2022 NCAA Basketball Discussion Thread

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The SWAC (31st ranked conference out of 32, their best showing in decades thanks to the watered down NEC) has defeated the Pac-12 in the PAC-SWAC Challenge 3 games to 2.

The conference is 4-25 on the year in all games with the wins coming against Arizona State, Colorado, Washington State, and Wichita State. Cal is looking to take an equally bad loss against D1 transitioning member UC-San Diego, and it's already ugly in the first half.



And yet somehow, it is the ACC who is the worst power conference. After today's performance, it has fallen behind the Sun Belt as the 10th best overall conference. Surely it cannot fall behind the A10 due to the strength up top? Still, you've got to think there are 5-6 tournament teams in here, although it might just be the five competent ACC Coastal basketball programs making up for their football lulz plus Notre Dame.

College Basketball appears to have a Power Three (B10, B12, SEC) with the potential for the Big East to make it a Power Four, although early Big East performance is more closely aligned with definitive mid-majors in the WCC and MW.

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UConn, kings of a thousand excuses. After being so confident about their perfect season. Not in this conference, buddy. Not your team at least.

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NYE - I came here to see who you think will hire Chris Beard.

You got my hopes up for Syracuse, but the Torvik simulator says they would only be the fifth team out if they won out and reached the ACC Finals. The numbers are just not there. The ACC is hot garbage - 2 locks, 4 on the bubble and 3 extreme longshots all ahead of the Orange still.

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I only went to two games this season. Kyle Neptune is clearly not equipped to be a head coach of a basketball program. It's not just the results - it's the entire demeanor and decision-making. He reminds me of my most recent suit salesman rather than someone who should be in a leadership role. Totally out of his depth in this arena - I've never seen such uninspired and tactically unsound basketball (although at least some of the fundamentals are there, if only due to the experience of returning players which may or may not be a problem going forward).

I was so fortunate to have watched a decade of players diving for and winning every loose ball, moving without the ball to create offense. What a grind to suffer through a game where the players are hesitant and don't seem to want to be there. Defense was not always there but it never had so many obvious holes that the opponent can get an open shot every possession at will.

Fordham did better without him and will have the A-10 coach of the year.

Perhaps he will learn - I ought to hope I'm wrong. The school will probably give him another four years. The fan base already has not afforded him that goodwill given the arena was easily less than half full on a Saturday night to face a top 10 team with an NCAA berth on the line.

Should have hired Baker Dunleavy. Maybe he will win a MAAC championship in the meantime to bolster his credentials while Villanova oscillates between sixth and ninth in the Big East conference. Dark days ahead unless Jay steps in to offer advice on the art of the comeback.

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Can Juwan Howard go away forever now? John Beilein should have never left 😢

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

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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.

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Great, great picks, Georgia Moderate. The Big Ten's record is going to be ugh-ly.

I similarly have Marquette over Memphis in that region - and both of those teams have got to be feeling blessed for the ease of difficulty in their quadrant. Kentucky and Providence are both ice cold. Efficiency metrics do not like Kansas State at all; I would not pick Montana State, but I could see it being the big name this year. I'm not sure I'm on board with Oral Roberts, but I will certainly be rooting for it against Duke. Tennessee and Purdue both feel like frauds (though I would love to see the match-up). Wouldn't be surprised if Memphis won the region, but feel safer having Marquette at least certainly playing in the regional final.

On the contrary, my title game - shoot me for making headlines that write themselves - has Marquette slain by Texas rather than Houston. I think Houston once again fails to advance past the Elite 8 once they match up against the first equally talented opponent. Early Gonzaga-esque.

Agree with Arizona winning the hearts of America by defeating Alabama too (though they shouldn't overlook Creighton after Round 1 was so fun back in Maui). I'm just surprised you think highly of Virginia given their recent play. Charleston-Furman sounds much more fun too

Undecided on the most stacked region.

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I actually have Florida Atlantic over Memphis. Memphis definitely seems like they could be a great defensive team but overrated.

I really hope you are right, but this team finally strikes me as very good (in spite of their coach? or because he improved?). I'll never forget that Memphis was in the 8-9 game in the same quadrant 10 years ago against a mid-major in George Washington University. That did not go as I hoped.

My personal hopes for the champion among the 14 teams that have 2% of greater probabilities:

Good Outcome
1. Marquette (3%) - Big East! Shaka Resurrection I want to believe!
2. Creighton (2%) - New Big East! McDermott But I can't see this team having the consistency needed for six straight wins.
3. Purdue (5%) - Long overdue for them to get one over on Indiana. Painter grinding for decades at an underdog alma mater deserves it. But I don't give them much of a chance.

4. Arizona (4%) - Love Arizona but don't love when new coaches win so immediately. Let me warm up to the story.
5. Kansas (5%) - Prefer a mediocre team not to complete the repeat but, as usual, the most likeable blue blood

Tolerable Outcome
6. Gonzaga (5%) - I've come around to just accepting that they will win one someday. I don't have to deal with them.
7. Tennessee (2%) - Not sure I want to let this fanbase have anything that makes Clay Travis and his listeners even cockier about their place/the SEC's place in the college sports landscape but respect Rick Barnes' career just enough to accept it.  
8. UCLA (3%) - Don't like Mick Cronin at all but what's one more title for UCLA - plus the talent and veteran commitment has been impressive to watch these last few years.

Finding the Silver Lining
9. Connecticut (3%) - The worst fanbase in all of sports. I would like to cheer for a conference mate, but they have earned the ire they get. Again, what's one more championship for the program though - and it helps the conference.
10. Duke (2%) - Nothing even needs to be said, but perhaps the only funny side effect would be winning with a mediocre team and without Coach K, further derailing his fairytale GOAT status.
11. Texas (8%) - Loath Texas everything; an interim coach winning would not be ideal. But I really don't have to deal with them at all, and it's not like they even care. This isn't football.

Painful Outcome
12. Baylor (3%) - No dynasty for these wackos, please, please, please. The last one was bad enough, they do not deserve to be a winning power conference program. It would render our dynasty meaningless.
13. Alabama (16%) - If there is a legitimate self-defense acquittal in the trial, I could regret this placement, but then again, the attitude emanating from the program and its fans about the drama just makes it highly uncomfortable to root for this team - treat it with the gravity it deserves. Plus still have a major grudge against Quinerly's antics. Please just wait one season if they must win at some point.
14. Houston (22%) - I've really enjoyed the program's 40 years of misery and being remembered for the biggest choke job on the most iconic play of all-time. I don't want Kelvin Sampson to be the one to turn a mediocre school around. It cannot be a fairytale ending in Houston for this miserable fanbase. The guy I sat next to at the Elite 8 in San Antonio was cocky and pretty rude for a program with no success to speak of. He reminded me of the jmfcst's of the world, whom I regard with great contempt, just like this awful school in an awful city in an awful conference.

43% chance of complete misery if you add in some of those teams with fractional odds. Certainly over 60% chance I will not be very happy this season.

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Uh oh - it will be chaos or history

https://twitter.com/kenpomeroy/status/1635714859206852608?s=20

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St. Francis Brooklyn has cut its athletic department after selling the campus building with the gym. I am positively heartbroken as their endeavor to finally get an invite to the dance has kept me going all these years.

Glad I got to go to a half dozen games there which I will never forget. I always dreamed that they would make a conference championship that would result in a family road trip in the next 10-25 years to cement my finest basketball memory, but finances got them first and the school may not be far behind.

The 2015 NEC title game shall be the farthest they ever reach.

I think I may have a new Saddest Day of My Life

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Iona moves quickly to replace Rick Pitino, is hiring Fairleigh Dickinson Head Coach Tobin Anderson.

Anderson is the coaching darling of the country right now, and might well have been able to get an even better job than Iona if he'd waited a bit longer (Penn State if Micah Shrewsbury left, for instance, wouldn't have been implausible). That said, Iona is one of the best jobs available at the mid-major level, and it would be a disappointment if Anderson isn't able to turn this into a major conference job in a couple of years.

This is also not just an overreaction by Iona for 1 win, Anderson turned FDU from winning 4 games last season to 22 this season. He also had like a .780 winning % at the Division 2 level.

I appreciate the context. I knew about the turnaround but still felt Iona could do more. The NEC is really, really unimpressive so it does not take too much for that feat alone. I tried research how tournament darling coaches have performed at their next schools, but I was only able to find the names of those who didn't take a new opportunity. I guess Andy Enfield and Ryan Odom are the best examples of recent comps, and they turned into pretty solid gets, though jury is still out.


Greg Paulus, Baker Dunleavy and John Dunne will all be entering their pivotal make-or-break years at their schools and may prove tough competition at inferior programs. But maybe Iona has a down year and one of these guys take the title (and another fired for not meeting expectations), allowing Tobin Anderson to lead a resurgent Iona in 2-3 years. Very good opportunity for him.

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I'm not sure Mitch Henderson is looking for a new job, least of all at Providence which is the cultural antithesis of Princeton - much as I adore both programs.

Princeton is his home and has been for a long time. I'm not sure he is seen as a good fit for any program but Northwestern - and even then, Princeton's basketball history and job security are likely more appealing than going back to the Midwest for a program with zero history in a difficult conference. They could throw a lot of money at him, but I'm not sure how life's not easier at alma mater. It's not like Tommy Amaker and James Jones have left despite far more reason to go. Heck, even Steve Donahue took the most sensible non-Ivy job for him, and he's right back there, albeit with a better program but less success.

It's even hard to see Langel there.

Providence's best option was probably Bobby Hurley to play up the rivalry with UConn but if they pursued him earnestly, they were very unsuccessful.

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The women's Final Four slate is now set: Iowa v. South Carolina and LSU v. Virginia Tech. '

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1640568304782770179

Kind of hard to bet against LSU. Kim Mulkey's probably the second best coach in the women's game (after Geno Aurimemma, of course), and it's really tough to pick against her.

Dawn Staley is a decade behind her and already has two titles. She beat her by 24 on a national tv regular season game this season, is undefeated and going for the repeat to get to an equal number of national titles.

I generally cheer for LSU, but Dawn Staley is legitimately a basketball savant.