March Madness MARCH 20 thread

[mellytu74]

I am REALLY happy that Dionte Christmas is having a good game for Temple.

Last year, against Michigan State, he went 1-for-8 from the field.

Right now, with just over six minutes left, he has 27 points and a handful of rebounds.

As I mentioned here before, he is a very nice young man, very involved in Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

He struggled academically in high school and went to prep school. Even at that, he needed to take a full slate of courses the summer after high school. He graduates in May.

[mellytu74]

Oh, and Missouri needs to stop toying with Cornell.

I am surprised here, too.

Missouri is a second half team. They have rarely led by much at halftime this year, but wear teams out in the second half because they are in such good condition. Those brainiacs from Cornell will be gasping for air by the 10 minute mark!

Missouri is starting to pull away now.

[mellytu74]

Well, macrae, it looks like your Sun Devils are moving on.

I think they can beat Syracuse, because James Harden is not going to have three bad games in a row (the Pac 10 final and today).

I wouldn't be surprised if Harden goes off for a bunch against ' Cuse.

[macrae1234]

We will see the Syracuse fans on Sunday. It was tense for a while good game Melly's AIO I see what you mean they did for fans of both teams

[andrewjackson]

Looks like we are going to get an upset this afternoon after all.

[Appa23]

Go Flyers!

Maybe I should be President.

[TheCalvinator24]

The Mountaineers were my "if you're gonna distinguish yourself from the pack, you gotta make a bold choice" pick for making it to the Final Four.

[Appa23]

The Mountaineers were my "if you're gonna distinguish yourself from the pack, you gotta make a bold choice" pick for making it to the Final Four.

We've all been there.

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never bet on a Bob Huggins-led team in the NCAA tournament."

There is a Tim Floyd corollary, as well.

[mellytu74]

Dayton surprised me.

The way they came limping into the post-season, including the A-10 tounament, I expected them to be competitive but lose this game.

[elwoodblues]

Macrae's post count reached 666 after he changed his avatar to the Sun Devil.

And I am 21-3 in the tournament so far.

[macrae1234]

Now that was scary

[ulysses5019]

The Mountaineers were my "if you're gonna distinguish yourself from the pack, you gotta make a bold choice" pick for making it to the Final Four.

We've all been there.

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never bet on a Bob Huggins-led team in the NCAA tournament."

There is a Tim Floyd corollary, as well.

Thanks for bringing that up.

[Jeemie]

The Mountaineers were my "if you're gonna distinguish yourself from the pack, you gotta make a bold choice" pick for making it to the Final Four.

We've all been there.

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never bet on a Bob Huggins-led team in the NCAA tournament."

There is a Tim Floyd corollary, as well.

[mellytu74]

We will see the Syracuse fans on Sunday. It was tense for a while good game Melly's AIO I see what you mean they did for fans of both teams

macrae --

How they got the AIO nickname... When Temple was ranked #1 and people said they really shouldn't be because, piffle, they were Temple, the Owls went down to North Carolina and beat them by 20 on national TV.

I was living in California and called my mom. She said she was watching but turned the game off because they were giving her agita. And that's when they were up by 20 AT UNC.

So, in conversations among friends, they became the AIO.

Years later, I met John Chaney. I mentioned that my (then) 80 YO mother loved to watch them but they gave her agita. He laughed and said that, if she wanted to come to a game, she could sit right behind the bench and "we can watch my ballclub and we can get agita together."

The next year, I brought her to the basketball banquet. Coach Chaney came over to our table and spent a while talking with Mom. They talked spaghetti sauce recipes, how to cook crabs, education, and the AIO. I was so sorry I didn't have a point guard to send to Temple, because I knew we were getting the variation of the closing speech that Chaney gave the recruit's grandmother.

When Chaney retired, I called the basketball office to talk to Essie, who runs the office, to see how she was feeling. She asked if I wanted to talk to Coach Chaney. I was surprised but said, sure. He gets on the phone. I said I wanted to thank him for the kindness shown my mother at the banquet a couple years before.

To my shock, he remembered her instantly. "The spaghetti sauce lady. The agita lady." So it cemented them as the AIO forever.

[ToLiveIsToFly]

Spoiler

What's up with Pitt? 10 minutes in and only 2 points up? What, did Blair already foul out?

Spoiler

And to think, earlier, you asked me why I had no confidence in Pitt.

This is why.

Now granted...it's early, and many times, a team has won the whole shebang after an early-round struggle. But Pitt has a history of lackluster tournament play. There ie enormous pressure on them to perform well.

This cannot be helping them.

Just be thankful Wannie can't coach two sports.

[SportsFan68]

As of right now, Annie and AJ are tied for first place in the WWTBAM group. I'm not surprised to see AJ at the top of anything, but Annie's success mystifies me (at least, so far, because rankings undoubtedly will change many times as games unfold.) I don't know enough about basketball to be of any help to her, which she knows, because she didn't ask for my help. But how does she do it? Is she Googling stats for every player on every team whenever I leave the house? Is she sending PMs to some of you to ask for advice? Do her very best friends on various teams send her eyelid messages?

What the heck is going on?

If Annie wants, she can use one of my sports nicknames for this tournament -- TifaniBrandi. Where that came from, BDM was bemoaning the fact that many bracket pools are won out of the blue by somebody named TifaniBrandi who wouldn't know a pick from a roll.

TifaniBrandi dint enter a bracket this year, so I would love for Annie to have those bragging rights.

[mellytu74]

The Mountaineers were my "if you're gonna distinguish yourself from the pack, you gotta make a bold choice" pick for making it to the Final Four.

I just realized that this is the second year in a row that Huggins lost to an A-10 team in the first round.

[AnnieCamaro]

If Annie wants, she can use one of my sports nicknames for this tournament -- TifaniBrandi. Where that came from, BDM was bemoaning the fact that many bracket pools are won out of the blue by somebody named TifaniBrandi who wouldn't know a pick from a roll.

TifaniBrandi dint enter a bracket this year, so I would love for Annie to have those bragging rights.

Thank you, Miss Sprots. That is very nice of you to offer to share Miss Tifani with me. I'm already entered under my own name, though, and I don't think any changes are allowed once the tournament has started. If I do win, though, I will share bragging rights with all us girls. (I may not win, but that's not impossible, because I did a scientific analysis of all the teams' strengths and weaknesses, made flow charts demonstrating statistical success trends of different offensive and defensive game plans as practiced by current coaching staffs, and counted all my very best friends I've never met who are players, and my calculations came up with a different prediction for the National Championship than anybody else in the WWTBAM group.)

I love basketball, so you can tell Mr. BDM that I do know the difference between a pick and a roll. I've loved basketball ever since I saw Air Bud. If I didn't need to finish my opera and work on my career as a composer, I would consider becoming a coach.

/ \

[mellytu74]

missanniecamaro --

I have a special request.

Can you please send happy thoughts to Miss Denise through your eyelids? She apparently is very distraught because her Owls lost. She is walking around and, even when I rub her with my cane (which she likes very much), it doesn't seem to make her happy. Maybe it's because she knows I am sad.

She has an Owl, you see, and she sleeps with it. It is very fluffy and has a little Temple sweater and Miss Denise likes it very much.

I tried to explain that she can see her friend Dionte Christmas in the NBA and that there will be another season next year. But, this is Miss Denise's first year as a basketball fan and she doesn't realize that it happens again next year.

I am hoping that someone experienced in such things as yourself will help get her through.

[SportsFan68]

. . . If I do win, though, I will share bragging rights with all us girls. . . .

Perfect.

You would be an excellent coach. Just look what you've done for Lizbit.

[takinover]

I see no Friday thread started yet so....

1) When I am queen of the world, the play-in game in Dayton will not feature two teams from smaller conferences. It will feature the last two BCS conference teams in. Like an Arizona-Wisconsin game. And the winner gets to be the last 11 seed or 12 seed.

I would like that play-in game feature a bubble "BCS" Conference School (e.g. an Arizona or Wisconsin) vs. a bubble "Mid-Major" (e.g. St. Mary or Creighton).

I also would like for the RPI to actually mean something even when it says a non brand name school is better than we think. (San Diego St. had a RPI in the 30's and didn't make while Arizona had one in the 60's and did).

[AnnieCamaro]

missanniecamaro --

I have a special request.

Can you please send happy thoughts to Miss Denise through your eyelids? She apparently is very distraught because her Owls lost. She is walking around and, even when I rub her with my cane (which she likes very much), it doesn't seem to make her happy. Maybe it's because she knows I am sad.

She has an Owl, you see, and she sleeps with it. It is very fluffy and has a little Temple sweater and Miss Denise likes it very much.

I tried to explain that she can see her friend Dionte Christmas in the NBA and that there will be another season next year. But, this is Miss Denise's first year as a basketball fan and she doesn't realize that it happens again next year.

I am hoping that someone experienced in such things as yourself will help get her through.

Yes, ma'am, Miss Melly. I will do my very best. It may take me a little while to get through to her, because cats are sometimes too stubborn to close their eyes, look at their lids, and open their minds. (I meant that as an observation, not a criticism.) But I will get through eventually, and I will do my level best to cheer her up. I suspect she currently is feeling bad for you, Miss TLAF, and Mr. Dionte as much as for herself, because Denise is not a selfish kind of girl.

/ \

That's what I look like when I'm thinking really hard

[mellytu74]

I see no Friday thread started yet so....

1) When I am queen of the world, the play-in game in Dayton will not feature two teams from smaller conferences. It will feature the last two BCS conference teams in. Like an Arizona-Wisconsin game. And the winner gets to be the last 11 seed or 12 seed.

I would like that play-in game feature a bubble "BCS" Conference School (e.g. an Arizona or Wisconsin) vs. a bubble "Mid-Major" (e.g. St. Mary or Creighton).

I also would like for the RPI to actually mean something even when it says a non brand name school is better than we think. (San Diego St. had a RPI in the 30's and didn't make while Arizona had one in the 60's and did).

Someone, somewhere (and, of course, I cannot remember who) said that they ought to increase the tournament to four play-in games with a combo of the last BSC teams and the bubble mid-majors. Make it a mini-tournament at Dayton.

Either way works for me. I just think it's unfair for the low-major teams to get the shaft, which the play-in game as it is now is.

As I write this, Morehead State has just tied Louisville. But, yeah, tell those low-majors that they can have two days in Dayton instead of the entire tournament experience.

This year, there are only four non-BCS at-large teams.

A couple of years ago, there were a dozen. I think the Atlantic 10 had as many teams in the tournament as the ACC and more than the Big East.

To be fair, I think one of the reasons that the number of non-BCS bids decreased was that a number of C-USA teams went to the Big East and several of those teams -- Marquette, Louisville -- have bids (and have had bids) as Big East members.

Still, I get tired of the thinking that BSC schools are automatically better.

Maybe I was spoiled by watching Temple get home-and-home games with marquee teams because John Chaney had a "play anybody, anytime" philosophy to prepare his teams for the Atlantic 10 and, more importantly, the NCAA tournament.

Next year, Temple's schedule includes the beginning of home-and-home series with both Memphis and Duke, Villanova, Kansas, Tennessee. Temple's locked into four MAC games because of the football arrangements but with the rest of the OOC schedule like this, it's OK.

[mellytu74]

missanniecamaro --

I have a special request.

Can you please send happy thoughts to Miss Denise through your eyelids? She apparently is very distraught because her Owls lost. She is walking around and, even when I rub her with my cane (which she likes very much), it doesn't seem to make her happy. Maybe it's because she knows I am sad.

She has an Owl, you see, and she sleeps with it. It is very fluffy and has a little Temple sweater and Miss Denise likes it very much.

I tried to explain that she can see her friend Dionte Christmas in the NBA and that there will be another season next year. But, this is Miss Denise's first year as a basketball fan and she doesn't realize that it happens again next year.

I am hoping that someone experienced in such things as yourself will help get her through.

Yes, ma'am, Miss Melly. I will do my very best. It may take me a little while to get through to her, because cats are sometimes too stubborn to close their eyes, look at their lids, and open their minds. (I meant that as an observation, not a criticism.) But I will get through eventually, and I will do my level best to cheer her up. I suspect she currently is feeling bad for you, Miss TLAF, and Mr. Dionte as much as for herself, because Denise is not a selfish kind of girl.

/ \

That's what I look like when I'm thinking really hard

Thank you, sweetie. I will let you know in this thead how it works.

[mellytu74]

More upsets --

USC (10) over Boston College (7) -- Congrats to Uly's Trojans.

Arizona (12) over Utah (5) -- The second 12 over 5 this tournament.