2013/14 NCAA Basketball

[ghost]

See what happens when you're an Indiana fan? 

[Paelos]

Tats ahoy.

[ghost]

Maybe we've found the future ex-Mrs. Paelos?   

[Paelos]

The guy in front of her is asking his friend, "Hey man, is that bitch in her underwear?"

[WayAbvPar]

The guy in front of her is asking his friend, "Hey man, is that bitch in her underwear?"

Shocking that you are single.

[Paelos]

The fact people are ignoring it is the funny part.

[ghost]

Wow.  North Carolina took down a very good Michigan State team.  UNC is going to be very dangerous at tournament time, IMO.

Also, Roy has won the last 7 meetings against Izzo by an average of 16 points.  For someone that has a reputation as the "best in the game", you'd like to see better results than that against a Roy Williams. 

[Rasix]

NUMBER ONE, BABY!

I don't think I've seen a UofA team this long and this athletic in years. 

[ghost]

Aaron Gordon is really a nice addition to that team.  I think you guys will win the title.  Kentucky will be good at the end of the season, too.

[ghost]

Yeah, Arizona is looking like they'll go undefeated this year.  That is a damned good team.

[Paelos]

Louisville has completely shit the bed early. They looked strong coming off last season's win, and now they are down two major players with no ability to play good transition D when it matters.

Also, the fuck Gonzaga? Losing to Portland?

[Ginaz]

So, Warren Buffet is offering...ONE BILLION DOLLARS...to anyone who correctly picks every winning team in the 2014 NCAA March Madness tourney.  The odds of winning are 1 in 4,294,967,296.

However...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRrNY0pxfM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/01/21/warren-buffett-offers-1-billion-for-perfect-march-madness-bracket/

[Ingmar]

Bah, started conference 5-0 and lost to USC of all teams. 

[Malakili]

So, Warren Buffet is offering...ONE BILLION DOLLARS...to anyone who correctly picks every winning team in the 2014 NCAA March Madness tourney.  The odds of winning are 1 in 4,294,967,296.

However...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMRrNY0pxfM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/01/21/warren-buffett-offers-1-billion-for-perfect-march-madness-bracket/

Imagine the stress if someone gets it all right to the finals and then has to watch that one game with a billion on the line.

[HaemishM]

You bet your ass I'll be entering that. Fuck it, I'll be filling out brackets anyway, might as well take a shot at more money than I will ever earn in my fucking lifetime.

[Paelos]

I'd love to have the stress of a billion riding on one game.

[Nebu]

I'd love to have the stress of a billion riding on one game.

Stress?  Buffet makes something like $24 million a day.  

It's brilliant marketing.  He will make a ton in online advertising for a something like a 4,294,967,296:1 shot.  He's also limiting entries to further pad his odds.

The guy should start a casino in Vegas.

[Ingmar]

 

[Rasix]

Thank you.

[Ingmar]

Better picture:



Classic Cal fan faces. 

[Sjofn]

The ref's face is the best non-Cal face in that picture.

[Rasix]

Brandon Ashley is done for the year.  We replace him with a very talented frosh.  Our small bench:  it's smaller now.  Thanks, jerks.

[Paelos]

Why are we forced to listen to Dicky V's dumbass on every single matchup the national audience might remotely give a shit about in the regular season?

Can't he catch whatever Joe Buck had?

[ghost]

Prediction-  Florida will win the national title this year.  They look damned good and play very well as a team. 

[Paelos]

Syracuse keeps escaping. I don't know when the clock runs out for them.

[ghost]

Syracuse is damned good, too, but I have little confidence for Jim Boeheim's defenses in the tournament and he doesn't have Carmelo Anthony to carry his team this year.  They could still pull it off though.  The problem for Boeheim is that it is usually teams that are the "hottest" when it comes to knocking down shots, particularly 3 pointers, that burn through the early stages of the tourney and also burn through zones, both of which are bad for Cuse.

[Rasix]

Revenge!

[Nevermore]

What are we revenging?

[Ingmar]

The Cal win over Arizona earlier this season. Still one more win against Arizona than I expected!

[Paelos]

I'm convinced Syracuse is a fraud for a 1 seed. I'm not as convinced Arizona is a fraud, but I have serious doubts about their team. The Pac-12 will get a ton of bids to the tournament according to Jerry Palm, but I can't for the life of me understand why. They have one ranked team. They are 3-6 against the ACC, 3-3 against the Big 12, 5-2 against the Big 10, and 4-1 against the SEC. They are certainly a better conference top to bottom than the SEC or the Big 12 right now, but the Big 12 and SEC both have better top end ranked teams.

So when I look at Arizona's ranked wins I see Duke. And that's it, with two bad losses. I see a Florida team with 3 ranked wins, and 2 ranked losses. Then there's Witchita State who nobody can really put a bell on except for the fact they win. I guess if I'm sorting brackets, I want to be in Arizona or Syracuse's bracket. Not Florida or Witchita State.

[Rasix]

Arizona has also beaten ranked San Diego State and Michigan on the road.  Again, these are facts and they happened, so I assume you will dismiss them completely.  The wins probably lacked heart, gusto, or moxie.

[Paelos]

Arizona has also beaten ranked San Diego State and Michigan on the road.  Again, these are facts and they happened, so I assume you will dismiss them completely.  The wins probably lacked heart, gusto, or moxie.

I just pulled up the schedule. They weren't ranked when they beat them, so those didn't show up. Those are good wins for them, so absolutely they count. If anybody out of the PAC-12 could have a shot, it's Arizona, since they are the only team to win the thing out of the PAC 12 about 15 years ago.

I honestly don't see West coast basketball (time difference) so when a PAC-12 team claims a #1, I tend to roll my eyes since the last final four team from the PAC-12 was (correct me if I'm wrong) UCLA in 2008. Since then, I haven't really taken the conference seriously, but maybe it's time.

[Rasix]

I don't know if we can avoid a bad shooting/scoring day come the tournament.  The Brandon Ashley injury really devastated the team.  He is part of what made our defense so scary.  We were huge and athletic.  Now we either have to start a 3 guard set or go with Hollis-Jefferson, whose defense pretty much cost us the ASU game. Also, while Jefferson's offensive output is comparable to Ashley's, Ashley was somewhat of a match up nightmare due to his size, bulk, and the fact that he's one of the few people on the team that can hit a fucking free throw. 

If I had to put money on it, I'd say Florida, Duke or maybe even Kansas takes it. I do think we can beat any one of these teams given a solid defensive game and not having a sub 50% free throw night.

[Paelos]

My money is on Florida or Louisville. My dark horse candidate this year is SMU.

[ghost]

Duke and Kansas are coming on strong.  This would be a perfect year for a decent Krykrewski team to win it, too, because there is no other dominant team than Florida.  If they lose Duke looks the best to me.  They're well coached and have the "it" player in Parker.