Big 12 Basketball 2008

[Highlander]

OU gets a two seed in KC?  Mizzou and KU both were above OU in the Pomeroy rankings.  I would have thought OU ends up with a 2 but not in KC with either MU or KU going to KC as a 3 seed.   

I would have liked to see St Mary's and Davidson in rather than OSU or Arizona but it's tough for a non-major conference team to get in when they don't win their conference tourney.  St Mary's puts good teams out regularly but unfortunately plays in the same conference as Gonzaga.  That leaves two of the best players in the country (Patrick Mills and Stephen Curry) out of the tournament. 

[WSPanic]

OU gets a two seed in KC?  Mizzou and KU both were above OU in the Pomeroy rankings.  I would have thought OU ends up with a 2 but not in KC with either MU or KU going to KC as a 3 seed.   

I would have liked to see St Mary's and Davidson in rather than OSU or Arizona but it's tough for a non-major conference team to get in when they don't win their conference tourney.  St Mary's puts good teams out regularly but unfortunately plays in the same conference as Gonzaga.  That leaves two of the best players in the country (Patrick Mills and Stephen Curry) out of the tournament. 

I don't think there's much of an argument for Davidson to get in. But, it's interesting that the committee seems to have discounted OU's recent troubles because of the Griffin injury. While, at the same time, ignoring St Mary's injury situation with Mills.

[Maitre D]

They should- OU collapsed down the stretch, losing to Tech and Baylor shouldn't do KU any favors.  I really don't see how any of them could be higher than a four seed, three at the highest. 

Nice faceplant.  I enjoy reading your takes on the sports board - always guaranteed to be 100% incorrect.



Anyhoo, we should revive the NCAA tourney pick-em contest again here.  Powercat?  And you can start an NIT bracket too if you want, since Tim Spankovich is bringing his rough & tumble Ill State Whatevers into the Bram on Wed Nite.  You goin?

[kcmetro]

Surprised some of the mouth breathers to the east haven't commented on KU playing the BISON of NDSU.

[KCPowercat]

Yeah somebody start up a bracket or I will later if nobody wants to.

And where is that NIT race for 66 bracket pik'em???

I won't be going to manhattan sadly. I have prior commitments with the big 12 host committee that evening. Thanks for your concern about my life specifically though...weird.

[Highlander]

Surprised some of the mouth breathers to the east haven't commented on KU playing the BISON of NDSU.

No reason to be antagonistic.  NDSU is a tougher team than some might expect.  Didn't beat any high quality teams but hung in there on the road at USC (loss by 4) and have some decent wins over some smaller schools with decent programs like ORU.  Mizzou has to face Cornell which has played some close games against some of the big east teams but the one that really worries me provided the Tigers beat Cornell is Utah State (30-4).  If they beat Marquette (missing a key player), they'll have a home crowd advantage and they are a good team. 

[kcmetro]

NDSU is a tougher team than some might expect. 

For sure.  No easy games at all.

Looking through the bracket this morning, I don't remember a year where there were so few teams I thought had gimme's in the 1st/2nd rounds.  Just jotting down winners in a few different brackets, I even saw MU going to Detroit.  Once I wrote it down though, I had to crumple it up and toss it in the trash.  Nearly made me puke that I picked them. 

Early prediction for FF:  Washington, Louisville, Syracuse, Villanova......L-Ville vs Syracuse.....L-Ville as champion

[WSPanic]

Surprised some of the mouth breathers to the east haven't commented on KU playing the BISON of NDSU.

They did during the ESPN selection show. Bilas was comparing NDSU to Bucknell - Rece Davis tossed in the Bison note at the end.

[KCPowercat]

That comparison of ku losing to teams with a B in their names might be one of the dumbest in sports currently. 

[kcmetro]

That comparison of ku losing to teams with a B in their names might be one of the dumbest in sports currently. 

Maybe MU can lose to CorNELL just like we lost to BuckNELL. 

[LenexatoKCMO]

Mizzou has to face Cornell which has played some close games against some of the big east teams but the one that really worries me provided the Tigers beat Cornell is Utah State (30-4).  If they beat Marquette (missing a key player), they'll have a home crowd advantage and they are a good team. 

Marquette would certainly be a very favorable matchup for the Tigers - they are down to only five players with consistent minutes.  That depth doesn't bode well for a full game of press breaking. 

[jlbomega]

Marquette would certainly be a very favorable matchup for the Tigers - they are down to only five players with consistent minutes.  That depth doesn't bode well for a full game of press breaking. 

True.  We also owe Marquette for knocking us out in 2003 and we have deamons to exercise in Boise!  I know nothing about Utah State.  I took a brief look at their schedule and they literally played nobody.  They lost at St. Mary's when Paddy Mills was out I believe. 

Either way is sucks playing in Boise, but I think we got a pretty good draw.  How does KU feel about playing ND State?  I heard a guy from ND State on the Boarder Patrol that said ND State brought 35,000 fans to the Metrodome for a football game a few years ago.  There might be a lot of fan support for ND State in Minneapolis.

[kcmetro]

How does KU feel about playing ND State?  I heard a guy from ND State on the Boarder Patrol that said ND State brought 35,000 fans to the Metrodome for a football game a few years ago.  There might be a lot of fan support for ND State in Minneapolis.

Not thrilled at all.  Bad location.  Bad opponent to play.  If they start burying 3's...

[WSPanic]

True.  We also owe Marquette for knocking us out in 2003 and we have deamons to exercise in Boise!  I know nothing about Utah State.  I took a brief look at their schedule and they literally played nobody.  They lost at St. Mary's when Paddy Mills was out I believe. 

Either way is sucks playing in Boise, but I think we got a pretty good draw.  How does KU feel about playing ND State?  I heard a guy from ND State on the Boarder Patrol that said ND State brought 35,000 fans to the Metrodome for a football game a few years ago.  There might be a lot of fan support for ND State in Minneapolis.

I wasn't thrilled about seeing a team three hours from the venue as our first round matchup. I'm still hoping for a 50/50 crowd split. I seriously doubt it will be like a "home" game for the Bison. Would rather have MUs first round opponent - but am happier about being in Minn. - where I think KU will make a decent showing with attendance.

I did get a chance to see NDSU play the Roos at the Muni this year. I was impressed with Woodside - and to a lesser extent Winkelman. Woodside had close to thirty in a 66 pt. effort by NDSU. Roos actually took them to overtime, so it's hard to say I was impressed when I saw them. They really couldn't ever get anything going against UMKC. Which is saying something. Of course, they blew the Roos out in ND, but I didn't see that game.

[KCTigerFan]

Why do we care so much about this rating system?  I mean they are a great band and all, but what do they know about basketball?  &&&

Memphis is number 1 in the Pomeroy rankings.

[phxcat]

Nice faceplant.  I enjoy reading your takes on the sports board - always guaranteed to be 100% incorrect.

I was waiting for you to respond since the moment after I posted that.  I guess I should have been more clear, though (I was thinking I had said "should", rather than "could", that wasn't a prediction, since it was common knowledge that they would all probably be 3s or higher, just that they shouldn't be higher than a four.  And they shouldn't.

[KCMax]

Sherron Collins named Second Team All-American.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking ... 89222.html

[Pendergast]

So everyone saw that Mizzou was ranked higher at the end of the season in both football AND basketball?  Us Tiger fans measure most of our progress in terms of beating Kansas, and not really anyone else 

[MidWestSider]

I need a little help.  I'm trying to figure out why everyone is so high on Memphis?  Looking at their schedule they played 4 quality teams and lost to 3 of them.

Am I missing something?

What puts them ahead of MU or KU?

[kcmetro]

I need a little help.  I'm trying to figure out why everyone is so high on Memphis?  Looking at their schedule they played 4 quality teams and lost to 3 of them.

Am I missing something?

What puts them ahead of MU or KU?

Happens every year.  They benefit big time from their weak schedule.  They may or may not be as good as their seed, but nobody really knows until the tourney.  If they were in the Big East or Big 12, they'd probably have 6 losses instead of 3.  Last year they were legit though.  I haven't seen them play this year, but they're surely not the team they were last season.  I guess now MU has the opportunity to expose them if they make it that far.