Sweet 16 Game Thread

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Thursday
7:07 CBS(Atlanta)
South Regional Semifinal #1
#11 Loyola-Chicago vs. #7 Nevada
Brian Anderson-Chris Webber-Lisa Byington

7:37 TBS(Los Angeles)
West Regional Semifinal #1
#7 Texas A&M vs. #3 Michigan
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobsen

9:37 CBS(Atlanta)
South Regional Semifinal #2
#9 Kansas State vs. #5 Kentucky
Brian Anderson-Chris Webber-Lisa Byington

9:57 TBS(Los Angeles)
West Regional Semifinal #2
#9 Florida State vs. #4 Gonzaga
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobsen

Friday
7:07 CBS(Omaha)
Midwest Regional Semifinal #1
#5 Clemson vs. #1 Kansas
Jim Nantz/Grant Hill/Bill Raftery/Tracy Wolfs

7:37 TBS(Boston)
East Regional Semifinal #1
#5 West Virginia vs. #1 Villanova
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce

9:37 CBS(Omaha)
Midwest Regional #2
#11 Syracuse vs. #2 Duke
Jim Nantz/Grant Hill/Bill Raftery/Dana Jacobsen

9:57 TBS(Boston)
East Regional Semifinal #2
#3 Texas Tech vs. #2 Purdue
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce
 
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tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
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Hingham, MA
Hammers home the point that two of the regionals are guaranteed to send a 3 seed or worse to the Final Four
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Looking at the bracket given the craziness of the first two rounds, here's how I see it (of course, I'm almost certain to be very wrong).

South Region
9 Kansas State vs. 5 Kentucky
11 Loyola Chicago vs. 7 Nevada

I think Kentucky rolls through this region now. Chalk pick but yeah. They should crush Kansas State and I think they're significantly better than either Loyola or Nevada. Don't sleep on Loyola though. They were the #28 team in the nation by RPI so they're legitimately good. But Kentucky has the horses and they're finally putting it all together. I see Kentucky emerging.

West Region
9 Florida State vs. 4 Gonzaga
3 Michigan vs. 7 Texas A&M

To me, one of the most impressive performances of the entire tournament was Texas A&M's demolition of North Carolina. UNC is really good and the Aggies annihilated them. Their two bigs dominated the game and I don't know that Michigan has an answer for that, especially if Hogg is knocking down 3's. I like A&M vs. Gonzaga to advance. From there, that's a tough call as the Zags are good. But I like how A&M is playing, and we can't forget that they were a top 5 team in the country at one point this year. A&M is the pick.

Midwest Region
1 Kansas vs. 5 Clemson
11 Syracuse vs. 2 Duke

Clemson is playing incredibly well, and the Jayhawks are vulnerable. Could see an upset there. Syracuse goes up against a similar team in Duke, who just happens to be much better. They met earlier in the year and Duke cruised, 60-44. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that SU's defense did a great job against Duke. The Blue Devils have averaged 84.9 points per game this year, 3rd best in the nation, and SU held them nearly 25 points below their average. The problem for Syracuse was, as usual, that their offense couldn't score against Duke. I see another low scoring affair, but Duke has enough to win. Then I see Duke taking care of business against Clemson.

East Region
1 Villanova vs. 5 West Virginia
3 Texas Tech vs. 2 Purdue

Villanova may be the best team in the nation. WVU has played really well so far and they'll present all sorts of problems, but I don't think they'll have enough unless Villanova plays a substantially subpar game. I like Texas Tech over Purdue, and then Villanova big over Texas Tech to advance to the Final Four.

So I have in the Final Four:

5 Kentucky vs. 7 Texas A&M
2 Duke vs. 1 Villanova

That would be a pretty interesting and talented group, IMO.
 

Average Reds

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Sep 24, 2007
35,330
Southwestern CT
They played extremely well yesterday, but I do not buy A&M as a juggernaut based on one game. They were a very different (beatable) team against Providence and they didn't lose 12 games this year because they were able to carrry momentum from one game to another.

As we've seen throughout the season, there are no truly dominant teams out there. (UVA was supposed to be one.) So a lot depends on which version of any given team shows up.

If I were being completely objective, my final four would be:
  • Kentucky
  • Gonzaga
  • Duke
  • Villanova
Since I am not objective, I have Michigan beating Gonzaga.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
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Jul 16, 2005
39,430
Harrisburg, Pa.
Nevada or Kentucky; Kentucky really has turned their season around but I think Nevada, if hot, can outshoot them
Gonzaga, tough matchup for aggy
Duke, though I think playing Clemson (I expect Kansas to lose) could be interesting
Villanova, as long as they don't lose their mind against WVU and panick. This WVU isn't nearly as good as recent ones IMO.
 

wonderland

New Member
Jul 20, 2005
525
Villanova, as long as they don't lose their mind against WVU and panick. This WVU isn't nearly as good as recent ones IMO.
It’s a different team than last year but Adrian was hurt at the end of the season and that limited their scoring. This year they don’t rebound as well, especially offensively but they are a much better shooting team. They have three guys off the bench that can score 15 points in a game (West, Allen and Bolden).

There are two advantages for WVU in the Villanova matchup.
1. It will be pretty even athleticism wise. Wv blew leads against Kansas and Kentucky in the final five minutes because they could lock down West Virginia with their size and speed. That won’t be the case on Friday.
2. Villanova plays faster which will be good for West Virginia. WV can score points when they are playing fast. They just struggle offensively when they suck the life out of the game. Although because of the above, this will be less of an issue as I think WV can score fine in the halfcourt against Villanova.

It should be an excellent game.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
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Jul 16, 2005
39,430
Harrisburg, Pa.
It’s a different team than last year but Adrian was hurt at the end of the season and that limited their scoring. This year they don’t rebound as well, especially offensively but they are a much better shooting team. They have three guys off the bench that can score 15 points in a game (West, Allen and Bolden).

There are two advantages for WVU in the Villanova matchup.
1. It will be pretty even athleticism wise. Wv blew leads against Kansas and Kentucky in the final five minutes because they could lock down West Virginia with their size and speed. That won’t be the case on Friday.
2. Villanova plays faster which will be good for West Virginia. WV can score points when they are playing fast. They just struggle offensively when they suck the life out of the game. Although because of the above, this will be less of an issue as I think WV can score fine in the halfcourt against Villanova.

It should be an excellent game.
Hopefully Thomas Walkup can suit up for Nova.
 

sgfeer

New Member
Mar 14, 2016
44
Queensbury, NY
Hopefully Thomas Walkup can suit up for Nova.

Ouch, that hurts on a Monday morning.

Should be a good matchup Nova and WVU. We don't press as hard as we use to, but play a little bit better half court defense. As Huggs says, it comes down to if we can make shots, last year against Gonzaga we missed more than they took I believe and lost
 

MillarTime

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Oct 31, 2013
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WVU has me really nervous for Friday night. Barring another ridiculous 3 point effort from Nova this game will be dogfight for sure and probably come down to the last 5 minutes.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,055
Hingham, MA
538 puts the odds at roughly 67 to 33 that the champ comes out of the Midwest or East as opposed to the West or South. Hard to imagine there has ever been a bigger gap heading into the Sweet 16.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
11,742
Thursday is gonna be bonkers can’t wait
 

Zososoxfan

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Jul 30, 2009
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South of North
Just noticed that the spread gets wider based on chronology:

7pm: Nevada (-1) v. Loyola
7:30pm: Michigan (-2.5) v. TAMU
9pm: UK (-5) v. KSU
9:30pm: Zaga (-6) v. FSU

First two games feel like coin flips, although I'm a bit surprised that the spread is so big in favor of Zaga. FSU presents a real size problem for just about everyone and the Zags are not that athletic from what I understand. They are still obviously very good, but 6 seems like a stretch - I'd take the points.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
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New York City
Just noticed that the spread gets wider based on chronology:

7pm: Nevada (-1) v. Loyola
7:30pm: Michigan (-2.5) v. TAMU
9pm: UK (-5) v. KSU
9:30pm: Zaga (-6) v. FSU

First two games feel like coin flips, although I'm a bit surprised that the spread is so big in favor of Zaga. FSU presents a real size problem for just about everyone and the Zags are not that athletic from what I understand. They are still obviously very good, but 6 seems like a stretch - I'd take the points.
Take the favorites in the first two games and the dogs in the 2nd two.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Nevada scored 20 points in about the first 8 minutes of the game. They have 24 now and the half is almost over. No points in the last 6 minutes. Their shots are horrendous, but they are only down 4.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,432
Put it all on Kentucky, if you're a betting person. That has to be the easiest bet in 5 years in the tourney.

AGGIE playing like bull doo doo
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
72,432
This reminds me of the NFC Championship

(Championship home field/court curse)
Can't have Aggy play in South Texas
 

Deathofthebambino

Drive Carefully
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Apr 12, 2005
41,947
Michigan is putting on an absolute clinic of ball movement, driving to the hoop, finishing and making shots. They came into this tournament as hot as any team, and they are showing it right now.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Nevada is an absolute mess. They are putting on a clinic in failure, poor ball control, terrible shots, and bricks a plenty.