A 6 or 7, 7 should have been the worst they had. Too late to worry about it now, I hope they can beat 'Nova and then hope they can get a little revenge on KU.
I also didn't like Marquette getting a 3 and Syracuse a 4, especially after SU made it to the Big East finals (beating Seton Hall, Pitt, and Georgetown along the way) and only lost to the best team in the country. Contrast with Marquette, who didn't win a single game in their conference tournament, losing to Notre Dame. I used to hear the committee placed a lot of stock in conference tournaments. I guess not. By the way, Lunardi gave Oregon an 8, Colorado a 9, UNC a 6, and Marquette a 4. His bracket made a lot more sense than the committee's.
Another thing the committee is supposed to do is penalize a team if they are losing a key player. UCLA probably deserved lower than a 6 even if Adams were healthy. Without him, maybe a 9. I watched the Pac 12 title game. Bill Walton was announcing. His partner asked him if he thought Adams' injury would matter, and Walton being a huge UCLA homer, said it wouldn't matter, UCLA wins anyway, they're better. He continued during the game talking about how UCLA was better without anything to back it up. The idea that losing Adams doesn't matter is ludicrous. I think he was the second most important player on the team, behind Anderson, and he was also one of only seven UCLA players who got regular minutes. If a team playing a very shallow rotation loses one of its regulars (playing 30+ a night), you better believe it matters. I don't think UCLA will win a single game.
I think both Marq and Syracuse will have relatively short stays in the tourney, but I understand the seeding. I place more stock in how a team plays the last half of the reg. season then their conf. tournament. Prior to the tournament, Syracuse looked quite pedestrian and Marquette looked like the stronger team. my observations: -I like Louisville, but I think they got screwed in a way. Their region is by far the toughest region. Duke at the 2, MSU at the 3, St. Louis at the 4, and Ok State at the 5 are all very good, well coached teams and among, if not the best of their respected seeds. -I'm pretty clueless with Gonzaga's region. I don't know what to make of them and a lot of the teams in that region. I could see it going fairly chalk or all over the place just as well. I am really struggling with my picks in that region. What do you guys think? Is New Mexico any good? -Miami scares me for some reason. They look great and have the resume to back it up, but I worry if it's just fools good - I don't know why! I got burned on Missou last season and I am gun shy about them because of that.
Louisville will beat Duke. This is a different team than the oe that played Duke earlier this year. The MSU matchup is a bad one, and Izzo has a magic wand at the ready during the NCAA Tournament. HOW DARE you question the legitimacy of the almight Gonzaga Bulldogs. Not only should they be the unanimous choice to win the tournament this year, but you should aready out them down as the winner of NEXT year's bracket! I think Miami is going to do a lot of damage in this tournament.
Even if you don't put any added emphasis on the BET: Syracuse beat Pitt, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, and SD State (all teams ranked at the time). Marquette's only wins over ranked opponents: Syracuse, Georgetown, and Notre Dame Marquette also lost to Florida 82-49 Syracuse had a more impressive season overall. Syracuse had a +11.2 differential, Marquette +6.3 At best, Marquette should've been on the same line as SU.
I haven't followed as much college basketball as I usually do, but man I have no confidence in any team. I went through quickly, and I keep on getting ridiculous results up until the final 4 where I have chalk. Going to be an ugly bracket for me this year
2012-13 Regular Season - consecutive wins record - Monday, March 18, 2013 8:05 PM 24001 Miami Heat win 33 consecutive games +450 24002 Heat won't win 33 consecutive games -750 I bet the no last night at -1200. Oops. I should've looked at the schedule. http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/mia/miami-heat @BOS @CHI @SA are the only challenging games. They get to face a lot of bad teams, including Charlotte twice.
Walton is an idiot... Minny will dominate the Bruins. A tough physical team will just beat them up. UCLA was dominated by SDSU who finished 4th in the MWC. A great defensive team. What worries me about that game is the Tubby factor. Not exactly my favorite coach to bet.
I have a Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State, Miami final four. Kansas over Louisville. I'm not confident at all. Have no faith in Ohio State getting there or Miami.
I'm having a tough time picking a Final Four, but at this point I'm pretty sure I'm going to at least take Louisville and Wisconsin as two of the teams.