2019-2020 College Basketball Discussion and Pick 'em Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Turn on ESPN2.  Kentucky leads Utah Valley by one point with about 3 minutes left.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#23 LSU vs #17 Utah State – 6pm – CBSSN
George Mason @ #7 Maryland – 6pm – BTN
Radford @ Bradley – 6pm – ESPN3    Rad vs. Brad!
Wake Forest vs Davidson – 6:30pm – ESPN+
Bowling Green vs Western Kentucky – 7pm
Houston @ #14 Oregon – 8pm – Pac-12
South Dakota @ Arkansas – 8pm – SECN
Temple @ USC – 10pm

Bucknell @ Syracuse – 11am – ACCN
DePaul @ Boston College – 11am – ACCNX
Yale @ Penn State – 11am
Ole Miss @ #13 Memphis – 12pm – ESPN3
Little Rock @ NC State – 12pm – ACCNX
Charleston @ UCF – 1pm – ESPN3
Arizona State vs St. John's – 1:30pm – ESPN3
Oral Roberts @ Wichita State – 2pm – ESPN+
Penn @ Providence – 3pm
Belmont @ St. Louis – 4pm – ESPN+
Rider vs Columbia – 4pm – ESPN3
Sam Houston State @ San Francisco – 7pm
SMU @ UNLV – 9:30pm

#23 LSU vs Rhode Island – 1:30pm – CBSSN
Akron @ #4 Louisville – 5pm – ACCN
TCU vs Clemson – 9:30pm – ESPN2
San Diego @ #20 Washington – 9:30pm – Pac-12

[GeorgiaModerate]

Terrific game between LSU and Utah State.  The Aggies trailed by 19 in the second half but came back to win 80-78.

[GeorgiaModerate]

WEEK 3 RESULTS

Sprouts took the top spot, edging out RINO Tom:

20 Sprouts
19 RINO Tom
18 Illiniwek, YE
17 dfw, sjoyce
16 GeorgiaModerate, JGibson

The average score was 17.6, the best so far.

There were 12 unanimous picks, 9 of them correct:

Maryland-George Mason
Bradley-Radford
Western Kentucky-Bowling Green (wrong)
Arkansas-San Diego
USC-Temple (wrong)
Memphis-Ole Miss
NC State-Little Rock
Wichita State-Oral Roberts
Providence-Penn (wrong)
LSU-Rhode Island
Louisville-Akron
Washington-San Diego

There were 6 picks with a single dissenter.  The dissenter was wrong in all of them:

Oregon-Houston
Syracuse-Bucknell
Penn State-Yale
UCF-Charleston
Arizona State-San Jose State
San Francisco-Sam Houston State

Overall standings:

55 YE
52 dfw, RINO Tom, Sprouts
51 sjoyce
50 Illiniwek
49 GeorgiaModerate
45 JGibson
36 Sunrise (did not play this week)

[GeorgiaModerate]

This is actually week 4.

EDIT: It's also only 24 games.  Do we just want to go with those or do you want to add one?

[GeorgiaModerate]

FINAL: Virginia Tech 71, Michigan State 66.

This is shaping up to be a fun season with plenty of upsets.

(Note: Tech was picked 14th in the ACC preseason poll.)

[GeorgiaModerate]

Duke was a 27.5 point favorite, making this the largest D1 upset in at least 15 years.

[GeorgiaModerate]

DePaul @ Minnesota
Western Kentucky vs. Louisville
Tennessee vs. Florida State
UAB @ Kentucky
Missouri State @ LSU
VCU vs. Purdue
Utah State @ Saint Mary’s
San Francisco @ Hawaii

UNC-Greensboro @ Georgetown
Princeton @ Bucknell
South Dakota @ Northern Arizona
Boston College @ Richmond
East Tennessee State @ Little Rock
ECU @ James Madison
Northern Kentucky @ Arkansas
Evansville @ IUPUI
St. Francis @ St. Joseph’s  (holy war?)
Tulsa @ Vanderbilt
Green Bay @ Montana State
Belmont @ MTSU
Samford @ Louisiana Tech

Rhode Island @ West Virginia
Vermont @ Yale
Southern Utah @ Loyola-Marymount
St. Bonaventure vs. San Diego

[GeorgiaModerate]

A couple of terrific simultaneous games just about wore out the remote: Gonzaga over Oregon by 1 in OT in a game that went down to the wire, while Memphis (minus Wiseman and another starter) nearly blew a 20-point lead but held on to beat NC State.

[GeorgiaModerate]

DePaul @ Minnesota
Western Kentucky vs. Louisville
Tennessee vs. Florida State
UAB @ Kentucky
Missouri State @ LSU
VCU vs. Purdue
Utah State @ Saint Mary’s
San Francisco @ Hawaii

UNC-Greensboro @ Georgetown
Princeton @ Bucknell
South Dakota @ Northern Arizona
Boston College @ Richmond
East Tennessee State @ Little Rock
ECU @ James Madison
Northern Kentucky @ Arkansas
Evansville @ IUPUI -- urgh
St. Francis @ St. Joseph’s
Tulsa @ Vanderbilt
Green Bay @ Montana State
Belmont @ MTSU
Samford @ Louisiana Tech

Rhode Island @ West Virginia
Vermont @ Yale
Southern Utah @ Loyola-Marymount
St. Bonaventure vs. San Diego

Our picks are exactly the same except for Princeton-Bucknell.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Our picks are exactly the same except for Princeton-Bucknell.

Haha! And LMU where I accidentally selected both. I think it will get more controversial when conference play begins.

I was tempted by ECU, IUPUI Green Bay and Tulsa. The little guys outside of the top 2 in their conferences are a lot tougher to watch in basketball.

Glad you mentioned the double-pick.  I saw Southern Utah bolded and put that in the spreadsheet, and didn't notice LMU was also bolded.

General note: I try to double-check all entries (I simply missed the double-pick), but if people omit games from their list, or list a game with no teams bolded, that's considered to be no pick unless they correct it.  If anyone finds an incorrect number in the weekly results, let me know and I'll go back and check again.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Thinking about Loyola Marymount, does anyone else remember the crazy teams they had under coach Paul Westhead in the late 80's and early 90's?  Those have to be the most entertaining teams I've ever seen in 50+ years of watching college basketball.  Westhead recruited excellent shooters and got them into top physical condition.  Their philosophy was to run at top speed the whole game and shoot 3-pointers as quickly as possible; defense was an afterthought.  They typically scored well over 100 a game, often in the 140's or 150's, and I recall one game where they scored over 180.  

They're most famous for the 1989-1990 season, featuring stars Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, which was marred by Gathers's tragic death after collapsing during the WCC tournament.  That team went to the Elite Eight, losing to eventual champion UNLV.  During the tournament they beat defending national champion Michigan, who tried to run with them but lost 149-115.  IIRC Michigan shot over 60% for the game, outrebounded LMU by 30...and still lost by 34!  

That season also featured a nationally televised game with LSU, which had star Chris Jackson and a 17-year-old freshman named Shaquille O'Neal.  LSU was one of the few teams athletic enough to keep up with LMU and won 148-141 in OT, in what has to be the most fun game I've ever watched.  Replays come up occasionally on the SEC network, and are worth catching.

Here's an article about that team and their style: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/03/05/loyola-marymount-hank-gathers-death-25-years-bo-kimble-paul-westhead/24447175/.

[GeorgiaModerate]

WEEK 4 RESULTS

sjoyce won the week by a 2-game margin and sneaks into the overall lead.

18 sjoyce
16 dfw, Illiniwek
15 Sprouts
13 GeorgiaModerate
12 Jgibson, YE

The average score was 14.6, the worst so far.

There were 7 unanimous picks, 5 of them correct:

Louisville-Western Kentucky
Kentucky-UAB
Georgetown-UNC Greensboro (wrong)
South Dakota-Northern Arizona (wrong)
Arkanas-Northern Kentucky
Belmont-Middle Tennessee
La. Tech-Samford

There were 8 picks with a single dissenter:

DePaul-Minnesota
LSU-Missouri State
Richmond-Boston College
East Tenn. State-Little Rock
St. Francis-St. Joseph's (dissenter was right)
Vanderbilt-Tulsa (dissenter was right)
West Virginia-Rhode Island
Vermont-Yale (dissenter was right)

Overall results:

69 sjoyce
68 dfw
67 Sprouts, YE
66 Illiniwek
62 GeorgiaModerate
57 JGibson
52 RINO Tom
36 Sunrise

[GeorgiaModerate]

Almost, but not quite, a Sportscenter moment: Illinois gradually claws back from 27 down against Miami...has the ball down 1 with the shot clock off...player drives for the potential winning shot...and commits a charge (a blatant charge, not a ticky-tack call).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Either Purdue is much better or Virginia is much worse than I thought.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Either Purdue is much better or Virginia is much worse than I thought.

Virginia is absolutely garbage (compared to the standard they have set for themselves). I don't see how they could be considered a top 25 team when there is no talent on the roster, just a system defense. I had them 27th entering the day. They'll be fine by virtue of a soft conference. Highly reminiscent of last year's Villanova.

After the Purdue-Virginia game I was considering switching my pick for UVA-North Carolina.  But after the Ohio St.-UNC game, I think they'll both lose.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Duke @ VA Tech – 6pm – ACCN
Providence @ Rhode Island – 6pm – ESPN2
USC @ TCU – 8pm – 8pm

Arizona @ Baylor – 11am – ESPNU
Penn State @ #10 Ohio State – 11am – BTN
Florida @ Butler – 11am – FOX
Syracuse @ Georgia Tech – 11am – ACCN
WVU @ St. John’s – 11am – FS1
NC State @ Wake – 1pm – ACCN
Davidson @ Northeastern – 3pm
Indiana @ Wisconsin – 3:30pm – BTN
Illinois @ #5 Maryland – 4pm – ESPN2
Cincy @ #25 Xavier – 4pm – FS1
Colorado @ #4 Kansas – 6pm – ESPN2
Arkansas @ WKU – 6:30pm – CBSSN
Mizzou @ Temple – 6:30pm – ESPNU
Marquette @ K-State – 8pm – ESPN2
Georgetown @ SMU – 8:30pm – ESPNU

Houston @ South Carolina – 11am – ESPNU
Wichita State @ Oklahoma State – 1pm – ESPNU
UNC @ #7 UVA – 3pm – ACCN
Dayton vs. Saint Mary’s – 3pm – ESPNU
LA Tech @ Sam Houston State – 4:30pm
Gonzaga @ #23 Washington – 6pm – ESPN2
Seton Hall @ Iowa State – 8pm – ESPN2

[GeorgiaModerate]

WEEK 5 RESULTS

A tight battle this week, with JGibson eking out the top spot:

17 JGibson
16 RINO Tom, Sprouts, YE
15 dfw, GeorgiaModerate, sjoyce
12 Illiniwek

The average score was 15.25, up a bit from last week

There were 5 unanimous picks, all correct:

Duke-Va. Tech
Ohio St.-Penn St.
Maryland-Illinois
Xavier-Cincinnati
Gonzaga-Washington

There were 6 picks with a single dissenter:

TCU-USC (dissenter was right)
Butler-Florida
Davidson-Northeastern
Kansas-Colorado
Okla. St.-Wichita St. (dissenter was right)
Seton Hall-Iowa St. (dissenter was right)

Overall, it's a very close race:

84 sjoyce
83 dfw, Sprouts, YE
78 Illiniwek
77 GeorgiaModerate
74 JGibson
68 RINO Tom
36 Sunrise

[GeorgiaModerate]

Seeing UCLA-Notre Dame on the schedule will always remind of this game that I watched on live TV.  The Irish broke UCLA and Bill Walton's record 88-game winning streak.  The Bruins led 70-59 with a little over 3 minutes left, but Notre Dame scored the last 12 points of the game to win 71-70 -- and that was before there was a shot clock or 3-pointer! 

Oddly, Notre Dame "book-ended" that streak.  They were also the last team to beat UCLA before it started.

[GeorgiaModerate]

#1 Louisville just lost by 13 to 5-3 Texas Tech, which was without its leading scorer.  Meanwhile, #4 Maryland lost to Penn State.  Fun season so far!

[GeorgiaModerate]

Colorado @ Colorado State – 7pm – CBSSN
Nebraska @ Indiana – 7pm – BTN

Kansas State vs. Mississippi State – 10:30am – ESPNU
Oregon @ Michigan – 11am – CBS
Syracuse @ Georgetown – 12pm – FOX
Alabama @ Penn State – 1pm – BTN
UIC @ DePaul – 1pm
Memphis @ Tennessee – 2pm – ESPN
UCLA @ Notre Dame – 2pm – ABC
Auburn vs Saint Louis   – 3pm – ESPN2
Seton Hall @ Rutgers – 3pm – BTN
Xavier @ Wake – 3pm – ACCN
Oklahoma @ Wichita State – 5pm – ESPN2
New Mexico State @ New Mexico – 6pm
Georgia @ Arizona State – 7pm – PAC12
Liberty @ Vandy – 7pm – SECN
Utah State vs. BYU – 7pm
Gonzaga @ Arizona – 9pm – ESPN2

NC State @ UNC-Greensboro – 2pm – ESPN+
Oklahoma State @ Houston – 2pm – ESPN
Wofford @ UNC – 3pm – ACCN
South Carolina @ Clemson – 4pm – ESPN2
Georgia Southern @ Bradley – 4pm – ESPN3
Ohio State @ Minnesota – 5:30pm – BTN
Missouri State @ VCU – 6pm – ESPN+

[GeorgiaModerate]

At halftime of Illinois-Michigan, Illinois has committed only three fouls, which looks pretty impressive...until you look at Michigan's ONE foul (and that one came with about 2 minutes left; it looked like they might get to halftime unscathed).  I don't think I've ever seen a game with so few fouls.

[GeorgiaModerate]

This Michigan game!

Terrific game.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Impressive comeback win for Memphis at Tennessee.  I'm starting to believe Penny Hardaway is a pretty good college coach. 

[GeorgiaModerate]

I've seen some dumb basketball plays, but this one is an all-time contender:

https://twitter.com/FOX19Jeremy/status/1206033606377902080