OFFICIAL March Madness Thread

I fully get that Creighton was terrible this year. And when getting back to last year, Baylor was a terrible matchup for what Creighton did and we all know that in a tournament setting it's as much about matchups as anything else. My point being that you take a team like Creighton that 2 years ago was a MVC champion with a 13-5 conference record (and a Wichita St team that got to the Final Four), then last year they go to the Big East and finish 14-4 in that league, and people still think that despite that success plus Wichita St going to the Final Four just two years ago that the MVC isn't a legit conference and at minimum the premier mid-major conference ahead of the WCC (assuming that a league like the A10 is between high major and mid-major).

The whole who have you played argument to me is difficult as a lot of these teams can't get the games scheduled that we all want them to play. Most higher end programs won't play home and home games against these teams (hard to blame them for that). But at the same time, not sure it makes that much sense for these teams to just play one off games on the road in what then turn into self-fulfilling arguments that want to say that the high majors are clearly superior.

When it comes down to it, I think you start seeing the value of a league through their performance in the NCAAs. When you get programs getting deep into the tournament, or when you watch their quality in those kinds of situations (see Wichita last year in the loss to Kentucky in what was arguably one of the top 3 games of the entire tournament from a quality standpoint), I feel like you need to keep that in mind when evaluating the quality of a conference and the top end teams there.

Gladstone said:

This might be the year the Zaggots break the S16 barrier. Very favorable matchups for them. Davidson and Iowa? With Iowa State in the S16? Shit.

Iowa State is a TERRIBLE matchup for Gonzaga IMO. Probably the worst team that they could run up against in the field because their bigs will not be able to guard Iowa St's bigs on the perimeter. Possible that Gonzaga may be able to play a zone ... but Iowa State shoots the ball way too well for that to work out over 40 minutes.

SteveInShelton said:

I could actually see Oregon giving Wisconsin a hard time. A team of mostly white guys usually doesn't do a whole lot anyways. Could definitely see Wichita St. beating Kansas, who for the first time in who knows how long has a garbage lineup this year. I agree with others in this thread, I'm not as excited for the tournament this year.

Have you missed the part where Oregon has really struggled on the inside this year - see any game they played against Arizona where they got manhandled off the court because they couldn't grab a rebound. Wisconsin will give them the same problem. And I don't get the whole "white guy" thing given that the same group got to the Final Four last year and probably wins the title if not for Harrison making a low percentage shot at the end.

Oregon could have had the potential of getting deep against a team that is undisciplined and plays limited defense. If they were the 8 against Duke, I could see them getting hot and having a shot. But they've consistently shown all year that when playing against a team that plays focused defense with a strong ability to rebound they've been in huge problems.

Kansas doesn't have a garbage team ... but it's not as strong as they normally are. Self has probably gotten the most out of his team. Oubre is pretty good ... just a bit inconsistent for my taste. Wichita State's metrics this year are comparable to last year. Should this game happen, this should be one of the better games of the tournament.