DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum 2018 NCAA Men’s Tournament

By DC above:



Phase I

Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State all advance to field of 32.

Today:


Buckeyes vs. Gonzaga 7:45 pm EST...“rut ro”...





Houston vs. Michigan 9:40 pm



Cougar vs. a Badger?

Take the Badger

I don't see Virginia in the weekend schedule?

Where's Virgina?

Wait..WHAT?...Oh no...

How could my brackets be busted already? Worthless Cavaliers.

What's that sound? Brackets being busted all over the country.

With the parity in College B-ball now, the perfect bracket is impossible to achieve. I mean besides the people that go and graduated from there, who ever heard of UMBC? Now they will always be remembered for the greatest upset in the history of sports!

Virginia's slow style of Basketball finally cost them. Now they will always be remembered as the first #1 seed to lose to a 16. UNFREAKING BELIEVABLE!

Now that we know the impossible can happen, how about the Browns winning the Super Bowl!

Still no excuse to lose to a 16 seed.

GO BUCKEYES BEAT GONZAGA ...

Some are saying Tony Bennett, Virginia's coach, should be fired.

I'm not saying that but some idiots are.

We'll never know what the outcome would have been had the player been healthy, we can only guess. Maybe that guy hits a layup someone else would have missed then makes a defensive stop and a transition 3 with the score tied near the end of the half and that gives the Cavaliers some confidence going into the 2nd half. Who knows. Any little bit helps when you're fighting a pesky no-name school. And if he's truly the guy they bring in for a spark to rest the other guys, that's a key factor.

I'd also wonder where their heads were at knowing he was out for the whole tourney. That couldn't have made them feel very confident to lose such an important guy.

I'm not trying to make an excuse that absolves their epic collapse, just saying, having him could have flipped the outcome.

As for anyone calling for the coaches job, they need to shut up. Stuff happens.

Top 10 NCAA Basketball Upsets
by Jack Jorgensen & Adi Joseph

10. No. 15 Hampton over No. 2 Iowa State in 2001
We all remember the amazing visual of coach Steve Merfeld being lifted up off the court kicking his legs with glee, and for good reason. In what was the first appearance for the Hampton Pirates in the NCAA Tournament in their history, they defeated the No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones, 58-57. A 15 seed hadn't knocked off a 2 seed in four years prior to that day, so this moment was certainly due.

9. No. 15 Norfolk State over No. 2 Missouri in 2012
Following that win by Hampton over Iowa State in the No. 10 slot, we would not see another 15-seeded team take out a No. 2 seed until 2012 when the Norfolk State Spartans, champions of the MEAC, narrowly downed the Missouri Tigers, 86-84. If Hampton's win as a No. 15 seed was due given the amount of time since the previous one, then this Norfolk State win was long overdue.

8. No. 15 Coppin State over No. 2 South Carolina in 1997
Prior to 1997, Coppin State had made two trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1993, getting trounced by Syracuse and Cincinnati, respectively. But, you know what they say about the third time being a charm. It indeed was this time around, as the Eagles cruised to a 13-point win over 2-seeded South Carolina. After suffering a heartbreaking one-point loss to Texas in the next round, Coppin State would not see the NCAA Tournament until 2008. But this one victory in 1997 is one we all won't soon forget.

7. No. 14 Cleveland State over No. 3 Indiana in 1986
This is the game that ended the "Season on the Brink" -- John Feinstein's famous book about the 1985-86 Hoosiers that delved into Bob Knight's coaching methods in memorable ways. It's also the last NCAA Tournament game that Steve Alford would lose as a player -- the current UCLA coach was the senior star for the 1987 champion Hoosiers the next year. Cleveland State and Arkansas-Little Rock became the first 14 seeds to beat a No. 3 that year, as UALR beat Notre Dame.

6. No. 15 Lehigh over No. 2 Duke in 2012
The second of the infamous No. 15 over No. 2 upsets in 2012, no one believed this Patriot League school could defeat the mighty Duke. It was seemingly impossible. But, led by a pretty popular current Portland Trail Blazer you may know who goes by the name C.J. McCollum, the Mountain Hawks stunned the Blue Devils, 75-70, giving the 2012 NCAA Tournament a true feeling of madness.

5. No. 11 George Mason over No. 1 UConn in 2006
First of all, George Mason probably shouldn't have even been in the field. That needs to be said because the Patriots clearly proved they had the talent to be there. This was the first mid-major double-digit seed -- i.e. a traditional Cinderella -- to make the Final Four, and this was the game that put it there. Mason's Jim Larranaga trod over Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Mark Turgeon and finally Jim Calhoun, and those Huskies were widely considered the favorite to win the national title.

4. No. 15 Richmond over No. 2 Syracuse in 1991
The first 15-2 upset in NCAA history was more than just a big deal in its day. Syracuse was an absolute power, led by Big East Player of the Year and first-team All-American Billy Owens, and Jim Boeheim was by no means known for early exits. But the Spiders forced the Orange to die on the 3-point line and made history.

3. No. 15 Middle Tennessee over No. 2 Michigan State in 2016
The 2015-16 Michigan State Spartans and coach Tom Izzo were Big Ten tournament champions, and heading into the NCAA Tournament, they were a trendy pick to come away with the national championship when all was said and done. But, those title hopes were dashed and brackets were lit in flames immediately in the first round when Middle Tennessee sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball world with its 90-81 win.

2. No. 8 Villanova over No. 1 Georgetown in 1985
We had a bit of a staff debate over whether this or Virginia deserved to be No. 1. Here's why we opted to "snub" this iconic game: pedigree and margin. Yes, 1985 Georgetown was better than 2018 Virginia and had won the previous year's national championship. But Villanova had played the Hoyas tough twice in the regular season. And Villanova is Villanova. They'd already had Paul Arizin and Howard Porter and other greats. The stakes were huge, but the result was a little more fathomable.

1. No. 16 UMBC over No. 1 Virginia in 2018
After years of waiting to see if the unthinkable could happen, it did on March 16, 2018. Led by a phenomenal performance from Jairus Lyles and his 28 points, the Retrievers etched their names in history forever by sending coach Tony Bennett and the ACC champion Virginia Cavaliers packing much earlier than expected.

I'd probably move Lehigh up and move down Richmond, but I'm getting picky. Not a terrible list though.

villanova looks GOOD

De'Andre Hunter being out is why I had Kentucky beating VA. I Still thought VA could beat a no name 16 seed. Now if UMBC beats Kentucky then they could very well get to the final four!

duke looked incredible today too

"Badger...BADGER?...We dohn neeed no steenkeen Badgers!!!"

I must have Badger on the brain. Say, where is Wisconsin?

Houston vs. Michigan 9:40 pm



Cougar vs. a Wolverine?

Compared to a Wolverine (or a Badger) Cougars are wimps.

The Wolverine wins every time.

Kentucky looks WAY better than a month ago

Sorry Tennessee. That was a decent look for the win too.

It would be nice if the camera operator didn't get a closeup of those kids crying on national TV. Sort of not fair. Show adults, not kids. I'm nitpicking.

nice win Loyola! neat game

Well, coming back from down 15 and then letting it slip away kind of sucks. I really thought we had it there.

It does. Whaddya gonna do? Ohio State isn’t a basketball school.

Proud of my Buckeyes they played hard after falling behind 15-0 ... Holtmann will make them a contender again soon ...

Congrats s zaga... now... go Houston....

I've lost one Final Four team(UVA) one of my Elite 8(Florida) and three others from my predicted Sweet 16. I really know how to pick em /s

Not a Michigan fan, but that was a great finish. Walkoff 3 point shot.

what a finish for Blue

I think so too.

The Buckeyes were picked in the preseason to be Big-Ten bottom feeders this year.

It should be exciting to watch the Buckeyes once Holtmann starts putting his "stamp" on the team. (for instance player recruiting and development)

Can't knock the Cuse in March.

I didn't think they deserved a play-in game, but here they are in the 2nd round battling MSU.

I haven't watched 1 game where the officials are even close to calling a good game either way, how does the NCAA allow some of the bozos the ref ...

Good bye Sparty! The question has to be asked. Is Tom Izzo overrated?

Also, were those television announcers pro Syracuse or what?

Or MSU to underachieve. Anyone remember Middle Tennessee State?

see ya sparty

Another favorite goes down. Texas A&M laid a huge beat down on North Carolina.

Good God, Cincinnati just made me throw up in my mouth.

Probably the toughest loss I've had to swallow as a fan of theirs.

WTF happened there? They were up huge when I was channel surfing so I didn't give it a second thought and switched to UNC getting beat down. Next thing I know, they switched to the final seconds of the Cincy game and they lost.

16-0 run.

X gone .. Cincy gone ... UNC gone

Lots of strange games (not just outcomes, the WAY the outcomes happen)

On the Dan Patrick Show last week, they were talking about filling out brackets, and that the rule of thumb was that your Final Four picks should have their seed numbers add up to no more than 8. Well, with only 2 rounds down, the best you could possibly do now is 10! (Kentucky 5 + Michigan 3 + Nova 1 + Kansas 1)

I heard that too haha

I didn't see the Cincy game.. UNC got stomped, Xavier choked bad. Blew a double digit lead to Florida State because they finished about 3 for 12 from the foul line and turned the ball over about 10 times in the final 6 minutes.. even with that, they got a couple really bad calls against them and still could have won the game.

Nowhere else to put this here, so I'll put it in here. While you guys have been excited about the NCAA Tourney, I've been a moop. Basketball season in Connecticut ended in November as far as I'm concerned.

I'm 32, and I started religiously watching UConn when I was 8. I saw Donyell Marshall (still my favorite college basketball player ever) and I was hooked. I even remember the game, in which we laid a beatdown on Providence (which was a city I even knew of because we past it on our summer vacation every year).

For an 8 year old, Donyell was a god, lol. He was the focal point of the offense, and he loved being it. Never saw a shot or a play that he didn't like. (Turns out he was Big East player of the year in 93-94, my first season watching UConn!)

Anyway, during my time watching the Calhoun era, we missed the tournament very very rarely. 1997, 2001, and 2007. Calhoun is one of the best college coaches ever in my book, and he doesn't get the credit he deserves IMO. Three national titles and 10 Big East Regular Season Championships (nine seasons of which I got to watch). And Kevin Ollie's fourth title, deserves some credit to Calhoun as Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright, DeAndre Daniels, Alex Oriaki, Niels Giffey. They were all Calhoun recruits.

I knew when Ollie came on that I couldn't expect Calhoun. But he really took everything that Jim Calhoun built and turned it into a nose dive. Our offense looked like an NBA offense (lots of one on one isolation) without guys who could be productive that way. Our players stopped developing. Lots of kids were leaving. This season, we weren't even competitive. The arenas that UConn once packed are now empty.

It's truly become an embarassment.

Well, I'm very excited about Hurley. Hopefully he can right this ship. I'm not looking for Jim Calhoun. I understand, we are the state of Connecticut, and we lost in the game of musical chairs that was Conference Re-Allignment (and we lost bad). Just want respectability again.

I knew Ollie would suck too ... him having that run in his first year was fool's gold with Calhoun's kids (and a long shot still)

Hurley will be much better IMO

I hope so. Ollie always had the team playing better at the end of the season. We'd win the AAC Tourney and make it into the NCAA Tourney.

But this year, we got knocked out in the first round.

There just wasn't a college offense. It was like watching a bad NBA Team player the Warriors. Ollie was one of my favorite players too. My parents once gave me a sweatshirt under the Christmas Tree that was from Kevin Ollie. I was young enough to actual believe it was from him. Ollie was a good PG. He was Donyell's PG and then Ray Allen's PG.

But the allure of Kevin slowly faded away as the team progressively seemed to get worse. As I said, players were transferring. They weren't progressing as players. And the team didn't look like a team at all