March Madness Round of 32 Open Thread

Submitted by Darker Blue on March 23rd, 2024 at 1:36 PM

Arizona and Dayton currently at the half. Dayton down 7 but really made a run at the end of the first half.

Gonzaga and Kansas is the next game up. Go Zags

stephenrjking

March 23rd, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^

Serious question: Is Caitlin Clark a bigger star than any NCAA MBB athlete right now? I feel like she has the best name recognition of any college basketball player. Probably helps that she gets a motivated ESPN boost, but she has starred in commercials and gets a fair amount of social media play. I don't see that with any individual MBB player this year, granted that I've paid less attention to MBB this season due to *waves vaguely at Crisler*.

I'm not a particularly big WBB fan, but Clark has been a known star for years, and of course MBB tends not to produce guys like that, because if they're a big star, they rapidly become an NBA star instead.

JBLPSYCHED

March 23rd, 2024 at 7:28 PM ^

I think there's no question. Carver averaged ~5K fans/game before she arrived and now she sells out every home game as well as every road game. Tickets for the Albany regional and Women's Final Four in Cleveland are currently selling for more than regional and Final Four tickets for the men. Indianapolis and environs anticipating her being the #1 draft choice of the Fever are already getting very excited and I'll bet their season tickets get sold out.

Meanwhile the tv #s for Iowa games (as well as other high profile women's games) are higher than ever. If the Hawks return to the Final Four they may top the 9.9M number from last year's final.

It's nothing short of a true phenomenon that we've never really seen in women's sports. And the catalyst is a young woman from West Des Moines, IA. Incredible.

One other thing: if you are interested in her and have 45-60 minutes of reading time available this weekend, I highly recommend this article on the ESPN website:

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39740282/caitlin-clark-iowa-2024-ncaa-women-basketball-tournament-ready-march

It's a great piece of writing that makes the time spent very worthwhile.

Gandalf

March 23rd, 2024 at 4:21 PM ^

The high level of play in this Gonzaga Kansas basketball game really highlights high far Michigan basketball has fallen in comparison, and the large task the new coach will have to rebuild the Michigan basketball program back to be competitive. 

buddha

March 23rd, 2024 at 5:24 PM ^

Not sure what the expectation is.
Assuming Warde is targeting coaches that are actually still coaching, it would be borderline unethical to publicly release names and become a massive distraction. Personally, if I was a coach being considered for the role at UM and Warde / UM publicly released my name as a candidate, I’d be furious.

Harbaugh left after the season was over; for a lot of good coaches, the season is still going on!

Blue boy johnson

March 23rd, 2024 at 5:42 PM ^

I’m going to root for Michigan State University versus the University of North Carolina. Anybody plan on joining me? I have a kinder gentler outlook since the Michigan Wolverine football team captured the seemingly unattainable national championship

Blue boy johnson

March 23rd, 2024 at 6:09 PM ^

I mean, I’m not gonna shed any tears if they lose. They’ll be no fingernail chewing, they’ll be no pacing the floor, I just feel enlightened enough to bathe in the glow of a spartan victory. 
 

I will freely admit to be a big fan of Magic Johnson, back in the late 70s , and rooted for Michigan State versus Indiana State

Baba Booey

March 23rd, 2024 at 6:29 PM ^

Yikes. That Kansas meltdown reminded me (sadly) of the 92 title game when the fab five led at the half and got absolutely smoked in the 2nd half

wolvorback

March 23rd, 2024 at 6:32 PM ^

Not sure why, but the tourney is more fun for me when the Zags are doing well. I think it’s even better when they’re really good and not a top 2 seed. I also really wanted Dickinson to exit before the sweet sixteen 

Junior18

March 23rd, 2024 at 6:56 PM ^

While watching these games, it was a bit depressing to think, Michigan could hypothetically have had Hunter Dickinson and Caleb Love on the team this year. Might have won more than 8 games.