***Official 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Thread***

[Malty Flannel]

UVA came into the play-in game ranked 67th in Kenpom. A few of the teams the genius selection committee picked them over:

St John's (26)
Wake Forest (31)
Cincy (37)
Pitt (41)
Indiana State (43)
Oklahoma (45)

What an absolute joke

 

[Malty Flannel]

UVA came into the play-in game ranked 67th in Kenpom. A few of the teams the genius selection committee picked them over:

St John's (26)
Wake Forest (31)
Cincy (37)
Pitt (41)
Indiana State (43)
Oklahoma (45)

What an absolute joke

Virginia will finish their season now ranked 73rd in Kenpom, which is 24 spots lower than the next lowest P6 team that didn't get an AQ

 

[bawbie]

The amount of 'experts' that have Illinois going far in their brackets is mindboggling to me. They aren't bad but they aren't great. I have this weird sense they kind of remind me of our season we lost to UAB. Team that was 'hot' late winning their league title and everyone jumped on the bandwagon and many had us going very far that year. Dunno...not saying they are gonna lose to Morehead State but I really really don't see them beating BYU.

I saw a stat yesterday that in the KenPom era, no team with a top offense and a defense >100 has made the Sweet 16. That was in reference to Alabama (3 Off; 112 Def), but Illinois is not far from that arbitrary threshold (2 Off; 92 Def).

UIUC / ISU would be a fascinating matchup of #2 offense vs #2 defense; but our offense is a magnitude better than their defense. If we don't throw an offensive clunker, we should beat them if they even get that far.

I'm glad the tough draw prevented everyone from jumping on our "final four bandwagon".

 

[Die4Cy]

UVA came into the play-in game ranked 67th in Kenpom. A few of the teams the genius selection committee picked them over:

St John's (26)
Wake Forest (31)
Cincy (37)
Pitt (41)
Indiana State (43)
Oklahoma (45)

What an absolute joke

Yes but if you don't take Virginia then the #8 media market in D.C. has no one to tune in and root for. It isn't about them being worse than the teams you listed, it's about them being the only arguable option of UVA, WVU, VT, and Maryland.

 

[KnappShack]

They did nail TJ

 

[Halincandenza]

I think it is interesting and probably needed that Bennett said they were going to evaluate their system this offseason. I think part of the problem is that he hasn't been getting as good of players as he was previously.

 

[Malty Flannel]

Rethinking what to do with KU this morning in my bracket and decided to leave them where I had them, in the sweet 16 getting rolled by Purdue. A well-rested KU with 4 of their starters still overwhelms a good mid-major, and I still think Gonzaga is absolute trash. KU with the easiest path in the tournament to a S16

 

[Lexclone]

I think it is interesting and probably needed that Bennett said they were going to evaluate their system this offseason. I think part of the problem is that he hasn't been getting as good of players as he was previously.

Oh cool, when they underwhelm next season, the committee can put them in again, because ‘UVA is bravely trying a “new system” and it wouldn’t be fair to penalize them just because their metrics are bad and they compare poorly to other teams’…

 

[ISUTex]

That’s what I gathered but I still don’t get it. Do people think that’s somehow a sign they weren’t locked in or focused? That’s the part I don’t understand…

yes. plus Dejan-Jones threw a tantrum at half time.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

I think it is interesting and probably needed that Bennett said they were going to evaluate their system this offseason. I think part of the problem is that he hasn't been getting as good of players as he was previously.

Apparently, it's really hard to get transfers into school there so he has to sit out the portal for the most part and has to develop in house. You can't win young anymore.

 

[Halincandenza]

Rethinking what to do with KU this morning in my bracket and decided to leave them where I had them, in the sweet 16 getting rolled by Purdue. A well-rested KU with 4 of their starters still overwhelms a good mid-major, and I still think Gonzaga is absolute trash. KU with the easiest path in the tournament to a S16

They were very inconsistent when McCullar didn't play. Blowout wins and also blowout losses. But I definitely could see them getting to sweet 16 because Samford is tiny and I think if they play well they should win that game and Gonzaga isn't great defensively and also they only go about 7 deep is well. I can also see Purdue having a stinker of a game against TCU and getting beat before the sweet 16. I picked Gonzaga to go to the Elite Eight.

 

[Halincandenza]

Apparently, it's really hard to get transfers into school there so he has to sit out the portal for the most part and has to develop in house. You can't win young anymore.

I was wondering how much the academic part was playing in. That makes a lot of sense as to why they are struggling.

 

[LarryISU]

Why is there no blowback nationally for Self saying KU will be full strength to make sure KU got a 4 seed? And of course he lied.

 

[CoachHines3]

yes. plus Dejan-Jones threw a tantrum at half time.

rip

 

[Big_Sill]

Why is there no blowback nationally for Self saying KU will be full strength to make sure KU got a 4 seed? And of course he lied.

The committee should have placed zero reliance on any coaches comments about players status. They should only evaluate if the players played or not in the conf. tournament. Players didn't play... drop their seed. IMO.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Rethinking what to do with KU this morning in my bracket and decided to leave them where I had them, in the sweet 16 getting rolled by Purdue. A well-rested KU with 4 of their starters still overwhelms a good mid-major, and I still think Gonzaga is absolute trash. KU with the easiest path in the tournament to a S16

I think KU is on upset watch in Rd 1.

 

[Halincandenza]

Why is there no blowback nationally for Self saying KU will be full strength to make sure KU got a 4 seed? And of course he lied.

I think he thought that they were. Seems like McCullar is the one who shut things down.

 

[MeanDean]

Why is there no blowback nationally for Self saying KU will be full strength to make sure KU got a 4 seed? And of course he lied.

It's almost like he 'gamed the system.'

 

[Halincandenza]

I think KU is on upset watch in Rd 1.

I would normally agree, but looking at how they play just seems like a disaster against high majors. They are super small, play up tempo and press, most teams like Kansas can just pass over them and get easy baskets. You don't want KU to get out in transition, you want to force them to play in the half court where you can pack the paint and force them to beat you with jumpers. I saw some of their game against Purdue way back at the beginning of the season and it was like a varsity team playing a junior high team. Just easy bucket after easy bucket.

 

[CascadeClone]

Yea, the Illini are a puzzling team. They have some weird losses on their schedule, like losing @ Penn State, and Maryland at home. They also barely got by OSU in the Big 10 tournament. They were down to Nebraska and Wisconsin by double digits in both of their other tournament games before pulling away late.

I do see some similarities to that ISU team, where they had some weird losses, and ISU barely squeaked by Texas in the Big 12 tournament. Illinois seems a little stronger than that team, but it all depends on which team shows up, or if their opponent gets up and just doesn't let them back like everyone else has.

I wouldn't be shocked to see BYU take them out, that feels like a 50/50 game.

Morehead St can take them out.