NCAA Tournament seeding

dk423 said:
I mean, wouldn't we all love a fourth matchup with Marquette? :ROFLMAO:

Kansas defense rebounding will be a thing STJ will need to clean up. Kansas is 32nd in rebounding differential with +3.8, while we're only at 2.0. Arkansas is right behind us in that regard. Our offensive rebounding is a massive, massive advantage though. Kansas is 191st in offensive rebounding differential with 0, while Arkansas is 279th with -1. We're 14th in the country with +3.7. Ironically, St. Mary's is ahead of us, another 7 seed.

I just don't think these teams have the toughness to match us. Turning that switch on in March is incredibly difficult. Dickinson is better on paper, but an easy guy to target on defense and also gets flustered/in his head very quickly. Let him get 30 points, I don't care. He only averages 1 block a game and, yes, is slow laterally.

And yes, I predict either matchup to be tied, or down 1, with 10 minutes left, and we end up covering. Not saying it will be a 40 minute blowout.
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You say it’s hard to switch in on in March but that’s exactly what I’m scared about with these two teams. Super talented groups with now something focused to play for. They were probably beaten down during the year, but now it’s a brand new opportunity for them.
 
lawmanfan said:
OK now that I'm past rapid-reaction, this morning's random thoughts:

1. The SEC deserved those bids.
2. UNC did not deserve a bid but they were always getting in as long as they were in shouting distance. Now let's see if they can pull a Syracuse.
3. You can see from the BE seeding outside of St John's what the committee thinks of the Big East.
4. I know nothing about Omaha and I'm not going to worry about them.
5. People forget that Kansas was the pre-season #1 team. Obviously they have been a mess all year compared to that standard. Hunter Dickinson concerns me, he's exactly what we don't need to face. But I think our toughness can win out over them anyway, and also that Pitino can find a way to beat Arkansas. Either will be tough but winnable.
6. Texas Tech is a lot like us, it would be nice if they got upset someplace before we play them.
7. I said what I said about Florida. I think they would be a double-digit favorite over us.
8. Amused that the Committee's idea of a story line was "let's have two former Kentucky coaches play one another" if it works out that way.
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Not sold on the SEC. The tourney will prove out if they are truly that good as a conference, or if their gawdy stats (Quad 1 games/wins) are just the result of artificial incest amongst themselves, as I suspect to some degree. Then sheer volume of bids means they will have their share of Sweet 16 contestants. But, you can not tell me that some of the runners up in other conferences were not better than 6-12 SEC teams. And, North Carolina? Well, that is just B.S.
 
SJU61982 said:
Florida might be the best team in the country right now.

Anything can happen, but I like our matchups otherwise, especially the first two games in Providence. I don't fear Kansas or Arkansas.
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lawmanfan said:
We are on exactly the same page. Would have to throw all of Zuby, Prey and Vince at Dickinson and hope for foul trouble or to wear him down. And if we send help watch AJ Storr return from the dead and torch us. It's pick your poison between them and Arkansas and I probably prefer Arkansas.
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Kalk is a better college player than Dickinson though Kansas supporting cast on paper is better. That being said Dickinson gets frustrated easily and will take dumb fouls. Likely a rock fight but the good guys win !
 
Positive about playing late on Friday is our guys get to see how the tourney starts, might see 1-2 upsets that show them how quickly it can all be over.
 
lawmanfan said:
OK now that I'm past rapid-reaction, this morning's random thoughts:

1. The SEC deserved those bids.
2. UNC did not deserve a bid but they were always getting in as long as they were in shouting distance. Now let's see if they can pull a Syracuse.
3. You can see from the BE seeding outside of St John's what the committee thinks of the Big East.
4. I know nothing about Omaha and I'm not going to worry about them.
5. People forget that Kansas was the pre-season #1 team. Obviously they have been a mess all year compared to that standard. Hunter Dickinson concerns me, he's exactly what we don't need to face. But I think our toughness can win out over them anyway, and also that Pitino can find a way to beat Arkansas. Either will be tough but winnable.
6. Texas Tech is a lot like us, it would be nice if they got upset someplace before we play them.
7. I said what I said about Florida. I think they would be a double-digit favorite over us.
8. Amused that the Committee's idea of a story line was "let's have two former Kentucky coaches play one another" if it works out that way.
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I’d love to dig up lawmanfan and others’ posts about Maryland and Steve Francis in 1999 before we absolutely decimated them in the sweet 16. This team has that teams killer instinct, a far better coach and perhaps the depth and focus to do what that team couldn’t.
 
Amaseinyourface said:
You say it’s hard to switch in on in March but that’s exactly what I’m scared about with these two teams. Super talented groups with now something focused to play for. They were probably beaten down during the year, but now it’s a brand new opportunity for them.
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The team you're thinking of that is a low seed who people should be afraid of is Gonzaga. My preliminary bracket did have them upsetting Houston. Won 8 of last 9, mostly in commanding fashion, predictive metrics are far better than resume ones. I'd be pissed if I was a Houston fan.
 
fordham96 said:
That happens a lot. Cunningham was chosen well before the season started.

ADs from prominent schools are routinely chosen to chair the committee and they have to remove themselves from the room when the committee is discussing that team. It is common place. It is just this year you had a school that normally would routinely make the Tourney and their AD was the Chair but this year that team was squarely on the bubble.
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Yeah you will forgive me if I don't believe it is all on the up and up. He personally gets $104k for making the tourney, and West Virginia was on 111 of 111 braketologists picks.
 
vegasman2000 said:
Yeah you will forgive me if I don't believe it is all on the up and up. He personally gets $104k for making the tourney, and West Virginia was on 111 of 111 braketologists picks.
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Bubba Cunningham is probably worth tens of millions of dollars. Do you really think he'd want to risk his professional standing for 100k+?
 
lawmanfan said:
We are on exactly the same page. Would have to throw all of Zuby, Prey and Vince at Dickinson and hope for foul trouble or to wear him down. And if we send help watch AJ Storr return from the dead and torch us. It's pick your poison between them and Arkansas and I probably prefer Arkansas.
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I much prefer Arkansas over Kansas. Self can coach, while Cal is past his expiration date. Coaching counts obviously, so I think Rick outclasses Cal, but Self is very tough despite disappointing season.

Guards dominate most Dance games and I also feel Fland will be rusty for Ark. As an aside, I think our crafty guards ((Kadary especially) can help down low w Kansas big if we meet them & get in his head.

Major concern overall is how liberal the refs will be w our physical defense. It is not the BE where officials have allowed us latitude.
 
thakid said:
I’d love to dig up lawmanfan and others’ posts about Maryland and Steve Francis in 1999 before we absolutely decimated them in the sweet 16. This team has that teams killer instinct, a far better coach and perhaps the depth and focus to do what that team couldn’t.
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I wasn't worried. Their big center, Ekezie, was out for the tournament. Without him, I felt they didn't have much else beyond Francis, and I was confident that Barkley would play him at least close to a standstill.

Now, I feared Ohio St. much more than #1 seed Auburn in the regional final. They had two great guards, Penn and Redd, so that neutralized our great backcourt. Throw in the shot blocker Johnson, and it was going to be a Jump shooting game. That team could make jumpers, and 3 pointers, but it wasn't at the heart of what we did.

I thought we would find a way, but I knew it would be a tough one. We would have beaten Auburn by double-digits, IMO.
 
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