2022 NCAA Basketball Discussion Thread

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Jayson Tatum was Duke Blue Devils too

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's not midnight yet!

Florida Atlantic is heading to the Final Four after a thrilling 79-76 win over Kansas State.

The Owls are the first non-Gonzaga mid-major to make the Final Four since Wichita State's 2013 run.

I wondered if the fast-paced OT game against Michigan State would take something out of Kansas State today, and I think it did.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

UConn Huskies are gonna win the title Zags were supposed to win and it's over pretty much, what do we expect from Zags they choke like Ohio State

Who had UConn winning it this yr hardly anyone I was gonna go on Draft Kings and bet on Zags winning it all, I am glad I didn't

[NewYorkExpress]

UConn just crushing Gonzaga.

It's 77-47 Huskies with about four minutes to go.

[JGibson]

SDSU beats Creighton 57-56 to head to the final four the first time.

[GeorgiaModerate]

SDSU beats Creighton 57-56 to head to the final four the first time.

Which means either SDSU or Florida Atlantic will play for the national championship.  What amazing times we live in.

[YE]

Texas up at the half against Miami.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1640133891825475584

[GeorgiaModerate]

Since my previous picks in this tournament have done so well, I'll try it again for the Final Four:

San Diego State over Florida Atlantic.  FAU is undoubtedly a very good team, but they've also been very fortunate so far: a last-second win in the 1st round after a horrendous no-call, a #16 seed in the 2nd round, Tennessee without Zakai Zeigler in the Sweet 16, and finally a Kansas State team that was pushed to the limit two nights earlier.  I think their luck finally runs out.

UConn over Miami.  UConn is the most talented team left, and they're hitting on all cylinders.

Final: UConn over San Diego State.  See previous comment.

[Stockdale for Veep]

The NFL has already offered both ref crews from today's games. That was some pretty obvious influencing.

[NewYorkExpress]

Penn State is reportedly meeting with VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades about their vacancy.

If true, this would be a fantastic hire. Rhoades has done really well at VCU, and would follow in the footsteps of Jeff Capel, Anthony Grant, Shaka Smart and Will Wade in turning the VCU job into a power conference position.

VCU itself might be a possible target for a power conference during the next round of expansion. Assuming VCU is interested in fielding a varsity football team (it had the support of the students as recently as 2008), they could be a fit for the ACC or the SEC in theory.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I said if Zags lose I will go with Hurricane, UConn is Fav but it's an upset

[NewYorkExpress]

Texas has taken the interim tag off of Rodney Terry.

After taking the Longhorns to the Elite Eight, he's more than earned it, but this is the same fanbase that ran Shaka Smart out of town not all that long ago. Let's see how long he lasts.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

The reason why there are so many upsets college athletes are training at College but going to school online just like Justin Fields their workout isn't the same as Jordans

Kansas State losing to a 9 th seed unheard of because weakness of student athletes

Just like in Football and Baseball where are the Sosas or Hunter Pence or Yadir Molina's most catchers  are Will Smith types not scrubs they aren't H of Fame but just All Stars except for Pat Mahomes and Kelce we saw Hurst flop in the Superbowl

Actually CJ Stroud maybe a better QB than Justin Fields he turned the ball over last year he is no Pat Mahomes

[JGibson]

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

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

[NewYorkExpress]

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.

[Orwell]

Caitlin Clark nice with it

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

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.

[Хahar 🤔]

It's frustrating that the NCAA doesn't really care about women's basketball, as shown by the way that South Carolina, like Connecticut in the past, gets the predetermined advantage years in advance of not having to leave its state at any point before the Final Four. This was my favorite Maryland team of the last decade, and after the great year they had they got the death penalty of having to play South Carolina on the road while a whole bunch of far worse teams got far easier paths.

In spite of that, Maryland came out playing great and jumped out to a six-point lead after the first quarter, so Dawn Staley had a conversation with the officials. Maryland's two best players, Diamond Miller and Shyanne Sellers, promptly picked up two fouls each and had to sit. That wasn't enough, because Abby Meyers decided that she would play the game of her life for Maryland in the final game of her college career. Of course she was promptly assigned two fouls, too. Early in the third quarter, she got two more fouls on the same defensive possession; both were bad calls but the latter was truly remarkable, the moment I realized that Maryland couldn't possibly win. With about seven minutes left in the fourth, Maryland having earlier in the quarter narrowed the deficit to six points, Abby Meyers absorbed contact while playing defense with her feet clearly set and clearly outside of the restricted area. Doesn't matter, five fouls, you're out, that's it for your career.

Before I turned the game off with a few minutes left, South Carolina had fouled four times in the whole second half. This is remarkable if you know the style of South Carolina's play. It's inconceivable if you saw the defense that South Carolina was playing yesterday. Normally the price of playing extremely aggressive physical defense is picking up a bunch of fouls, but not if you're the team foreordained to win and you're playing at home.

South Carolina is a great team and this could have been a great game if Maryland had been able to play in it. Nobody cares because ESPN is already hyping up the forthcoming matchup between Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark (the only two players whose name anyone ever says, with the possible exception of Angel Reese), but Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is going hard on the retweets today, as well she should. I don't know how she was able to make it through the game without getting tossed.

I was in Minneapolis for the Final Four last year; the event was fun but the basketball was not. Last year the foremost practitioners of anti-basketball in the Final Four were South Carolina and Stanford; this year Stanford is gone, but we have a worthy replacement in terms of turning games into unwatchable garbage. My prediction for the championship game is South Carolina 28, Louisiana State 11.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Lebron, Curry are the last lineage to the Jordan era, we are gonna be stuck with mediocre once they retire in 5/10 yrs obviously that's why College basketball is so famous due to NBA not WNBA and there isn't any Women's college Football, together with college basketball they are popular to pros just like Ohio State has top Football, Duke is a top NCAA Jayson Tatum that's why Duke didn't make it that far

[I’m not Stu]

That smug Drew Timme loses again.

[NewYorkExpress]

Penn State officially hiring VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades.

VCU should either attract a high-major assistant or a hot mid-major head coach. Maybe this is where Dusty May ends up? (He's certainly not staying at Florida Atlantic much longer).

[I’m not Stu]

What will be the future of the Mountain West without San Diego State?

[NewYorkExpress]

VCU moving very quickly, will hire Utah State Head Coach Ryan Odom.

Odom is best noted for being the Head Coach at UMBC when they became the first #16 seed to take down a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Fantastic hire for VCU.

[NewYorkExpress]

Cal is hiring Utah Valley Head Coach Mark Madsen to fill their vacancy.

On the one hand, Madsen has overseen an impressive turnaround at Utah Valley, going from 11-19 in 2019-20 to 28-9 this past season.

On the other hand, he was a star at Stanford, Cal's big rival.

Will Cal fans put the rivalry aside and embrace the new coach?