2021-22 College Basketball Thread

[Podgy the Bear]

The Auburn win against Georgia (and they shouldn't have won) averts what would have been the biggest in shock in college basketball this year.

[Podgy the Bear]

Vanderbilt drops no. 25 LSU 75-66.  Really wasn't that close.

[Podgy the Bear]

Impressive win by #16 Tennessee over #4 Kentucky 76-63.  Volunteers in control all the way.

[Podgy the Bear]

SEC setting up for a photo finish with Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee fighting it out for the title.

Auburn has been struggling on the road, but they still have the inside track to win it all.  The Razorbacks are playing awesome--hard to believe that they lost at home to Vanderbilt earlier in the year.  That could be the difference.

[Podgy the Bear]

Auburn wins the SEC title, beats South Carolina 82-71.

[Podgy the Bear]

Syracuse led Miami by 18 early in the second half, and 70-60 with a little over 2 minutes to play, but completely imploded down the stretch and lost 75-72.

Losing Jessie Edwards to injury really hurt the Orange.  Looks like they will miss the post-season.  I think it's happened only once in over 50 years.

[Podgy the Bear]

With the win against Auburn, I think that Texas A&M is already in.  They're running a very good win streak with the only recent loss to a Vanderbilt team that has been doing quite well.  The question would be who gets pushed out.

[Podgy the Bear]

ERs comprehensive projections look pretty good in real time:

--The number 1 seeds look to be correct--Duke could have been one of them.  But Baylor will get the final spot.
--Tennessee has had a great run and pushed themselves into a number 2 slot.
--LSU getting rid of Will Wade and immediately naming the interim coach should have little effect on where they land in the NCAAT.
--Not sure where Alabama lands.    They've had some big wins, but they have faded in the home stretch, and the early exit in the SECT won't help.

[Podgy the Bear]

Basically, the committee took the whole week off.  A surprise to me that Texas A&M didn't make it after beating #4 Auburn and #14 Arkansas.  And it was clear that Virginia Tech (an 11 seed) wouldn't have made it if they hadn't beaten Duke yesterday.

The message from the committee is: if you're on the bubble, you need to win the conference tournament.  And if you're pretty much guaranteed a spot, take your starting team out of the tournament to avoid injuries and more.

[Podgy the Bear]

Basically, the committee took the whole week off.  A surprise to me that Texas A&M didn't make it after beating #4 Auburn and #14 Arkansas.  And it was clear that Virginia Tech (an 11 seed) wouldn't have made it if they hadn't beaten Duke yesterday.

The message from the committee is: if you're on the bubble, you need to win the conference tournament.  And if you're pretty much guaranteed a spot, take your starting team out of the tournament to avoid injuries and more.

What about Wyoming? Wyoming didn’t win the Mountain West tournament and still got in.

There was talk that the Mountain West would have four teams regardless--and that's what happened.   But I would have expected Boise State (which won the conference and the tournament) to be better than an 8 seed.

[Podgy the Bear]

A very tearful and emotional Buzz Williams comes out to blast the NCAAT selection committee about Texas A&M not making the tournament despite 23 wins and getting to the SECT championship.

Worth watching the 7+ minute statement.  He accuses the committee of "lack of transparency and accountability" and states that without changes, this will continue to happen and the system will stay broken.

https://twitter.com/aggiembk/status/1503950408561139717?s=20&t=GgCvvY1wLln6972DKy7-Sw

[Podgy the Bear]

The Kentucky loss has busted a ton of brackets.

[Podgy the Bear]

Catholic schools (Providence, St. Mary's, Creighton, St. Peter's) are winning everything tonight.  Must be a sign from God!

[Podgy the Bear]

Catholic schools (Providence, St. Mary's, Creighton, St. Peter's) are winning everything tonight.  Must be a sign from God!

Time to live bet on San Francisco?

Forgot to add Gonzaga to the mix (Marquette was crushed) with San Francisco taking a last second lead at halftime.  And tomorrow is Notre Dame, Villanova, Loyola/Chicago, and Seton Hall.

[Podgy the Bear]

SEC didn't do well at all in the first round, going 3-3.  Kentucky's loss was a huge surprise.  But LSU and Alabama were fading into Feburary, and they were both overseeded at #6.  Not very competitive today against their respective opponents.

The Mountain West has been the big bust--with all four of their entrants going down yesterday.

[Podgy the Bear]

Memphis facing multiple NCAA violations revolving around Head Coach Penny Hardaway.

I can't see how Hardaway survives as Head Coach, quite honestly.

Assuming Memphis does fire Hardaway, here is my guess at the shortlist at Memphis:

Former Georgia Head Coach Tom Crean
Saint Mary's Head Coach Randy Bennett
Iowa State Head Coach T.J Otzelberger

It of course depends on what the actual penalties turn out to be, but they'll have to be rather extreme for Memphis to fire Penny Hardaway, especially now that it looks like he's on the way to restoring the program to its glory days.

I said at the time of the James Wiseman controversy, which triggered all of this, that Memphis was dumb to play him until the eligibility question was resolved.  They got a grand total of three games from him, which sure doesn't look worth it now.

Already, they are calling it a witchhunt in the Memphis media.  Hardaway has been an icon in Memphis since his high school playing days.  Basketball is a religion for Memphis, and the city is fired up like it hasn't been since 2008.  Memphis (both the school and the city) will fight it to the extent that it appears viable.  

[Podgy the Bear]

This is the same NC team that was literally blown out on its own floor against 11-21 Pittsburgh in late February.    Amazing transformation in just six weeks.