fantasycurse42
Footballguy Jr.
Debating going straight chalk on my office bracket. I swear, every girl in my office does that and they're always dominating the leaderboard.
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
NCAA HOOPS THREAD! -- K petitions to get Maui Jim Maui Invitational moved to Transylvania (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Good Posting Judge
- Start date
simsarge
Footballguy
Anyone know where i can print out a bracket with the school nicknames on it in addition to the school name? Trying to do one for my kids, but everything is just "Duke" and not "Duke Blue Devils". There's plenty of fluff articles "ranking" the mascots, but no brackets that I can see.
TIA
TIA
TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
I forget, are the Saturday games usually spread out during the day and then stacked during the evening? I know Saturday and Sunday are set up differently timewise, if I remember correctly. I'm trying to squeeze in family-time over the next 4 days and I think early Saturday afternoon is my time. Just trying to figure out how many games I'll miss.
Capella
Footballguy
I think one game at 12, maybe one at 2 and then they back up? Something like that. Sat or sun early afternoon definitely the time to go.
heckmanm
Footballguy
Yeah, Saturday's really spread out in the afternoon, with 3 games on one network (no doubt to prevent channel surfing during the long-###
commercial breaks). And then they stack the remaining 5 games all in a 4-5 hour span so you end up trying to keep up with 3 games at a time when you shouldn't have to deal with more than 2.Not that I'm
about it or anything.
MAC_32
Footballguy
12, 2:30, 5, 6, 7, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 both days.
I'd bet on Kentucky getting the 2:30 draw Saturday and either Duke or North Carolina on Sunday. So, whatever you're doing - be home by then.
TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
I thought on Sunday they stacked them more earlier because they didn't want late games. Kind of the same way the NFL does the playoffs.
MAC_32
Footballguy
They haven't in the past. CBS gets 12, 2:30, 5, and 7:30. Then the secondary channels get in on the action at night. They put the three best ratings draws at 12, 2:30, and 5 but won't do a MST or PST game at noon and try to stay away from anyone that played Thursday night (vs. afternoon).
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
UNC plays late Friday night, I'd be surprised if CBS/NCAA make them play early on Sunday. Roy Williams will definitely lob some silly G-rated insults their way if they do.
I'd think Michigan State vs Louisville/Minnesota play in one of the two solo afternoon time slots Saturday for sure. UVa vs Oklahoma or Ole Miss seems like it would get one on Sunday. A Virginia game and a Wisconsin game early Sunday seems like a real possibility and also a perfect prescription for an afternoon nap.
Last edited by a moderator:
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
hmm, also playing in the first set of games tomorrow. And I know that NM State is supposed to be dangerous. If I am going to take a somewhat wild shot, not sure if i want to risk getting depressed right off the bat.
MAC_32
Footballguy
UNC will probably play at 2:30 or 5, Duke the other - given when they play Thursday I'd guess Duke at 2:30 and UNC at 5.
I picked Wisconsin to lose because nobody but Wisconsin fans actually want to watch that filth, but if they win then you may be right. Unfortunately since they're in San Jose they won't get the noon slot though. If they get a stand alone hopefully they'd get the 5 and we'll do dinner then, but I think it's UNC and Duke.
On quick glance I think the other two games you cited are the front runner's for the noon starts.
Last edited by a moderator:
Scoresman
Footballguy
The difference between filling out a chalk bracket and a kenpom bracket this year is only two picks, and they are an 8-9 and 4-5. Crazy how good they got the seeding this year. We usually have a 6 seed that should've been an 11 or some other crazy seeding. This means that the mom's and wives out there who pick chalk should once again claim victory.
In small pools, I'm going mostly chalk this year.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Better seeds have a tendency to start slow in that spot - Gonzaga last year, Notre Dame and Virginia the year before, Cal in 2016. There's more and 3 of those 4 won, but they were in doubt until the final minute. So I picked an army of upsets early tomorrow. And will have my brackets torn to bits before leaving the office.
Ramblin Wreck
Footballguy
The two early window games will be in the same building. Sunday will be uva and duke unless one loses. Then it’s carolina and Tennessee I would think.
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
Friday is the day that more upsets occur. Cal was a friday game. "Start slow" is kind of a bad term too since Gonzaga and Notre dame covered the first half spread in those games you mention. So maybe finish poorly is a better description. Gonzaga got off to a slow start in 2017 so maybe that is what you are remembering?
I posted this in the wagering thread, but figured it might be of interest here. I didnt include 3 seeds since there wasnt that great of a difference from thursday to friday ATS and the straight up differential was also almost identical. I didnt put #1 seeds since UVA, which was a friday game, was the only upset and the spread numbers were also not very different.
Going back to 2008...
4 seeds playing on fridays are 4-12 ATS and 8-8 SU.
5 seeds playing on fridays are 5-11 ATS and 8-8 SU.
#2 seeds on fridays are 11-16-1 ATS and 24-4 SU
The only year where the 2,4,and 5 seeds combined ATS had a winning record on friday was in 2010 when they were 4-3-1.
In 2011 they were 0-4.
ETA: some reference... since 2008 no 2 seed has lost on thursday.
5 seeds win about 65% of the time compared to 50%
4 seeds have only lost in 2010, 2011, and 2018(1 each year) on thursdays.
Dogs were 11-4-1 in covering first half spreads last year on friday. The under was 12-4.
Last edited by a moderator:
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
@Scoresman
Ahrens has been hurt off and on all season. But he is a real good defender and can shoot the three pretty consistently. He is also a leader on the court.
His replacements would be a combination of Gabe Brown, little used but talented freshman and/or Thomas Kithier, freshman who plays solid defense but doesn’t pose a threat at the three like Kyle does. He does play a tough inside game. A bit foul prone.
Ahrens averages 4.7, and Brown and Kithier average around 2 a game. Kithier is a much better defender than Brown and rebounds better than Brown. Brown typically plays outside and Kithier is more of a banger inside. Both are capable fill ins.
It will be a big blow not to have Kyle out there because of his experience but State has played a lot of games without him this season, team has been racked with injuries to their front line players all season, but this team doesn’t quit. It all revolves around Winston. He is a great team leader and floor general.
I like their chances up to the Elite 8. If Duke is there going to be tough, but they can matchup very well with everyone else in the East.
Last edited by a moderator:
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Jeff Goodman
@GoodmanHoops
Syracuse announces starting point guard Frank Howard won’t play in the NCAA Tournament "for an indefinite period of time due to a violation of athletic department policy." HUGE blow to the Orange.
@GoodmanHoops
Syracuse announces starting point guard Frank Howard won’t play in the NCAA Tournament "for an indefinite period of time due to a violation of athletic department policy." HUGE blow to the Orange.
scoobus
Footballguy
Scoresman
Footballguy
2019 GONZAGA BULLDOGS Key Players: Brandon Clarke, Rui Hachimura, Josh Perkins
Record: 30-3
NET Ranking: 2
Kenpom Rank: 2
SUMMARY
This is the most offensively talented GU team ever. They broke offensive efficiency records. They swept WCC Conference regular season play with a scoring margin of over 27 points. Additionally, they are the only team to beat a 100% healthy Duke team. Clarke and Hachimura are both most likely lottery picks. Their two losses are a neutral site loss to Tennessee that was determined by a banked three, and a true road loss to UNC, where one of the few matchup weaknesses this team has was exposed. More on that below.
Early this season, Gonzaga’s defense was a real concern, tanking at 60ish in defensive efficiency. Since giving up 103 to UNC however, they have improved to 17th overall as of this writing.
People not familiar with 2019 Gonzaga might compare them to the 2017 team, which was the year they went to the Finals. This team is pretty different. For one, this team has multiple guys who can take over the game at moment’s notice. Rui, and Clarke both scored in double digits in every regular season game. Perkins and Norvell can also both drop 20 often. The 2017 team really only had one guy, Nigel Williams-Goss, who could do that, and teams started keying in on him late in the season. This year’s team is much harder to prepare a gameplan for, but they are more susceptible on defense than the 2017 team.
CLICHE # 1: “Gonzaga’s weak schedule doesn’t prepare them for the dance”
The usual cliché’s surrounding Gonzaga include “Gonzaga’s weak schedule doesn’t prepare them for the dance” or “Gonzaga plays in a weak conference and is overrated.” Fans are used to hearing these this time of year. I don’t know why this myth continues to be perpetuated because the opposite has proven true in recent years. Gonzaga has made the S16 the last 4 years, the only NCAA team to do this, including one trip to the Finals. They’ve been one of the top teams in terms of meeting seed expectations over the last decade. There is no correlation between Gonzaga playing in the WCC and their postseason success.
CLICHE #2: “Gonzaga plays in a weak conference and is overrated.”
Yup it's no ACC, that's for sure. But this year the WCC (aside from Gonzaga) is the fourth best its been since 1998. They had two top 50 teams on or close to the bubble this year instead of the usual one. In addition, due to shortened conference schedules, the Zags did not have to play bottom dwellers Portland or Pepperdine twice, effectively increasing their SoS. So not only is the overall conference stronger than in recent years, but GU has also blown them out like never before. GU does not blow out the WCC out every year like this year. There have always been close road games. That's normal. Even the power conference schools have tough road games against weaker competition. What's not normal is cruising through conference play with a scoring margin of 27 points. It is disingenuous to think GU's consistent blowout wins in the WCC mean nothing.
SO WHO CAN BEAT THEM?
Big, long, athletic teams that can hassle Clarke and Hachimura in the post. They also have problems with good offensive rebounding teams, as evidenced by the loss at UNC. The usual teams that implement good zone defenses are probably teams they don’t want to play either. These have historically been problem areas for the Zags. I have more confidence this year however, because of all the playmakers they have on offense. A team will have to shutdown Rui and Clarke in the post, and also keep Perkins and Norvell cold. Which brings us to...
BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT LOSS TO ST. MARY'S????
A team that has as many offensive weapons as this one has has to have a lot go wrong to lose like this, and that is what happened. Combined with a flawlessly executed gameplan from St. Mary's. To put it simply, on defense St. Mary's baited Gonzaga's guards into three point attempts and forced Gonzaga to win on 3 point shooting. Normally this would be fine because we're one of the top shooting teams in the nation. But we shot 11% from 3 in this game. They completely dictated game pace as well, but they did that in the other two matchups Gonzaga won. In one of them Gonzaga scored 94 points on 65 possessions.
So that's no excuse.KEY POTENTIAL MATCHUPS
Syracuse - I don't think anyone wants to play Syracuse, but their zone has given Gonzaga problems in the past and could again this year. Washington plays a similar scheme, and earlier this season, they played Gonzaga really close, in Spokane. The recent news about Frank Howard helps their chances though.
Florida State - They knocked the 4 seed Zags out last year in the Sweet 16, and they are one of those long, athletic teams I mentioned earlier so they are a real matchup problem. But also consider that Gonzaga lost their leading scorer minutes before the game in warmups last year.
Texas Tech - Number 1 offense vs. Number 1 defense. Would love to see this.
Michigan - I like this matchup except for Michigan's slow game pace. If Gonzaga couldn't force St. Mary's to speed up, I don't hold much hope here in that regard. And fewer possessions adds more variance to the outcome.
Nipsey
Footballguy
Battle will play at the 1 with Buddy starting at the 2. Battle's played there a bunch this year and we've been great with him there. Don't see it as a huge blow at least for round one. Hughes can always move up top if need be but I doubt they'll need him to. Be interesting to see what happens to the line. If all of a sudden we're getting points may be hammer time.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
simsarge
Footballguy
If he could somehow resist the urge to reach behind, swatting mythical passes by reaching through opponent's chest, leaping out to block spinning fall away hook shots with .2 on the shot clock and somehow develop a low post game, he'd be able to play more than 5 minutes a half. Boehim needs to hire a good center's coach. That was Bernie Fine's job, wasn't it?
Nipsey
Footballguy
He just doesn't have that killer instinct on the defensive end. It's just his temperament. Guy is a gentle giant. Every once in a while he shows fire and he can be a force. Then he goes into stretches where he's barely jumping and out of position. It was Fine and then Hopkins job to develop bigs. Sidibe lack of progress equally disappointing. Nuts that Dolezaj has gotten so much time in the middle this season. Hopefully that kid John Bol Ajak coming in next year is a fit. Looks like he has some game at the offensive end.
mr. furley
Footballguy
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
mr. furley
Footballguy
simsarge
Footballguy
I get he's not Christmas , but he is a senior and although markedly better than last year, one would expect more than an occasional lob/dunk or put back to his game by now. Defensively, he is a force when he's in, not just blocks, but altering shots too.
We'll see I guess
We'll see I guess
Nipsey
Footballguy
Rodrigo Duterte
Footballguy
What are ya'll putting down for your total points tiebreakers? Does Vegas have a line on that?
Scoresman
Footballguy
I do this by looking at the pace each team plays at. See if they’ve played similar matchups and go by that.
Rodrigo Duterte
Footballguy
Makes good sense, thanks, but I don't follow it enough to go through and figure it out. Was hoping there'd some kind of early line to go by.
My 3 finalists will be:
Gonzaga vs N Car
Duke vs N Car
Duke vs some else
My 3 finalists will be:
Gonzaga vs N Car
Duke vs N Car
Duke vs some else
Nipsey
Footballguy
Rodrigo Duterte
Footballguy
Fantastic. Thank you!
timschochet
Footballguy
My UCI Anteaters are the best college basketball team in the state of California.
I cant believe I just wrote that. But for the first and only time in my entire life, it might be true. 30 wins! They play Kansas State Friday. They should not win. But...who knows?
Zot!
I cant believe I just wrote that. But for the first and only time in my entire life, it might be true. 30 wins! They play Kansas State Friday. They should not win. But...who knows?
Zot!
ffmail4me
Footballguy
MAC_32
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
Ramblin Wreck
Footballguy
Yesterday you didn’t know who Zion Williamson was and you’re breaking down K-State?
TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
When you go to bed on Christmas Eve, you wake up early Christmas morning and you're greeted by mounds of presents.
Screw the west coast, these games should be starting at 8 am on Thursday morning. 4 hours at work with no games on? What the hell am I supposed to do during that time?
Screw the west coast, these games should be starting at 8 am on Thursday morning. 4 hours at work with no games on? What the hell am I supposed to do during that time?
BroncoFreak_2K3
sucker for Orange
lolRamblin Wreck said:
timschochet
Footballguy
I know absolutely nothing about K-State. Are they good? They usually are.Ramblin Wreck said:
Forgive me for being hyped about the Anteaters but our athletic achievements are few and far between. Back when I attended they won a water polo championship. I can’t think of too much else that they’re done. We do have an offensive lineman on the Arizona Cardinals, which is pretty amazing since we have no football team.
TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
timschochet
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
Actually I did read that Kansas State’s best player is out. So that should help Irvine, right?
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
