Swanigan doesn't have to worry about centers that much since Haas takes care of that pretty well.

Quick athletic gaurds are what have hurt them in losses. I'll take a big team and be quite confident.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Poor Texas Tech, looking destined to be the best team not in the NCAA. Another heart breaking loss vs a tourney team, this time at home in OT to Iowa State. They are now 5-10 in their conference with wins vs Baylor and West Virginia and OT losses to Kansas, West Virginia and Iowa State.

On the flip side, Virginia is looking destined to be the worst team in the NCAA tourney. They are brutal. Can't score 60 points, even with OT. If Virgina and Texas Tech played I'd put money on Tech, but as it stands now TT will be in the NIT which is a shame. Same goes for Georgia to a lesser extent. They've barely lost to about 8 top teams, but they keep losing those games.

Using the eye test, I think TT and Georgia are better teams than Northwestern, but NU will be the only one dancing.

_________________

I agree and maybe I misspoke a bit. I like Swanigan's chances vs any big, at the very least he'll cancel out anyone on the other side. But, if he only cancels out the other team's front line, it will come down to guard play and there are way too many teams out there that are much better than Purdue in that department. Purdue's best chances to win though are vs a small team where Swanigan can score at will down low. Based on percentages, I like Purdue getting easy buckets around the hoop vs a smaller team having to rely solely on perimeter play.

The idea matchup would be vs a team that relies heavily on post scoring, but there just aren't too many of those teams in the top 25 this year.

_________________

I'll be watching more college hoops starting this weekend in anticipation of the NCAA tournament. I have high hopes
that my alma mater Illinois State will actually make the big dance this year. They crapped the bed a few weeks ago
on ESPN against Wichita State but both squads actually have a decent chance of making the tournament if they can
finish strong and meet in the MVC tournament finals. They haven't been to a tournament since 1997 and 1998 when
I was at school there. Would be great if they could crack the field.

_________________
Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I agree. That's why Carsen Edwards is so important. He's going to be a star and he is showing flashes already.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

that's a lot of pressure to put on a freshman who appears to be fading as the season winds down. Hasn't scored more than 13 in a game this month and hasn't had more than 4 assists in a game in 2017. 3pts and 3 assists vs MSU over the weekend.

_________________

Northwestern takes down Illinois in 10 minutes and guarantees a spot, they might have already but tonight cements it.

_________________

Penn State upsets the Boilermakers

_________________
I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Of course it is. Making the Final Four isn't easy.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Northwestern isn't helping themselves with these losses. I heard one of the sports talkers comparing the NU fans to the Cubs fans prior to last year where you don't want to talk about it until you get there, but the Cubs were talking about being in the top 2... NU is talking about being in the top 40 or so.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Did. Not. Happen.

_________________

Northwestern is terrible. If they lose the rest of their games (I'd say its likely at this point) that will be like 7 losses in last 9 games or something like that. I hope the committee looks at that and keeps them out of the tournament. They don't deserve to be there. Would easily be the worst major conference team in the tournament, keeping Virginia from having that distinction.

_________________

Their best player has been down that entire time. This isn't Kentucky. NU doesn't have depth to replace that kind of loss.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

He's been back the past two games. And they did manage to have their biggest win of the season (at Wisc) without him so that's a shit excuse for why they can't beat Illinois.

Plain and simple, if you lose your best player and as a result can't even score 20 points in a half you aren't a good enough team to be in the tourney. NU is an awful basketball team with 2 guys who can play, one of whom is still recovering from mono and looks like shit out there.

_________________

They need to pray that the committee loves that Wisconsin win.

If Iowa or Minnesota had the same resume they probably are on the bubble. NW has a story.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

yet another fantastic night of basketball.

I started the evening by covering up the bottom 3 inches of my 70" TV with a slab of Styrofoam and hockey tape. Fuck you sports ticker! Then settled in to watch 6 college basketball games without having the results spoiled by the fucking ticker.

Syracuse with a last second 40 footer bank shot to beat Duke and clinch a NCAA berth, Oregon's Dillon Brooks with a last second 3 to avoid an upset at Cal. UNC ran over Louisville in the second half. Butler did the same at Villanova for their 2nd win of the year over the #2 team in the country. Kansas blew out TCU in the second half to clinch their 13th straight conference title.

Not on my tv, Maryland lost to Minnesota in a game that could spell trouble for Northwestern.

_________________

Some great must see tv games today. Kentucky vs Florida for the SEC championship. And the main event, 7pm tonight, UCLA at Arizona, battle of two top 5 teams.

Lots of other good games and important games today as well. NU takes on Indiana tonight in what may be their best remaining chance to seal up a bid. Duke @ Miami could be a good one.

_________________

Ball is damn good and this UCLA team can really run. Been a fun game to watch so far.

_________________

Iowa State all but punches their ticket today with a win over Baylor.

Last I looked Alabama/Texas A&M were making their case for a top seed in the NIT.

And Northwestern blows an opportunity to lock up a berth. Ball is good but his father should stay quiet.

_________________
Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

My cats are killing me.. I never expect them to be any good, I expect them to spit the bit but this is maddening. It's not as painful as being at the Miami (OH) game in 95 but ugh..

Another amazing weekend of college bball. I managed to digest no less than 15 games over the weekend. Here are some highlights and observations...

-UCLA vs Arizona lived up to the hype, great to see UCLA finally committing to defense the past few weeks. When they went to a 3-2 zone in the 2nd half Zona had no clue what to do and only scored 29 points the rest of the way. If UCLA continues to play D, they are as much of a title threat as anyone out there. No one can score like they can.

-Gonzaga goes down to BYU. 3rd straight time BYU has won in Spokane. Zaga looked good early, but as the game wore on they got nervous and stopped hitting shots. Everyone is saying they are still a #1 seed, but I think that's BS. IMO they should be dropped to a #3 and be forced to prove it by getting through a #2 and a #1.

-The choke job of Northwestern continues. As I've been saying for a couple weeks now, they will not win another game the rest of the year. I'm getting really tired of hearing every single expert continue to say that NU is a lock for the tournament. Some go out on a limb and qualify that by saying they just need to validate it with one more win. Well, which is it? Are they a lock or do they need one more win? As if that win is some easy thing to accomplish? Assuming NU loses out they will enter the tourney having lost 8 of their last 10 games with their only wins a squeaker vs last place Rutgers at home and a win vs another team in a nosedive, Wisconsin. Their overall record will be 20-12 and 9-9 in the Big10. And they may even drop to 8th place in the conference behind Iowa. How is that a tourney team?????

-Michigan and Minnesota are the two best teams in the Big10 as of today, Michigan State might be in that group as well.

-In the ACC, UNC and Louisville continue to roll. Duke stumbled at Miami without Allen.


Big games tonight, UNC should crush Virgina at Virginia. Baylor and West Virginia meet in a pivotal Big12 battle tonight.

_________________

I was just looking at USA Today's updated bracket and they had Illinois as the last team in.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I don't really think Illinois should or will get in (barring something crazy in the Big Ten Tournament) but it would be difficult to argue that they aren't better than Northwestern right now.

_________________
Don't take it personally.

Do they have NU in? What about Iowa? They are a game up on Illinois in conference.

_________________

This really is an epic Nortwestern collapse. I guess all the Collins love was premature.

The Wisconsin win should have locked it up for them. Their resume just needed one big win. Now it has a bunch of bad losses.

I think they get in on the story aspect but they may very well need a win in the last game of the season against Purdue to do it.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Iowa and Northwestern were not in the game.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I talk a lot of shit about Virginia and they go out and beat the crap out of UNC last night. Held UNC to under 45 points. Brutal game to watch as are all Virginia games.

West Virginia did what they do best, blow second half leads, this time to Baylor. On the flipside, Kansas did what they do best, comeback from big deficits in the second half, this time vs lowly Oklahoma. There isn't a better 3some in the country than Mason-Graham-Jackson.

Game of the night was Virginia Tech vs Miami, a couple tourney teams that could be bracket busters. V Tech won a squeaker.

_________________

I actually thought of you as I was watching that Virginia game.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

Duke took care of Florida St no problem last night. I'm just about ready to move Florida State into the "do not advance" zone for the brackets. They've been pretty terrible lately. Odd, at one point they looked like a F4 candidate loaded with size and great outside shooting, but over the last month or so they've fallen apart. Bacon, their shooter, was looking like an AA candidate early, now he can't even crack double figures. They are huge up front, but aside from the stud freshman Isaac, no one else does crap up there. I'm officially giving them the same kiss of death I gave Virginia and we saw this week how that turned out.

Vandy almost won in Lexington, but as usual, Malik Monk decided to only show up for the 2nd half. Not really a big deal when you can score 20+ points at will in a half of basketball. Vandy needs to win Saturday vs Florida to have a shot at the tourney.

Game of the night was Oklahoma State at Iowa State. 2 tourney teams led by great guards, I'd be nervous for any team that has to face them in the tourney. Iowa State's Mo Morris is something else, all the guy does is make plays and protect the basketball. If he has 2 turnovers in a game its a story. They also have a big scorer, I think his name is Burton? Guy is about 6"6, built like a mack truck and has really explosive hops. Wears neon pink shoes and socks, hard not to notice him out there. Iowa State is a team I would give a long look to when it comes to sweet 16.

_________________