2023 NCAA Tournament thread

[Da Coach]

Comparison of two Final Four teams- San Diego State and Miami, and how their NIL payments shaped their teams-

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2023-03-28/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-basketball-nil-name-image-likeness-miami-final-four-nigel-pack-ncaa-tournament

Miami's team is receiving about $2.2 million in NIL payments, while SDSU's team is receiving about 1/10th of that.

[tomahawk chop]

Conference USA proved why the at large bids given out are based on bias, FAU is in the finlal 4, N.Texas and UAB are playing for the championship of the NIT and Charlotte just won the CBI.
N.Texas and UAB would have gotten at large bids had they been in one of the BCS type of conferences. Somebody needs to shove this down the committees throats . This is part of the reason why I have felt for a long time that these selections are not fair to the smaller conference teams.
Think about this, had the NCAA gone with NET instead of the RPI back in 2006 Bradley would have never been given the chance to take down both Kansas and Pitt to make the Sweet 16.. These kind of teams now are not given a chance and it stinks.

[ManMythLegend]

Comparison of two Final Four teams- San Diego State and Miami, and how their NIL payments shaped their teams-

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2023-03-28/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-basketball-nil-name-image-likeness-miami-final-four-nigel-pack-ncaa-tournament

Miami's team is receiving about $2.2 million in NIL payments, while SDSU's team is receiving about 1/10th of that.

That was a really good article that I think all mid majors can relate to at this point. I also like that their NIL collective has opened its doors to smaller donors AND tied it to community involvement/service. Kudos to the SDSU program and their NIL collective. I feel like this is exactly where BU and so many others fit in this whole fiasco.

[Bigred1976]

How about that! The three officials for the first final four game have a MVC link. John Higgins, Kipp Kissinger and Bert smith.

[JMG95]

How about that! The three officials for the first final four game have a MVC link. John Higgins, Kipp Kissinger and Bert smith.

They were awful for the Bradley game! Hopefully do a little better tonight.

[Da Coach]

Another incredible game- San Diego State just beat Florida Atlantic on a buzzer beater 72-71

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401522200

FAU took a lead with 7:51 left in the first half and SDSU trailed the rest of the game until the final shot at the buzzer.
Box score- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401522200

[tomahawk chop]

How about that! The three officials for the first final four game have a MVC link. John Higgins, Kipp Kissinger and Bert smith.

Kissinger is horrible and trying to figure out how in the world he could ever officiate such an important game.

[Bball31]

Conference USA proved why the at large bids given out are based on bias, FAU is in the finlal 4, N.Texas and UAB are playing for the championship of the NIT and Charlotte just won the CBI.
N.Texas and UAB would have gotten at large bids had they been in one of the BCS type of conferences. Somebody needs to shove this down the committees throats . This is part of the reason why I have felt for a long time that these selections are not fair to the smaller conference teams.
Think about this, had the NCAA gone with NET instead of the RPI back in 2006 Bradley would have never been given the chance to take down both Kansas and Pitt to make the Sweet 16.. These kind of teams now are not given a chance and it stinks.

Although Conference USA does not have an automatic qualifier in the bowl playoff system, they do play big time football and had six teams qualify for bowl games this past season. Conference USA has made significant improvements in football over the past few years. In fact, the teams you mentioned, FAU, North Texas, UAB and Charlotte will be part of a BCS conference next season as they join the American Athletic Conference. Middle Tennessee, Rice and Western Kentucky will be joining the conference as well. It will be interesting to see if they get preferential treatment in the NCAA tournament next year.

[Fetz86]

The AAC is not a “BCS” or “Power” autonomous 5 conference. Though with the College Football Playoff expansion the top 6 conferences get an automatic qualifier. The problem for the AAC is that they are losing their top football brands to the B12. Who gets the 6th spot could rotate between the Sun Belt, AAC, MAC, and Mountain West.

[Bball31]

The AAC is not a “BCS” or “Power” autonomous 5 conference. Though with the College Football Playoff expansion the top 6 conferences get an automatic qualifier. The problem for the AAC is that they are losing their top football brands to the B12. Who gets the 6th spot could rotate between the Sun Belt, AAC, MAC, and Mountain West.

Beginning in 2024 the 12-team playoff will take the six highest-ranked conference champions, not the Power 5 champions plus the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The shifting sands of conference realignment is constant. In my opinion, the Big10 and SEC have separated themselves from the other Power 5 conferences, while the gap has narrowed among the remaining conferences. The PAC 10 suffered a huge loss with Texas and Oklahoma joining the Big 10. The same can be said of the Big 12 losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. As conferences like the Pac 10 and Big 12 look to stabailize their leagues, they will be taking schools from lesser conferences. I would not be surprised if schools like Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Missouri State that play football, leave the MVC to join leagues like Conference USA, American Athletic and the Sun Belt as they try to add teams to compensate for the ones that moved up to better leagues.

[bradleyfan124]

I want to give a shout out to Tommy. He has put several of the Bradley games on Youtube. Within the last several days I have watched the Drake game a couple times, the Murray State game once and re-watched the 2006 Bradley-Kansas game. I am able to keep my Bradley fix going for awhile. Thank you Tommy

[Tommy]

I want to give a shout out to Tommy. He has put several of the Bradley games on Youtube. Within the last several days I have watched the Drake game a couple times, the Murray State game once and re-watched the 2006 Bradley-Kansas game. I am able to keep my Bradley fix going for awhile. Thank you Tommy

I really appreciate that, buddy! And I appreciate all your comments on this forum! You’re one of the guys that makes this home for me!

[️ Fanatic]

I believe Dr. Chris Reynolds will hand out the NCAA trophy tonight