2019-2020 College Basketball Discussion and Pick 'em Thread

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Preseason Polls tracker since I have yet to see them consolidated anywhere.

America East: 1. Vermont 2. UMBC 3. Stony Brook 4. Albany - Vermont is a heavy favourite but is not expected to compete for an at-large.

American: 1A. Houston 1B. Memphis 3. Cincinnati 4. Wichita State 5. USF 6. UConn 7. Temple 8. SMU 9. UCF 10. Tulsa 11. ECU 12. Tulane - Three very serious Final Four contenders and a highly thought of team returning to prominence in Wichita. Each of the next three will have their chances to make their case, but I think this will ultimately be top-heavy.

Atlantic 10: No poll yet released. Their media day was today? VCU is ranked in the AP poll and Davidson and Dayton are highly regarded enough for at-large consideration. I think the next tier is URI/St. Bonnie's/Saint Louis/Duquesne? 1. VCU 2. Davidson 3. Dayton 4. Rhode Island 5. St. Bonnies 6. Richmond 7. Saint Louis 8. Duquesne 9. George Mason 10. La Salle 11. UMass 12. George Washington 13. St. Joseph's 14. Fordham

ACC: 1. Duke 2. UNC 3. Louisville 4. Virginia 5. Florida State 6. NC State 7. Notre Dame 8. Syracuse 9. Miami 10. Pitt 11. Clemson 12. Georgia Tech 13. Boston College 14. Virginia Tech 15. Wake Forest - Three very serious national title contenders and two ol' reliable teams. The depth of this conference will rely on the next three because the expectations are very low for the bottom half. I am glad the media is hyping Notre Dame's return, but I definitely have some question marks there.

A-Sun: 1. Liberty 2. North Florida 3. Florida Gulf Coast

Big 12: 1. Kansas 2. Baylor 3. Texas Tech 4. Texas 5. West Virginia 6. Oklahoma State 7. Iowa State 8. Oklahoma 9. Kansas State 10. TCU - not my expertise, but is it possible to be underrated Chris Beard still? Baylor has a bit to replace. Top seven could all contend, but likely down to a five bid year.

Big East: 1. Seton Hall 2. Villanova 3. Xavier 4. Marquette 5. Providence 6. Georgetown 7. Creighton 8. Butler 9. St. John's 10. DePaul - Seven contenders hope to get at least six bids and perhaps some wins to improve on last year's epic disappointments.

Big Sky (Coaches): 1. EWU 2. Montana 3. Weber State - The media picked EWU third.

Big South: No poll yet released.

Big Ten: 1. Michigan State 2. Maryland 3. Ohio State 4. Purdue 5. Michigan 6. Wisconsin 7. Illinois 8. Iowa 9. Penn State 10. Indiana 11. Minnesota 12. Rutgers 13. Nebraska 14. Northwestern - My spring forecast flipped Minnesota and Wisconsin - I know Wisconsin tends to find hidden gems, but the loss of Happ is enormous - and slotted Iowa four slots higher. I pegged it as an eight bid league at the time, which feels slightly high. I think Illinois can get it done. I am less certain that Penn State is capable should the Illini fail.

Big West: 1. UC-Irvine 2. UC-Santa Barbara 3. Cal State-Northridge 4. Hawaii

Colonial: 1. Hofstra 2. Charleston 3. Northeastern 4. James Madison 5. Delaware - Hofstra loses their star and plays perhaps too light a schedule. Every game is winnable including UCLA, but I think everyone will take multiple lumps in conference play to prevent an at-large. I see a new winner this year.

C-USA: 1. WKU 2. UTSA 3. Louisiana Tech 4A. UTEP 4B. Old Dominion 6. UAB ---- UTEP returns?! KenPom loves them too. I've awaited this for so long! But the story will be if WKU can compete with higher rated Cincinnati, Arkansas, Belmont and URI in order to build a bubbly resume.

Horizon: 1. Wright State 2. NKU 3. UIC 4. Oakland 5. Green Bay

Ivy: 1. Harvard 2. Penn 3. Yale 4. Princeton - I think they got this right, and I don't think #1 will be particularly close - the Orlando Invitational will be fun to compete against other bubble teams, but I don't think Harvard will leave any doubt. Watch out for Gabe Stefanini and Columbia who could stealthily push for second/third and a coveted spot in Ivy Madness in Cambridge.

MAAC: 1. Iona 2. Rider 3. Quinnipiac 4. Monmouth 5. Manhattan 6. Siena - Really hoping this will be Baker Dunleavy's breakout season at QU! He is surrounded by all the traditional powers (save Niagara) plus recent breakout program, Rider though the coaches see this as a two horse race.

MAC: No poll yet released. Buffalo is once again considered a big favourite.

MEAC: 1. NC Central 2. Bethune-Cookman 3A. Norfolk State 3B. North Carolina A+T - one of the closest votes!

MVC: 1. Missouri State 2. Bradley 3. UNI 4. Loyola (IL) - The Ramblers did bring in a nationally ranked recruiting class but will be very young.

MWC: 1. Utah State 2. San Diego State 3. New Mexico 4. Nevada 5. Boise State - While most feel Utah State is solidly in, SDSU and New Mexico could spend all season long on the bubble if the hype is actually for real this time. Nevada could fight for a spot but nearly fell behind Boise in the poll, so expectations do not involve a return to the Big Dance.

NEC: 1. LIU-Brooklyn 2. Sacred Heart 3. St. Francis (PA)

OVC: 1. Belmont 2. Murray State 3. Jacksonville State 4. Austin Peay 5. UT-Martin - Belmont had a bit of trouble scheduling tough this year but has road trips to BC, Alabama, Saint Louis and WKU plus their home and home with Lipscomb, but this team is every bit as legit as last year's team. Murray and JSU will certainly continue giving them fits so put them on bubble watch immediately!

Pac-12: 1. Oregon 2. Colorado 3. Washington 4. Arizona 5. USC 6. Arizona State 7. Oregon State 8. UCLA 9. Utah 10. Stanford 11. Washington State 12. Cal - Has the turnaround year finally arrived?! The hype says the same thing as I said for the Big 12 - Seven contenders fighting for about five bids though I remain slightly skeptical of Colorado's miraculous growth this quickly.

Patriot: 1. Colgate 2. Bucknell 3. American - Second place may be the most interesting race to watch. Colgate got a national AP vote, and it wasn't an accident!!

SEC: 1. Kentucky 2. Florida 3. LSU 4. Auburn 5. Tennessee 6. Alabama 7. Mississippi State 8. Ole Miss 9. Georgia 10. South Carolina 11. Arkansas 12. Texas A&M 13. Mizzou 14. Vanderbilt - The SEC is so deep that no team would truly surprise me by making the Tournament, and they may push for 8 bids. Isn't Georgia criminally underrated though? No respect for Tom Crean!

SoCon: 1. ETSU 2. UNC-Greensboro 3. Furman 4. Wofford

Southland: 1. New Orleans 2. Sam Houston State 3. Abilene Christian 4. Stephen F. Austin

SWAC: 1. Prairie View A&M 2. Texas Southern 3. Grambling State 4. Alabama State

Summit: 1. North Dakota State 2. South Dakota 3. Oral Roberts 4. Omaha 5. South Dakota State

Sun Belt: 1. South Alabama 2. Georgia Southern 3. Texas-Arlington (average of three media polls)

WCC: 1. Gonzaga 2. St. Mary's 3. BYU 4. Pepperdine 5. Santa Clara - I think we all know how this conference goes by now

WAC: 1. New Mexico State 2. Grand Canyon 3. Seattle

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My brain doesn't work for basketball yet. Here we go.

Auburn
Memphis
St. Bonaventure
WVU
Illinois
LSU
Mizzou
Kansas
Baylor
Arizona State

Minnesota
San Diego State
Iowa State
Providence
Texas
UC Irvine
UT Arlington
Maryland
Oregon

South Florida
Florida State
Columbia
Clemson (barely)
UCLA
Illinois

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QUAKERS! IVY LEAGUE > SEC!

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Yikes, Illinois.  I’m hoping this is a blessing-in-disguise wake up call before heading out west.  Effort like that at Grand Canyon (I’ve read that place is a very intense gym), and we lose!

The pressure will be very much on, Thomas.

https://twitter.com/totally_t_bomb/status/1191965300037758976?s=19

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Switching my Sunday picks to Florida, Wake and Arizona after some very basic re evaluation. Shameful selections!

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Nicholls > Pitt > Florida State > #6 Florida



Great Week 1!

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Switching my Sunday picks to Florida, Wake and Arizona after some very basic re evaluation. Shameful selections!

You’ll see!

Nevermind ... lol.  I actually still feel good about Illinois.  I think Arizona could be a top ten team by the time their freshman studs continue to develop.  On to the next one!

Next one for alma mater being DePaul - Iowa today. Gonna be a big one for Chicago-boy!

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This is the single most BEAUTIFUL game of basketball I have ever witnessed. DEPAUL FOR FINAL FOUR! BIG EAST>ALL

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Friday, November 15
Radford @ Georgia Southern – 6pm – ESPN+
West Virginia @ Pitt – 6pm – ESPNU
Alabama @ Rhode Island – 6:30pm – NCBSN
#8 Gonzaga @ Texas A&M – 8pm – SECN
UC Irvine @ Boise State – 8pm
BYU @ Houston – 8pm – ESPNU
Minnesota @ Utah – 8pm – Pac12
Cal Baptist @ Cal – 9pm
UNLV @ UCLA – 10pm – Pac12

Saturday, November 16
Old Dominion @ Northeastern – 12pm
Belmont @ Boston College – 1pm – ACCN
Washington @ Tennessee – 4pm – ESPN+
Louisiana Tech @ Creighton – 5pm – FS2
Kent State @ Wright State – 6pm – ESPN3
UIC @ Bradley – 7pm – ESPN3
Wofford @ Butler – 7pm – FS2
Santa Clara @ Stanford – 9pm
Southern Cal @ Nevada – 10pm – CBSSN

Sunday, November 17
Marquette @ Wisconsin – 12pm – FS1
New Mexico State @ #21 Arizona – 1pm – Pac12
#6 Florida @ UConn – 2pm ESPN
#12 Seton Hall @ Saint Louis – 3pm – ESPNU
Ball State @ Indiana State – 3:30pm – ESPN3
Rider @ Arizona State – 5pm – Pac12
UT-Arlington @ #15 Oregon – 7pm – Pac12

To be finalized before Friday. Just in case

Edit: Changed out UNLV and NMSU

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Friday, November 22
LSU vs Utah State
George Mason @ Maryland
Radford @ Bradley
Wake Forest vs Davidson
Bowling Green vs Western Kentucky
Houston @ Oregon
South Dakota @ Arkansas
Temple @ USC

Saturday, November 23
Bucknell @ Syracuse
DePaul @ Boston College
Yale @ Penn State
Ole Miss @ Memphis
Little Rock @ NC State
Charleston @ UCF
Arizona State vs St. John's
Oral Roberts @ Wichita State
Penn @ Providence
Belmont @ St. Louis
Rider vs Columbia
Sam Houston State @ San Francisco
SMU @ UNLV

Sunday, November 24
LSU vs Rhode Island
Akron @ Louisville
TCU vs Clemson
San Diego @ Washington

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There isnt no Gonzaga or Duke with Zion Williams playing great this yr, its gonna be boring until March Madness

DePaul is 6-0. This is CHI's team!

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Yale

You got screwed just like Dave Portnoy. Ouch. Good pick though.

I am very afraid the 'elite' is just Ohio State and Duke. Maybe Louisville. Maybe Gonzaga. DePaul prayeremoji.

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DePaul wins. Duke loses in Cameron to Some Dead Guy.

God is great.

In my bracket, three schools played their way out today, and DePaul is now the last team in.

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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

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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.

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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.

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DEPAUL LOCKS UP AN NCAA TOURNAMENT BID IN THE FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER!

Way to rep the greatest city in the world! Tremendous!!

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#1 Duke @ VA Tech
Providence @ Rhode Island
USC @ TCU

#14 Arizona @ #19 Baylor
Penn State @ #10 Ohio State
#24 Florida @ Butler
Syracuse @ Georgia Tech
WVU @ St. John’s
NC State @ Wake
Davidson @ Northeastern
Indiana @ Wisconsin
Illinois @ #5 Maryland
Cincy @ #25 Xavier
#21 Colorado @ #4 Kansas
Arkansas @ WKU
Mizzou @ Temple
Marquette @ K-State
Georgetown @ SMU

Houston @ South Carolina
Wichita State @ Oklahoma State
#6 UNC @ #7 UVA
Dayton vs. Saint Mary’s
LA Tech @ Sam Houston State
#8 Gonzaga @ #23 Washington
#13 Seton Hall @ Iowa State - very tough place to play but at least some familiarity

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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.

Digger is a wimp! That's gonna be quite a duo calling this game. Neither is even within the first 25 teams out of the tournament so it's time to pull out all the gimmicks. Appreciate the history tales from a firsthand source as always! I should have had you write about the Princeton-Rutgers game.

As far as modern history, I was extremely triggered by this article entitled Notre Dame's Move To The ACC A Monster Blow For Big East Basketball. It's crazy how much more often realignment damages the team leaving than the beautiful conference even while they still have iconic coaches. I still wish to welcome back Notre Dame (and Syracuse) with open arms to form a real power conference. Hopefully a quick UConn resurgence gives them inspiration.

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Friday, December 13th
#24 Colorado @ Colorado State – 7pm – CBSSN
Nebraska @ Indiana – 7pm – BTN

Saturday, December 7
Kansas State vs. Mississippi State – 10:30am – ESPNU
#10 Oregon @ #5 Michigan – 11am – CBS
Syracuse @ Georgetown – 12pm – FOX
Alabama @ Penn State – 1pm – BTN
UIC @ DePaul – 1pm
#13 Memphis @ #19 Tennessee – 2pm – ESPN
UCLA @ Notre Dame – 2pm – ABC
#12 Auburn vs Saint Louis   – 3pm – ESPN2
#22 Seton Hall @ Rutgers – 3pm – BTN - so nervous!!
#23 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 - probably wrong but a bit biased
#6 Gonzaga @ #15 Arizona – 9pm – ESPN2

Sunday, December 8
NC State @ UNC-Greensboro – 2pm – ESPN+
Oklahoma State @ Houston – 2pm – ESPN - the recent analytics skyrocket for UH is making me question a lot
Wofford @ #17 UNC – 3pm – ACCN - sneaky game!
South Carolina @ Clemson – 4pm – ESPN2
Georgia Southern @ Bradley – 4pm – ESPN3
#3 Ohio State @ Minnesota – 5:30pm – BTN
Missouri State @ VCU – 6pm – ESPN+

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I can't believe that stat that flashed on the screen - first team to win back-to-back games in Chapel Hill since Georgia Tech 84-85. Really? Duke never accomplished it? I read three times looking for a 'ranked' or 'unranked' qualifier.

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Bart Torvik now has UNC as 11% chance of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid. Insanity. I don't buy that, and another source still has it at 73%, but I think it's definitely between those two, but probably at least 40-50% depending on injury timeframe. They are #95 in the NET Rankings released today, so maybe I am too bullish!

NC State (#50) is simply lucky to have gotten their first Q1 win yesterday. They still have realistic opportunities @Syracuse, @UNC, and vs. Florida State/Duke/Louisville, but the schedule is only slightly more difficult than last year. Four absolutely dreadful wins on there.

NET Rankings Out! Some notables:
#3 San Diego State
#4 Butler
#5 Baylor
#9 Stanford (Similar to Erik Haslam, unsurprisingly)
#10 Dayton
#19 Liberty
#20 Duquesne
#22 Richmond
#43 DePaul

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In a game I nearly went to in person, Kentucky losses to Utah. Wacky CBB season continues.

Haslam had Utah by 1! Kenneth was right that the lying media is too stupid to rank teams so they'd rather call this season 'crazy' than admit to being so completely ignorant of the 2018-19 incarnation of certain schools. Kentucky is rightfully ranked outside the top 40 at respectable outlets.

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Friday, December 20th
SMU @ UGA – 6pm – SECN
Northern Colorado @ South Dakota – 7pm – ESPN+

Saturday, December 21st
#1 Kansas @ #18 Villanova – 11am – FOX
Indiana vs. Notre Dame – 11am – ESPN - two completely abysmal teams from what I have viewed. Don't make me choose.
VCU @ Wichita State – 11am – ESPN2
Illinois vs. Missouri – 12pm – SECN
Texas @ Providence – 1pm – FOX
Purdue vs. #17 Butler – 1:30pm – BTN
Utah State vs. Florida – 1:30pm – FS1 - cheering on the Aggies bigly!
Belmont vs. Alabama – 2:30pm – SECN - hopefully Belmont, but they have not beaten even a semi-respectable team to date
#5 Ohio State vs. #6 Kentucky – 4:15pm – CBS
Minnesota vs. Oklahoma State – 4:30pm – ESPN2
#13 Dayton vs. Colorado – 5:30pm – CBSSN
Saint Louis vs. Kansas State – 6pm – ESPN+
Creighton @ Arizona State – 7:30pm – Pac-12
Cincinnati vs. Iowa – 8pm – BTN
LSU vs. USC – 8pm – FS1
St. John’s vs. #16 Arizona – 9pm – ESPN2
Nevada vs. Saint Mary’s – 11pm – ESPNU

Sunday, December 22nd
Davidson @ Loyola-Chicago – 2pm – ESPN+
Yale @ Clemson – 3pm – ACCN
Xavier @ TCU – 4pm – ESPN2   - urgh, very bad feeling, but I'll stick up for someone in our conference
Georgia Tech vs. Boise State – 4pm – ESPNU
Ball State vs. #22 Washington – 8:30pm – ESPN2
UTEP @ Hawai’i – 10:30pm – ESPN2

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The Big East's decision to purify will go down as one of the four most morally upright decisions in the history of Western Civilization. The Big East is truly greater than ever before. God has blessed his chosen people too much. Too much blessings! I can't take it any more!