NCAA 19-20

[CrimsonNBlue]

Offshore Futures:

KU -450
Baylor -800
Gonzaa -800
Dayton -1200
Duke -1200
Kentucky -1200
Michigan State -1200
Seton Hall -1400
Maryland -2000
San Diego State -2000
Louisville -2000


No Final Four would be a choke job. No Natty is inching towards there.

[jfish26]

Offshore Futures:

KU -450
Baylor -800
Gonzaa -800
Dayton -1200
Duke -1200
Kentucky -1200
Michigan State -1200
Seton Hall -1400
Maryland -2000
San Diego State -2000
Louisville -2000


No Final Four would be a choke job. No Natty is inching towards there.

Anything can happen in one game, etc., but yes the acceptability line is certainly at least Final Four.

[pdub]

It's hard to say Final Four or bust is a 'choke job' in a tournament formatted this way.
I'd say it'd be a big letdown but certainly not a 'choke job'.

[NewtonHawk11]

You can never say not getting a Natty is a choke job because of how crazy the games can be in the tournament. But yes, I'd say that no Final Four would be a choke job. KU is clearly better than all the teams in the field, but the tournament is wild.

I think the draw is going to be very important. And NCAA likes to try and keep things regional in the brackets. Avoid the Midwest and Final 4 is all but a certainty. Go south to Houston. Get San Diego State as 2 seed and go to work.

Midwest is going to have like Seton Hall as a 2 seed. Michigan State as a 3 and Creighton as a 4. Let Dayton have that.

Play in Houston and play against San Diego State, Florida State and Penn State or Oregon or some other shitty 4 seed.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Of course, all those numbers should be +'s not -'s. My Bad.


No Final Four is an auto choke job like 2010.

What will remain to be seen is the field when we're sitting at like Elite 8/Final 4 time and we choke the natty away like in 2011.

[pdub]

Hypothetically, loosing to a 2 seed, say Duke or even Dayton, in an E8 game isn't a choke job.
2010 was a choke job because we lost in our second game -- and yea, that was a choke job.
2011 was to an 11 seed - so yea, also choke job.

Loosing to a top 10 team in the nation on a neutral floor - I can't label it as such - and I know the expectations are high.

It'd be disappointing.

[NewtonHawk11]

Also regarding regional pick.

Omaha is Friday/Sunday.
Indy is Thursday/Saturday
Houston is Friday/Sunday.

Houston gets you that extra day of rest.

[CrimsonNBlue]

I think it will end up being Houston.

But, I also think the logic behind picking Houston makes LA just as logical.

I don't buy the fan thing having an impact in the Elite 8 game. It's better to just have the worst 2 and 3 and 4 seeds possible.

[pdub]

It may not be nearly as much an impact as playing a worse 2 seed but if my 2 seed was San Diego State no matter what, I'd prefer to play them in Houston than LA.

[jfish26]

Hypothetically, loosing to a 2 seed, say Duke or even Dayton, in an E8 game isn't a choke job.
2010 was a choke job because we lost in our second game -- and yea, that was a choke job.
2011 was to an 11 seed - so yea, also choke job.

Loosing to a top 10 team in the nation on a neutral floor - I can't label it as such - and I know the expectations are high.

It'd be disappointing.

I think this sort of one-size-fits-all point misses just how much better KU is than the teams that will be on the 2-line. This isn't a 4th-1-plays-1st-2 sort of thing. When healthy and playing four-out, KU is very very far ahead of the rest of the field (Baylor excluded).

So yeah, anything prior to Final Four is in fact a choke job.

[jfish26]

It may not be nearly as much an impact as playing a worse 2 seed but if my 2 seed was San Diego State no matter what, I'd prefer to play them in Houston than LA.

This gets into that hyper-annoying "but but but UCLA was a 2-seed in California" thing, but: nothing about playing San Diego State in Los Angeles would be particularly worrisome, from a crowd perspective.

[MICHHAWK]

I think this sort of one-size-fits-all point misses just how much better KU is than the teams that will be on the 2-line. This isn't a 4th-1-plays-1st-2 sort of thing. When healthy and playing four-out, KU is very very far ahead of the rest of the field (Baylor excluded).

The ncaa tournament is one cruel beeatch.

You’re setting yourself up for heartache. I’m a cagey veteran. I know better.

[jfish26]

I think this sort of one-size-fits-all point misses just how much better KU is than the teams that will be on the 2-line. This isn't a 4th-1-plays-1st-2 sort of thing. When healthy and playing four-out, KU is very very far ahead of the rest of the field (Baylor excluded).

The ncaa tournament is one cruel beeatch.

You’re setting yourself up for heartache. I’m a cagey veteran. I know better.

This sort of one-sits-fits-all point suggests one should find a different hobby.

What fun are the highs if you don't have the lows? What's the point of this, if not to dream a bit on what is very clearly the best team in college hoops as of March 3?

[MICHHAWK]

Almost every season we are in a position to dream.

I also know that almost every season ends in disappointment. For this reason I try to enjoy every single step of the season.

[MICHHAWK]

Whatever happens in March is just icing on the big beautiful cake.

[jfish26]

Almost every season we are in a position to dream.

I also know that almost every season ends in disappointment. For this reason I try to enjoy every single step of the season.

But not every season is the same. It's silly to treat them all the same.

There's a bit more story to be told, but if we win out into the tournament...it's Bill's best regular season here. Seeing as how we've been the best regular season team in the sport over that time, that's not nothing!

[pdub]

It may not be nearly as much an impact as playing a worse 2 seed but if my 2 seed was San Diego State no matter what, I'd prefer to play them in Houston than LA.

This gets into that hyper-annoying "but but but UCLA was a 2-seed in California" thing, but: nothing about playing San Diego State in Los Angeles would be particularly worrisome, from a crowd perspective.

We've had this argument.
I didn't agree.
It's less a drive to L.A. than Lawrence is to Omaha.

I would bet my life that more San Diego State fans would attend a game if it were in L.A. than if it were in Houston.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Whatever happens in March is just icing on the big beautiful cake.

That's not a bad metaphor. Because, what if the chef instead of icing a masterpiece cake dumps a big can of toxic waste on it. Is it still a tasty masterpiece?

[CrimsonNBlue]

Almost every season we are in a position to dream.

I also know that almost every season ends in disappointment. For this reason I try to enjoy every single step of the season.

But not every season is the same. It's silly to treat them all the same.

There's a bit more story to be told, but if we win out into the tournament...it's Bill's best regular season here. Seeing as how we've been the best regular season team in the sport over that time, that's not nothing!

Then we have to do the 2010 parallel, because that regular season is arguably better.

Most here can't stomach that season.

[pdub]

Hypothetically, loosing to a 2 seed, say Duke or even Dayton, in an E8 game isn't a choke job.
2010 was a choke job because we lost in our second game -- and yea, that was a choke job.
2011 was to an 11 seed - so yea, also choke job.

Loosing to a top 10 team in the nation on a neutral floor - I can't label it as such - and I know the expectations are high.

It'd be disappointing.

I think this sort of one-size-fits-all point misses just how much better KU is than the teams that will be on the 2-line. This isn't a 4th-1-plays-1st-2 sort of thing. When healthy and playing four-out, KU is very very far ahead of the rest of the field (Baylor excluded).

So yeah, anything prior to Final Four is in fact a choke job.

We lost to Duke already this season.
And while we certainly have gotten way better and it would SUCK big time to loose to a team like Duke in the Elite 8, I wouldn't consider it a choke job.
I don't think a game against a top 4 seed in this tournament is a choke job...it's just not how college basketball and March Madness works.