari should end every lockeroom pep talk with, "Are we Kansas, or are we Kentucky?"

And on that note, some fun:

Just how big is Kentucky's big inside man, DeMarcus "Big Cuz" Cousins? The Lexington Herald Leader decided to let everyone know. They put a four-piece life-size "poster" of him in this past Sunday's paper.

My wife putting it together.

My brother-in-law (6'1") lying next to it.

And my 1-month old, 20 inch, 8 pound daughter next to it.

And just the facts

 

[theM3rcenary]

I found that my bracket isn't in too bad of shape, I'm going against my social studies teacher, and I'm leading him by one game. He has Kentucky winning as well.

 

[JohnBM01]

Maybe it was a good thing I didn't do a bracket this year. It's crazy how this postseason is going. I don't know... I'd like to see a mid-major win the National Championship. Not that I am so much on BCS schools and non-football Big East schools winning a title. It's just that for a tournament this crazy, it would be interesting seeing a National Champion from a non-power conference. At this rate, Saint Mary's, Northern Iowa, and Cornell give hope.

Around my way, Tom Penders resigned as University of Houston's men's basketball coach. And recently, Joe Curl resigned as head coach of the University of Houston's women's basketball team. I'm hopeful UH basketball doesn't simply head down the tubes into obscurity.

 

[JohnBM01]

Tonight's the Sweet Sixteen. Good luck to the sixteen remaining survivors!

 

[WVUscion]

So what are the chances WV wins saturday against UK? I think if we make shots and don't start slow we can pull it off.

 

[FoolKiller]

So what are the chances WV wins saturday against UK? I think if we make shots and don't start slow we can pull it off.

If WV wins I can guarantee you it will be just as much, if not completely, because Kentucky is having one of their off nights. You get some games where our guys can hit a record number of threes and then other games, like last night, where all they can do is hit layups.

Kentucky is a very hit or miss shooting team. It doesn't show in their record because they have the talent necessary to open up whatever shots it is that they can make. Even on a bad night they are going to have a number of fast break points.

If Kentucky is firing on all cylinders though I don't believe there is a team in the country that can beat them.

 

[WVUscion]

Yea I completely agree with you. I think your team being "hit and miss" is due to their inexperience, but wow can you guys play if you're hitting. I think the same can be said with us. We always play good defense, minus that New Years game against Purdue, and always rebound immensely well. However our achilles heel has consistently been shooting percentage. We commonly start games very slowly with 0-11, 2-14, 1-9 starts. If we do that against Kentucky tomorrow I think it is safe to say our season is over.

The best scenario though is if both teams are firing on all cylinders. That game would definitely go down to the final shot.

 

[FoolKiller]

The best scenario though is if both teams are firing on all cylinders. That game would definitely go down to the final shot.

Judging by the way this tournament is going so far, I would say that it would go down to whoever the refs prefer.


Yes, I am still fuming over Cousins getting thrown to the floor last night and the refs just calling it reaching in, even after reviewing the video.

 

[theM3rcenary]

West Virginia is my only hope to save my bracket!

 

[FoolKiller]

West Virginia is my only hope to save my bracket!

Help me Bobby Huggins, you're my only hope.

I hope he breaks out the black track suit tonight. Much more professional looking than the suits every other coach wears, and definitely doesn't make him look like he belongs on The Sopranos.

 

[WVUscion]

Gotta love Huggy.

If you ever listen to his press conferences, he always makes it sound like he's coaching some division III team that is terribly underachieving.

"Yea I have no idea how we won. We didn't rebound, we didn't shoot, we didn't do anything right. If we keep playing like this I can't see us ever winning again. Another game like this and I'm sure we'll never win again."

Of course those comments would be after blowing out a team by 30. He really is a funny guy if you get him in casual conversation. I was fortunate enough to meet him once at the Rec center when the basketball team had to practice there because the coliseum was booked for gymnastics I believe. However he is probably the biggest perfectionist I have heard of.

 

[Joey D]

I'm still in first place in my bracket, but I'm going to throw that out the window and cheer for MSU to win it all. I ended up at a bar last night to watch the game and it was so much fun being in a place with a couple hundred people wedged in like sardines singing the MSU fight song.

 

[theM3rcenary]

Gotta love Huggy.

If you ever listen to his press conferences, he always makes it sound like he's coaching some division III team that is terribly underachieving.

"Yea I have no idea how we won. We didn't rebound, we didn't shoot, we didn't do anything right. If we keep playing like this I can't see us ever winning again. Another game like this and I'm sure we'll never win again."

This is exactly how my basketball coach is, it gets annoying after a while.

 

[WVUscion]

How are people enjoying Butler getting a final four game (and potential national championship game) five miles from their campus?

Sure wish we could get a home game lol.

 

[JohnBM01]

Tell you what... Butler has a glorified home game when Final Four time comes along. Then imagine if they beat their Final Four opponent, then beat their National Championship opponent (should they make it). To me, I'm actually cheering for Butler because I'd be interested in seeing a non-BCS (including the Big East non-football schools) win the title. It's been a while since such a school has won the men's title.

WVU and Kentucky going at it right now.

 

[WVUscion]

Great first half. We have yet to make a 2 point basket I believe, unless we made one close to the end. That is VERY unnatural for us. We are lucky that our perimeter game is stepping up to stay in it.

Calls have been going both ways. The no call on the backcourt violation which was in Kentucky's favor, and the walking no call in west virginia's favor. The technical against Kentucky I think was fair (call me biased if you will). The player was not only screaming he was looking directly at the official. That's a big "no-no" and the announcers agreed with it.

As far as my impressions on Kentucky, WOW. I can not believe how massive they are. We are a very lengthy team as well but cousins just sucks things up on the boards with his size. We were in all the right positions but he just comes over the top to take rebounds.

Our defense is playing well, or you could say Kentucky is playing sloppy. Forcing a number of turnovers, and making sure Kentucky doesn't get into any kind of rhythm.

FoolKiller, looking forward to see your view of the first half from the Kentucky perspective.


*************

Gotta love that hit on dasean butlers private area (gotta adhere to the AUP here lol). I feel bad for cousins though. Unlucky for him to get in that situation, and since he's on the bench Kentucky is a much different presence on the boards.

 

[cpp214]

You can stick a fork in Kentucky, they're done 👎
A 9 point lead for WV is like a 15 point lead for any other team.
All year long they've had trouble guarding the three, and it's finally going
to cost them. They should have put WV away when they had them down
7 but they couldn't. You can't give a good, battle-hardened team like WV hope
in a situation like that. As long as you have hope, confidence is just around the corner.

They're confident now, and Kentucky pretty much has no clue on defense.

UK avatar back in the closet

EDIT: 7:30 to go, 10 points down now...yeah, it's over.

Congratulations to West Virginia. If UK had to lose to anyone, I'm glad
it was West Virginia. I really like Bob Huggins, and his kids play the right way 👍

Oh yeah, "If we lose, it won't be because of 3 point shooting."--John Calipari
Ironic much?

 

[Joey D]

So I watched my bracket explode, but some how I'm still in first. Big money, big money, big money!!!!

I can't believe Kentucky lost though. They didn't even try it seems and watching them was like watching amateur hour. They ought to be disappointed in themselves.

Oh well, go SPARTANS!!!!

 

[theM3rcenary]

Yes! West Virginia won! I still have a chance to win!

 

[WVUscion]

It is bedlum here in morgantown now. A lot of people in the streets, a lot of cars honking and a lot of yelling. Words can't express how it feels here now. It seems cheesy, but this team is really inspiring the state as a whole. Our first final four since 1959, with Jerry West! Some here believed we would choke like we always do, but we have ground out another victory.

A great season played by Kentucky. Even though it seems as if inexperience got the best of them at this late stage of the NCAA tournament, I have never seen a group of players so talented. They are tremendous athletes and will have very productive NBA careers in the future. If they all decide to come back next year, then Kentucky may not be stopped. Their post and drive game was unparalleled, and at times was undefendable. They seem to lack a perimeter threat, but with another strong recruiting class that need can be quickly filled.

All the respect in the world given to Calipari and the team that he has coached all year long, may all of you in Kentucky look forward to a very promising 2010-2011 season.

Lets keep it rolling mountaineers, and let "country roads" never stop playing.

 

[FoolKiller]

Wow, that was bad. This was the worst I have ever seen Kentucky play. And part of me thinks that Huggins out-coached Calipari, as it seems like Kentucky wasn't even attempting to make adjustments until it was too late.

Oh well, West Virginia is now the team I will cheer on in the Final Four. Anybody that beats Louisville regularly gets my support. That and Kentucky fans have a deep hatred of Duke.

But part of me would love to see Butler pull off a huge upset.


Now I await football to start again, and have to sit around watching John Wall play with the media and pretend that he isn't going pro. If he does stay around I will be in shock. He is star material and there is no reason for him to stay. I doubt Cousins will stay. I feel his maturity level isn't high enough for him to think he needs college. And Patrick Patterson could stay for a year, although he will have earned his degree after only three years, but I think that unless he believes he can improve his NBA position or win a championship next year he will go. He has been non-committal all season.

I am torn. I want these guys to stay and dominate next year. But if at least two freshmen go pro and go high it will send a message that Kentucky is an excellent stepping stone into the NBA and be a huge help in recruiting.

 

[Jordan]

Now I await football to start again, and have to sit around watching John Wall play with the media and pretend that he isn't going pro. If he does stay around I will be in shock. He is star material and there is no reason for him to stay. I doubt Cousins will stay. I feel his maturity level isn't high enough for him to think he needs college. And Patrick Patterson could stay for a year, although he will have earned his degree after only three years, but I think that unless he believes he can improve his NBA position or win a championship next year he will go. He has been non-committal all season.

The only positive thing that I can take from our loss is that it may encourage our best guys to stay another year. If Calipari wants to keep them, he'll be able to say "All of the scouts saw how that game went down and it reminded them of how young you guys are - if you stay another year, our chances of making it to the championship game will be even better along with your NBA prospects."

I am torn. I want these guys to stay and dominate next year. But if at least two freshmen go pro and go high it will send a message that Kentucky is an excellent stepping stone into the NBA and be a huge help in recruiting.

To win championships again, though, Calipari needs a more experienced team to work with. Saturday's game shows that even with the most talented freshmen in the country, they can still get flustered and make mistakes. Besides, I think recruits will follow Cal wherever he is.