Geez talk about going from ecstacy to agony in two days. What a brutal loss today, 12 points up with basically 35 seconds left. Even the Jets couldn't blow that game.
He doesn't get the press but Dana Altman is one of the best college coaches in the country. When Ernie Kent left there wasn't even enough players left to form a practice squad. Nobody and their dog wanted to play for the Ducks. He's taken us to two Sweet Sixteens and 4 straight NCAA bids. Go Ducks. Bring on Duke!
A couple of upsets, some coaching chokes along with a few teams that slumped at the wrong time (i.e. going into the tournament) resulting in a number of gifted sweet 16 slots for some (ND, Syr, A&M) in what shapes up to be ho-hum from this point on. Mich. State's gagola set the tone.
that about sums it up perfectly joe. the quality of this year's tournament is down. I also thought the referees were terrible in a few games, especially in the VCU/Oklahoma game
Nice feeling to be back in the Sweet 16. I'm really going to enjoy this week. Of course, I guaranteed a Villanova Sweet 16 this year, as soon as I realized that I booked the family vacation to Disney World during the entire second weekend of the tournament!
geez man tournament weekends should be off limits like NFL Sundays! anyway, I will post a vbookie event for winner of the tournament. http://forums.theganggreen.com/sportsbook/2016-ncaa-tournament-winner.73/ closes tomorrow night
And the Brown Indians of Olean (as well as Monmouth) could've received some more deserving consideration imho ; ) St. Bonaventure sidebar/hijack (other TGG'ers skip this and read on). If I remember correctly, didn't Bonaventure play Florida State down to the wire in the NCAA's a few years back? And (waaay) before that, if only Lanier hadn't hurt his knee (or was it a cheap shot?) at the end of their win in the final 8 (was it against 'Nova?).......with the big lefty still in the lineup, they'd have more than stood a chance against Jacksonville and the Dolphins' "twin' towers" of Artis Gilmore and Rex Morgan (who unfortunately passed away recently). Just do me a favor and kick UNC's ass if you play them.
[[Joe I could go on and on about the Brown Indians of St Bonaventure. I have tried extremely hard though to spare this board my rant about them getting left out of the tournament. Even though we had a person here previously who would cry endlessly about things related to a school he didnt even go to, I find alumni to be very biased with their passion and when they point about things about their own school's its hard to take them seriously on a board like this. I didnt want to be 'that guy.' (plus my wife told me my angst over the decision was unhealthy and I needed to grow up and move on - she's an Ohio St. alum- she wouldnt understand!!) Yes a few years ago they won the A10 tournament and lost a hard fought game to ACC champion Florida St. Andrew Nicholson (the 2nd greatest player in school history behind Lanier) now of the Orlando Magic, got us there. and while the Lanier years were a little before my time, I'm told (by other biased alumni of course!) that they would've absolutely ended UCLA's run in 1970 and won the whole thing had he not had the freak accident of Villanova's Chris Ford taking out his knee. (who later played with Lanier with the Pistons.) Idk if it was a cheap shot or not but I'm sure some older school alumni will claim it was haha. The close loss in the final four to Jacksonville with an undermanned Bonaventure squad against that great Artis Gilmore team remains one of the most heralded games in alumni/fan circles despite the loss because of how they played on without their 7 footer]] -- I ecko yours and Hackett's statements on UNC/Villanova although they wouldn't meet until the championship with how the bracket is set up. So while I love to see a Villanova beat UNC, I would also hate to see UNC make it to the title game. I'm hoping Indiana keeps that train rolling this weekend. I was surprised to see them knock off Kentucky. a Kentucky/UNC game would've been like choosing between a tooth ache or a migraine!!
It surprises me how much more Duke is hated nationally than UNC. I do hate Duke but I would root for them over UNC every single time.
This has to be the year for Nova. I think that loss in BE Tournament helped and should help as they move on.
I like the match-up against Miami. Miami definitely has a size advantage, but the turn the ball over a LOT. If there is one thing Villanova can do, it is score off turnovers.
ACC got six teams into the Sweet 16 thanks to the committee not pitting ACC teams against each other early. Only loss was Pitt/Wisconsin. Wins: #7 Dayton #9 butler #9 providence #11 Wichita state #11 Michigan #12 Yale #13 uncw #14 buffalo #14 SFA #15 MTSU #16 Hampton #16 FGCU then last night two ACC teams had to face tougher opposition and both got routed. Four remain.
Private vs public thing. The championship game last year vs Wisconsin didn't help Duke's image much. Some of the outright disgusting calls I have ever seen in the game.
Really??? Living here in the Triangle I would have never have guessed that. The UNC folks hate Duke and the Duke folks hate UNC, but from what I can tell the NC State people around here would mostly support Duke if they went head to head. When I lived in NY, although not a huge basketball fan, I kind of liked Duke in the NCAA tourney. There was a time when you could respect Duke for being a really top notch academic school and not compromising those values too much in their athletics, and still being able to compete, but those days are now long gone with all the one year and dones
