AARoads Forum

I decided to start this poll. I have set the poll so that you can change your votes if you change your mind.

Right now I am paying close attention to the conference tournaments. In fact I have made brackets for all the tournaments announced so far and I will continue to do so as more tournaments are announced. A big surprise is that the 7 seeded Stetson Hatters are going to be playing in the Atlantic Sun Championship game against the 4th seeded Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (aka Dunk City). #9 Holy Cross beat #1 Bucknell in 2OT in the Patriot League tournament. Right now I am watching the Big South Tournament on ESPN3.

As far as the NCAA Tournament goes my general rules are never pick Villanova and/or Virginia to go farther than (or even as far as) the Sweet 16. They always seem to lose. If Georgetown plays a 2 digit seed you can almost count on them losing although I don't even think they will make the tournament this year. Gonzaga won't go to the Final 4. Never count out Michigan State or Duke. You never know about Kansas. North Carolina might get to the Elite 8, but no farther. Kentucky could always make a run. SMU is ineligible :) .

Right now my pick to win it all is probably Michigan State, but I'll have to wait until the bracket comes out before I can make a final prediction.

I voted UNC just because.......

I haven't followed college basketball this year I don't even know if they are any good-usually they are, though.

Xavier? How could a new house* win the NCAA tournament? Also, I didn't knew a village of my province (https://www.google.es/maps/@42.5433293,0.4668589,3a,66.8y,17h,91.7t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sPOV4EAPExz9Vvx1ZT7jzuA!2e0) could get it too :-D. Regardless of that, I'm not betting. The best team will win.

* Xavier (Javier in Spanish) comes from Basque 'etxe berri' which means new house. Originally the name of a village in Navarre (Spain), its usage as a male name comes from St. Francis Xavier.

Lets go Arkanas!1

Seems a little bit wide open this year. Kentucky with a lower seed than expected; UConn also sneaks in with a low seed. I've seen this movie before, and enjoyed the ending.

This year is incredibly wide open. Any team in the top 20 could win it all

Quote from: kurumi on March 05, 2016, 01:30:19 AM
Seems a little bit wide open this year. Kentucky with a lower seed than expected; UConn also sneaks in with a low seed. I've seen this movie before, and enjoyed the ending.

UConn is falling off the cliff.  I think we only get in by winning the AAC tourney.

Austin Peay (Ohio Valley) and Yale (Ivy League) are both in now. The MVC and a few other conferences play their championship games today. The MVC will probably be a two bid league now thanks to Northern Iowa beating Wichita State. Northern Iowa plays Evansville at 2pm today on CBS for those that are interested.

That UNI finish was wonderful. I love college basketball!

I'm pulling for Michigan State to win it all this year, they seem to always make it into the Final Four and this year's team is one of their strongest I've seen.

I'm afraid Valpo has too many losses to receive an at-large bid into the tournament. That said, I can see us doing some damage when if we make it past the Horizon League tournament.

Automatic Bids so far.

FL Gulf Coast, UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, UW Green Bay, Yale, Iona, Northern Iowa, Farleigh Dickinson, Austin Peay, Holy Cross (they're 14-19  :-o), Chattanooga, South Dakota State, and Gonzaga.

The Cincinnati / UCONN game was just plain nuts. Check it out if you get a chance. It went to 4OT and UCONN hot a 3/4 court shot to send it to 4OT.

Quote from: US 41 on March 11, 2016, 05:44:57 PM
The Cincinnati / UCONN game was just plain nuts. Check it out if you get a chance. It went to 4OT and UCONN hot a 3/4 court shot to send it to 4OT.

My heart is still in my throat.  Just when I thought we were in the grave Jalen Adams throws up a Hail Mary and saves us, and placed himself among Tate George, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, and Kemba Walker with clutch shots.  If we lost, it would've been certain NIT.  I think both teams deserve bids after this one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/03/13/the-ncaa-tournament-bracket-was-leaked-mid-show-and-america-rejoiced/?tid=a_inl

Was that route56?

Let the madness begin!
(https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/files/2016/03/bracketspoiler1.png&w=1484)

I finished making my bracket. My bracket honestly could be busted by tomorrow night.

My final 4 picks were Wichita State, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Michigan State. I have Michigan State winning it all over Oklahoma.

I picked 4 Cinderella runs (not counting Wichita). I have Hawaii, Gonzaga, and Temple making it to the Sweet 16, Arkansas Little Rock making it to the Elite 8. Maybe I'll be right on a couple of them.

My two biggest upsets I picked in my bracket include #14 Fresno State beating #3 Utah, and #15 UNC Asheville beating #2 Villanova. If Villanova gets past UNCA, I still think Temple will beat them. Villanova always seems to struggle come tournament time. Heck I remember when they almost (*and should have) lost to #15 Robert Morris. UNCA on the other hand plays a great trap defense and they can hit shots. I watched them play in their conference tournament and I came away very impressed with UNCA.

As usual, the annual Yahoo! bracket is up and running. Come join Older than Noel (https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/134544). Password is, all caps:
ROADS

Quote from: Alps on March 14, 2016, 09:29:52 PM
As usual, the annual Yahoo! bracket is up and running. Come join Older than Noel (https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/134544). Password is, all caps:
ROADS

Just a side note the group id# is 134544 (found out when I saw the link for this when I quoted the above). I successfully joined.

My bracket should now be uploaded onto the pool. I named the bracket "US 41" which is my real and serious bracket. The "US 41 un-serious" bracket is the bracket of what I want to happen. It will do terrible (and it will finish dead last by far I promise), but hey everyone always roots for their brackets so I might as well have one to root for too.

I'm in! You have to back out to https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/, then click "Find a Pool", then "Join a private pool", then the ID and password above.

I have a "wishful thinking" bracket, and another one called Make March Madness Great Again. It's a very high-quality, classy bracket. Huge.

After a computer freeze-up kept me from posting my bracket the first time, I got it to work the second time. A few comments:

This is actually a subsidiary bracket; I have my "main" one on another webpage (astronomy).

A lot of people aren't picking Duke to be in the Final Four, but I am, simply because they're Duke. (They're the defending champs, if I recall.)

Call me pupule (Hawaiian for "crazy") for having Hawaii in the Sweet Sixteen, but I did that because I once lived there. Good enough reason!

I'm sure glad those silly "play in" games are no longer called the "first round."

Let the games begin! :clap: :clap: :clap: :spin: :spin: :spin:

I decided not to join this year. Instead I'll be making a mock-up bracket where all teams but Villanova get replaced by Spanish towns and villages (Villanova isn't getting replaced since it's also a village in my province).

Quote from: hm insulators on March 15, 2016, 11:07:48 AM
Call me pupule (Hawaiian for "crazy") for having Hawaii in the Sweet Sixteen, but I did that because I once lived there. Good enough reason!

I have them in my Sweet 16 too. They're pretty good.

Wichita State and Florida Gulf Coast both won big tonight. 2/2 so far on my (paper) bracket.

On Xavier

With the first four teams gone, now it's when the tournament really starts, as the bulk of the roster joins.

Seeing Hawaii is there, it makes me wonder if any team from Alaska has ever made it to the NCAA tournament.

I didn't have time to enter my office's pool this year–working longer hours the first three days this week and I just didn't get around to looking at the bracket until today. I'm pleased with the Virginia and Duke results today, though! I did get to see the UVA game. The guys replacing our roof finished the job, and re-installed the satellite dish, by 2:40 PM. Only thing was....they put the LNB thing upside down.  :banghead:  Easy fix in time for basketball.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 17, 2016, 10:34:03 AM
With the first four teams gone, now it's when the tournament really starts, as the bulk of the roster joins.

Seeing Hawaii is there, it makes me wonder if any team from Alaska has ever made it to the NCAA tournament.

I don't think any team in Alaska has ever been Division I.

Butler and Purdon't are gone. Nice to see Yale advance

Quote from: ET21 on March 17, 2016, 10:28:25 PM
Butler and Purdon't are gone. Nice to see Yale advance

Butler's still in, they beat TX Tech.

I was UALR's biggest fan today. Purdon't totally choked the game away. Letting UALR go on a big run was so funny. Then Purdue blames the refs. Haha go home Boilermakers!

Hopefully Wichita St can hold on to their 12 point half time lead. Wichita hasn't exactly played great. Also LOL at Arizona's head coach. He is literally sweating it out over there. I've never seen anyone sweat that much before. You can almost see through his shirt.

UNC having only a 1 point lead over #16 FL Gulf Coast makes me glad I picked them to lose in the Sweet 16. 

I'm a little ticked at how they did Wichita State. First, you make them an 11-seed, then make them play a play-in game. Really?

Quote from: US 41 on March 17, 2016, 10:40:19 PM

Quote from: ET21 on March 17, 2016, 10:28:25 PM
Butler and Purdon't are gone. Nice to see Yale advance

Hopefully Wichita St can hold on to their 12 point half time lead. Wichita hasn't exactly played great. Also LOL at Arizona's head coach. He is literally sweating it out over there. I've never seen anyone sweat that much before. You can almost see through his shirt.

UNC having only a 1 point lead over #16 FL Gulf Coast makes me glad I picked them to lose in the Sweet 16. 

I am not shocked by the Wichita State upset at all as they have become super dangerous the last few years (I picked them and Gonzaga to win with little thought).

I have UNC losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.  To me they are too inconsistent to win it all.

"So how does Yale. Out-rebound Baylor?" I love this answer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtNffYyHl8M

Quote from: brownpelican on March 17, 2016, 11:24:37 PM
I'm a little ticked at how they did Wichita State. First, you make them an 11-seed, then make them play a play-in game. Really?

And they get the 12PM game Saturday after 9PM Thursday and a play-in.  Fix is in, boys.

And the brackets bust with Michigan State losing.

What, nobody gave a cent for Middle Tennessee in their brackets? I see, with such a high seed, nobody cared, and now they crashed the brackets by surprise...

Oh, and North Carolina ended beating Florida Gulf Coast by 16 points. BTW, had Stetson beaten Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun tournament final, due to a penalty North Florida would have entered March Madness instead.

Quote from: US 41 on March 17, 2016, 10:40:19 PM

Quote from: ET21 on March 17, 2016, 10:28:25 PM
Butler and Purdon't are gone. Nice to see Yale advance

Butler's still in, they beat TX Tech.

I was UALR's biggest fan today. Purdon't totally choked the game away. Letting UALR go on a big run was so funny. Then Purdue blames the refs. Haha go home Boilermakers!

Hopefully Wichita St can hold on to their 12 point half time lead. Wichita hasn't exactly played great. Also LOL at Arizona's head coach. He is literally sweating it out over there. I've never seen anyone sweat that much before. You can almost see through his shirt.

UNC having only a 1 point lead over #16 FL Gulf Coast makes me glad I picked them to lose in the Sweet 16.

Wow my bad lol. I think I meant Baylor but typed Butler and didn't give a second thought  :-(

Then late last night Northern Iowa hit a half court shot at the buzzer to beat Texas by 3. Yesterday literally defined March Madness.

-----------------------
In the Older than Noel pool below are the current standings (the best bracket of each person after the first round).

Pianocello is currently in the lead with 25 correct picks, Scott is in second with 24, I'm in third with 22, Brian, Jim, and Kenny are all tied for fourth with 21, Buck87 has 20, and Alps has 19.

I almost wanted Yale to beat Duke....almost.

If Charles Barkley had E-ZPass, this wouldn't happen  :-D

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2F8d6e45243759fc82a15b3f519aab24ba_zpsjqyrprnd.jpg&hash=949b4cce8fd6ec3a5b7f61d000748c48b48af631)

My bracket- Dead
My team- Dead

Now, someone please just knock off Duke.

UConn women were up 41-4 at the end of the first quarter in Round 1, and led 93-28 before taking the foot off the gas and coasting to a rather sedate 101-49 finish.

Quote from: kurumi on March 20, 2016, 01:59:52 AM
UConn women were up 41-4 at the end of the first quarter in Round 1, and led 93-28 before taking the foot off the gas and coasting to a rather sedate 101-49 finish.

Doesn't women's basketball always come down between UCONN and Notre Dame? I think 13, 14, and 15 seeds (Harvard won as a 16 miraculously) have never won in the women's tournament. Men's basketball had all three happen on the 18th. :awesomeface:

Hopefully today the tournament is a little more "mad". The only true upset yesterday was #11 Gonzaga beating #3 Utah. Hopefully a few more of the remaining mid majors will advance today (SFA, Middle TN, VCU, Hawaii, N Iowa, St Josephs). I think Middle Tennessee, Stephen F Austin, and Hawaii have the best chances to move on. Mid Major Previews below.

I'm not too confident that St Josephs or VCU can knock off Oregon and Oklahoma, especially after the way Dayton (the A-10 regular season champs) played against Syracuse.

Northern Iowa is kind of iffy. It depends which UNI team shows up; the one that beat IA State and UNC or the one that lost to Missouri State. The SEC wasn't exactly great this year and it would be kind of cool if the MVC could knock 2/3 of the SEC out of the tournament.

I feel like SFA should be able to beat Notre Dame. They handled West Virginia perfectly fine and I don't think Notre Dame is as good as West Virginia.

Middle Tennessee is also kind of iffy. Last year UAB (also from CUSA) beat Iowa State, but then lost to a UCLA team that probably didn't actually belong in the tournament. On the other hand Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State and is going to be facing a Syracuse team that also probably should have been in the NIT, not the NCAA. Syracuse's zone and size may also create some issues. If Middle Tennessee can shoot the way they did against Michigan State I think they'll win. I don't know if they shoot that good all the time though.

I think Hawaii should and will advance to the Sweet 16 today. They are a very good team that almost beat Oklahoma. Maryland hasn't played as good late this year as they did earlier in the season. Heck South Dakota State gave them a run for their money and I was not very impressed with SDSU when I watched 2 of their games in the Summit League tournament. Remember #13 Ohio that lost to #1 UNC in OT? This Hawaii team should give Kansas a scare (if they win today). 

Quote from: US 41 on March 20, 2016, 11:07:40 AM
Doesn't women's basketball always come down between UCONN and Notre Dame? I think 13, 14, and 15 seeds (Harvard won as a 16 miraculously) have never won in the women's tournament. Men's basketball had all three happen on the 18th. :awesomeface:

#13 seeds have actually reached as far as the Sweet Sixteen in the women's tournament. That Harvard win over Stanford back in 1998 is the only instance of a #16 beating a #1 in both genders, as it has never happened in men's tournament (the closest instance was when Murray State managed to force an overtime against Michigan State back in 1990).

First it was SFA, now it's UNI. I'm so tired of the cheating by refs in D1 basketball.

Quote from: US 41 on March 20, 2016, 10:46:59 PM
First it was SFA, now it's UNI. I'm so tired of the cheating by refs in D1 basketball.

Refs didn't screw UNI. Everything that happened to UNI was their own fault.

Haven't had time to really pay attention to the tournament (thanks, professors who decide to load up on the exams the week back from spring break), but I had Michigan St going all the way, which should tell you something about how my bracket is going.

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 20, 2016, 11:17:01 PM

Quote from: US 41 on March 20, 2016, 10:46:59 PM
First it was SFA, now it's UNI. I'm so tired of the cheating by refs in D1 basketball.

Refs didn't screw UNI. Everything that happened to UNI was their own fault.

Yes, but there was no foul on the "and one" and Washpun was getting fouled in the corner with a ref standing right there. Then you had all the stupid reviews allowing TX A&M to draw up plays with free timeouts. TX A&M got a free timeout once in exchange for taking 0.2 off the clock. Really?

What I don't understand is how can you not inbound a freaking ball? They choked, but the refs did them no favors in the end either.

Quote from: Thing 342 on March 20, 2016, 11:43:21 PM
Haven't had time to really pay attention to the tournament (thanks, professors who decide to load up on the exams the week back from spring break), but I had Michigan St going all the way, which should tell you something about how my bracket is going.

MSU is out

Quote from: US 41 on March 20, 2016, 10:46:59 PM
First it was SFA, now it's UNI. I'm so tired of the cheating by refs in D1 basketball.

SFA got more than their share of breaks in their second game.  Not sure why you think they were cheated.  Pretty clear block got called a charge on Pflueger which by itself created a 4 point swing.

Quote from: ET21 on March 21, 2016, 10:03:25 AM

Quote from: Thing 342 on March 20, 2016, 11:43:21 PM
Haven't had time to really pay attention to the tournament (thanks, professors who decide to load up on the exams the week back from spring break), but I had Michigan St going all the way, which should tell you something about how my bracket is going.

MSU is out

I believe that was his point.

In the NIT Tournament it is all mid majors in the Final 4. Valparaiso will play BYU, and George Washington will play San Diego State. I'm honestly looking forward to the NIT Final 4 more than I am the rest of the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga is really the only team left that I sort of care about in the NCAA Tournament now; although I will be cheering for TX A&M when they play Oklahoma even though they beat Northern Iowa. You have to give credit where credit is due. Most teams that are down by 12 with 44 seconds to go would have just gave up. I still think there were some very questionable calls (and no calls) in those last seconds that all favored TX A&M, but you still have to love the effort by the Aggie players. Unless they end up playing Gonzaga in the championship game I'll be cheering for Texas A&M the rest of the way.

Wow, Villanova has made it to Elite Eight. US 41 said they wouldn't get past Sweet Sixteen. I wanted Miami to win the tournament, due to the town I had replacing it in my bracket. Anyway, most, if not all, of the brackets went bust already in First Round. I doubt there's any bracket getting it right by now.

Duke has fallen.  I am happy.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 25, 2016, 09:19:03 AM
Wow, Villanova has made it to Elite Eight. US 41 said they wouldn't get past Sweet Sixteen. I wanted Miami to win the tournament, due to the town I had replacing it in my bracket. Anyway, most, if not all, of the brackets went bust already in First Round. I doubt there's any bracket getting it right by now.

It's the first time since 2009 that they got out of the first weekend though. I had a good reason to doubt them. They proved me wrong this year however.

I believe that i have already clinched first place in the AARoads bracket Older Than Noel.  I already have 113 points and there is no one else with maximum score over 105.  Also if UNC and UVA win tomorrow i will have picked all four entries in final 4.  Most everyone else had Kansas and/or Mich St in final four

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 25, 2016, 09:19:03 AM
Wow, Villanova has made it to Elite Eight. US 41 said they wouldn't get past Sweet Sixteen. I wanted Miami to win the tournament, due to the town I had replacing it in my bracket. Anyway, most, if not all, of the brackets went bust already in First Round. I doubt there's any bracket getting it right by now.

And now has made it to the Final Four! Go Villanova!

It's safe to say my bracket was an absolute disaster. I had Villanova losing to UNC Asheville in the first round and I had Michigan State winning it all. As bad as it was, I did pick the every game in the bottom half of the West bracket completely right. I also got 1 Final 4 team right (Oklahoma).

My bracket last year was kind of better. I had 7 out of the 8, Elite 8 teams right, but I had 0 Final 4 picks correct. This year I had 2 right, but got 1 Final 4 team right.

I still find it funny that people bet money on this. It's really pretty unpredictable.

The only predictable thing is (unless a cataclism occurs) a number 1 seed will always get past the First Round. Murray managed to force an overtime as a 16, but eventually lost to Michigan State back in 1990.

Anyway, I had Miami vs Oklahoma and Xavier vs Virginia as semifinals, with Miami vs Xavier as the final and Miami winning it all. Now I want Villanova to win the tournament.

My 7 year old had Oklahoma, Villanova, Viriginia and Xavier in the Final Four

The NCAA instituted the shot clock after Villanova won the championship in 1985. Moral of the story: if Nova wins, something's wrong with the game :-)

Quote from: kurumi on March 27, 2016, 05:32:12 PM
The NCAA instituted the shot clock after Villanova won the championship in 1985. Moral of the story: if Nova wins, something's wrong with the game :-)

And for the first year it was 45 seconds, but was shut off in the last 4 minutes of the game.  The following year, the 3 point line was universally instituted by the NCAA.  So if Nova wins, look for the 3 point line to be moved back to the international distance.  But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the men follow the women and adopt the 4 quarter format.

So Syracuse is in the Final Four. As a 10 seed! Now that is pupule.

I'm obviously out now but everyone in my pool had bad brackets except for two people. So technically out of 100+ people, I'm top 25%  :biggrin: :biggrin:

The upset that destroyed a ton of brackets (including mine). No one's going to remember that Middle Tennessee State was blown out against Syracuse, but everyone will remember them beating the Spartans. For me anyways this was the highlight of the tournament this year.

I missed out on the bracket pool here, but at work I'm the only one with Nova going all the way.  I don't watch college anything, so I was simply picking the hometown favorite (although I didn't pick Temple...one of my few good moves). My pool sucked in the rounds of 64 & 32, but due to the other upsets, I win if Nova wins, regardless of the loser for the title game.

Quote from: US 41 on March 29, 2016, 10:07:23 AM
The upset that destroyed a ton of brackets (including mine). No one's going to remember that Middle Tennessee State was blown out against Syracuse, but everyone will remember them beating the Spartans. For me anyways this was the highlight of the tournament this year.

Did anybody have that one (other than maybe a few Middle Tennessee State fans)?

NIT Final 4 starts at MSG. Local team Valpo has made it

Quote from: ET21 on March 31, 2016, 12:51:03 AM
NIT Final 4 starts at MSG. Local team Valpo has made it

Yep the championship game is tonight at 7 between Valpo and GW. I'll be rooting for Valpo. Ever since the second round of the NCAA I have been paying more attention to the NIT.

In the other tournaments, Colombia won the CIT and Old Dominion won the first ever Vegas 16 tournament. The CBI will go to game 3 (best of 3 championship) tomorrow between Morehead State and Nevada.

Quote from: hm insulators on March 30, 2016, 05:13:55 PM

Quote from: US 41 on March 29, 2016, 10:07:23 AM
The upset that destroyed a ton of brackets (including mine). No one's going to remember that Middle Tennessee State was blown out against Syracuse, but everyone will remember them beating the Spartans. For me anyways this was the highlight of the tournament this year.

Did anybody have that one (other than maybe a few Middle Tennessee State fans)?

I had them out the following round. Utah ruined me.

The Final Four is finally here. I'm rooting for Villanova. Go Wildcats!

Villanova wins it at the buzzer!

Jay Wright can't contain himself: http://imgur.com/gallery/HHz73U5/

I correctly predicted the winner: The only team I didn't replace in my mock-up bracket because its name already matched that of a Spanish municipality eventually took the title. However I had them losing to Miami FL in Sweet Sixteen instead. Now I'm switching to baseball.

My bracket turned out pretty bad. The team I picked to win it all lost in the first round and the team I picked to lose in the first round won it all.   :pan:

Which of the 32? Middle Tennessee? :bigass: Now seriously, you said Villanova wouldn't get past Sweet Sixteen and they won their second championship. And you correctly predicted a #15 seed would upset a #2, though not the correct one.

BTW, my mock-up bracket had Ariza vs Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Javier vs Guarroman ('Guarro' is Spanish for 'filthy') as semifinals, Ariza vs Javier as the final and Ariza winning it all, which translated to real teams is what I said in post #55. What actually happened, according to my mock-up bracket, was Villanova vs Rivas-Vaciamadrid and Fisterra vs Malagon in the semifinals, Villanova vs Fisterra as the final and Villanova got the title. You can search in Google Maps for all those towns and villages.