UConn, Purdue, Houston - or The Field?

[IUfanBorden]

You didn't say talent, you said they were bad defenders. Not only that, but you're wrong, the team does have talent, serious talent, problem is, the talent is too young and too inexperienced.

Ummmmm……, same difference there bro.

I never said the team didn't have talent. Where did I say that? I said they are ELITE offensively. What, you think that is .code for, "no talent?

SO what you are saying is---Cal needs generational, transcendent talent, to have good defensive teams? Hes never had a team this bad defensively.

Youth and inexperience has nothing to do with this, bro. They have played 31 college games. Its just UK has a bunch of dudes that are not very good defensively.

 

[bignish]

You didn't say talent, you said they were bad defenders. Not only that, but you're wrong, the team does have talent, serious talent, problem is, the talent is too young and too inexperienced.

There's different levels of talent.

Bring these guys back and I guarantee you they would he elite defenders. They are too young and they need more time.

What’s the point of mentioning this when you know it isn’t going to happen?

In this era of college basketball, you’re never going to have an insanely talented experienced roster.

Dilly, Reed, Edwards and Wagner are all gone. Cal needs to work hard to recruit Thiero and Big Z back to school.

 

[IUfanBorden]

What’s the point of mentioning this when you know it isn’t going to happen?

In this era of college basketball, you’re never going to have an insanely talented experienced roster.

Dilly, Reed, Edwards and Wagner are all gone. Cal needs to work hard to recruit Thiero and Big Z back to school.

Im not sold Edwards leaves. Has really slid down the board. Wagner/Dilly and Reed are fo sure gone.

 

[ExitFlagger]

There are examples of teams, like VCU, like Butler, like Illinois-Chicago etc… that weren't top 30 in both yet made the FF.

On Torvik, 2011 VCU was top 10ish and ranked top 20ish on offense and defense the last month of the year. For comparison, over the last month, Kentucky ranks 23rd on Torvik with a 143 defensive rating.

NIT, NIT? Huh?

UAB? LMFAO. You can't cray about Bucknell being 20 years ago and bring up UAB. Haha.

Not only that, but UAB was a 9 seed. Bucknell was a 14 iirc. Bradley was at least a 13, maybe a 15.

Pretty simple. I listed the biggest failures for both programs over the last 2 decades and asked you to pick the one you’d prefer. Point being, would you rather have a few more upsets or NIT appearances and losing seasons?

Btw, who cares if UAB was a 9? So was Northern Iowa (also top 25ish on Kenpom), and that’s the one you plebes always mention first.

 

[ExitFlagger]

What’s the point of mentioning this when you know it isn’t going to happen?

In this era of college basketball, you’re never going to have an insanely talented experienced roster.

Dilly, Reed, Edwards and Wagner are all gone. Cal needs to work hard to recruit Thiero and Big Z back to school.

Jeff’s holding out for the day that lottery picks wise up and choose to take classes in Lexington for four years.

 

[kyjeff1]

Ummmmm……, same difference there bro.

I never said the team didn't have talent. Where did I say that? I said they are ELITE offensively. What, you think that is .code for, "no talent?

SO what you are saying is---Cal needs generational, transcendent talent, to have good defensive teams? Hes never had a team this bad defensively.

Youth and inexperience has nothing to do with this, bro. They have played 31 college games. Its just UK has a bunch of dudes that are not very good defensively.

LOL, code? Nah man. The team has talent, they just need more time to be good defenders. Like I pointed out, Tyler Ulis went from unplayable in the FF, to a defensive nightmare the next season.

Trying to defend 23 and 24 year olds that have been playing together for several years, is harder than it looks.

I wish Cal would try something different, we're 30 games in, this isn’t working.

 

[kyjeff1]

Jeff’s holding out for the day that lottery picks wise up and choose to take classes in Lexington for four years.

Wow, where did I say that?

 

[kyjeff1]

What’s the point of mentioning this when you know it isn’t going to happen?

In this era of college basketball, you’re never going to have an insanely talented experienced roster.

Dilly, Reed, Edwards and Wagner are all gone. Cal needs to work hard to recruit Thiero and Big Z back to school.

Edwards was supposed to be a transcendent player, he was expected to go #1 in the draft, but the guy isn't even a 2nd rounder. That’s the difference.

And yes you can have an insanely talented roster, I never said it had to be loaded with juniors and seniors.

And I clearly pointed out that there is a difference between regular 5* talent and guys like Wall, AD, Towns, Fox, Randle, Zion, Barret etc… None of the guys on this squad are at that level, but, like I said, Edwards was supposed to be.

Cal pointed to this team a couple years ago and said this was going to be his type of team, the team that he succeeds with and he eould have been right, if Edwards was who he was hyped up to be.

 

[kyjeff1]

Im not sold Edwards leaves. Has really slid down the board. Wagner/Dilly and Reed are fo sure gone.

Edwards, DJ, Bradshaw and Big Z might/should actually come back, they have all slid off the draft boards.

But, this is what sucks about being one-and-done-u, players that would stay at every other school, leave after 1 year no matter what. That’s the mindset and culture Cal has created. We rarely get to see these players at even half their potential.

If those players come back and join the incoming class, next year should be a team that defends much better.

Hopefully NIL is enough to keep them in Lexington.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Jeff’s holding out for the day that lottery picks wise up and choose to take classes in Lexington for four years.

Ky's 1NDones havent entered a classroom after Dec 15 in Cal's tenure.

 

[kyjeff1]

Ky's 1NDones havent entered a classroom after Dec 15 in Cal's tenure.

So this is your new thing now? UK players and only UK players don’t attend class? Just UK?
You've posted this in 3 seperate threads just this morning.
And no, I'm not stalking you.

 

[dukedevilz]

Anybody want to change their vote? I said UConn, Purdue, or Houston more than a month ago. I feel like those 3 schools still have a slight edge over the field.

 

[Montana81]

Anybody want to change their vote? I said UConn, Purdue, or Houston more than a month ago. I feel like those 3 schools still have a slight edge over the field.

I said the same thing and i’m sticking to it.

I’m actually fairly confident Uconn is about to repeat. They were already the best team in the country and now they’re on fire, having won 7 in a row since getting thumped at Creighton and haven’t really come close to losing during that time.

Their only road block is a potential sweet 16 matchup against a badly underseeded auburn team(underseeded relative to how good they actually are, not their resume).

26 of auburns 27 wins have been by double figures. And they’ve been heating up as well. But Uconn has the geographical advantage with the game being in Boston.

 

[dukedevilz]

I said the same thing and i’m sticking to it.

I’m actually fairly confident Uconn is about to repeat. They were already the best team in the country and now they’re on fire, having won 7 in a row since getting thumped at Creighton and haven’t really come close to losing during that time.

Their only road block is a potential sweet 16 matchup against a badly underseeded auburn team(underseeded relative to how good they actually are, not their resume).

26 of auburns 27 wins have been by double figures. And they’ve been heating up as well. But Uconn has the geographical advantage with the game being in Boston.

They're going to be a very, very tough matchup. Auburn and Iowa State could present some matchup problems. Even though the East may collectively be the toughest region, I'm not sure anyone in the East has enough to effectively slow UConn down and stop them from reaching the Final Four. They're an easy pick for me to win it all.

Between UConn, Purdue, and Houston, I'd say those three schools have close to a 60% chance of winning it all.

 

[Noahtogo24]

Sticking with Uconn sadly.

 

[dukedevilz]

Sticking with Uconn sadly.

That's how I'm feeling. Don't want them to win it all, but they look the part of the best team.

After they took us out in 1999 and 2004, I will gladly root against them. I could only root for them if they're playing UNC.

 

[ExitFlagger]

That's how I'm feeling. Don't want them to win it all, but they look the part of the best team.

After they took us out in 1999 and 2004, I will gladly root against them. I could only root for them if they're playing UNC.

But how often does the best team win?

 

[BasketBallJunkie-UK]

I'm going against the Ucon grain. I can't make myself bet on them to win it all, coming from a weak conference. The Purdue / Big 10 bandwagon. Fails more than succeeds. So no on these 2. Houston won't be making it to the final 4.

So I'm all in on the field.

 

[ExitFlagger]

I'm going against the Ucon grain. I can't make myself bet on them to win it all, coming from a weak conference. The Purdue / Big 10 bandwagon. Fails more than succeeds. So no on these 2. Houston won't be making it to the final 4.

So I'm all in on the field.

Your only reasoning for UConn is the strength of their league?

Hasn’t the SEC been weak pretty much every time Kentucky won it all?

 

[dukedevilz]

But how often does the best team win?

Odds are they won't win it all. But, if I had to put my money on one team, they'd be the pick. Given that this thread is for the top 3 teams, I'm feeling even better. Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the teams ranked in the top 3 of the final AP Poll have won 19 of the 38 NCAA Championships. I feel like the gap is a little wider between the top 3 and the likes of UNC, UT, and Iowa State. So, I feel comfortable in saying the top 3 have more than a 50% chance of winning it all.

 

[ExitFlagger]

Odds are they won't win it all. But, if I had to put my money on one team, they'd be the pick. Given that this thread is for the top 3 teams, I'm feeling even better. Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the teams ranked in the top 3 of the final AP Poll have won 19 of the 38 NCAA Championships. I feel like the gap is a little wider between the top 3 and the likes of UNC, UT, and Iowa State. So, I feel comfortable in saying the top 3 have more than a 50% chance of winning it all.

Yeah, if I were to bet, I might lean toward those three over the field too. But I'd definitely never bet heavily on any one team in this thing.

I read that there's never been a verified perfect bracket. Even as unpredictable as March Madness is, that's pretty shocking. How many millions of brackets are submitted to ESPN every year?

 

[dukedevilz]

Yeah, if I were to bet, I might lean toward those three over the field too. But I'd definitely never bet heavily on any one team in this thing.

I read that there's never been a verified perfect bracket. Even as unpredictable as March Madness is, that's pretty shocking. How many millions of brackets are submitted to ESPN every year?

The odds of someone picking all 63 games correctly is 1 in 147,573,952,589,676,412,928.

It's never going to happen. That's why Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans offered a $1 Billion a few years back to anyone who could pick a perfect bracket. They knew the odds were almost 0%. They just used it as a promotional tool.

 

[ExitFlagger]

The odds of someone picking all 63 games correctly is 1 in 147,573,952,589,676,412,928.

It's never going to happen. That's why Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans offered a $1 Billion a few years back to anyone who could pick a perfect bracket. They knew the odds were almost 0%. They just used it as a promotional tool.

I know the odds are astronomical for any one person, but it seems like the odds would be decent for one bracket out of many millions to have 63 correct picks.

 

[dukedevilz]

I know the odds are astronomical for any one person, but it seems like the odds would be decent for one bracket out of many millions to have 63 correct picks.

Nah. 8 billion (people in the world) / 147 quadrillion ain't going to hit a blip on the radar. It's like 1 in 500 billion chance, even with some 8 billion entries.

 

[Deepelm]

Nah. 8 billion (people in the world) / 147 quadrillion ain't going to hit a blip on the radar. It's like 1 in 500 billion chance, even with some 8 billion entries.

Nerd.

 

[Noahtogo24]

But how often does the best team win?

Which is why Kansas wasn’t a given to win in 2020 😛

 

[ExitFlagger]

Which is why Kansas wasn’t a given to win in 2020 😛

Well, yeah. Never said otherwise.

 

[treyforuk]

Kentucky is in the field. Guess I'm taking the field.

 

[BasketBallJunkie-UK]

Your only reasoning for UConn is the strength of their league?

Hasn’t the SEC been weak pretty much every time Kentucky won it all?

Not my only reason, but I think its a good one. I also think there's a lot of pressure to win it all on them. At some point the tightness will do them in.

 

[lurkeraspect84]

In a normal year, there's roughly a 40-45% chance of one of the top 3 schools winning it all. This year, it feels a little different with UConn and Purdue... And I think Houston might be a good enough 3rd contender to give this trio over the 50% threshold. Will the field win it this year? What do you think? @954gator

 

[boilerzz]

Hmm….think UConn and Purdue was the right call. Hell, UConn and Oakland might have been the right call.

 

[IUfanBorden]

Hmm….think UConn and Purdue was the right call. Hell, UConn and Oakland might have been the right call.

HOU losing Shead was killer....

 

[boaty4]

Everyone picking the field looking dumb af

 

[boilerzz]

HOU losing Shead was killer....

For sure. They D the hell out of teams but I never trusted their offense to not have a game where they just couldn’t score enough.

 

[IUfanBorden]

For sure. They D the hell out of teams but I never trusted their offense to not have a game where they just couldn’t score enough.

Thins is they rarely had to score much....I do tink it would have been an issue vs PU or a UCONN. TENN as well. But not really with DUke, tbh. I don't think they lose to Duke with Shead

 

[boilerzz]

Thins is they rarely had to score much....I do tink it would have been an issue vs PU or a UCONN. TENN as well. But not really with DUke, tbh. I don't think they lose to Duke with Shead

Agreed. I felt going into the tournament that they were a step behind Purdue and UConn because of their offensive challenges. But they were right there with Tennessee, Arizona and Marquette IMO!

 

[dukedevilz]

Haha yeah. I think I nailed the top 3. Honestly If Shead didn't get injured, Houston probably makes the Final Four.

I enjoy watching this NC State team, but part of me feels like college basketball deserves a championship with two juggernauts like UConn and Purdue.

 

[dukedevilz]

65% of you picked the field. Disappointing.

The gap never closed.

 

[kyjeff1]

65% of you picked the field. Disappointing.

The gap never closed.

Yeah, but we picked Ourdue the last 2 years prior, we can't win.

 

[snowsquirrel11]

But how often does the best team win?

This year the true best team will be the champion