2013-14 NCAA Basketball Season Thread

[moon]

Originally Posted by drew24

As someone who doesn't care about Witchita State or Indiana State I'm cheering for the undefeated story for the tournament. An uncommon feat and provides a fair amount of interest to the tournament.
Whether they deserve it or not- I don't know. Arizona lost to ASU. Syracuse lost to BC. Good teams lose to bad teams all the time. When Wichita doesn't lose those games, I think that means a lot. A more quantitative measure of how good they've been is that they are 1 of only 4 teams with top 20 offensive and defensive efficiency.

I think if they had one loss I would be more sympathetic to them but that schedule is just so soft. Not even one decent team on it.

Oh well now it is tournament time and they have a harder time ducking real teams (although last tournament they did a hell of a job).

I don't think they are a top 4 team in the country but that is how the NCAA is set up not based on who is best but who navigates their schedule, difficult or not the best, at least in Basketball they get to play it out.

[Displaced Flames fan]

What makes you think they've ducked teams? It's the other way around and it has always been very difficult for good mid-major programs to schedule. Nobody wants to play them.

The win at Saint Louis is a great win. Would look great on anyone's resume. Tennessee and Alabama both underachieved this year. Those looked like good games before the season. If BYU hadn't beat Texas in the CBE they would've beaten Texas...but then again, BYU is a better team in the BPI than Texas and WSU owns a win over them.

They are 6th in the RPI and 4th in the BPI. They can't be as bad as you think they are.

[drew24]

Originally Posted by moon

Not even one decent team on it.

I don't think they are a top 4

@ St. Louis is roughly as good of a win as the blue devils beating Michigan in Cameron Indoor which is Duke's best non-con win.

But yeah I don't think I buy them as top 4 either.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

What makes you think they've ducked teams? It's the other way around and it has always been very difficult for good mid-major programs to schedule. Nobody wants to play them.

The win at Saint Louis is a great win. Would look great on anyone's resume. Tennessee and Alabama both underachieved this year. Those looked like good games before the season. If BYU hadn't beat Texas in the CBE they would've beaten Texas...but then again, BYU is a better team in the BPI than Texas and WSU owns a win over them.

They are 6th in the RPI and 4th in the BPI. They can't be as bad as you think they are.

I don't think ducking as in scared to play people, just that they didn't have any tough Non-Conference games and play in a meh conference.

Not sure what the bad as I think they are I think they are likely a top 10 team and possibly top 5 just that they haven't shown it against

Originally Posted by drew24

@ St. Louis is roughly as good of a win as the blue devils beating Michigan in Cameron Indoor which is Duke's best non-con win.

But yeah I don't think I buy them as top 4 either.

Sure but Duke also has much better conference wins and close loses against Arizona and Kansas in which they weren't outplayed and easily could have won.

I don't think Wichita St. is crap and on a neutral court I think it could even be even between them and the other top teams. Just don't like seeing them rewarded for playing a cupcake schedule and a team like Duke "punished" because they played Kansas and Arizona at neutral sites and played in a tough conference.

But tough for Wichita St. if nobody is willing to play them and they are historically good enough to get into a top conference.

Also not sure a win at St. Louis is as impressive as Michigan but I am not impressed with mid-majors overall so tend to be down on them more than most.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

What makes you think they've ducked teams? It's the other way around and it has always been very difficult for good mid-major programs to schedule. Nobody wants to play them.

The win at Saint Louis is a great win. Would look great on anyone's resume. Tennessee and Alabama both underachieved this year. Those looked like good games before the season. If BYU hadn't beat Texas in the CBE they would've beaten Texas...but then again, BYU is a better team in the BPI than Texas and WSU owns a win over them.

They are 6th in the RPI and 4th in the BPI. They can't be as bad as you think they are.

I think they have had or do have a chance to play in a better conference. If they were a little closer, they'd fit in great with the a10. I'm sure the mwc would be an option too. How many years are the shockers and zags for that matter going to keep beating up on their weak conferences and not play any real meaningful games once conference play starts?

[Displaced Flames fan]

No question the MVC is down this year with the departure of Creighton, but don't discount the 18-0 record in that conference. They play a balanced schedule, which the ACC does not. The travel for Wichita State is substantial. How many of Duke's opponents are within driving distance?

Looking at Duke's record they have losses to Wake Forest and Notre Dame. Wake lost at home to Tennessee by 19. Wichita State beat Tennessee. Notre Dame lost at home by 13 to Indiana State, a team Wichita State just finished demolishing for the third time this season. So, while nobody can fault Duke for losses to Arizona and Kansas, they certainly can be faulted for losses to Wake and Notre Dame.

It is a legitimate argument for why Wichita State deserves a #1. They have no bad losses. They have no losses at all. If it were such an easy task to accomplish, it would happen a lot more often. (I realize you didn't say it was easy)

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I think they have had or do have a chance to play in a better conference. If they were a little closer, they'd fit in great with the a10. I'm sure the mwc would be an option too. How many years are the shockers and zags for that matter going to keep beating up on their weak conferences and not play any real meaningful games once conference play starts?

Well, the Missouri Valley, much more so than the PCC, has a history of being a competitive league with multiple tournament bids. Whether that will continue or not now that Creighton has left is a good question. But its not like we are talking about the Big Sky here.

Curious..how many times have any of you watched Wichita State this year?

[drew24]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Curious..how many times have any of you watched Wichita State this year?

Parts of 3 games. Tough to go out of my way to watch when games are projected to be not close. Almost always better games on.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Well, the Missouri Valley, much more so than the PCC, has a history of being a competitive league with multiple tournament bids. Whether that will continue or not now that Creighton has left is a good question. But its not like we are talking about the Big Sky here.

Curious..how many times have any of you watched Wichita State this year?

MVC basketball isn't bad, it's pretty good basketball full of teams that have good senior leadership.

Look at the ACC this year, it's not as good as so many think it should be. SEC has Florida and Kentucky (sorta) this year.

I'm going to be sad seeing our seniors go.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/top.../?sct=nbar_top

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by drew24

Parts of 3 games. Tough to go out of my way to watch when games are projected to be not close. Almost always better games on.

I asked that question because I think they pass the eyeball test as well.

In any case, it will all come out in the wash when the tournament gets going. Wichita State proved that Gonzaga shouldn't have been a #1 seed last year OR that Wichita State was grossly underseeded at #9. I'll say it again...this team is BETTER than the team that nearly (should have) beat Louisville last year in the Final Four.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

I asked that question because I think they pass the eyeball test as well.

In any case, it will all come out in the wash when the tournament gets going. Wichita State proved that Gonzaga shouldn't have been a #1 seed last year OR that Wichita State was grossly underseeded at #9. I'll say it again...this team is BETTER than the team that nearly (should have) beat Louisville last year in the Final Four.

The year before Florida had Lville on the edge and in foul trouble early in the 2nd. For some reason we decided to shoot threes the rest of the game and allowed Louisville to come back.

I'm scared that it's championship or bust for both WSU and UF

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by PIMking

MVC basketball isn't bad, it's pretty good basketball full of teams that have good senior leadership.

Look at the ACC this year, it's not as good as so many think it should be. SEC has Florida and Kentucky (sorta) this year.

I'm going to be sad seeing our seniors go.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/top.../?sct=nbar_top

ACC was pretty terrible this year. SEC is always going to be Florida, Kentucky and maybe one other team (if Tennessee could figure it out they could have 4 good teams in any given year, but the fourth team will never be consistent).

Hopefully the strength of the Big 12 gives them an edge in the tourney. There was only 1 cupcake in the conference (TCU), so every game was a tough one. 7 out of 10 teams should be in which is ridiculous.

[PIMking]

Florida are 9-2 odds on favorites to win the championship this year

[Displaced Flames fan]

Last night I watched a replay of the Wichita State/Ohio State game from the Elite 8 last year on the Big Ten Network. It was nearly as much fun this time as it was last year!

The reason I'm mentioning it here, though, is that watching this game again only reinforced my theory/position/belief that this year's team is vastly superior to that team. The evolution of Fred Van Vleet, Ron Baker and particularly Tekele Cotton is absolutely astonishing when compared to how they were playing in last year's tournament.

Carl Hall was a huge presence inside for WSU at the tournament last year, but they've replaced him with a three-headed monster that has 15 fouls to give and are probably better defensively. Those three together average nearly what Hall did on the offensive end.

I'm convinced they are capable of winning it all. Not going to say they will, there are several really great teams out there capable of it as well, but don't sleep on this team. They are the real deal.

[moon]

Pathetic effort from Duke today. The ACC was supposed to get stronger, pretty weak when Virginia wins the league.

Even though they rely on a freshman I expected more from them this season.

Not overly excited for the tournament this year looks like a lot of very average teams this year and a pretty boring season which is odd considering all the hype at the start of the season.

[PIMking]

From the Tenn vs Florida Game yesterday... "all ball"

[Displaced Flames fan]

Sparty looking strong against Michigan. Much tougher team.

[PIMking]

If Florida doesn't clean up its free throws they will be bounced early in the tourny

[drew24]

Originally Posted by PIMking

If Florida doesn't clean up its free throws they will be bounced early in the tourny

By who? Think they got a really nice draw.

[PIMking]

Yup just noticed that