2013 NCAA Tournament

At DD's request, a thread for March Madness.

So of course, Gonzaga got a #1 seed and faces Southern on Thursday in Salt Lake City. St. Mary's got in as an 11, playing Middle Tennessee in an opening round game. MTSU had a great season, going 19-1 and winning the Sun Belt, but losing in the conference semifinals. Fortunately for them the committee still thought they were good enough for an at-large.

Oregon wins the Pac 12 tournament but gets a 12 seed. They play #5 Oklahoma State in San Jose Thursday. It might seem low but that's about right for being 45th in the RPI. They were only 9-7 against the top 100 and the loss to #157 Utah on the last day of the regular season doesn't look good at all. And their average RPI win was 151. In other words, beating Arizona, UNLV, and UCLA three times is good, but the toughness of their schedule really drops off after that.

As for other Pilot opponents, New Mexico is a 3 and plays Harvard in Salt Lake, Colorado State is an 8 and plays Missouri in Lexington Thursday, and UNLV is a 5 and is getting a very tough draw. They play Cal--in San Jose. I know you only get preferential treatment in travel and matchups if you're a top four seed, but that's really rough.

UNLV is a weak 5 seed IMHO.

I HATE that reading that comment made me hear "Upset-special baby!" in the Dickie V voice in my head. Is there anything you can take for that?

pilotram wrote:UNLV is a weak 5 seed IMHO.

Hmm, yea, probably more inconsistent than "weak," but yea, not a 5 seed in my estimation either.

Heard some complaints about UO as a 12, but face it, they've had some bad losses lately (Colorado, for example), and who did they play or beat over the course of the season. Without looking it up, I would bet UP played a tougher schedule.....but that's a whole different story.

Of the UP opponents (in addition to Gonzaga), I really like New Mexico....Steve Alford has got his guys going at just the right time.

Any thoughts on CSU?

DaTruRochin wrote:I HATE that reading that comment made me hear "Upset-special baby!" in the Dickie V voice in my head. Is there anything you can take for that?

Oh great, thanks for that.

Lalalalalalalalala.......

Rams got screwed, at least in comparison to the other MWC seedings. They finish second in the conference with an #8 seed, but SDSU finishes fourth and gets a #7 seed? I know it's not just about conference play, but still. Those two seeds should be switched and I'd be happy.
By the way, UNLV was swept by a crappy Fresno State this year, including a loss at home just a week ago. They made the conference tourney final, which was played in their home arena.
Really like UNM this year, having watched them several times. Alex Kirk is legit, and any one of their guards can go off on a given night.

Saint Mary's College gets off to a good start in the tournament Round 1 with a win over Middle Tennessee 67 - 54, in Dayton, Ohio. Now they get to play Memphis in Auburn Hills, MI.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjkiebus/is-the-world-big-enough-for-two-steve-holts

Pure gem.