The 2015-16 College Basketball Thread

[Lantern Venom]

The NCAA basketball season is in full swing now. A couple of classic clashes and upsets have already taken place.

Kentucky vs. Duke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS0NxeAaNJs

George Washington vs. Virginia:

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/ap/ap/top-news/george-washington-stuns-no-6-virginia-73-68/npPYB/

Kansas vs Michigan State:

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/kansas-hold-lead-falls-13-michigan-state-35270469

 

[the last son]

I've never been a fan of college basketball. I didn't go to college, so don't have a team to root for and in college you don't have players to root for. Also, tends to be sloppy ball. As, I approach 30 though, I find myself enjoying it, if only for team ball purposes.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I've never been a fan of college basketball. I didn't go to college, so don't have a team to root for and in college you don't have players to root for. Also, tends to be sloppy ball. As, I approach 30 though, I find myself enjoying it, if only for team ball purposes.

When did that happen? Over 35-40 games, it's easy to form favorite players. It's entirely possible for a basketball player to participate in as many or more games in a single season than a 3-year starter on a football team.

And we have #1 going down for the first time, but likely not the last, this season. Surprisingly, it came to Northern Iowa:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/team/_/id/2460/northern-iowa-panthers

 

[Lantern Venom]

Wake Forest upsets Indiana:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400827283

 

[Lantern Venom]

Kansas had a huge 2nd half to secure the Maui title:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400853777

 

[Lantern Venom]

I have to give it to UCLA, hustle trumped athleticism last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMO0rwZ01qw

 

[Lantern Venom]

WVU puts up triple digits:

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400813815

 

[Lantern Venom]

Kansas is #1 in the land, and it's difficult to argue otherwise right now.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...ansas-versus-oklahoma-college-basketball-wins

 

[Lantern Venom]

Former Butler C Andrew Smith, who helped the team advance to the Finals in '10 and '11 dies of cancer:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba...he-was-special/ar-CCsGh6?li=BBnba9I&ocid=iehp

 

[Lantern Venom]

#1 and #2 go down on the same night. This has been one of the craziest seasons in recent memory:

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...ahoma-to-final-four-or-an-early-exit-in-march

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...tre-dame-has-its-way-with-acc-hierarchy-again

 

[Lantern Venom]

Early bracket prediction:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

 

[Lantern Venom]

12 straight Big 12 titles for Kansas:

http://newsok.com/how-impressive-is-kansas-streak-of-big-12-titles/article/5482151

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Oregon has locked up at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title and have all the tiebreakers to be the #1 seed in the conference tournament. To win it outright, they need to win Saturday against USC or have Utah and California lose a game this week.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Oregon has locked up at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title and have all the tiebreakers to be the #1 seed in the conference tournament. To win it outright, they need to win Saturday against USC or have Utah and California lose a game this week.

I've noticed that they've been on a roll since mid-Feb. If they win their last one and are impressive in the conference tourney, a 2 seed isn't out of the question.

 

[Babillygunn]

Early bracket prediction:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

If that were how it would turn out, look out for Kentucky out of the Midwest. They are better than Indiana and should've beaten Kansas already.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

I've noticed that they've been on a roll since mid-Feb. If they win their last one and are impressive in the conference tourney, a 2 seed isn't out of the question.

It was more like from late January to mid-February where they had a 6-game conference win streak. They had a hiccup in the Bay Area after getting swept by Cal and Stanford but they've since rebounded with another nice win streak.

As for seeding, it'll be interesting to see where the committee seeds them since their RPI and SOS numbers are as good as you can get and have lots of wins vs top-50 and top-100 teams. I believe right now that they're a 3 seed but really only need maybe 2 wins the rest of the way to get a 2 seed.

 

[Lantern Venom]

If that were how it would turn out, look out for Kentucky out of the Midwest. They are better than Indiana and should've beaten Kansas already.

Kentucky has the talent to beat anyone, but they've also beaten themselves on a few occasions with silly mistakes at the end of games. For UK to return to the Final Four, even the young guys will have to conduct themselves like veterans in a sudden death scenario.

It was more like from late January to mid-February where they had a 6-game conference win streak. They had a hiccup in the Bay Area after getting swept by Cal and Stanford but they've since rebounded with another nice win streak.

As for seeding, it'll be interesting to see where the committee seeds them since their RPI and SOS numbers are as good as you can get and have lots of wins vs top-50 and top-100 teams. I believe right now that they're a 3 seed but really only need maybe 2 wins the rest of the way to get a 2 seed.

Today is a huge day in several conferences. The probable seeding could shift considerably in the next 24 hours.

 

[Lantern Venom]

North Carolina wins the ACC Regular season title. Put them down as a #1 seed now.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...solves-duke-zone-despite-poor-outing-shooting

 

[Lantern Venom]

Clash of potential 1 seeds tomorrow: UVA vs UNC for the ACC tourney title.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Oregon is in the Pac-12 title game after beating Arizona tonight. Think they potentially locked up a 2 seed tonight but I'd feel more comfortable with it if they won tomorrow.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Oregon wins the Pac-12 conference tournament with a 31-pt shellacking of likely #3 seed Utah. Not sure they'll get a #1 seed but a #2 seed with a nice location should all but be guaranteed.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

The #1 seeds are Kansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Oregon. Kinda surprised that Oregon and Virginia got in and Michigan State and either Oklahoma or Villanova didn't.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Back-to-Back SEC Championships!

I'm not sure how far UK is going to go in the bracket of death. The selection committee is out of its collective mind.

 

[Babillygunn]

Back-to-Back SEC Championships!

I'm not sure how far UK is going to go in the bracket of death. The selection committee is out of its collective mind.

C-A-T-S. CATS! CATS! CATS!

I hated the draw. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 2nd round loss or a Final Four appearance. Either seems almost equally possible.

 

[Quasar]

The bracket of death is apparently in my town! Got Kansas, Kentucky and Indiana all coming to little ol' Des Moines, IA!