***Official 2026 NCAA Tournament Thread***

[houjix]

Who are we rooting for in this SC/Kentucky game?

Mental and physical exhaustion.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

Who are we rooting for in this SC/Kentucky game?

Triple overtime

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Santa Clara isn't super organized on offense and Kentucky isn't showing a lot of desire to rebound. The game is kinda messy right now.

We are better than both, but I will always worry a bit about foul trouble playing a big factor should we play either of them.

 

[cloneclone]

Early impressions, I'd rather face Santa Clara

 

[IlliniCy]

FYI: we cannot get stuck with Padilla this weekend. He cannot do a game Sunday that involves Santa Clara or Kentucky.

If you're interested you'll want to see who officiates the evening games in St Louis. That will be our ref pool.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

Kind of dumb for Sendek to throw SC’s stud freshman back out there with 2 fouls so early. I think he just picked up his 3rd at the under 8

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I want to play Santa Clara just because their coach hasn't played a TJ Otz defense.

 

[inCyteful]

Kentucky sure likes to dribble ball.

 

[awd4cy]

We’ll see if the popular Akron pick pans out. I don’t think it will.

 

[nrg4isu]

Kentucky looks as advertised, lots of size and talent, but not great defense and not a lot of hustle

 

[NYCYFan]

Kentucky by a lot, still not tough with how bad of a “team” they are but they do have talent

I tend to agree. I do think Santa Clara is better than people think but the pure talent and athleticism of Kentucky would make for a tougher matchup

 

[Billups06]

Early impressions, I'd rather face Santa Clara

I want to play Santa Clara just because their coach hasn't played a TJ Otz defense.

Should we play them, Kentucky has the length to make those extra passes out of traps and also give our guards problems when we're on offense (if they want to rachet up the defense for one game, similar to Illinois in 2024).

Edit: I don't know why but I'm unusually nervous about today's game. Something about Nkrumah overmatching our guards and going all Texas Tech shooting.

 

[NYCYFan]

We’ll see if the popular Akron pick pans out. I don’t think it will.

I have them in the Sweet Sixteen beating Texas Tech and Alabama. Just more of a hunch than anything knowing that those teams are missing key players and there's always one real surprise team that makes the Sweet 16.

 

[cyphoon]

Santa Clara would not handle our ball pressure very well.

H

 

[SolterraCyclone]

Should we play them, Kentucky has the length to make those extra passes out of traps and also give our guards problems when we're on offense (if they want to rachet up the defense for one game, similar to Illinois in 2024).

Yeah but they only shoot 34% from 3. So even if they get open 3’s they’re not, theoretically, going to punish us as much.

Santa Clara seems to really rely on the 3, which makes them scary but also susceptible to a blowout

 

[rosshm16]

Does that mean he can't do the game on Sunday? Is there a rule about not doing back to back games for a team?

God I hope so.

 

[Darius Bieber]

Wouldn't mind Kentucky and SC going to 5 overtimes

 

[cytor]

Wouldn't mind Kentucky and SC going to 5 overtimes

And a final score of 55-54, lol

 

[not-the-manager]

Should we play them, Kentucky has the length to make those extra passes out of traps and also give our guards problems when we're on offense (if they want to rachet up the defense for one game, similar to Illinois in 2024).

Edit: I don't know why but I'm unusually nervous about today's game. Something about Nkrumah overmatching our guards and going all Texas Tech shooting.

I thought Tennessee State’s shooting percentage was pretty bad. CW oversold their streak in the OVC tournament IMHO

 

[Chizit]

This looks like a lunch hour ymca game