NCAA College Basketball Discussion (part 2)

[Redcloak]

Continued from:
http://www.blizzforums.com/showthread.php?t=4655

The purpose of the new thread is to allow new posters to jump into the conversation easier.

Let's kick things off with the latest rankings:
AP Top 25
1. Florida (43)
2. Wisconsin (21)
3. UCLA (7)
4. North Carolina (1)
5. Kansas
6. Pittsburgh
7. Ohio St.
8. Texas A&M
9. Oregon
10. Alabama
11. Oklahoma St.
11. Arizona
13. Air Force - the weakest team this high, they've been fortunate, not strong.
14. Duke - recent losses gave them a knee jerk drop. they deserve to be higher than this.
15. Nevada
16. LSU
17. Memphis
18. Butler
19. Clemson - don't get me started. They deserve to be down here, maybe lower.
20. Notre Dame
21. Texas - young team with a lot of potential. appropriate ranking.
22. Tennessee - tough team, murderous schedule coming up. We'll see if they can hold it together, but they deserve a top 20 spot.
23. Virginia Tech
24. Marquette - streaky squad, but probably worth their ranking. I like UK in a head to head match up though.
25. Kentucky - finally earned their way into the top 25. Well deserved.

Upcoming Games:
UConn vs Pitt - one of the weakest UConn squads in recent memory against the perenially overrated Pitt squad. Should be close, but I like Pitt's chances.
UAB vs Memphis - UAB's play has been uninspiring. I like Memphis, as their rating designates.
Texas vs Ok State - A tough Texas squad with a lot of similarities to the other team that knocked OK State off earlier in the year (Tenn). I like Texas to take them out, and not just because OK St's been over-hyped.
Kentucky vs South Carolina - it's been a long time for UK to get into the rankings, but don't expect to see them leaving. Especially not against a squad like SC.
Air Force vs Utah - Air, god how did we manage to win another one, Force will get played very close in this game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Utes pull out a home win.

[hearshot kid]

I've got Pitt, Memphis, OK State (in a thriller), UK, and Air Force, although, like you, I don't feel particularly good about the Falcons chances to stay one-loss (they are, right?), although Utah is a pushover.

EDIT: I also agree with your characterizations of Air Force, Duke, Clemson, Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. When the last undefeated loses to a team like Maryland, they deserve a nice, long slide down the rankings.

I'm taking Pitt and UK in those matchups if only because their opponents pale in comparison, plus, Pitt's at home, and the Pete is a tough college venue. Memphis, also at home, looking certainly better than UAB. OK State at home, like I said, in a great game. Lastly, I've got Air Force, but only because Utah is abysmal.

EDIT #2: Good God, Hasheem Thabeet looked terrible against Aaron Gray, as Gray torched UConn for 22 points and 20 boards. That's the really dominant performance Pitt has been looking for from him.

[Redcloak]

UConn vs Pitt - one of the weakest UConn squads in recent memory against the perenially overrated Pitt squad. Should be close, but I like Pitt's chances.

Pitt ended up winning by 9. You're right, big game for Gray. Chaos will be proud.

UAB vs Memphis - UAB's play has been uninspiring. I like Memphis, as their rating designates.
This only matters if UAB wins, they didn't :)

Texas vs Ok State - A tough Texas squad with a lot of similarities to the other team that knocked OK State off earlier in the year (Tenn). I like Texas to take them out, and not just because OK St's been over-hyped.
And just like the Tennessee game it was a thriller. 3OT to give OK St the win at home. Good game for both teams.

Kentucky vs South Carolina - it's been a long time for UK to get into the rankings, but don't expect to see them leaving. Especially not against a squad like SC.
UK pounded them.

Air Force vs Utah - Air, god how did we manage to win another one, Force will get played very close in this game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Utes pull out a home win.
Air Force's suck makes Redcloak smile.

Now for the other big games from tonight.

Upsets:
Nova knocked off Notre Dame at home by 18. Rough loss for ND, but I still like them as a 20 rank.
Vanderbilt beat Alabama by 21. Another V-team pulling off a big upset. I think Bama's still a bit overrated, more of a 12 seed. This loss should help fix that :).
Florida St killed last week's darlings VA Tech.
Auburn rallied on my boys from Tennessee. Close 3 point loss for Tenn at Auburn.

The Rest:
Butler beat a nobody, bad. Shot incredible.
UNC beat the incredibly overrated Clemson by 22. At home. Don't stop sliding.
Ohio St pounded Northwestern. I remember when Northwestern used to have sports teams.
LSU beat Mississippi. Not by a lot, but the longer this season goes on the less impressed I am with LSU. I still like Big Baby tho~
Wisconsin beat Purdue. But only by 5 and at home. Mm.

Tomorrow:
Xavier vs UMass
Duke vs Wake Forest
Witchita St vs Illinois St
Oregon vs Stanford
Nevada vs Fresno St
UCLA vs Arizona St

And the only game that should be interesting:
USC vs Arizona. I think Arizona will just be too tough for USC, but USC seems to manage to put up strong performances every few games.

[hearshot kid]

I'll beat Redcloak to it: KANSAS WTF?!??!?!?!

This is one of the top two hardest teams whose final destiny is hardest to project. Furthermore, seeding is going to be an issue with them. Though it depends upon what they do in the Big 12, they could be pretty much anywhere in the top half of the bracket. If they slog through their conference schedule and then exit the conference tourney early, it'll be difficult to award them the high seed they usually seem to deserve.

[Steven Seagal]

15 straight for my badgers. :)

[Redcloak]

15 straight for my badgers.
Yeah, they haven't been pretty though. I guess the good sign is they're able to win without having their best game. The bad side is they haven't played truly well for a number of games.

ill post more later, headed back to club

[hearshot kid]

You're not as think as I drunk you are.

[Steven Seagal]

that doenst matter. they're get their act together before the next ohio state game i bet.

[Redcloak]

that doenst matter. they're get their act together before the next ohio state game i bet.
What an insightful post.

It does matter. It matters in the respect that if they play top teams they way they're playing now, they will lose. It's wholly likely they won't, but it's certainly worth mentioning. It's childish to disregard something because you think it won't be the same in the future, especially without any supporting statements.

Kansas, at this point I don't even care. I won't count on them for more than 2 straight games in the tourney, I know that.

[hearshot kid]

Terrible loss today for Pitt. When Gray is on, he's dominant (see UConn). If not, and Fields and Cook foul out, they're in trouble (see today).

[Redcloak]

Maybe one day, Pitt will win a game against a ranked opponent. I'd like for Chaos to have a chance to post here again.

Let's start with today's game.
OK State barely managed to beat Oklahoma in a home game. They're the second most disappointing team for me right now. Kansas is first, of course. Pitt, we knew they would suck. Could we please get them down to a 15 ranking at least?

Moving back:
VA Tech beat Maryland in a close game. I think VT is a good team, but I just don't know if they're top 25 (or can play that level consistently).

Saturday was big.
Air Force, barely wins, at home, against another nobody. Whoopie.
Alabama barely beats Georgia at home. Another moderately overrated squad imo.
LSU loses to Arkansas on the road by a lot. Disappointing. Save them Big Baby!
Bradley thumps Witchita St, in what could be the final blow out of the top 25 for them. They are praying for a conference berth now baby.
Butler won easy at home. They have to keep doing it because they don't have any more quality opponents.
Clemson beat BC. It's good to see the most overrated team in the ACC is able to beat someone.
Indiana wins a good game against UConn. Two former powerhouses battling it out for the bottom of the Top 25.
Florida with a win over Miss at home. Little close.
Wisconsin beats the Illini.
Vandy plays huge on the road in 2nd half to beat UK. Not good for Kentucky, cuz it won't get any easier.
Nova does the same thing. Scoring twice as many points in the 2nd half as the 1st to upset Texas. Wow. 26 -> 50. Defense? Where?
UCLA barely beats Arizona at home. Idiots comment that it's 3 straight for Zona, like they played bad.
Texas Tech beats Kansas, mentioned previously.
Texas A&M finds someone they can beat in OK State.
Tenn beats South Carolina.

Alright, there's our recap, now the new rankings. I was appreciating the AP rankings more earlier in the year, but this last one just befuddles me. Here's what it looks like:
AP Top 25

1. Florida (42) - fair enough
2. Wisconsin (22) - just try not to lose to a cheap big 10 school on the road guys
3. UCLA (6) - still look good, they are dying to see top 2 lose so they can retake top
4. North Carolina (2) - they're right in it
5. Ohio St. - better watch the fuck out, Oden's getting good
6. Texas A&M - overrated, 10 seed plz
7. Oregon - fine by me, they keep managing to win
8. Kansas - haha, i mean how do you rank a team that beats the 1 and loses to unrankeds
9. Pittsburgh - I wonder if they played themselves, would it create a black hole? Get these guys out of the top 10.
10. Duke - we'll see, they're so young...
11. Memphis - meh. Up and down baby up and down.
12. Alabama - send 'em down a little further, they can't win big games.
13. Oklahoma St. - What do these guys have to do to move down? They deserve a 17 seed at highest.
14. Butler - it's hard to move them down because they're not losing, but they aren't playing anyone ither
15. Marquette - too high, move 'em down
16. Air Force - down. keep going suckers.
17. Arizona - WTF ARE THEY DOING DOWN HERE? They lose to two top 10 teams, and a good USC squad, so you banish them? They're better than probably 8 of the 10 teams directly above them.
18. Nevada - only 2 losses, but they won't play a ranked opponent all season. I think lower.
19. Clemson - i agree, this is about right for these guys.
20. Washington St. - nice jump from off the chart. Especially since they only had one good win and it was at home. I like them better 22-25.
21. LSU - yeah, you play like they do, and you end up down here.
22. Notre Dame - no. wrong. too low.
23. Indiana - I guess this is about right, although they're higher than a number of teams better than them.
24. Virginia Tech - works for me.
25. USC - they're not undeserving of a ranking like this.

So who got screwed?
Dropped Out: No. 21 Texas, No. 22 Tennessee, No. 25 Kentucky
Yep, all 3 of them. They all deserve to be ranked.
Tennessee lost 3. That's tough. All 3 were respectable teams (one was top 5). All 3 games were on the road. If they used this same philopsohy for some of those shitballs in the top 15, they'd be unranked too. They are a deserving low 20s.
Texas. See above. Two road games, one loss in 3ot to a top 15 squad. Why is this bad? They're supposed to lose to them, or your rankings are fucked up.
Kentucky. Win 11 games in a row, lose 1. And you're unranked. I don't even know what to say. They'll have time to prove themselves though. Of their next 11, 5 or 6 will be ranked opponents, including two games w/Florida, one with Bama, LSU, and Tennessee (3 chances for their de to get big wins, I can't see them besting Florida tho).

Who else got the shaft?
The only team I think you could make an argument for lately is Nova. They've lost too many games to middle-of-the-road opponents for it to happen tho. They just have to hope they can slide into the tourney, and do their damage from there.

[Redcloak]

Hate to double post, but you guys are too slow.

So here's last night's games, the ranked teams didn't fair well:
Illinois over Indiana by 8 at home. IU only put up 43 points, and they went for like 15 minutes with a single field goal. This is why they aren't a better team, they don't have scorers. DJ White is their only "go to" player, and even he's not on that much.
Auburn thumped Alabama at home 81-57.
12. Alabama - send 'em down a little further, they can't win big games.
Full credit to Auburn though, they're a dangerous team. 8 losses, but only two to non-ranked opponents, and both on the road (and close). They've had a grueling stretch here lately playing at UK (L), at LSU (L), Tenn (W), at Miss St (L), Alabama (W), next up is Florida.
Air Force won against TCU. In other news, I won a chess game with my dog.
VA Tech had a nice road win against Miami (FL).
Finally, Notre Dame lost a thriller to St Johns on the road. Should've worn my SJU shirt to work, my boss loves Notre Dame.
Evansville at Indiana St. Fighting to see who finishes last in the MVC.
Tennessee at Mississippi - I like Pearl's team to win, even without Lofton. They need it to get back into the top 25.
Texas at Nebraska - easy win for Texas.

OK back to work.

Tonight
Ah, but the real play kicks off tonight.

UNC at Wake Forest. Shouldn't be too easy, but I don't see WF being a threat.
Texas A&M at Tech. A&M might be overrated, but I'll be surprised if it's closer than 8 points.
Seton Hall at Marquette. Record builder for Marquette.
Vandy at LSU. I don't think LSU will get to coast, but Big Baby's too much for Vandy.
Kansas at Baylor. Well, you'd expect Kansas to win easy. So they'll either blow Baylor out, or lose by 12.
Pitt at Cincy. See A&M.
Ohio St at Northwestern. Highlight reel time for Ohio St.
Michigan at Wisconsin - Wisconsin should have no trouble dealing with the Wolverines at home.
Tulsa at Memphis. I know nothing of Tulsa basketball. Based on that fact alone, Memphis should win.
Florida at Miss St. Don't be fooled, this game should be good until the 4th quarter when Florida outlasts them.
Arizona St at Arizona. Poor Zona, they finally get to punish someone, and who better than A St at home?
UK at Georgia - should be a great game, I think Kentucky can slow Georgia down enough to win.

[Redcloak]

Meh, I'm gonna give this thread another go.

AP Top 25

1. Florida (45) - sure
2. Wisconsin (24) - sure
3. North Carolina (3) - sure
4. Ohio St. - sure, Oden just keeps getting better
5. UCLA - at least worthy
6. Kansas - Kansas A is #6, Kansas B is #92
7. Pittsburgh - apparently 3 conf. wins against shitty opponents warrants a move up, even tho a loss to a now unranked foe didn't warrant going down. I bet any team would love to be on the same ranking system as Pitt.
8. Duke - so young, but they've got talent.
9. Oregon - I just don't know, their play warrants this rank, but are they really this good?
10. Texas A&M - give me a break. They lose to an unranked team, beat a ranked team, and this is where they're at. Sure, I called for a 10 seed last week, but they lost to god damn Tech. Move them down further now. I DEMAND 13~ :)
11. Memphis - these guys must be ninjas to be up this high. They haven't lost, but they haven't played a team whose mascot I can name since Arizona. They beat Southern Miss by 3 at home? That's not exactly inspiring.
12. Oklahoma St. - My demand to send them down still stands. They are not this good by any insane stretch of the mind. They are a high 20, low 10s team at best.
13. Butler - no losses, so you know. I still question this ranking's ability to maintain itself.
14. Marquette - Notre Dame is better than this team, but they beat that joke squad at Pitt, so here they are.
15. Nevada - nice. They lose, move up. They win, move up. No guys, they aren't this good. Back to 18 with them!
16. Virginia Tech - they had some quality wins against some quality opponents despite some terrible losses earlier, I can handle this ranking, maybe even a little higher.
17. Air Force - now they lose to Mormons. Hey, the "hard work" story is interesting, but it isn't indicative of talent. Down to the low 20s with this squad.
18. Washington St. - playing well, only losing to good teams, and on the road at that. I've got no prob with a higher ranking for this squad.
19. Alabama - their big men have been consistently disappointing lately. The only reason they're still ranked is because of a monumental over-ranking early in the season. They could very possibly lose to the now-unranked LSU and then face SEC teams tougher than the ones they've already lost to. I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish the season unranked. They probably won't, but they probably won't deserve the ranking they have either.
20. Arizona - #20? This is the biggest joke since Pitt's #2 seed. This team has one loss to an unranked squad. Virginia, by 3, first game of the season. Since then: UCLA, UNC on the road. Then a close game to Orgeon at home, a close loss to Wash St on the road, and silly road loss to USC. None of these teams are bad. They've also beaten Washington, Stanford, Memphis, UNLV. This isn't a bad team, they're top 15, possibly top 10.
21. Notre Dame - Scrapper team, this is Butler with a little more talent. Fortunatley for them, they have just about the weakest Big East schedule possible. Unfortunately for us, we'll only get to see them really put to the test against Marquette.
22. Texas - This team has the upset potential schedule of the century coming up. A&M, OK St, Kansas. It's a team with this kind of raw talent's dream. I expect them to knock off 2 of the 4 chances they'll have, and winning all 4 wouldn't shock me.
23. Stanford - some good wins, a few losses to mediocre teams, I guess this is what is fitting for a #23 seed. If they don't win against the Zags and Wash St tho they're gone. And their schedule the rest of the way is tough including Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Arizona amongst the rest of the potential speed bumps. Pac 10 is tough this year.
24. Vanderbilt - You might mistake this team for Villanova. I figure that's the only way they could get ranked. They've lost to teams like Furman, Appalachian St, Auburn, Georgia, GTown, Wake Forest, and have just a few good wins. Alabama (overrated), Kentucky (genuine team, but not that amazing), and LSU (playing like shit). This team is gonna drop right back out next week when they lose to Florida, Georgia, and Tenn in succession.
25. Clemson - This is where this team belongs. Although they've lost 4 of the last 5, I don't think they're in a tailspin. This is the caliber of team they are, and they just happen to get hit with a couple losses and a couple tough squads. They should hover around here (although they'll prolly peak around #21) with the rest of conf play.

Unranked Squads:
UK - this really is a good team, only 5 losses. 4 to ranked teams, 1 to a good Georgia team on the road. They just need to get some quality wins to put together a ranking resume.
Tenn - when Lofton gets back we'll talk. W/o him they're nothing.
UNLV - ranked on that joke listing, these guys aren't bad. But they aren't anything special. The only two respectable wins they have are Nevada and Texas Tech. The rest is a litany of far West squads that don't impress.
LSU - this team has imploded. I really liked them w/Big baby. They have disappointed me infinitely, although they are better than say UNLV or IU.
IU - speak of the devil. This team wants so bad to be good. They just don't have the players to do it.

For a quick moment I'll talk MVC. This conference had Witchita St ranked high, always pulls out a Cinderella in March, and yet they have no one ranked. In fact, none of them deserve a ranking. Right now everyone is traveling around the conference winning seemingly at random. The top two teams are 8-3. Then there's 4 teams that are 6-5 or 6-6 (Witch St). Right now Southern Illinois and Creighton. SI has lost to 2 of the 3 worst teams in the conference. Creighton has had losses to SI, Witch St, and an Indiana State team who managed to knock of good teams like Butler, Creighton, and Witch St, while losing to absolute jokes including 5 straight now. Coaches in the league say it's due to "all the parity". I think the league is just off this year a bit with no rock-solid squads, so the lesser talents are getting their licks in. We'll see, come tourney time.

[hearshot kid]

Arizona lost to UNC by a ton at home. Their ranking is totally deserved.

[Redcloak]

UNC is a top 5 team. It's the only bad loss they have all year. They played UCLA within 4 on the road just a few days earlier. What's that mean? If you have one bad game against a top team all year you're horrible?

You aren't supposed to beat teams ranked above you. If you were, you'd be ranked higher than them.

[Steven Seagal]

I kinda knew Wisconsin was gonna lose against Indiana, they had to, it's all karma. I still think they can beat OSU and MSU on the road and lock up a 1 seed.

[Darth Maul]

YES!!! Purdues road losing streak is over!!! AT LAST!!! Took so long, but it finally happened. Now, they need about 5 more Big 10 wins, and then probably get to the third round of the Big 10 tourney to get in, I think.

In other new, UNC lost to North Carolina St., and Texas A&M beat Kansas.

[Ben]

I'm from Boston, but in NCAA sports I have been a Notre Dame fan since I saw the movie Rudy as a kid. Doesn't hurt that they are a Catholic University or that they are called the Fighting Irish either.

Seasons going pretty good for us so far. I look forward to March Madness.

[SpaceDominator]

That Texas A&M- Kansas game was an excellent game, and I honestly think those are two dark horse teams to keep an eye out for in the tournament not only to get to the final four but perhaps even win it all. Law is incredible for Texas A&M, and they play a brand of defense that should give a lot of people trouble in the tourney. Kansas, is that team that I like to go with every year and then they go in as a 3 seed and lose as a 14. Despite the fact that they lost to A&M even at home, I don't think that's a bad loss.

As for more local.. Michigan's doomed to the NIT and will probably in typical Michigan fashion win it. Michigan State's been playing a gauntlet of tough games, despite the fact that I think they will find a way to get in. Let's be honest though Neitzel shooting 3's isn't a very dependable offense every night. Eastern was hitting their stride, and were looking really good a week from Sunday vs Buffalo until their starting PG and their leader Carlos Medlock broke his foot and is out for the season. They were playing teams like Akron and Toledo tough, but now that optimism has been stimied a bit. We'll see how they do at home against Miami, Wed. Detroit Mercy lost to Wright State at Calihan, nothing more to say there.. and last but not least Oakland University, the darlings in the Mid-Continent from Rochester, Michigan are 7-1 in Conf and will get another shot at Oral Roberts at home last game of the Regular Season. CMU and WMU are just there too. :)

There you go, decipher.
-SpaceDominator

[Redcloak]

It's been a while since anyone has posted, myself included. It's been a virtual firestorm over the past week, so I'll just stick with the recent stuff.

Yesterday:
Texas Tech pulled itself out of a bit of a slump and knocked off a rising Texas A&M squad. They did it with the same aplomb TT's been showing off all year. Let me say this, I think Bob Knight is a smart coach with hardly any of the attributes he demands of his players. His system is working at it's finest right now for Texas Tech, and they will be a dangerous team in the tourney.
Tennessee is enjoying the return of Chris Lofton with an arms race against Kentucky, but even more importantly the continued strong play of their two fantastic freshmen big guys. Wayne Chism and DUKE CREWS are two of the most underrated players in college basketball. They are freshmen putting up big numbers night in and night out without comment. UK came into the game having just played the number 1 team, Florida, to the final seconds. Tenn and UK will be legit threats in the tourney, just like TT.
Virginia Tech finished a sweep of UNC on the season. I'm not entirely sure how they're doing it, but it's working. It seems like VA Tech is vulnerable to middling talent squads losing lower scoring contests, but when they face the big dogs they bring it up to the next level. UNC, meh, everyone loses. No big deal.
Butler won, they played a nobody.
Southern Illinois continues to play out their weak schedule. They'll be an interesting team to watch out for in the tourney. I don't think they have the talent to go very far, but they can pull off a first round upset if their opponents don't play well (or happen to be one of the Jekyl/Hide squads like Kansas).

Tonight
Ohio St pounded Penn St for the first half. Then they let them chip, chip, chip away at the lead. Greg Oden, just as Bill Walton said, needs to get some more fucking action. Thad Matta might be able to recruit anything, but he needs to learn how to use it. This guy doesn't touch the ball half as much as he should, especially in the end game.
Wisconsin outlasted a worthless Minnesota.
Florida rallied hard to beat Alabama. Good job coming back from the halftime deficit, but let's be honest. There's a reason 'Bama is #25 (and sliding). This is it.
Memphis beat Tulsa. Hurrah?
Kansas is beating Colorado senseless. It's good they haven't forgotten how to play recently, I guess.
Marquette lost to Depaul. Further underscoring the real lack of dominant teams. Depaul is not a team that should be able to beat Marquette, even at home.
Duke is currently a few minutes from finishing off Boston College. The fact that BC is ranked is a joke. Period. They have hardly no legit wins. They have lots of illegitimate losses. Duke is a better team than BC. They should be ranked before them.

Other games to play:
Washington St vs Washington. Both pretty good teams. WSU is obviously the better, and I suspect they'll prove that fairly easily.
Utah at Air Force. Air Force sucks, but I think they can handle Utah at home. Unlike the beating Utah gave them on the road earlier.
Nevada's trying to prove they're a contender. It's hard to buy when you're losing to San Jose St at home. For the record, SJS is 1-14 on the year, on the road. Their biggest win so far (one of their 4)? At Idaho, by 3. Yeah, they're that bad, and they're leading at the half.

Most importantly of all these games though, is the Evansville Aces. Why is this misfit squad so important you ask? I placed a bet on January 25th after they had just beaten Indiana State with my boss that they couldn't manage to win THREE of their next nine games. Mind you, this is in the "OMFG we're a joke this year MVC". Their opponents combined record is about 50-50 wins to losses. Well they rattled off 4 consecutive losses before winning against Indiana State again (oh how you plague me Sycamores). They lost again tonight after outscoring their opponents by 14 in the second half to the Bradley Braves. Hurray for sucking in the first half.
They have left games against Samford (probably, there's no time scheduled). I'm willing to face facts. Samford is in the weak OVC. They're #2, but they rarely put up more than 60 points. They have to catch the Aces on a bad night. I give the Aces this game, and their second victory.
The final game of the season is on the road at Southern Illinois. MVC teams are 52-1 against SIU at home. I have no fear. ;)
There is one other game though. On the road, against Drake. Drake is bad. Second to last in the MVC, and they lost to the Aces by 21 earlier in the year. They can score though. And they were doing quite well earlier in the year before hitting a funk. This is my decider. If they can knock off UE, I'm safe. Also, they got a good win tonight against Witchita St at home. Build that confidence my boys. Build it!

[Darth Maul]

I am a little dissapointed in you RC. You failed to mention how my Boilermakers upset Indiana at home last night. David Teague really stepped up, with a career high 32 points. Carl Landry also stepped up as well with I think 22 points. That was a quality win for Purdue. It was meaninful because IU was ranked, and it was a double-digit victory. I think they have a good chance of winning out, with games against the Minnesota, Iowa, and Northwestern (twice). They can even drop one, and should be in good position. A good run in the Big 10 tourney could assure them getting in. Matt Painter is a fantastic coach, and it is only gonna get better from here on out.

[Steven Seagal]

Wow, great game. It's just a shame that Butch got fucked up. If he were playing, I'm confident the UW would have took that one.

You can tell where the home court advantage factors in. Kam Taylor's one of the best free throw shooters in the Big Ten and he couldn't solidify the win near the end.

Overall, regardless of the loss, I'm proud of how the Badgers fought today.

[Darth Maul]

Wow, great game. It's just a shame that Butch got fucked up. If he were playing, I'm confident the UW would have took that one.

You can tell where the home court advantage factors in. Kam Taylor's one of the best free throw shooters in the Big Ten and he couldn't solidify the win near the end.

Overall, regardless of the loss, I'm proud of how the Badgers fought today.

I am very disappointed in Wisconsin. They should have had that game, and they let it get away. Now I have to hear about how Ohio St. is the better team, and all that shit. Plus that win gave them the fucking Big 10 conference title. Damnit. For shame Wisconsin.

[Steven Seagal]

Hey man, look at the odds they were facing, they're best big man was gone and they still played Oden as well as you can be expected to play Oden.

And Ohio State is in no way better than the Badgers when they are fully equiped.

[Redcloak]

Excuses are always easier to make than wins.

Wisconsin is a team with a real issue beating moderate quality teams, and that's why they lost to Ohio St in one of the most disappointing games I could imagine those two playing.

I'm proud of how the Badgers fought today.
That's crazy-talk. They shot horribly, and not just that. They missed more wide-open baskets than I've ever seen a top 5 team make. Don't worry, Ohio St was right there with them. It was ugly basketball. I want to pick Ohio St to go far, but honestly they continue to eek out wins with bad performances. Which, I suppose, is preferrable to the route Wisconsin's begun taking. Just losing with bad performances.

Evidence:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702250443

The only thing the Badgers did well was rebound, and it's because Thad Matta's got no offense, no defense, and apparently doesn't even realize he's the coach of the Buckeyes.

Now I gotta go watch a real coach cuz Pearl's Volunteers are gonna take Florida out.

[Redcloak]

I'm going to double post, and issue myself a warning because it's worth it.

Tenn dominates Florida again. 3 - 1 in the past two years. Even Peyton Manning approves~ :)

[Steven Seagal]

RC, you are so ignorant, so so ignorant. ;)