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Today Kansas deserves the overall #1 seed

Note Houston is the bottom of the top 4 teams. They are only there because of their record. They don't have a great resume compared to the others.

Besides, there are plenty more examples backing my position vs not.
Still have Houston as a top four team , which is fair to me , considering the talent this year , plus their run in the tourney last two seasons. Last , hometown final four this year if they make it, which makes them even more motivated imo.
 
Note Houston is the bottom of the top 4 teams. They are only there because of their record. They don't have a great resume compared to the others. Their best win per Kenpom is St Marys.

Besides, there are plenty more examples backing my position vs not.

Yep. It's really hard to tell how good Houston is. Are they overall #1 level, or are they closer to the quality of a 2 or 3 seed? Either way, a win at Houston is impressive. But like you said, Alabama hasn't fared so well against other ranked teams.
 
Nobody wants the #1 ranking? Purdue held it for about a month and a half. They'd still be #1 if the refs didn't allow the brutalizing of Edey during that two game stretch vs NW and MD.

I watched the Alabama game vs Tennessee that same week. Heard Bilas say a few times how "physical" that game was. I thought he was trolling. Looked like kittens playing compared to what NW and MD were allowed to get away with.

Now, as to the topic at hand. Kansas has a very good argument at the overall #1 at this moment. I wouldn't be upset by it at all.

If I had to rank the teams getting a #1 seed right now it'd go:

Kansas
Purdue
Alabama
Houston

B12 is clearly the best conference, by far. B10 is good, but teams are winning games they shouldn't due to the overwhelming physicality that they allow. SEC is very top heavy. Only a few good teams and the rest is trash. Houston plays in a garbage conference and still lost a game in it to a 100+ ranked team.

Alabama looks amazing vs terrible teams. Don't fair so well against teams with a pulse.
Then you haven't watched Bama very much. Hope we meet Purdue down the road.
 
KU’s had 3 duds this year. All of which had a big audience. I can see why someone would say they don’t pass the eye test. But they’ve had a lot more good outings than bad and 6 of the last 7 were really good. Averaged 85 ppg in those wins.

But…..their athleticism doesn’t leap out at you overall. They don’t have a lot of reliable shooters or a back to the basket post scorer. They don’t have many guys who can create their own shot. The starting center is undersized. And Dick isn’t automatic from three like before. Everybody’s face guarding him.

On paper, there are plenty of flaws. But they overcome them with great ball movement and by turning good perimeter defense into offense. They’re definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Great post. I think this is what a lot of people see. It’s not diminishing KU’s accomplishments . . . It’s just the eye-test somebody referred to.
 
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Then you haven't watched Bama very much. Hope we meet Purdue down the road.
I've watched them quite a bit actually. 50% of Alabama's losses were blowouts. Another was by double digits and the last one was almost (9). They play a lot of bad teams in the SEC. I'd love to meet you guys in the NCAA. That would mean we're in the final four or championship game.
 
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Then you haven't watched Bama very much. Hope we meet Purdue down the road.
Another way to look at it is Purdue and Bama share two teams they both played. Both beat Michigan St. Fine.

Alabama lost to Gonzaga essentially at home. Alabama scored 90 in that game but gave up 100.

Purdue beat Gonzaga on a neutral court (which was in Gonzaga's back yard). Purdue scored 84 in that game but only gave up 66 to Gonzaga.

So Alabama gave up 34 more points yet scored only 8 more than Purdue.

I don't generally like comparing teams by who beat who but when the outcomes are THAT starkly different. I think it has some value.
 
Great post. I think this is what a lot of people see. It’s not diminishing KU’s accomplishments . . . It’s just the eye-test somebody referred to.

I think they've passed the eye test lately though, aside from that dud in Ames. But they're definitely not the type of team that will overwhelm you with athleticism/size.
 
Houston seems like a very tough out in the tourney to me. 4 teams outside the big 12 seem like they could give my Jayhawks all kinds of trouble. Miami, Bama, Zona, Houston. Its not unique to our team, but we can look very pedestrian when we are not hitting threes. On the flip side we have beaten top 25 teams while shooting poorly from deep by playing smothering defense and getting out in transition. We have #22 TCU tonight which handled the evr living F*** out of us on our home court. A loss tonight would erase this most recent honeymoon period. Hell Texas is tied for the big 12 lead with us and they close with 4 straight top 25 games, including two top 10 matchups. Big 12 is loaded right now. The winner of the big 12 tourney will more than likely have to face 3 if not 4 top 25 teams to grab the tourney title
 
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Houston seems like a very tough out in the tourney to me. 4 teams outside the big 12 seem like they could give my Jayhawks all kinds of trouble. Miami, Bama, Zona, Houston. Its not unique to our team, but we can look very pedestrian when we are not hitting threes. On the flip side we have beaten top 25 teams while shooting poorly from deep by playing smothering defense and getting out in transition. We have #22 TCU tonight which handled the evr living F*** out of us on our home court. A loss tonight would erase this most recent honeymoon period. Hell Texas is tied for the big 12 lead with us and they close with 4 straight top 25 games, including two top 10 matchups. Big 12 is loaded right now. The winner of the big 12 tourney will more than likely have to face 3 if not 4 top 25 teams to grab the tourney title
I think you'd need to add Purdue to that list. Edey is a matchup nightmare and Purdue plays very good team D.
 
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Houston seems like a very tough out in the tourney to me. 4 teams outside the big 12 seem like they could give my Jayhawks all kinds of trouble. Miami, Bama, Zona, Houston. Its not unique to our team, but we can look very pedestrian when we are not hitting threes. On the flip side we have beaten top 25 teams while shooting poorly from deep by playing smothering defense and getting out in transition. We have #22 TCU tonight which handled the evr living F*** out of us on our home court. A loss tonight would erase this most recent honeymoon period. Hell Texas is tied for the big 12 lead with us and they close with 4 straight top 25 games, including two top 10 matchups. Big 12 is loaded right now. The winner of the big 12 tourney will more than likely have to face 3 if not 4 top 25 teams to grab the tourney title
Only teams I would disagree with is Miami on the list-prob replace them with UCLA IMO- but of course, I'm biased when talking UCLA & Miami ;)
 
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Another way to look at it is Purdue and Bama share two teams they both played. Both beat Michigan St. Fine.

Alabama lost to Gonzaga essentially at home. Alabama scored 90 in that game but gave up 100.

Purdue beat Gonzaga on a neutral court (which was in Gonzaga's back yard). Purdue scored 84 in that game but only gave up 66 to Gonzaga.

So Alabama gave up 34 more points yet scored only 8 more than Purdue.

I don't generally like comparing teams by who beat who but when the outcomes are THAT starkly different. I think it has some value.
Go beat Houston and we can talk some more....
 
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I hope you don't bet the way you reason how your team is the greatest.
I hope you guys have a good tournament, and it would be a great matchup if we get to play each other, but that is just not a metric used by the selection committee.
or anyone that wagers on college basketball
 
I hope you don't bet the way you reason how your team is the greatest.
I hope you guys have a good tournament, and it would be a great matchup if we get to play each other, but that is just not a metric used by the selection committee.
I never said my team was the greatest. I actually put Kansas 1st. My only argument here has been that Alabama is not the overall #1 based on their performance vs other good/ranked teams.

The #1 overall team with the #3 defense doesn't/shouldn't get beat by more than 20 ever, let alone twice. One of them being vs one of the worst teams in another conference.

I hope Alabama does well too. I'd love to see them on the court. I'd accept the loss if/when it happened and tip my cap.
 
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Go beat Houston and we can talk some more....
How good is Houston?

They have 4 Q1 wins:
5 point neutral over a St Mary's team with 2 quad 3 losses
8 point win at Virginia that really has one nice win all year
10 point win at Oregon, that is now 15-13 and going to miss the tournament
11 point win at UCF that is 6-8 in the dreadful AAC

That's it. That's a paper thin resume.

Hell, they only beat Memphis by 8 the other night and Kendrick Davis didn't even play.

Oh, and they lost to freaking Temple, which is 123rd in the NET.
 
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How good is Houston?

They have 4 Q1 wins:
5 point neutral over a St Mary's team with 2 quad 3 losses
8 point win at Virginia that really one has one nice win all year
10 point win at Oregon, that is now 15-13 and going to miss the tournament
11 point win at UCF that is 6-8 in the dreadful AAC

That's it. That's a paper thin resume.

Hell, they only beat Memphis by 8 the other night and Kendrick Davis didn't even play.

Oh, and they lost to freaking Temple, which is 123rd in the NET.
Exactly.
 
How good is Houston?

They have 4 Q1 wins:
5 point neutral over a St Mary's team with 2 quad 3 losses
8 point win at Virginia that really one has one nice win all year
10 point win at Oregon, that is now 15-13 and going to miss the tournament
11 point win at UCF that is 6-8 in the dreadful AAC

That's it. That's a paper thin resume.

Hell, they only beat Memphis by 8 the other night and Kendrick Davis didn't even play.

Oh, and they lost to freaking Temple, which is 123rd in the NET.

Yeah, even though the computers all say that Houston's great, I think it's fair to question if they're actually elite. Like I said earlier, I just don't think that any algorithm can fully account for drastic differences in competition. How could it?
 
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Won't be surprised if KU gets thumped by TCU again tonight. When healthy, TCU might be as good as anyone.
Those bastards cost me a 5 team parlay the other night. I didn't realize Miles was back. He is a big difference for them.
 
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Don't care if KU is #1 overall, just as long at they get the KC regional.
Unfortunately I don't see how that happens. Houston is ahead of KU in the top-4 seed listing that came out this week.
Houston is closer to KC than any other region and the only game they have that isn't a complete cakewalk is @Memphis, who sucks. Only 2 losses for Houston and 1 is to another 1 seed and the other is only a 1pt loss.
KU will probably lose 1-2 more games if you include the B12 tourney. Still should be good enough for a 1 seed, unless both losses are to Texas and Texas gets the 1.

Pretty shitty to have a regional in your own town and you don't get it as a 1 seed.
 
Don't care if KU is #1 overall, just as long at they get the KC regional.
Unfortunately I don't see how that happens. Houston is ahead of KU in the top-4 seed listing that came out this week.
Houston is closer to KC than any other region and the only game they have that isn't a complete cakewalk is @Memphis, who sucks. Only 2 losses for Houston and 1 is to another 1 seed and the other is only a 1pt loss.
KU will probably lose 1-2 more games if you include the B12 tourney. Still should be good enough for a 1 seed, unless both losses are to Texas and Texas gets the 1.

Pretty shitty to have a regional in your own town and you don't get it as a 1 seed.
No, what would really be shitty is getting the 1 seen in Kansas City and having Kansas as your 2 seed. THAT would be shitty.
 
No, what would really be shitty is getting the 1 seen in Kansas City and having Kansas as your 2 seed. THAT would be shitty.
I don't think they are allowed to do that, although I vividly remember 2007. UCLA & KU were interchangeable for the last 1 seed/first 2 seed. They gave KU the 1, but made UCLA their 2 and the Regional was San Jose, CA.
I would have rather had the 2 and got Florida in STL or Ohio State in San Antonio, although those are the two teams that made the title game. We did beat UF that year though in Las Vegas.
 
I don't think they are allowed to do that, although I vividly remember 2007. UCLA & KU were interchangeable for the last 1 seed/first 2 seed. They gave KU the 1, but made UCLA their 2 and the Regional was San Jose, CA.
I would have rather had the 2 and got Florida in STL or Ohio State in San Antonio, although those are the two teams that made the title game. We did beat UF that year though in Las Vegas.
I think they definitely try to avoid it but we've been bit a few times over the years with being the better seed and playing a quasi-road game. Hell, back in the mid-80's before they explicitly disallowed it, Purdue played NCAA tournament games against LSU (we were #6 seed, they were #11 seed) in Baton Rouge and Memphis in Memphis (we were #3 seed, they were #6 seed).

Of course, we also benefited a bit a few years ago. We, as the 3 seed, got to play 1 seed Virginia in Louisville, which is only 3 hours from West Lafayette. We had a huge crowd there and almost won (I choose not to speak of the circumstances surrounding the loss).
 
Don't care if KU is #1 overall, just as long at they get the KC regional.
Unfortunately I don't see how that happens. Houston is ahead of KU in the top-4 seed listing that came out this week.
Houston is closer to KC than any other region and the only game they have that isn't a complete cakewalk is @Memphis, who sucks. Only 2 losses for Houston and 1 is to another 1 seed and the other is only a 1pt loss.
KU will probably lose 1-2 more games if you include the B12 tourney. Still should be good enough for a 1 seed, unless both losses are to Texas and Texas gets the 1.

Pretty shitty to have a regional in your own town and you don't get it as a 1 seed.
Well maybe Houston will get that regional as a 1 and Kansas will get it as the 2. I'd be ecstatic with that if I were you.
 
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Totally agree UK best team, best coached and high IQ players minimize mistakes and errors


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Well maybe Houston will get that regional as a 1 and Kansas will get it as the 2. I'd be ecstatic with that if I were you.
At this point, I think KU would really have to choke to get a 2 seed.

KC would be nice, but I think getting a 1 seed is big this year. I’d prefer not to play someone like Arizona, Gonzaga, Tennessee before the elite eight, and also would prefer not to share a bracket with the current #1 team/seed if I don’t have to.
 
Saw this on a KU board. If KU gets the Midwest Region they’ll have to play only 3 of the next 9 games outside of the Lawrence/KC area. 2/3 games would likely be in Des Moines which is only 3.5 hours away. Locking up Midwest region is huge for KU.
 
That's a stretch. They'd have 8 losses.

While I don’t agree with it either I’ve seen the same sentiment mentioned on a couple of college basketball podcasts when discussing #1 seeds and Kansas. KU has so many quad 1 wins it would be impossible to ignore. This was before KU added another quad 1 win last night. It doesn’t matter though because you isn’t losing 4 straight to end the regular season and B12 tournament.
 
While I don’t agree with it either I’ve seen the same sentiment mentioned on a couple of college basketball podcasts when discussing #1 seeds and Kansas. KU has so many quad 1 wins it would be impossible to ignore. This was before KU added another quad 1 win last night. It doesn’t matter though because you isn’t losing 4 straight to end the regular season and B12 tournament.
I totally agree with the Q1 part as of right now, but if they lost out they wouldn't have a big lead. That would mean everyone else would have caught up to them and in some cases, surpassed them in Q1 wins. It just wouldn't happen with that many losses.

They'd be 13-9 in Q1. Not a good percentage.
 
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