March Madness 2012

[MisterF]

I know this will be consuming my next few weeks so thought it could use it's own thread.

The number 1 seeds of MSU, Kentucky, Syracuse and UNC were pretty fair. Should be a great tournament again this year. Since my Bowling Green Falcons missed out again I'll be rooting for the Buckeyes.


I also thought it'd be fun to have a Pick-Em for the board. Below is the link to join.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.c ... 669&P=coyw

Password is "coyw"

[jumpkutz]

It'll be consuming mine as well, F, as I'm credentialed to cover the 2nd and 3rd rounds at the KFCYum! Center. And my boys, the Murrray State Racers, will be in the house, as will No. 1 seed UK, who has as many, if not more, fans in Louisville as the Cards. And if Western Ky. manages to get past Mississippi Valley State in the Dayton first round, THEY'LL be here as well.

With Indiana back in the tournament, and playing at the same venue as Louisville, hoops fever will be off the charts here next week. It will dominate the water cooler talk like nothing else...we're the top college basketball viewing tv market in the land.

Although I'm truly a fan, I have ulterior motives...my superiors do NOT like to spend money to cover this event. So the more teams we have advancing, the better. I've been to a lot of cities in our great land because of this event, so I root for all the teams we normally have to cover.

It really is MADNESS, at least around here. You could almost hear the collective groan when Vanderbilt won today....

[SoCalJoe]

I'm in!! Hopefully everyone else who checks this thread takes a couple of minutes and fills one out. Thanks Mister F for putting it together.

Growing up this for me was the greatest sporting event in the US. I've been to a handful of regionals including last year's Elite 8 and the tournament can be magical. Sadly my Arizona Wildcats had their bubble burst, but had no one to blame but themselves.

The big boys should be there in the later rounds i.e. Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina, and Michigan State. My dark horse to go to the Final 4 is Marquette (now will I have the guts to actually pick it? ). Opening round upset alert; At least one #12 seed has one every year since they expanded the tournament. I'll take #12 seed Long Beach State (the Beach has got a point guard that is awesome) over #5 New Mexico. Also, Vanderbilt fresh off their stunning win over Kentucky gets all they want from Harvard (yes Harvard) before surviving.

2 smaller schools that have a chance to stun in the opening round. South Dakota State could give Baylor a run for their money. Montana will be worn down by Wisconsin, but not before they give the Badgers some nervous moments.

[DCHeather]

I'll get one filled out later. Perhps there can be a prize from the fulham gift shop for the winner?

[VegasJustin]

At least the Rebels should get to the Elite 8. Yeah, I said it. They're going to blow out Colorado and Baylor and the Duke game is a major rivalry. The Rebels are the same as Syracuse. If they run, they win and by alot. If they get caught up in a slow down game, they struggle and might lose. All they have to do is run and they can beat any team. Rice takes his foot off the pedal too much when they get up which is surprising as Shark the Tark wouldn't be happy until they were by 35 and screaming as they were dunking.

This is a big tournament because Shabazz Muhammad has UNLV on the list. They are already a top 5 team if Moser stays, the class coming in is really good, so it's imperative they do well to land Muhammad.

[AggieMatt]

I love the tournament and will fill out a bracket with the board. I don't have any rooting interests in it this year since A&M and Maryland both had sub-par years, so I guess I'll be pulling for upsets and my bracket & rooting against certain teams (specifically the bottom half of the South Region).

Vandy has gone out in the first rd as a 4-13 or 5-12 upset in their last 3 tournament appearances. That said, this is a senior laden group so I have to think they won't fall to Harvard as a 5. I do like LBSU as a 12. Otherwise, I think this one will be dominated by the 1's & 2's for the most part w/o many upsets. So, expect a lot of upsets.

Jump, am I reading this right? You go for Louisville AND Kentucky? Isn't that blasphemy and a good way to get yourself hurt by the locals?

[jumpkutz]

I love the tournament and will fill out a bracket with the board. I don't have any rooting interests in it this year since A&M and Maryland both had sub-par years, so I guess I'll be pulling for upsets and my bracket & rooting against certain teams (specifically the bottom half of the South Region).

Vandy has gone out in the first rd as a 4-13 or 5-12 upset in their last 3 tournament appearances. That said, this is a senior laden group so I have to think they won't fall to Harvard as a 5. I do like LBSU as a 12. Otherwise, I think this one will be dominated by the 1's & 2's for the most part w/o many upsets. So, expect a lot of upsets.

Jump, am I reading this right? You go for Louisville AND Kentucky? Isn't that blasphemy and a good way to get yourself hurt by the locals?

Normally,yes. But when I explain why, most, surprisingly, get it. Plus, I don't "fly the flag(s)" or wear the colors, except for the Racers, whom they view as non threatening. Should be interesting. The toughest part of this exercise is figuring out the first round upsets...and who this year's Butler, George Mason, or VCU is.

[AggieMatt]

Yeah, I'd wonder if Big Blue Kentuckians even know Murray St is there. I'll be pulling for them just b/c we have their old coach. Man, talk about having a rough year. Kennedy couldn't have had more things go wrong after leaving Murray St. Conversely, they've had one heck of a season.

Justin, I get UNLV likes to run, but how good are they defending in the half court and holding teams to half court offense/preventing them from running? If you run with Baylor's long athletes, you may be in trouble. They have 3 lottery picks. But if you can hold them to half court, they come down to earth real quick. Their half court defending is garbage. Scott Drew can recruit, but in-game coaching isn't his strong suit.

[jumpkutz]

Yes, I LOVE Coach Kennedy. I believe, given time, he'll have A&M competetive again. My fear is that, given his health setback this season, his superiors will get impatient and pull the rug out from under him before he can win enough to keep them happy.

[AggieMatt]

I really don't think that'll happen, Jump. Never say never, but the dr's seemed to feel they'd finally gotten an effective treatment plan dialed in that would enable him to fulfill all of his duties. Unfortunately, it took until January or so and we got hit with some critical injuries and a bad transfer. I do think it'll take him a few years of recruiting his players to turn it around though. The last guy didn't recruit very well and went after a different type of player than what it sounds like Kennedy prefers.

I like the guy a lot though, so hopefully it'll all work out well for him. But if not, I really don't think he'll be cut loose. Worst case scenario he and the AD will decide he just can't do it and he'll be given a front office gig in the basketball program. That's what our "insider sources" have been saying.

[MisterF]

Awesome, we got some sign-ups! Just a couple of days to get your picks in

[VegasJustin]

They suck in the half court. I am not worried about Baylor at all. UNLV ran North Carolina off the court and Moser tore Hensen up. Whenever they start to play in the half court they end up losing their leads. They were up by 13 in four minutes against New Mexico and then slowed it up and lost the game. They were up by 18 against TCU and slowed it up and lost. Same type of thing happened against Colorado State. The point is that when they run nobody can stop them because of the athletes have. They don't have three lottery picks, Moser is the only one, but they are loaded with ten players that can play defense and shoot. Everybody, but the Centers can shoot the three and Massamba is a pretty good defender down low.

[DCHeather]

Got my bracket filled out. Only a few more days left. I'm still thinking we should have a small prize of some sorts. Maybe a Fulham/future FulhamUSA t-shirt?

[SoCalJoe]

Plenty of time left for others to join, and people who haven't seen a game have every bit as much a chance as others who have. I tend to overthink and will probably take a to my bracket by the end of the weekend.

[AggieMatt]

So how many of you went in and edited the East Region in your bracket?