🏀 KuBuckets Archive

All the upsets have not only caused total chaos in brackets--it has also raised havoc in the regional seeding that generally tries to have top teams somewhere near home. We have complained before about getting sent nowhere near our fan base (Louisville), but this year the draw and the wacky tourney have left us and UK as the only teams with less than a day's drive from home:

KU............Omaha............207 miles

UK............Atlanta...........382

WVU.........Boston...........591

L-Chi.........Atlanta..........716

Nova......Boston......778 edit: Wrong!

KSU...........Atlanta..........919

Purd..........Boston..........956

Clem.........Omaha.......1,094

Syr.............Omaha.......1,130

Gonz..........Los Ang.....1,240

Duke..........Omaha .....1,253

TexAM.......Los Ang.....1,482

TTech........Boston...... 2,036

UMich........Los Ang.....2,240

FlaSt...........Los Ang....2,253

Nev.............Atlanta......2,387

Only the airlines are happy.

@DoubleDD I'll give you the old Weber kettle grill if you pay shipping or come get it.

We play early game on Friday on CBS with Nantz, et al.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2018-ncaa-tournament-tv-schedule-march-madness-tip-times-tv-channel-info-announcing-teams-for-sweet-16/ ↗

Crimsonorblue22 said:

@lincase I do thank God a lot during our games!

Most of us probably won't admit it, but among all the bitchin' there is probably also a lot of beseechin' goin' on!

@DoubleDD Now I want that one in the picture, dammit!

@jayballer73 And East and Midwest are on the same side of the bracket, so most of the remaining high seeds are in those two. 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, and 11.

The other side has 3 , 4, 5 , 7 , 7 , 9, 9 & 11.

@jayballer73 For example, I have missed 18 picks out of the first 48 (counting WVU as correct). That is an accuracy rate of 62.5%, but I have accumulated enough points to be doing better than 76% of the other 17 million. So ESPN has me at 76%.

@jayballer73 You didn't read my last post to you? It is not accuracy, it is the percentile of total brackets. Winner is 100%, last place is 0%.

@DoubleDD For BBQ

!0_1521429920000_f5006530-5d7c-4b1f-a36e-d62f6a618949_1.b0165df4a1775c8b046acfb16827d9b8.jpeg ↗

@kjayhawks I'm not counting them until they are on a spit.

I have lost 5 straight games today. Wow, glad I am not in LV.

How about Elvis "3 passes short of a first down in 2-minute drills" Grbac?

No, I am going with Joe. Not there long, but memorable.

@jayballer73 I think the percentages are where you stand in the tournament, not your correct picks. 92% means you are in the top 8%.

Clemson should just play the last 10 mins as if Auburn was KU. Advance practice.

Bwag said:

Looks like Clemson is going to advance. Early though

69-29 with 11:33 to go. Might be safe to pencil them in the Sweet 16.

@Kcmatt7 I just remember those years, (VCU and Stanford), when we thought we had it made because someone we saw as a patsy had managed to knock off a team that we saw as a bigger threat.

I just hope UK develops some Morii-level overconfidence and gets soundly smacked by cruel reality.

Kcmatt7 said:

UK going to play all double-digit seeds all the way to the FF.

Would love to see this Nevada team do it though. So fun to watch.

Yep, those dbl digit seeds are child's play. Like VCU. And Stanford. Bucknell. and Butler.

@Gunman He said "a top" not "the top". I would put him at #3.

Wow, I have 3 entries and they are tied for 6th! (Thing2 is mine.) Best I have ever done by this stage--usually in the toilet by now!

@DoubleDD I just like to point out ironies in life.

Nice home state advantage for Mich St and UNC!

@Texas-Hawk-10 Not thinking that life can be better when she is happy? From people's comments here about how they react (punching walls, etc) when we have lost, I hope if your bracket holds that she has lower expectations of her team! Or watch out when you try to distract her by buying something shiny, such as a Jayhawk necklace.....

@DoubleDD No Power 5 team with a HOF coach (even if he is a jerk) can be considered a Cinderella just because their crappy year caused a low seed. Here, let me quote the rule on that:

• No Power 5 team with a HOF coach (even if he is a jerk) can be considered a Cinderella just because their crappy year caused a low seed.

There were fouls all over by both teams that weren't called. Battle got mauled on that first turnover. If you see favoritism it is because you want to.

ESPN bracket shows only one game scheduled in the Seet 16, next Friday. Looks like Duke and Syracuse will have to get up really early!

!0_1521408226675_2018-03-18 17.22.57.png ↗

Halfway thru the game the statistical projections still gave UMBC less than a 12% chance of winning. I just love statistics that project but mean nothing! This graph is fun.

!0_1521395006606_Screenshot_2018-03-18-13-39-43.png ↗

@Bwag But overall, is this good for us because it would reduce the stigma of a loss, or really horrible because like the first atom bomb once something has been shown to be possible it is easier for someone else to duplicate it?

@JayHawkFanToo That was true of UConn w bb until 2016, when they actually had a profit of $1.2 million. Usually, though, you are right--these teams operate at a net loss.

But so do 98% of men's bb AND fb programs acc to this Fox Business article:

An October 2016 study of NCAA athletic data found that just 2% of Division I football teams and men’s basketball programs generated positive net revenue in the 2015 fiscal year. Conversely, no women’s basketball program turned a profit during that time period, with 122 schools reporting a median loss of $997,000, according to the study.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/what-uconn-womens-basketball-teams-record-run-is-really-worth ↗

What is overlooked is the money brought in to the colleges from donations--that article says UConn set a record of $81 million after both teams won their titles in 2014. Those funds don't count in the athletic P/L statements.

@approxinfinity @dylans Don't confuse seeding with perceptions of how strong a team is. Seeds are based on an entire season. Strength in the tourney is perceived by writers and fans alike, based on how a team is playing over the past few weeks.

There is no doubt that based on how Duke is playing they would be perceived as stronger than either MSU or KU, and that is what the odds of advancing are based on. Their early season struggles led to their seed, but those struggles are over, apparently.

@BShark We now know no one is ever 100%.

@HawkChamp We know too well that early round blowouts, or scares, mean nothing as the tourney progresses.

Last year, we won our first 3 rounds by 38, 20, and 32 pts. Oregon theirs by 16, 4, and 1. Then they handily took us apart by 14.

2003, we destoyed Marquette in the semi by the 4th largest margin in F4 history. I am sure that presaged an easy final--oh, wait, it didn't.

I am also sure that this writer would have bet his house on overwhelming ACC champ Virginia over barely-getting-in-to-the-tourney UMBC.

Sometimes, previous records mean nothing. We have reason to be wary of those teams because of their huge talent level, but we have some damn good players, too. I doubt if our guys will cower in fear.

From ESPN:

URI's Hurley not talking job future after defeat
Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley, who sources say is the front-runner for the UConn job, had no interest in addressing speculation about potential openings after his team's loss to Duke, saying, 'I could give a crap about who's got an opening anywhere.'

So, this means he is definitely going, right?

@HighEliteMajor Or possibly people who know--the staff and players--have banded together to protect his privacy.

No perfect brackets left on ESPN out of 17 million. 4 with 1 loss, 86 with 2.

@KJD I enjoyed the article. I assume the commenters never previously have been exposed to hyperbole-based comedy and satire.

Silver Lining Dept: At least Virginia can finally stop hearing about the Chaminade game as the greatest upset in bb history.

@wrwlumpy

6:10 p.m. CDT on TBS

@Crimsonorblue22 That bridge collapse brought back sad memories of the Hyatt Regency in 1981. My mother was supposed to go to that tea party, but backed out not feeling well, and lost several friends that day.

@Lulufulu @Bwag

At 2:00 a.m. EDT CBSSports Network (ch 315 on my Spectrum; YMMV) will begin showing "encores of top games" over the next four hours. Whether ours is one seems doubtful (Trae? ChicLoyola?) but you could see.

@JayHawkFanToo Congrats to your Dad!

Looks like only 37 brackets so far. Some unusual names out there!

People not working today: How are you passing time until the game? I am glad it is an early Thurs game. I always hate being in the Fri evening slot, especially those years where upsets pile up!

I am going to be ripping out some drywall and fishing cable for our kitchen reno. And looking at the clock...

@RockkChalkk In that case they get to declare for the NBA!

@justanotherfan Those juniors just need to do better, then, and save their coaches' jobs. :boom:

I think it will be someone not even mentioned here, in about 10 years.

@JayHawkFanToo ESPN's had that, too, but even that changed for where I was. Maybe CBS isn't so sophisticated.

@JayHawkFanToo Better be Eastern Daylight Time for me!

But a question for you: Is it displaying CDT or EDT for you in that link? Some sites automatically adjust times in game schedule depending on location. ESPN gave me all Hawaii times when we were out there--weird to see a game listed to begin at 6 a.m. on my phone!

@DanR If you use the ESPN tournament challenge app you can go to your brackets and change or join a group for new brackets or ones where you were not able to join. You might have to search for the group name, then click on join group when it is displayed. KU Buckets, with a space.

@HighEliteMajor But then we would just be so bored...with nothing to talk about year after repetitive year. Our adrenaline would stop flowing, and our ability to rationalize and make excuses would wither away. No triumphant feeling, no sense of overcoming adversity, no off-seasons consumed by "what if"s. Just a long stretch of being on top. The dips? Just like a stock market correction. We would know it will go away, and we will be dumping everyone again soon.

Oh, the agony!

Actually, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

I figured I would make this its own topic to make it easy to find.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2018-march-madness-tv-schedule-games-tip-times-announcer-teams-tv-channels/ ↗

I assume (ahem) it will be updated after Thurs and Fri games for the next round.