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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date

#693	03/13/2018 4:15:33 am	Jan 29th, 2004
newtman Joined: 02/04/2018 Posts: 338 Inactive	I disagree wanabe. I have seen teams that catch fire in conference play look bad when they played against non-conference competition for the first time in months. Looking at the full schedule of work also emphasizes the importance of not just scheduling easy home games in non-conference, but also going on the road and playing good competition.

#698	03/13/2018 1:55:29 pm	Jan 31st, 2004
coachwannabe Joined: 03/09/2018 Posts: 437 Penn Quakers V.3	I agree with weighing non-conference. But you also have to look at the narrative of a team. If a team loses their star player and proceeds to lose 10 games straight without him, do we really want to see them in the tournament? Or if a team starts the season 17-0 and then proceeds to go 0-15 in the last half of the season, do we really want them in the tournament? You don't have to discount the non-conf games altogether, but basketball is all about narrative, and I think the committee disregarded that completely this season. Oh well, I'm gonna grab some beers and try to enjoy it. Any guesses as to who the Cinderella story might be this year?

#699	03/13/2018 4:17:17 pm	Jan 31st, 2004
admin Joined: 01/24/2017 Posts: 2493 Hardwood Administrator	The issue has gotten much worse, because basically all the non-conference games are at the start of the season now. So it's really a measure of early team strength. But college teams can grow and change really fast. Freshman at the beginning of the season are much more dependable by season end. So team's and especially conference's fate is based on these first 10 games at the start of the season. It used to be that there were a few non-conference match-ups throughout the season that helped to make the weighting not so early season heavy. Steve

#700	03/13/2018 5:34:38 pm	Jan 31st, 2004
newtman Joined: 02/04/2018 Posts: 338 Inactive	On the issue of getting players back, having seen what happened in terms of team chemistry when Duke got Kyrie Irving back for the NCAA Tournament, they bombed out early. I remember it happening to someone else as well, but I am forgetting the case. The prior examples combined with Mizzou's very poor showing in the SEC tourney has me thinking Mizzou will be extraordinarily lucky to make it to the second weekend.

#702	03/13/2018 9:53:48 pm	Jan 31st, 2004
buffmckagan Joined: 02/02/2018 Posts: 58 Missouri Tigers V.16	Mizzou's very poor showing in the SEC tourney has me thinking Mizzou will be extraordinarily lucky to make it to the second weekend. You're probably right. Especially with one starter out for the Florida State game. Michael may not have shot well, but there were at least three starters who needed to play well and didn't. It's inaccurate to blame MPJ for the team's woes. However, Kyrie didn't have a younger brother on the team and a dad on the coaching staff... (and two older sisters who play for their aunt). Michael has always been a presence on Missouri's team this year, but we can only hope he shook off the rust. With 27 wins in three years under Kim Anderson, this season (even if not what we hoped) is an astounding success. I'm actually seeing them practice Thursday afternoon, and I'll let you know how that goes. TLDR: We can hope MPJ gets the rust off by Friday, but the whole team has to show up for us to win. That's been the case even with no MPJ in-game.

#703	03/13/2018 9:54:48 pm	Jan 31st, 2004
buffmckagan Joined: 02/02/2018 Posts: 58 Missouri Tigers V.16	Also, I would have traded UCLA, Arizona State, and Syracuse for USC, MTSU, and St. Mary's. But that's just me!

#704	03/14/2018 9:19:17 am	Jan 31st, 2004
newtman Joined: 02/04/2018 Posts: 338 Inactive	I think you missed the point of what I was saying though. Even if Porter was around the program the whole time (as Kyrie was) the team played over 20 games without him, they are not used to having him on the floor. All those quality wins came without him playing. In theory the fact that he is an outstanding player should make them better, but college basketball teams are rarely just plug and play. As for the teams that got in versus who didn't, St. Bonaventure didn't play their best game at all, but still beat UCLA. I don't keep close tabs on the PAC-12 but if you think USC would have done better, I won't argue the point. As for Syracuse, I think it could have been a toss up with Notre Dame, both had some good wins, but also some definite blemishes. It is unfortunate MTSU and St. Mary's got left out, as mid-majors usually provide much more excitement than the 5th-10th school out of a power conference but we have this discussion every year (or at least I do being I went to a mid-major that was snubbed before, admittedly with a weaker profile).

#712	03/15/2018 12:41:26 am	Feb 5th, 2004
admin Joined: 01/24/2017 Posts: 2493 Hardwood Administrator	Also, I would have traded UCLA, Arizona State, and Syracuse for USC, MTSU, and St. Mary's. But that's just me! Why USC over UCLA? Bruins beat the Trojans twice, head-to-head. Steve

#735	03/15/2018 10:40:00 pm	Feb 5th, 2004
buffmckagan Joined: 02/02/2018 Posts: 58 Missouri Tigers V.16	Newt, I see your point, but I partially am just ignoring all of that -- my bias + the fact this case is independent of Kyrie Irving. UCLA just never really stood out to me, no offense, Steve. The Pac-12 was incredibly weak top to bottom and today proved that. I remember making predictions conference championship week and I was like, "I guess Arizona will win?" USC finished second in its conference in the regular season and tournament, but two teams who finished below them got in doesn't make sense. Arizona State I kind of got but they just peaked at absolutely the wrong time. UCLA was not that great either. I guess now I look at their schedules at least, UCLA may have been better, but I don't think they were quite worthy of the tournament, either. I still think St. Mary's and MTSU should have both gotten in, over Syracuse and Arizona State. I say all this and then Missouri gets smoked by 30 tomorrow night. I'm not trying to talk smack or personally attack, just happens to be you like them! At least UCLA has no more Ball family + studs coming in next year to look forward to

#763	03/16/2018 8:55:30 pm	Feb 7th, 2004
Benchwarmer Joined: 02/06/2018 Posts: 25 Inactive	Well, well, well. How about that. My Retrievers took out the number 1 seed Virginia. Anyone have that in their bracket? (I'll be honest, I didn't, but I don't care!)