2024 NCAA Tournament

ESPN currently predicts the Pilots as a #14 seed traveling to Corvallis to play a #3 seed Oregon State.

OSU is #17 in NET ranking, UP is up to #102.

If last year’s ESPN predictions are an indicator, it won’t be as predicted. 🤨

If true, it will be the first of five games with the Beavers over the next two seasons.

I'd love to see them in Boulder!

Sporting News projects the Pilots as a #15 seed, and their projected #2 seeds are Texas, LSU, Ohio State and UCLA. Trip to Los Angeles?

up7587 wrote:Sporting News projects the Pilots as a #15 seed, and their projected #2 seeds are Texas, LSU, Ohio State and UCLA.  Trip to Los Angeles?

Some are saying Austin.

https://theathletic.com/5337778/2024/03/13/womens-basketball-bracket-watch-gonzaga-loss/

But Austin was predicted last season before UP instead headed down to Los Angeles.

Inlander/Maupin take on GU's twin losses on Tuesday in Las Vegas:

https://www.inlander.com/culture/gonzaga-falls-flat-in-both-wcc-championship-games-27621172

Come join us this Sunday!

Join the Portland Pilots women's basketball team and the rest of Pilot Nation this Sunday, March 17 as the Pilots learn their March Madness fate in a special Selection Sunday Watch Party!

The event will take place at the Pilot House, with doors open at 4 p.m. Free appetizers will be provided as well as a cash bar.

ESPN's Selection Show runs from 5-6 p.m. NCAA First and Second Round games will be played on campus sites March 22-25.


UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND WATCH PARTY DETAILS

Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024
Time(s): 4 PM – Doors Open | 5- 6 PM – Selection Show (ESPN)
Where: Pilot House
What: Meet the UP Women's Basketball Team and watch the ESPN Selection Sunday special for the 2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket unveiling at 5 p.m.

NOT Corvallis, but instead Manhattan, Kansas against Kansas St in the first round.

And then Colorado or Drake in the second, before heading to Albany, New York in the regionals.

UP is #13 and KSU is #4.

K-State is lead by 6'6" C Ayoka Lee, averaging 20.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 2.7 bpg.

Tipoff is Friday 1:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNEWS.

GU got a #4 seed and plays UC Irvine at home on Saturday.

up7587 wrote:GU got a #4 seed and plays UC Irvine at home on Saturday.

Good for GU!

They were thought to be one of the top-16 teams worthy of playing at home on the first weekend, but many of GU's disappointed/disgruntled/disillusioned fans were concerned the team might lose that status after losing to UP.

Playing at home should give them a good opportunity to get by #13 UCI on Saturday before playing either #12 South Dakota St. or #5 Utah on Monday before advancing to the Portland 3 regional where they should have plenty of fans.

Brief comments on the game versus Kansas State, including one reference to the "Panthers," their opponent. Say what you will, but get the name right.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401637544/portland-kansas-st

Hey, ESPN Analytics says 4.3% chance of Pilot victory. Their NET rank is higher than GU's, so it can be done.

wrv wrote:Brief comments on the game versus Kansas State, including one reference to the "Panthers," their opponent. Say what you will, but get the name right.

AI generated name?

Wildcats odds of winning is 95.8%.

Good send off yesterday morning...

DoubleDipper wrote:

wrv wrote:Brief comments on the game versus Kansas State, including one reference to the "Panthers," their opponent. Say what you will, but get the name right.

AI generated name?

Wildcats odds of winning is 95.8%.

Worth noting that ESPN had Gonzaga's win probability at 95.2% going into the WCC championship game ...

Vegas predicts a score of 76 to 53.  Similar to the first GU game or the Stanford game.  Pilots had poor 3P shooting in both those losses.  I think any chance at victory has to include better than average 3P shooting today, say 35% or better.

Go Pilots

For anyone in the area, watch party today at both the Pilot House, or for those of you like myself who will need stress coping mechanisms with an ABV you can find me at Chill N Fill on Lombard.

Won the last 3 quarters by 2 points, but the slow start was too much to overcome. Only 3-16 on 3P shots. And several layups and shots in the paint would not fall. But played them fairly even on rebounds, assists, steals and turnovers.

Congrats on a good season.

Really impressed with the fight the team showed over the last three quarters to stay in it. It's a totally different game if just a few of those missed layups go down in the first.

Had to smile at this headline from K-State's student newspaper:

Wildcats land round of 64 win despite turbulence from Portland Pilots

Don't they know it's the planes, not the pilots that causes that pesky turbulence...

https://kstatecollegian.com/2024/03/22/wildcats-land-round-of-64-win-despite-turbulence-from-portland-pilots/

For what it is worth, the Pilots had the best performance of all the #13 seeds. Every #4 vs #13 match-up was a Power 5 (or GU) against a Mid-major.
Indiana beat Fairfield by 33, 89-56.
Va. Tech. beat Marshall by 43, 94-49.
GU beat UC Irvine by 19, 76-56.

Kansas State's next game was against Colorado, also in K-St's home arena.  After a close first half, Colorado had a big 3rd quarter outscoring KSU 19-7, and ended up a 63-50 winner.

KSU dropped from their 51% shooting against the Pilots to 38.5%, and instead of 43.8% on 3P tries, they were only 26.3%.  KSU was 19-29 on FTs against UP, and only 5-10 against Colorado.  Their big center who had 21 pts against UP only had 10 pts, mostly because she had zero FT attempts vs going 7-8 against UP.

Gonzaga made it through to the Sweet 16 by beating Utah in Spokane.  

Next up, #1 seed Texas in Portland on Friday at 7pm.