***Official 2026 NCAA Tournament Thread***

[RagingCloner]

Thoughts I deleted it, didnt realize I was on the wrong thread.

All good, im just teasing you

 

[FerShizzle]

Im starting to root for Kentucky. I think we match up better against them. They have way more talent than Santa Clara but apparently they are all there for themselves and not win Championships.

i think ISU can speed them up and turn them over

 

[madguy30]

Seems like games are closer this year between higher/lower seeds overall.

 

[cycloneworld]

Im starting to root for Kentucky. I think we match up better against them. They have way more talent than Santa Clara but apparently they are all there for themselves and not win Championships.

I thought that and then they reeled off 15 points in 3 minutes - that’s what scares me given our tendency to get bogged down offensively for stretches.

 

[cyfan92]

we want kentucky

I think I lean that way, but 3/4 halves against Pope team at BYU, they carved up our defense

 

[not-the-manager]

I'm not sure who to cheer for in the UK vs SC game... Kentucky has the talent to scare anyone and SC has a really, really high-end offense that could give us problems

I disagree, Kentucky just plays bad team defense. Everyone off the ball seems to lose their guy if they have to defend more than 15 seconds

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

i think we want kentucky to win this?

I would honestly rather play Kentucky. SC would be playing with house money against us and Kentucky kind of is who they are. They don't handle the ball particularly well and aren't very disciplined. I think we can force them into turnovers and bad shot selections.

 

[nrg4isu]

Reasons to not want to play against Kentucky:
Size, talent, Mark Pope, Fanbase that will show up

Reasons to not what to play Santa Clara:
Scrappy and will fight, nothing to lose, actually plays team defense

 

[ClonerJams]

If prefer Santa Clara. Kentucky has athletes and Pope did well against our defense at BYU.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

If prefer Santa Clara. Kentucky has athletes and Pope did well against our defense at BYU.

Pope doesn't have the shooters he had at BYU. Totally different teams.

Santa Clara is the type of team that could torch us from outside if they get hot.

 

[rosshm16]

Neither of these teams look like juggernauts but I'd take SC as an opponent if I'm choosing. They look small and are the less talented roster.

 

[isufbcurt]

Mahi is pretty good.

But neither one of these teams are currently impressing me. I just don't like UK having the crowd so I'd prefer to play Santa Clara

 

[CycloneJoe6]

Santa Clara would be like playing a home game. Kentucky would not

 

[rosshm16]

Seems like there's a lot of missed dunks this year.

 

[BigJCy]

If prefer Santa Clara. Kentucky has athletes and Pope did well against our defense at BYU.

Agree. Kentucky's length and athleticism concerns me some. Then knowing our luck they will have some shoot out of their *** type day.

 

[Urbandale2013]

On average I don't think we have tons of trouble with either. Kentucky just has a much wider range. Santa Clara's best requires us still not playing great for them to win. Kentucky has the talent to just beat us if they actually play well.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Pope doesn't have the shooters he had at BYU. Totally different teams.

Santa Clara is the type of team that could torch us from outside if they get hot.

Admittedly I haven't watched much of the game as I had things to get done around the house before the ISU game, but if SC can't handle the pressure D and is unable to find the open man on the back side of the defense, well, it won't matter how hot they potentially could get if they can't find the open shooter.

 

[exCYtable]

This Kentucky team is so undisciplined

 

[xboxfever]

00 traveled before the foul.

 

[isufbcurt]

Kentucky gets a lot of deflection from their length