Pre-BTT final basketball open thread
Obviously we have our game at 4:30 on CBS, but right now a good one for the regular season AAC title is going with #10 Cinci @ #11 Wichita State. Cinci is up 37-36 at the half, crowd is electric in Wichita.
No other major conference games today really. A bunch of smaller conference tournaments have games today including:
- Liberty @ Radford at 1 for the Big South title on ESPN
- Illinois State vs Loyola-Chicago at 2 on CBS for the MVC title (neutral site, Loyola is projected as a 12 seed in a lot of spots so if they lose they might steal a bid as an at-large)
- Lipscomb @ FGCU at 3 on ESPN for the Atlantic Sun title
Wichita loss should bump us one spot on the S curve. I'd put as at about 14 right now.
I'd take a 4 seed in the Xavier region in a heartbeat over a 3 seed.
11 Kentucky team a 5 seed ?
Bigger question is how is a 7 loss Kansas a 1 seed.
They have the 4th hardest SOS and 23rd toughest NCSOS. They are 18-7 against the RPI top 100 with 10 of those being quandrant 1 wins.
What teams with less then 7 losses would you put ahead of them as number seed? Virgiina is 28-2 and both Xavier and Nova are 27-4. I think most people have those 3 as number one seeds. Purdue is 28-5 but their SOS, NCSOS and quandrant 1 wins don't compare to Kansas. Duke and Auburn are 25-6. Auburn SOS and NCSOS are in the same boat as Purdue. I think you could make an argument for Duke being a 1 seed. Cincy is 26-4 but their SOS and NCSOS aren't even in the same ballpark as Kansas and Kansas has more quandrant 1 wins then Cincy has games against quandrant 1 teams.
You can keep going down the list of teams but there aren't many that have an overall resume that compares to KU.
The problem with SOS is that it is extremely dependent on strength of conference, which is essentially established in non-conference play in November and December. Now personally, I think the B12 is indeed pretty deep and KU is very good. At the same time, I'm not sure that a team like Texas or OU is considerably better (if at all) than Nebraska/PSU.
OU's performance in the non-con alone had a huge impact on the B12 apparent strength, despite the fact that once people adjusted to Young, they turned out to be more of a bubble team than a top 5 team. An algorithm isn't going to recognize that though.
Bracketologists are absolutely in love with the SEC. I do not get it. Auburn's best non con win was Mid Tenn neutral. They also lost to Temple. Tennessee has a solid resume, but I would say it's very comparable to ours yet they are a solid 3 seed on bracketmatrix (Auburn being the top 3).
but they have 3rd overall toughest SOS and 6th toughest NCSOS. Just for comparison's sake UM has the 72nd toughest SOS and 282nd toughest NCSOS. UK is 13-10 against RPI Top 100 teams.
Agreed. I was rooting against them before I realized Radford's HC is a former Beilein assistant, made it that much easier to root for Radford.
I have been giving some thought to Izzo's postgame comments about our defense that focused on "Jimmies and Joes" yesterday. I think he has a bit of a point.
I give coaches props for the scheme (i.e. finding ways to keep Duncan in the paint and variations on zones) and another year of focus. I give the team in general credit for a clear uptick and effort and pride on the defensive end.
As for specific players...Here is how I rank M's top 4 players on D in both Perimeter and Post defense last year. Let me know hwat you think.
Perimeter - 2016-17 -- Maar, Irvin, Walton, Simpson (Swap Walton and Irvin? -- X would be higher but couldn't be kept on the floor for other reasons) 2017-18 -- Simpson, Matthews, Maar, Simmons
Interior/Post -- 2016-17 -- Wilson, Wagner, Robinson, Donnal (LOL) -- 2017-2018 Teske, Wagner, Robinson/Livers
Pretty significant upgrades accross the board on the player end. On the perimeter a slighly better(?) MAAR is clearly down to 3rd on the list and in the post I see every position as better ---(Wilson was great but playing at the 5 was not as effective as he could have been at the 4).
With Simpson, Matthews, and Teske back and another year of seasoning for Livers and Poole the 2018-19 Defense looks pretty good as well even before factoring in newcomers.
Future is bright! But also Izzo is right that talent/athletes make a big difference on our D.
Going to be a long week, I’m relocating to potentially hostile territory. Louisville.
still dropping passes and missing lay ups?
ASUN title game looks to be over at the half. FGCU is getting crushed, down 60-31 at home to Lipscomb.
Loyola up 15 on Illinois State with 2:45 left so that one looks close to done as well.
Let's do this!!!
Go Blue, beat Purdue!
Haas travelled!!!!