College Basketball: 2015-2016 Season (Men and Women) - Join the GTPlanet ESPN Bracket Group (OP)!

[JohnBM01]

Today, Clemson beat #8 Miami 76-65 at home, and Notre Dame beat Duke 95-91 at Duke. You accomplish something when you beat Duke. You REALLY accomplish something when you beat Duke AT Duke.

When Oklahoma plays, I have to remember they have a fellow named Buddy Hield, who's pretty good. The Sooners are taking on West Virginia today. The game is in Norman, OK.

This is still the time of the season where college basketball really heats up, as if it hasn't already. Every school is looking to add to their resumé to help their cause in making the tournament. Still a lot of season to play itself out.

 

[Brett]

Today, Clemson beat #8 Miami 76-65 at home, and Notre Dame beat Duke 95-91 at Duke. You accomplish something when you beat Duke. You REALLY accomplish something when you beat Duke AT Duke.

When Oklahoma plays, I have to remember they have a fellow named Buddy Hield, who's pretty good. The Sooners are taking on West Virginia today. The game is in Norman, OK.

This is still the time of the season where college basketball really heats up, as if it hasn't already. Every school is looking to add to their resumé to help their cause in making the tournament. Still a lot of season to play itself out.

I was at the Oklahoma game yesterday and it was a very close game. West Virginia is a very good team and I was happy to get a win. The return trip to Morgantown is going to be a very tough test. However, that will have to wait, as the Sooners play Iowa State in Ames on Big Monday. Then follow that up with a trip to Waco and a stiff test against the Baylor Bears.

 

[JohnBM01]

What do you think about Buddy Hield on the Sooners, @Brett ? Or are you really following individual players?

 

[JohnBM01]

ESPN has a couple of good games on tonight. Tonight, Syracuse is at #20 Duke, and that's followed by #1 Oklahoma at #19 Iowa State. Both games should be pretty competitive.

 

[JohnBM01]

DOWN GOES DUKE and DOWN GOES #1 OKLAHOMA!

Can you believe it? Duke has now lost three straight games for the first time since 2007(?). Syracuse won 64-62 at Duke. Duke will lose games, but it's unusual seeing the Blue Devils lose with this kind of regularity.

Oklahoma was atop the polls. Iowa State ain't never scared, taking down the Sooners 82-77. I do still think Oklahoma have the kind of team that could possibly make a Final Four run should they make the tournament. Iowa State may even have Final Four in their blood also.

Oregon State player Jarmal Reid got hit with a four-game suspension for tripping a referee over the weekend. According what I read about the incident, Reid was upset about a foul that wasn't called, so he tripped up the ref though it didn't really look like he did so. I think a player would take much more serious punishment if this happened in the NBA or something. Heck, I remember watching video of a player long ago who punched a referee in the face and was knocked out for about three hours. The guy was banned for life because of his K.O. punch to the ref.


College basketball. It's insane.

 

[Brett]

What do you think about Buddy Hield on the Sooners, @Brett ? Or are you really following individual players?

I think I have watched every Sooner game this year. I have also watched darn near every game Buddy has played in at OU. It is hard not to notice how good Buddy Hield has been this year. He has improved every year he has been on campus. Buddy is up there in my list of favorite Sooners. It made me happy to see him come back for his senior year. And so far, it looks like his decision has helped his draft stock.

DOWN GOES DUKE and DOWN GOES #1 OKLAHOMA!

Oklahoma was atop the polls. Iowa State ain't never scared, taking down the Sooners 82-77. I do still think Oklahoma have the kind of team that could possibly make a Final Four run should they make the tournament. Iowa State may even have Final Four in their blood also.

College basketball. It's insane.

Last night was an incredibly tough spot for the Sooners. They just finished a tough game at Oklahoma State mid week last week and only to have to follow that up with another very tough game against West Virginia on Saturday.

The Iowa State fans were already going to be fired up for last night's game, but throw the #1 ranking for the Sooners on top of that and they were going to bring it even more. The same can be said for the Cyclone players.

I did not feel great going into the game. This was a perfect set up for an 'upset' (Iowa State was favored going into the game). Iowa State played well last night and got the win. Hats off to them.

In the long run, does this hurt the Sooners? Probably not. The Big XII is going to be a grind for the rest of the season. Oklahoma is going to have to continue to protect the home floor and will have to get road wins. It is going to be test. Every team is going to give the Sooners their best because of all the talk surrounding this very good Oklahoma test.

Playing their mid week game on Monday should allow the team to get some rest before another tough match up in Waco against the Baylor Bears. The rest of the Big XII season is going to be awesome.

 

[JohnBM01]

Come Selection Sunday, I wouldn't be surprised if Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa State make the tournament. I may even throw in West Virginia. The Big XII could get in four teams. Maybe five. At worst, they may get in three teams. Any one of these aforementioned teams could be Elite Eight or better. I think Kansas and Oklahoma could have the best chance of making the Final Four.

 

[Brett]

The Big XII will get at least five teams into the tournament. Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa State, West Virginia, and Baylor will all make it. Depending how the rest of conference play goes, Texas, Texas Tech, and Kansas State could sneak in, with Texas being the most likely.

Last night, the Sooners took care of business against the Red Raiders in Norman. Tech managed to hang around with lots of second chance points, but Oklahoma was too much for them. Buddy Hield put up another 30+ point performance.

Oklahoma matches up with the Tigers of LSU on Saturday. It will be a clash of player of the year candidates in Oklahoma's Buddy Hield and LSU's Ben Simmons. Unfortunately, the game is in Baton Rouge, otherwise I would be attending an exciting non-conference game.

In addition, there is an even bigger match up Saturday. Iowa State will play host to former Big XII member, and current number five team in the nation, Texas A&M. Hilton Coliseum is going to be fired up for that game.

 

[Paulie]

Oklahoma matches up with the Tigers of LSU on Saturday. It will be a clash of player of the year candidates in Oklahoma's Buddy Hield and LSU's Ben Simmons. Unfortunately, the game is in Baton Rouge, otherwise I would be attending an exciting non-conference game.

This game should be fairly one-sided, LSU isn't very good and Simmons needs to develop a jump shot before he's truly a can't-miss player.

 

[JohnBM01]

It was #1 Oklahoma who won at LSU 77-75. I didn't see all of the game, but Oklahoma survived from getting upset. It is SO tough (in my view) to win a true road game in college basketball. Who knows? Maybe we'll see Buddy Hield and Ben Simmons play on opposite teams in the NBA if and when they go into the NBA. Oklahoma is still VERY much for real.


Congratulations to other winners on today and tonight, including #4 Kansas outlasting #20 Kentucky in Overtime at Kansas.

 

[Brett]

Oklahoma shot the ball very poorly in the first half. That poor shooting made for a very close game. Fortunately, the Sooners were able to turn it around in the second half, start producing buckets, and get a tough win on the road.

 

[Paulie]

Sounds like Simmons had a much better all-around game today, doing a bit of everything including jump shots for a change, I hope this keeps up.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Big news today: Louisville has self-imposed a 1 year postseason ban from the postseason as a result the alleged escort scandal.

 

[JohnBM01]

Happy birthday, Big Ten! B1G is 120 years old today. So this conference was founded back on this day back in 1896. Good game going on as of this post between #8 Michigan State at #18 Purdue. It's 68-66 with 4:40 left in the game.

Last night, all congratulations to Oklahoma taking down Texas in Norman, OK thanks to a clutch late three-pointer by Buddy Hield. #3 Oklahoma won 63-60 against #24 Texas.

 

[JohnBM01]

More musings from yours truly...

* Kansas and Oklahoma had themselves a great game at Kansas earlier this season. This time, the encore in Oklahoma. 76-72 was the score as #6 Kansas took down #3 Oklahoma. Buddy Hield was beast (what else is new?). Hield scored 24 points. So Kansas got Oklahoma's number again after this Jayhawk victory.

* Texas A&M went to LSU, and the Aggies failed. Ben Simmons for LSU had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. TAMU has now lost five straight SEC games. LSU won 76-71.

* The Michigan Wolverines hosted the #18 Purdue Boilermakers, and Big Blue won 61-55.

* West Virginia demolished TCU with a 73-42 victory in Morgantown, WV.

* Another exorcism happened Joey D's Oakland University. The Golden Grizzlies won 111-93 hosting the Phoenix of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

* 82-58 was the score in Houston as my beloved Houston Cougars beat down the Golden Knights of UCF.


This is basically when most people follow college basketball more now that the Super Bowl is done. It will still be interesting to see how the tournament field shapes out once Selection Sunday comes. Kansas and Oklahoma will definitely be in the tourney in my view. Just a matter of if either will be a #1 seed or maybe a #1 overall seed. Then too, maybe a team that could have a case for #1 overall would be Villanova at this point.

 

[N0t_L3fty]

Appears all is right in the Big12, KU has a 2 game lead with 4 to go. Shout out to boomer Sooner for running over Huggie Bear's hack & slap squad. They play some ugly basketball, with a capital UG... We can expect more of that ugly, muddy stuff from Texas with Shaka Smart for a coach. 11 players=55 fouls=2 1/2 hour games, uck...

 

[tbwhhs]

For the first time since February 1985, Tennessee is unranked in the womens AP top 25. The Lady Vols were ranked for 565 consecutive weeks, and it is only the 16th time in the polls 40 year history that they are unranked.

 

[JohnBM01]

Completely surprising the Lady Volunteers would fall from grace like this.

Here are some teams with very good records as of right now. Check out these records of these teams:

* Stony Brook (23-5), leads America East
* Weber State (20-7), leads Big Sky
* Hawaii (22-3), leads Big West... but are postseason eligible?
* Hampton (15-9), leads MEAC
* Belmont (20-9), leads Ohio Valley East Division
* Stephen F. Austin State (20-5), leads Southland
* Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (20-6), 2nd in Southland
* IPFW (22-7), leads Summit League
* South Dakota State (21-7), 2nd in Summit League
* Arkansas-Little Rock (24-3), leads Sun Belt
* New Mexico State (20-9), leads WAC

Some of these teams could have themselves the benefit of the doubt as At-Large teams if they don't win their conference championships. Any teams surprise you among these smaller programs?

 

[JohnBM01]

Do you think the Big XII the best conference this season? Would it be disappointing if the Final Four doesn't have at least one Big XII team playing for a National Championship?

 

[Brett]

Yes and yes.

 

[JohnBM01]

This is the magic month for college basketball- March. Tournaments and... THE tournament are on deck for this month. Brace yourselves for another potentially insane month of college basketball action.

 

[JohnBM01]

If Boston College loses to Clemson this Saturday, Boston College will be the first school since World War II to have a winless season in conference play in both football and men's basketball. That would be absolutely depressing. Boston College is one of the proudest schools in college football and college basketball. I tend to respect BC more in football than I do basketball, but I'd hate to imagine the Eagles going winless in conference play for football and men's basketball. I mean... can you imagine if this was Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, or even Ohio State?


Lots of college hoops going on as Selection Sunday nears. So go enjoy some college hoops from here on out.

 

[JohnBM01]

Well, it happened. Boston College made history for the wrong reasons. Their football team finished winless in conference play, and their men's basketball team just went winless in conference play. I've read that the Boston College Eagles are the first team since TCU in 1976 to finish winless in conference play in football and men's basketball in the same academic year. Sad...

 

[JohnBM01]

Automatic bids will help determine the ones who WILL play in this postseason. As of the time of this post, here are your men's automatic bids so far. Get those brackets ready!

AUTOMATIC BIDS (as of the date of this post):
* Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun)
* North Carolina-Asheville (Big South)
* North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial)
* Yale (Ivy League)
* Iona (Metro-Atlantic)
* Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)
* Austin Peay State (Ohio Valley)

At present... the Horizon League, NEC, and WCC have yet to be decided.

 

[JohnBM01]

It's Selection Sunday. We're going to learn who all will make up this season's NCAA D1 Men's basketball tournament. Everything from teams to their seeding will be determined tonight. Tomorrow night, it will be selection time for the NCAA D1 women's basketball tournament. Can you feel the drama?


I may or not make the list on here as it is revealed. So if you want to talk about the tournament brackets, jump in immediately and share the brackets. Don't wait on me.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

@Jordan, are you going to make a GTP NCAA tournament group on ESPN this year once the bracket is finalized?

 

[JohnBM01]

Okay. The 2016 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament has been decided! All the brackets have been set. So are you ready for the Madness?


Here are all of the #1 Seeds:
SOUTH: Kansas (#1 Overall)
WEST: Oregon
EAST: North Carolina
MIDWEST: Virginia


North Carolina (EAST), Kansas (SOUTH), Virginia (MIDWEST), Oregon (WEST)

FIXTURES:
* SOUTH REGION vs. WEST REGION
* EAST REGION vs. MIDWEST REGION


Now on to the individual bracket matches.

--- SOUTH REGION ---

* Des Moines, IA - Thursday/Saturday
#1 Kansas vs. #16 Austin Peay State
#8 Colorado vs. #9 Connecticut

* Spokane, WA - Friday/Sunday
#5 Maryland vs. #12 South Dakota State
#4 California vs. #13 Hawaii

* Providence, RI - Thursday/Saturday
#6 Arizona vs. #11 (Vanderbilt/Wichita State)
#3 Miami (FL) vs. #14 Buffalo

* Brooklyn, NY - Friday/Sunday
#7 Iowa vs. #10 Temple
#2 Villanova vs. #15 North Carolina-Asheville


--- WEST REGION ---

* Spokane, WA - Friday/Sunday
#1 Oregon vs. #16 (Holy Cross/Southern)
#8 Saint Joseph's vs. #9 Cincinnati

* Providence, RI - Thursday/Saturday
#5 Baylor vs. #12 Yale
#4 Duke vs. #13 North Carolina-Wilmington

* Oklahoma City, OK - Friday/Sunday
#6 Texas vs. #11 Northern Iowa
#3 Texas A&M vs. #14 Wisconsin-Green Bay

* Oklahoma City, OK - Friday/Sunday
#7 Oregon State vs. #10 Virginia Commonwealth
#2 Oklahoma vs. #15 California State-Bakersfield


--- EAST REGION ---

* Raleigh, NC - Thursday/Saturday
#1 North Carolina vs. #16 (Florida Gulf Coast/Fairleigh Dickinson)
#8 USCal vs. #9 Providence

* Des Moines, IA - Thursday/Saturday
#5 Indiana vs. #12 Chattanooga
#4 Kentucky vs. #13 Stony Brook

* Brooklyn, NY - Friday/Saturday
#6 Notre Dame vs. #11 (Michigan/Tulsa)
#3 West Virginia vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin State

* St. Louis, MO - Friday/Sunday
#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Pittsburgh
#2 Xavier vs. #15 Weber State


--- MIDWEST REGION ---

* Raleigh, NC - Thursday/Saturday
#1 Virginia vs. #16 Hampton
#8 Texas Tech vs. #9 Butler

* Denver, CO - Thursday/Saturday
#5 Purdue vs. #12 Arkansas-Little Rock
#4 Iowa State vs. #13 Iona

* Denver, CO - Thursday/Saturday
#6 Seton Hall vs. #11 Gonzaga
#3 Utah vs. #14 Fresno State

* St. Louis, MO - Friday/Sunday
#7 Dayton vs. #10 Syracuse
#2 Michigan State vs. #15 Middle Tennessee State


The best four (or luckiest four) will play here in my hometown of Houston for the National Championship. A few early thoughts of mine...

Wow- SEVEN teams from the Big XII in this tourney. I know I said "at least five," and I heard six, but seven? Wow! Also a "wow" was Monmouth getting snubbed. The tournament crew basically though Monmouth didn't help their cause too much to make the tournament. The CBS people were surprised Syracuse got in. I love my Houston Cougars, but I knew they were pretty much had no NCAA tourney hopes especially after losing to teams like South Florida at home and then Tulane in the American tournament. Other notable snubs mentioned on CBS: St. Bonaventure, South Carolina, and Valparaiso.

So there you have it. What do you think? Who got snubbed? Who maybe was seeded too high or too low? Get ready for college basketball insanity!

 

[Jordan]

@Jordan, are you going to make a GTP NCAA tournament group on ESPN this year once the bracket is finalized?

Yep, here it is!

GTPlanet's Official 2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket Group

(I still can't believe there aren't more college basketball fans around here...)

So there you have it. What do you think? Who got snubbed? Who maybe was seeded too high or too low?

I'm not at all happy with Kentucky's seed this year. We lost to Texas A&M because of a cheap technical foul during overtime the first time we played them. Then, we played them in the SEC Tournament championship game today and beat them by five points. The NCAA's selection committee decides to reward us for that by giving A&M a 3-seed in an easy region, and us a 4-seed in a tough region, where we'll be facing 1-seed North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen. Not cool. 👎

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Yep, here it is!

GTPlanet's Official 2016 NCAA Tournament Bracket Group

Yes! My Bracket Sucks is confirmed to be making its second appearance to the group. 👍

 

[Paulie]

So there you have it. What do you think? Who got snubbed? Who maybe was seeded too high or too low? Get ready for college basketball insanity!

Not a snub, but as a fan of Australian basketball it was a very disappointing college career for Ben Simmons. I hope he enjoys more success at the pro level. LSU will not even be in the post-season.