2023-2024 College Basketball Discussion Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Northwestern collapsed down the stretch, blowing a 9-point lead to trail by 2, but hit a late basket to send it to OT.

FAU's last possession of regulation made no sense to me.  Why are you walking up the court with 8 seconds left?

Yeah, I was shaking my head at that too.  It almost looked like the FAU player thought he had the lead rather than a tied score.

In any case, Northwestern has played a near-flawless OT and is going to win easily.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Final: Northwestern 77, FAU 65 (19-7 in OT).  That might be the best-played OT period I've ever seen from a team.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Oddly, I'm currently in last place but have the most possible points remaining.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Yale just got a 6-point play.  Three-pointer, shooter fouled, missed the FT, got the offensive rebound and sank another 3-pointer.

[GeorgiaModerate]

In a wild one, Colorado scores with 1.7 seconds left to beat Florida 102-100.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I hate to say it, but it's pretty obvious that the SEC was overrated.

Yep.  A&M and Alabama should be worried tonight.

Auburn had at least 6 chances to win or at least tie that game at the end, but blew it.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Standings after the first round (points earned / possible points remaining):

ER 23 / 152
Ferguson 22 / 136
OSR 22 / 128
Harry 21 / 80
YE 20 / 148
GM 19 / 154
JGibson 19 / 148

[GeorgiaModerate]

Finally an exciting game in today's group (Oakland-NC State).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Dusty May going from FAU to Michigan. Good hire IMO.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Grand Canyon-Alabama is not a thing of beauty, but it's highly entertaining.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Houston-A&M was the game of the tournament and reminded me of A&M's miracle comeback in 2016- except, this time, they missed too many free throws and lost in overtime.

A&M scored 17 points in the final 1:50 of regulation, a 370 point-per-game pace.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Standings after two rounds (points earned / possible points remaining):

ER 49 / 124
OSR 46 / 100
GM 43 / 128
Ferguson 42 / 104
JGibson 41 / 120
YE 40 /112
Harry 35 / 60

ER's bracket is in the 98th percentile on ncaa.com.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Utah women’s basketball team had to switch hotels after experiencing what head coach Lynne Roberts called “racial hate crimes” ahead of its first NCAA tournament game.

According to Roberts, the team was staying at a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho before a first-round game against South Dakota State in Spokane, Washington last week when the incidents occurred.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/sport/utah-basketball-racism-ncaa-tournament-spt-intl/index.html

Utah, among other teams, had to stay in Idaho due to a shortage of hotel rooms in Spokane.  The Coeur d'Alene area is a hotbed of white nationalism.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Standings after the Sweet Sixteen (points earned / possible points remaining):

ER 65 / 80
OSR 62 / 8
GM 59 / 32
JGibson 57 / 16
Harry 51 / 32
Ferguson 50 / 64
YE 48 / 56

Houston's loss pretty much killed my chances.

[GeorgiaModerate]

OK, UConn, I believe.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Really enjoyable Elite Eight.  I'll be rooting for NC State to go all the way.

Bracket challenge standings (points earned / possible points remaining):

ER 73 / 48
OSR 70 / 0
GM 67 / 16
Ferguson 66 /48
JGibson 65 / 0
Harry 59 / 0
YE 56 / 48

OSR, JGibson, Harry, and YE are eliminated - the first three because they can't get any more points, and YE because he can only get some from UConn and will remain behind ER even if the Huskies win.

Possible outcomes:

If UConn beats Alabama, ER wins no matter what happens in the championship game.

If Alabama wins the championship, Ferguson wins.

If Alabama beats UConn and loses the championship game, I win (by one point).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Seton Hall won the NIT final over Indiana State, 79-77, thanks to a closing 9-0 run in the last three minutes.  Indiana State had three chances to win in the final seconds, but two 3-pointers were blocked and a final desperation 3 was short.

[GeorgiaModerate]

That was one of the fastest (i.e. shortest duration) games I've seen in a long time.

[GeorgiaModerate]

ER has clinched the bracket challenge.  Standings after the semifinals:

ER 89 (32 possible points remaining)
YE 72 (32)
OSR 70 (0)
GM 67 (0)
Ferguson 66 (0)
JGibson 65 (0)
Harry 59 (0)

This order of finish won't change, as ER and YE both picked UConn and nobody else did.

[GeorgiaModerate]

There are reports that John Calipari is leaving Kentucky to become the next head coach at Arkansas.