College Basketball: 2016-2017 Season (Men and Women)

[Jordan]

Here's FiveThirtyEight's official tournament preview. It's a great read and does well to explain just how and why this year's tournament will be so tough for just about everybody:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...have-a-treacherous-path/?ex_cid=story-twitter

 

[AnthonyD1993]

I wouldn't be shocked if a lot of upsets happen because there really are not any true powerhouse teams that clearly distance themselves from the rest of the field. Normally predicting everyone is easier because there's at least a team or two that are so much better it's easy to see that they'll go deep.

There are a few teams that have had ugly stretches at points in the season that are now playing hot basketball (Michigan and Duke are two that come to mind) and others that have been struggling lately (Michigan State- I still can't believe that they were as bad as they were this year).

I don't agree with coach Cal often, but his recent rant about the seedings is dead on point. There's a ton of teams that should not be seeded where they are. Under no circumstances should the Shockers be a 10 seed. They have a proven track record in the tournament and are way better than that. I don't see how Duke is a 2 seed because of momentum from the ACC tournament win yet Michigan has momentum from the B1G win and is a 7 seed while Minnesota and Purdue (teams Michigan beat in route of the win) are 5 and 4 seeds, respectively. It's like they just threw darts at numbers on a wall this year and whatever number they landed on was where the team was seeded.

 

[JohnBM01]

Girls can ball too! It's March Madness time for the ladies also. The NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball tournament will be set once we know how the bracket matches shape up. Don't assume Connecticut will win by default. Who knows? The Lady Huskies could be knocked off in the tourney and see their 100+ game winning streak be snapped. Or, maybe UConn Lady Huskies awesomeness carries into the 2017-2018 season. Anyways... here are the brackets for the women, as the women's championship this season goes into Dallas:

#1 Seeds: Connecticut, Baylor, Notre Dame, and South Carolina


I was a bit too lazy trying to get in game locations and dates played. So just check out the matches slated:

--- BRIDGEPORT REGION ---
#1 Connecticut vs. #16 Albany <<< UConn = 107-game winning streak
#8 Syracuse vs. #9 Iowa State

#5 Texas A&M vs. #12 Pennsylvania
#4 UCLA vs. #13 Boise State

#6 West Virginia vs. #11 Elon
#3 Maryland vs. #14 Bucknell

#7 Temple vs. #10 Oregon
#2 Duke vs. #15 Hampton


--- OKLAHOMA CITY REGION ---
#1 Baylor vs. #16 Texas Southern
#8 Louisiana State vs. #9 California

#5 Tennessee vs. #12 Dayton
#4 Louisville vs. #13 Chattanooga

#6 Oklahoma vs. #11 Gonzaga
#3 Washington vs. #14 Montana State

#7 DePaul vs. #10 Northern Iowa
#2 Mississippi State vs. #15 Troy


--- LEXINGTON REGION ---
#1 Notre Dame vs. #16 Robert Morris
#8 Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. #9 Purdue

#5 Ohio State vs. #12 Western Kentucky
#4 Kentucky vs. #13 Belmont

#6 North Carolina State vs. #11 Auburn
#3 Texas vs. #14 Central Arkansas

#7 Kansas State vs. #10 Drake
#2 Stanford vs. #15 New Mexico State


--- STOCKTON REGION ---
#1 South Carolina vs. #16 North Carolina-Asheville
#8 Arizona State vs. #9 Michigan State

#5 Marquette vs. #12 Quinnipiac
#4 Miami vs. #13 Florida Gulf Coast

#6 Missouri vs. #11 South Florida
#3 Florida State vs. #14 Western Illinois

#7 Creighton vs. #10 Toledo
#2 Oregon State vs. #15: Long Beach State


Now you know how the women's bracket will be. So if you follow women's college basketball, you now know what the road will be like for the women in their quest for a National Championship. Let the games (and the madness) begin.


Congratulations to all who made the NCAA tourney and good luck to all.

 

[JohnBM01]

March Madness is GO! We got the "First Four" games going on with the likes of Mount St. Mary's at New Orleans going on right now. The winner of that one gets Villanova (defending champions) in the 2nd Round.

I am not sure if it's okay to mention this, but part of me wants to see Kentucky do very well. Not just because of our Jordan, but to honor our late FoolKiller. I haven't done a bracket in a while, and I don't have one set up for this season's tournament.


Enjoy all the action!

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Also, the NIT is in action. ESPN is currently showing Valparaiso and Illinois.

 

[JohnBM01]

Right. UNC-Greensboro at Syracuse and Oakland at Clemson are on tap in the NIT also. And later, there will be Boist State at Utah and Indiana at Georgia Tech. Our Joey D surely hopes Oakland can shock the Syracuse Orange.


[UPDATE] My Dish info thing said UNC-Greensboro at Syracuse, but this is Valparaiso at Illinois.

 

[Brett]

Our bracket group is live!

• GTPlanet's 2017 Official Bracket Group

We are not at all happy with the selection committee here in Kentucky, though. Our potential matchup with Wichita St. is ridiculous. They should absolutely not be a 10-seed — according to KenPom's metrics, they are the eighth best team in the country. As a 2-seed (and the fourth best team in the country by those same metrics), Kentucky should not be playing a team this good in the second round, nor should Wichita St. be playing someone like us yet. It's not fair to either one of us.

After that, we'll have to get through one of our greatest nemesis, UCLA (the only team with more national championships than Kentucky), which ended up with a lower seed even though they beat us on our home court earlier this year. After that, we'll have to get through a rematch with another one of our biggest traditional foes, North Carolina, to make it into the Final Four.

This is going to be very tough, but considering how much parity there has been in college basketball all season, anything could happen and there's going to be a lot of upsets.

And joined.

 

[JohnBM01]

University of Houston's season of men's basketball is over. It ends with a 78-75 loss to Akron in the NIT tournament. What I found funny is that the site for this game was at Texas Southern. Texas Southern is in the NCAA Tournament, and we're having to settle for being at THEIR arena for an NIT game? I sure hope this team can get better and be more competitive.

Oh, well. Get ready for the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament now that 68 teams is now 64.

 

[Brett]

Last minute bracket changes:

 

[Joey D]

My policy this year was to set it and then not to touch it. In my ESPN bracket I have Duke and in my CBS one I have Oregon.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Last minute bracket changes:

I don't even bother to change my bracket. Changes usually make it worse than it was when I initially set it.

 

[JohnBM01]

Win or go home. 64 teams will become 32 after this batch of games. That 32 will then be 16. Life can be so unfair. However, at least we can know who the better half of these teams will be as the postseason progresses.

Good luck to all teams from here on out.

 

[ukfan758]

Let's go Kentucky!

 

[wvmgmidget]

I really hope WVU can put it off and prove my bracket wrong.

 

[Aesthetics]

I knew i should've put Mid Tennessee winning in both my brackets. Also i totally thought Vanderbilt would win.. and it seemed like that until, well, that, happened.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

It's a damn good thing that Jordan doesn't do any loser punishments in his bracket because my bracket's initial start to this tournament season is looking like it'll be one of the worst brackets for the third straight year.

 

[Joey D]

Middle Tennessee played spoiler last year and I had no doubt they were going to do it again this year. They're much better than their seeding made them out to be.

 

[ukfan758]

Man I've screwed up this year:
-Vandy
-Minnesota
-Maryland

 

[Jordan]

It's a damn good thing that Jordan doesn't do any loser punishments in his bracket because my bracket's initial start to this tournament season is looking like it'll be one of the worst brackets for the third straight year.

Only players who pick Duke or Louisville as national champion will be punished. 👍

 

[Joey D]

Only players who pick Duke or Louisville as national champion will be punished. 👍

Aww man I picked Duke to win it.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Aww man I picked Duke to win it.

I did too which is why he said that.

EDIT: Well, the fact that he's a Kentucky alum is a major factor as well. But saying what I said while picking Duke definitely gave him more fuel to the fire.

EDIT 2: It's worth noting that Indiana fired Tom Crean. He was their coach for 9 nears before his firing.

 

[JohnBM01]

Half of the men's teams have been eliminated. The other half are going to face the same fate. Some teams have already advanced to the next round, including the likes of Michigan.

And hey- the ladies are ready to ball also! Today begins the women's tournament in NCAA Division 1 women's basketball. Most people feel this championship is UConn's to lose as they ride a 107-game winning streak. The Lady Huskies are eventually going to fall... but will that eventual defeat happen this postseason?


Have a great weekend of college basketball!

 

[ukfan758]

Only players who pick Duke or Louisville as national champion will be punished. 👍

I picked UK and Duke (took a long time to make the ladder choice), will I be punished?


Somehow, I am at the top of the table .

 

[JohnBM01]

Tonight is the National Championship! That is... in NCAA Division 3. The National Championship for the NCAA D3 title will be between Augustana College (of Illinois) and Babson. The game will be on CBS Sports Network at 6:00 PM EDT from Salem, Virginia. The nicknames of the two are the Vikings of Augustana College (of Illinois) and the Beavers of Babson College.


Hope all of you are enjoying the March Madness action. I'm on full Sebring mode, but I do check in to see how the college hoops are going.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Illinois hired Brad Underwood.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Double post, but Villanova just got bounced from the tournament. 68-85 Wisconsin over Nova. There goes the first of the 1 seeds.

 

[Jordan]

 

[JohnBM01]

So we're assured new champions with Villanova getting 86'ed. Wow. Defending champions = OUT.

 

[Brett]

Illinois hired Brad Underwood.

That is a tough loss for Oklahoma State.

 

[Dolph Drago]

Xavier just beat the snot out of Florida St.