NCAA Bracket

[Da Coach]

Is THAT your bracket DC?

there's a "..." after the one in the MW.... so not enough room to put "State"

I am not sure where that bracket came from. I thought it was a copy of the blank NCAA bracket, but it was someone's picks. So I deleted it.

[Da Coach]

Miami is only a 1 point favorite on Kenpom.com.

https://twitter.com/Catch_N_Shoot/status/972995542727954433

The opening Las Vegas line shows Miami as a 2?? point favorite-

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/teams/team-page.cfm/team/loyola-chicago

[MacabreMob]

Some potential boost for teams playing closer to home than the opponent....

St Bonnie's and Syracuse both might benefit in their play-in games in Dayton.

URI in Pittsburgh (vs Okla)
Houston in Wichita (vs San Diego St)
Butler in Detroit (vs Arkansas)
NM St maybe in San Diego (vs Clemson)
Syracuse again (if the win in opening round) as they would play in Detroit (vs TCU)

St F Austin vs Texas Tech will have large crowd for both as they are in Dallas.

Michigan State in Detroit is a huge boost.
UNC in Charlotte is huge boost.

[Canton BU fan]

What exactly are the requirements to belong to the NCAA? Cost? Should schools expect to be treated evenly for tournament play? Now we know they aren't when violations occur. Could the "mid major" schools have a case legally they are being colluded against?

[bradleyfan124]

I am hoping we are starting to see what will happen to schools that break the rules. Coaches are paying the players so they can get the players that will get them to the NCAA tournament. If you ban them from the Tournament then you take away that reward but they need to ban them for several years. Are we seeing that with Louisville being ignored? I hope so. I hope the NCAA has the guts to follow thru and not give in to the Corrupt 6. As the author of the article in the Urinal Star says, " Something needs to change in college basketball"

[Da Coach]

The first 2 "First Four" NCAA Tournament games at tonight, Tuesday, march 13-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/100/date/20180313

Both games are on TruTV

[houstonbrave]

St Boneventure sends UCLA and Associate Head Coach Duane Broussard out of the tournament-Hooray

No I don??™t forgive and forget

[Da Coach]

16 seed Radford beats 16 seed LIU Brooklyn 71-61

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025856

11-seed St. Bonaventure beats 11 seed UCLA 65-58...UCLA had 10 turnovers to just 6 for St. Bonaventure. UCLA point guard Aaron Holicay played all 40 minutes and had 10 turnovers by himself.
Some think this shows that UCLA should not have been given an at-large bid-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025841

There are 2 more First Four games in Dayton today, Wednesday, March 14-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/date/20180314

[Da Coach]

In the final 2 games of the First Four Wednesday night in Dayton-

#16 seed Texas Southern clobbered #16 seed North Carolina Central 64-46-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025855

Texas Southern's head coach Mike Davis, who previously coached at Indiana and UAB, has had his name mentioned as a possible candidate for some of the higher profile jobs that are open.


#11 seed Syracuse beat #11 seed Arizona State in a close game 60-56 that matched probably the 2 teams that did not deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse finished the season tied for 10th in the ACC with a conference record of 8-10, and Arizona State finished the season tied for 8th place in the Pac 12 with a record of 8-10 and an RPI of 66.
6 of the 8 Pac-12 teams that finished tied or above Arizona State did not get a bid, including 2nd place USC, 3rd place Utah, and 5th place Stanford. And one of those Pac-12 teams that did get a bid, UCLA, was just knocked off in the First Four by St. Bonaventure. So the Pac-12 was a very weak conference this year, and the team that was tied for 8th place and had an RPI of 66 did not deserve a bid to the NCAA, IMO.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025854

The official First Round of the NCAA Tournament gets underway Thursday, March 15, with 16 games, including MVC winner #11 seed Loyola playing #6 seed Miami at 2:10 PM today in Dallas, Texas (Thursday, March 15).
The game is on TruTV-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/100/date/20180315

The betting line started with Loyola as a 2?? point underdog, but it is now 1?? points. Go MVC!

[Da Coach]

In a classic battle, #11 seed Loyola upset #6 seed Miami on a long 3-pointer by Donte Ingram with 0.4 seconds left. Final score 64-62-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025815

It was poetic justice, since Loyola was the victim of a no-call when Cameron Krutwig was obviously fouled on a rebound-putback attempt that would have given Loyola the lead with about 10 seconds left, and no foul was called. But Miami had a turnover and a missed free throw inside the final 23 seconds to allow Loyola to come from behind.
Loyola lead nearly the entire 1st half, but Miami tied it on a shot at the halftime buzzer 28-28. But then Miami quickly took the lead in the 2nd half and never trailed until Clayton Custer tied it 60-60 with a 3-point shot with 1:17 left. Miami would take a 62-60 lead on a jumper by senior Ja'Quan Newton, Loyola would close to 62-61 on a FT by Marques Townes, then came a great defensive steal by Lucas Williamson with 23 seconds left. Loyola didn't score on the possession which included the apparent foul on Krutwig that wasn't called. Loyola fouled Miami freshman star Lonnie Walker, who missed the FT, setting up Loyola's final possession with just 9 seconds left. Ingram's shot was from the top of the key, about 27 feet from the basket to give Loyola the 62-60 win.

Loyola's win is the first win so far by a lower seeded team.

Congrats to Loyola. They advance to play #3 seed Tennessee on Saturday. They were an easy winner earlier today over Wright State-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401025831

Other results/schedule today (Thursday, March 15)-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard

[Da Coach]

Loyola's winning shot, following the missed free throw by Miami's Lonnie Walker-

[Da Coach]

That was Loyola's 11th win in a row! Who was the last team to beat Loyola?
It was Bradley, back on January 31 in Peoria, 69-67.

Loyola is now 29-5.

[MacabreMob]

Best game in tourney so far. Yea - URI/Okla OT game was really good too. But... this comeback win and how they essentially won at the buzzer off a missed freethrow.... best game in tourney so far.

[tornado]

Davidson hanging right with Kentucky - but time running out...


By the way ---
Bradley beat Loyola, Loyola beat Miami, Miami beat Virginia Tech TWICE and Virginia Tech beat #1 ranked Virginia...
so I guess you can see who is really #1

[Da Coach]

In tonight's games, Stephen F. Austin stayed close with Texas Tech, but TTU pulled away at the end, Houston just barely beat a stubborn San Diego State team, Kentucky hung on to beat Davidson, and Gonzaga squeaked by UNC Greensboro. All the other games today were not close, except Loyola-Miami.

So 12 of today's 16 games are now final, and still every higher seed has won, except in the #11 Loyola-#6 Miami game.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard