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UConn, Purdue, Houston - or The Field?

Who will win the 2024 National Title?


  • Total voters
    75
  • Poll closed .
Yup, that's the exciting/sad nature of these tournaments. Also, FAU is currently projected as a 7 seed. That would be a VERY tough 7 seed to face in the Round of 32. Nobody makes it to Phoenix without beating at least 3 really good teams.
Nobody wants to play that team in the tourney lol.
 
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Wasn't comparing to KU. KU's an injured 3ish seed right now with no depth. But now that you mention it, they probably have several wins that are better than UConn's best win. And there's no doubt they've faced a more grueling schedule, which has been especially tough for them due to injuries and lack of depth.

I'm not denying that UConn's a top 3 team. Probably the best right now. I'm questioning whether they've really separated themselves. To me, it seems like there are 10 or so teams that are fairly equal at their best. In most years, I think that number is maybe 3-4.

I would agree KU has better wins. But, their losses are also worse.

And you might be right that the gap isn't that wide. But, going 13-1 in league play in a conference that has the second highest KenPom rating is impressive. Okay, take out the G'town/DePaul wins. 9-1 against all of those teams is still really, really good.

Poll backfire, devilz. 27% and half of them are UConn or Purdue fans or you. 😆

I wasn't trying to prove a point. I was trying to assess people's opinion. I'm okay if most people disagree with me. I feel like it's really, really close to being 50-50. But, if the majority of posters see it otherwise, that's fine. I could be off the rocker on this one.

Nobody wants to play that team in the tourney lol.

What kind of reward would it be for a 2 seed to face them in the Round of 32? That would be a really tough 7 seed to take down.
 
I would agree KU has better wins. But, their losses are also worse.

And you might be right that the gap isn't that wide. But, going 13-1 in league play in a conference that has the second highest KenPom rating is impressive. Okay, take out the G'town/DePaul wins. 9-1 against all of those teams is still really, really good.



I wasn't trying to prove a point. I was trying to assess people's opinion. I'm okay if most people disagree with me. I feel like it's really, really close to being 50-50. But, if the majority of posters see it otherwise, that's fine. I could be off the rocker on this one.



What kind of reward would it be for a 2 seed to face them in the Round of 32? That would be a really tough 7 seed to take down.

BE is the second highest rated conference on Kenpom? Maybe it’s better than I realize. Figured it were 4th or so. Seems top-heavy.
 
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BE is the second highest rated conference on Kenpom? Maybe it’s better than I realize. Figured it were 4th or so. Seems top-heavy.
The big east has three very good teams, two very bad teams, and a bunch of mediocre in the middle. I think they benefit by having only 11 teams, which put a heavier weight to the three really good teams than other conferences.
 
I think UConn's really good, but what have they done to prove there's a solid gap? I'm not even convinced there's a solid gap between them and Marquette. Guess we'll find out since they're playing twice soon.

To me, Uconn's beaten one legit top 25ish team in league play so far (Creighton).

I guess beating UNC by double digits when one of the best players had his first game back and barely played doesn’t move the needle.
 
Any of these 3 I’d be fine with winning it. There’s really only ones I don’t want winning it.
 
Any of these 3 I’d be fine with winning it. There’s really only ones I don’t want winning it.

You’d be okay with UConn pulling within two titles of Kentucky? With a really good coach who’s just getting started?
 
You’d be okay with UConn pulling within two titles of Kentucky? With a really good coach who’s just getting started?
If Uconn goes back to back, maybe Hurley gets some NBA interest?

Plus if they do win it all again, guys has to be what at minimum, a top 5 active coach?
 
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BE is the second highest rated conference on Kenpom? Maybe it’s better than I realize. Figured it were 4th or so. Seems top-heavy.

They have 7 teams in the top 50. And Providence is at 53 and Seton Hall at 64. So while G'town and DePaul are dumpster fires, none of those other games are gimmes. Seton Hall laid an egg in the non-conference season. But, they also have wins over UConn and Marquette. And they're currently tied with Creighton for 3rd in the BE. If you took the last 6 weeks of play, they'd easily be a top 50 team, as well.

I'm okay if others think the SEC is better than the BE. But, the BE is collectively better than the B10.
 
It's either going to be Uconn vs Purdue natty or there will be absolute madness and a 5 seed or someone random will win
Don't sell yourself short! Be great if the 2 seed you get does good. But yeah even better if the 4 to 6 Cocks fulfill the prophecy!
 
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I can’t stand UConn, and predicted they were going to lose to Iona last season (hey-Iona was winning at half)

With that said, as of now, would pick UConn in my bracket to win it all.
 
They have 4 wins against KenPom teams in the top 25, winning all those games by 10+ points. And while those 4 road wins weren't against top 25 teams, they were all in the top 60. And you know that winning on the road against decent teams isn't easy. KU has lost 3 road games to sub-50 opponents - and had a really close one to IU. Duke has lost 2 road games to sub-100 opponents.
I like this logic. South Carolina is a real sleeper lurking in the shadows of a bad NET ranking coupled with somehow beating those pesky Quad 3 and 4 teams that whoop up on the likely top seeds. Guess you gotta know how to prep for Everybody. Could be like being able to handle the option in football? The tournament throws some unusual stuff at you. You're gonna face teams you're supposed to kill. Seems like the top teams especially the favorites are stumbling on those a little bit more this season...
 
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I would agree KU has better wins. But, their losses are also worse.

And you might be right that the gap isn't that wide. But, going 13-1 in league play in a conference that has the second highest KenPom rating is impressive. Okay, take out the G'town/DePaul wins. 9-1 against all of those teams is still really, really good.



I wasn't trying to prove a point. I was trying to assess people's opinion. I'm okay if most people disagree with me. I feel like it's really, really close to being 50-50. But, if the majority of posters see it otherwise, that's fine. I could be off the rocker on this one.



What kind of reward would it be for a 2 seed to face them in the Round of 32? That would be a really tough 7 seed to take down.
Yup, I don't care if they've lost a couple questionable road games. I saw that team take down Arizona on a neutral floor, and when it looked like Zona might take it they threw up the Mutombo finger every damn time. That final 4 run wasn't a fluke. That's a good squad, and they're excellent under pressure.
 
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IMO Tennessee has consistently been the 4th best team yes we stubbed our toe on the road against Miss St and A&M both tournament teams but Arizona lost to freaking Stanford, Wash St and Oregon St
Stanford shot 65% from three-point range, Washington state looked like a bad loss at the time, but they are surprisingly a good team this year. The worst loss was Oregon state who won on a three-point buzzer beater.
 
This is a pretty easy question. UConn ain’t going back to back because teams rarely do that.

Purdue ain’t winning it because Painter is their coach.

So you’re basically asking “Houston or the field?” Obviously the field is the best answer.
Painter is a good enough coach to win it all.
 
IMO Tennessee has consistently been the 4th best team yes we stubbed our toe on the road against Miss St and A&M both tournament teams but Arizona lost to freaking Stanford, Wash St and Oregon St
Washington State is better than Miss State or A&M. Drop them from the group.
 
Yes! Holy shit you know nothing about hoops.

By your logic Miss State is not as good as GT.
I never made a definitive statement saying Miss St is better than Wash st though did I? What big wins does washington st have? Miss st has pretty good wins this year. And I'm not talking just conf home games.
 
Truth is, nobody knows how these teams are going to perform on neutral courts.

Also, just because a team went on a run last year, doesn't mean they'll do it again, timing is everything. If the tournament was played 2 weeks ago, you would get a different champion than if it was played this week.

I wish we would stop placing so much weight on quad 1 wins. A win on the road over Wisconsin when they’re struggling, is not the same as a road win at say, Iowa State. The quads are way too broad to really just act like all quad 1 victories are the same.

Watching Purdue and UConn these last few weeks, I'm sorry, I just don't see how so many people think they are so much better than everyone else. I get it, UConn beat the snot out of Marquette at home, but do they really have any recent wins that are impressive? Same with Purdue, who have they beaten that can be thought of as some great win?

Seen too many tournaments where several teams come out of nowhere and play out of their minds.

I trust Houston much more than I trust the other two, because they play extremely hard. But, they struggle to score sometimes.

Gimme the field.
 
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My dude, Purdue has beaten Marquette, Tennessee, Arizona, Alabama and Illinois.

They have the best player in the nation by a country mile.

What would they have to do to impress you? Beat UK by 50 at Rupp?
Most of those games were in November and December so they don't count for some reason.
 
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My dude, Purdue has beaten Marquette, Tennessee, Arizona, Alabama and Illinois.

They have the best player in the nation by a country mile.

What would they have to do to impress you? Beat UK by 50 at Rupp?
Reread my post, who have they beaten the last 2 months? Who is their best win since 1/1/24?

You can't possibly think nobody has improved since November and December. All those teams you mentioned, in particular, Tennessee, are much better now than what they were 3 and 4 months ago.

Purdue didn’t get the Dalton Knecht that is playing right now and I'm not sure Marquette and Illinois are all that good either.

Purdue is better too, but if Purdue were to play those teams right now, do you honestly think the results would be the same? That's my point. The tournament isn’t played in November.
 
Most of those games were in November and December so they don't count for some reason.
Nobody said they didn't count, but by all means, continue to act ignorant to what I'm saying. You’re smarter than this.
 
Because everybody but them has gotten waaaaay better since then. As evidenced by all those teams' losses to mediocre teams and underwhelming wins.
To further your point, Purdue has 7 wins over teams in the top 25 of the NET. No one else in the country has more than 4.
 
To further your point, Purdue has 7 wins over teams in the top 25 of the NET. No one else in the country has more than 4.
Who are those teams?

Where is Northwestern, Nebraska and Ohio State ranked in the NET?
 
Who are those teams?

Where is Northwestern, Nebraska and Ohio State ranked in the NET?
47, 57 and 65 and all three losses were on the road, where ranked teams are losing at at all time high rate this year.

You act like those teams are terrible. Two are tournament teams and the third has zero losses worse than UNCW.
 
47, 57 and 65 and all three losses were on the road, where ranked teams are losing at at all time high rate this year.

You act like those teams are terrible. Two are tournament teams and the third has zero losses worse than UNCW.
The uncw loss happened in November, UK was missing all 3 bigs and their starting pg on a freshmen oriented team. Most teams are going to lose games when they’re that young and missing 4 players.

Also, UK isn’t being heralded as head and shoulders BETTER than everyone else.

You’re getting butthurt over my opinion and I'm not even saying Purdue sucks, I just gave my reasoning for why I'm taking the field.

Heck, look at Purdue's last two NCAAT appearances with essentially the same team. Y'all lost to a 15 seed and a 16 seed. Yeah, I'm taking the field and if you looked at Purdue with neutral goggles on, you would too.

Any team that is supposed to be as good as Purdue is being talked about, shouldn't lose to a coachless NIT team, regardless of the venue. To me, that’s a huge red flag.
 
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