2022 NCAA Basketball Discussion Thread

[FairBol]

Joe Lunardi of ESPN has Clemson out, but I'm not sure why.  They beat NC State the other night, whom Lunardi has in the tourney.  And the Tigers have a better record than Pittsburgh, whom Lunardi has as one of the last four in.  So how exactly do they miss?

EDIT: Also, Clemson has a higher seed in their conference tourney than Pittsburgh did.  Scratching my head at this one!

I don't think Clemson is definitely out, or that either of Pitt or NC State is definitely in.  A lot will depend on subsequent bubble games.  ESPN's Bubble Watch (only available if you're an ESPN+ subscriber) has all three teams in the "Work To Do" category.  I suspect that if Clemson beats Virginia, they're in.  But as things stand today, what hurts them relative to the other two teams is bad losses: they have two Quad 3 and two Quad 4 losses.  Pitt has one of each, while NC State has none.

It's going to be an interesting Selection Sunday. 

[GeorgiaModerate]

Georgia Tech has fired Josh Pastner.  Prediction for replacement: Ron Hunter.

[NewYorkExpress]

Georgia Tech has fired Josh Pastner.  Prediction for replacement: Ron Hunter.

My best guesses as to who will be the next head coach at Georgia Tech:

Florida Atlantic Head Coach Dusty May
UAB Head Coach Andy Kennedy
Tulane Head Coach Ron Hunter
Liberty Head Coach Ritche McKay
Kennesaw State Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim

[GeorgiaModerate]

Ohio State's run in the Big Ten tournament continues with a 68-58 win over Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

[NewYorkExpress]

Ohio State's run in the Big Ten tournament continues with a 68-58 win over Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Looks like the Buckeyes might be a bid thief (also, how close is Michigan State to the cut line? That loss wasn't really good, and the Spartans also have a bad loss against Notre Dame too.).

[NewYorkExpress]

St. John's has fired Head Coach Mike Anderson

Most likely candidates for the opening at St. John's.

Iona Head Coach Rick Pitino
Former Texas Head Coach Chris Beard
Former Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey (Brey has hinted he wants to coach again)
Yale Head Coach James Jones
Fordham Head Coach Keith Urgo

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The Big East Tournament continues to be the greatest sporting event in existence. Die UConn

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Put Vandy in!!

[NewYorkExpress]

Put Vandy in!!

Honestly, Vanderbilt is in if: They beat Texas A&M and Alabama beats Missouri in the other semifinal, as that would mean the result in the final would be still be a better result than most other bubble teams regardless of what happens.

They beat Texas A&M and no other bid thieves emerge.

They win the auto-bid.

[NewYorkExpress]

South Florida has fired head coach Brian Gregory.

[Alben Barkley]

Unironically yes, put Vandy in.

Kentucky is killing me this year. One second, feels like we could make a run. Next second, feels like we are one of our worst teams ever. Most "bipolar" team I can remember.

[7,052,770]

There's no point in even calculating the NET rankings if you're going to give the #82 team an at large bid, implying they're one of the 46 most deserving teams.

It's one thing to give one to a team in the high 40s or 50s because it doesn't have to be 100% dependent on NET (though honestly that would probably be a better system than a committee that just makes up what criteria do and don't matter on the fly), but 80s or even 70s is just too far in my eyes.

[Alben Barkley]

There's no point in even calculating the NET rankings

Agreed!

Tennessee at #3 in NET is so transparently laughable it deserves to destroy the entire system.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Supposedly the NET is used only as one of the tools for seeding/sorting the teams after they've already been selected.  I'm not sure I 100% believe that, but it makes sense given that the NET does create some anomalies like Tennessee.

In late night action, Utah State defeated Boise State and should be safely in the field now.  And congratulations to Vanderbilt!  A win over Texas A&M and a little help elsewhere might be just enough to get them in.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1633967098182418435

Prediction: Rick Pitino.

Best guesses for Patrick Ewing's replacement.

Iona Head Coach Rick Pitino
Former Texas Head Coach Chris Beard
UC San Diego Head Coach Steve Lavin
Former Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack
Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley

It appears to be Penn State Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry once Penn State is eliminated. Also potentially after Ed Cooley politely declines following an interview. Though the Providence job is getting harder every week living in the shadow of UConn, so it's theoretically possible he could actually leave this time.

Pitino is now being courted by Texas Tech in addition to St. John's. If Texas Tech was going to oust their coach for a more problematic option, they probably should have just begged Beard to come back. But maybe the SEC is now more appealing for him with Texas going there. Pitino has no business going to Lubbock.

[NewYorkExpress]

Buffalo has fired Head Coach Jim Whitesell.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634678566762758144

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634678566762758144

Not going to provide a full write-up for Wichita State, but after Memphis, the Shockers might be the second best job in the AAC going forward.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Bubble teams can breathe a little easier as Houston easily won their AAC semifinal over Cincinnati, and Memphis is running Tulane out of the gym in the other one.  However, the big story for Houston is that Marcus Sasser went out in the first half with a groin injury and did not return.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Bubble teams can breathe a little easier as Houston easily won their AAC semifinal over Cincinnati, and Memphis is running Tulane out of the gym in the other one.  However, the big story for Houston is that Marcus Sasser went out in the first half with a groin injury and did not return.

The big bid thief threat is UAB.  They're actually favored against Florida Atlantic in the C-USA Championship Game tonight and would shrink the bubble by a spot.  Bubble teams also probably should hope San Diego State beats Utah State, but USU is probably OK either way at this point.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Houston is clearly the Fav no Valparaiso or nothing like that but you should always make a bracket where the top seeded team doesn't win all low seeds

[NewYorkExpress]

Rick Stansbury has resigned as Head Coach of Western Kentucky.

[7,052,770]

Rick Stansbury has resigned as Head Coach of Western Kentucky.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Not that much suspense today as no potential bid thieves are still alive in conference tournaments.  The #1 seeds seem set as Kansas, Alabama, Houston, and Purdue regardless of the results in the SEC, AAC, and Big 10 finals.  The only real question is which bubble teams will make it and which won't.  From a few of the bracketologists:

Joe Lunardi, ESPN:

Last 4 Byes: Boise State, Providence, Utah State, Rutgers
Last 4 In (plays in First Four in Dayton): Mississippi State, Pitt, NC State, Arizona State
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State, Clemson, Nevada, Vanderbilt
Next 4 Out: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan

Dave Ommen, Bracketville (good track record):

Last 4 Byes: Mississippi State, Utah State, Boise State, Rutgers
Last 4 In: Providence, Arizona State, Pitt, NC State
First 4 Out: Oklahoma State, Clemson, Nevada, Wisconsin
Next 4 Out: Vanderbilt, Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan

Bracket Dom (excellent track record):

Last 4 Byes: USC, Providence, Utah State, Rutgers
Last 4 In: Mississippi State, NC State, Pitt, Arizona State
First 4 Out: Nevada, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin
Next 4 Out: Clemson, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon

They actually agree on who's in and who's out, it's only the order that's different.

[7,052,770]

A little nervous for both Mississippi State men and women today, but I'm fairly confident they'll both get good news on the selection shows. Neither has a particularly good resume, but I think ultimately both are going to be "good enough."