OFFICIAL 2011 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[CardiacCoug]

Another officiating point I have been noticing this tournament:

The "block-or-charge" calls used to always be made by the ref under the basket. Now the ref under the basket almost always defers this call to one of the other refs.

Unrelated: These games in Chicago have been terrible for the fans in the arena. Purdue and Notre Dame fans dominate the crowd and neither fanbase has had anything to be happy about. So much for the homecourt advantage.

[TripletDaddy]

The big east.

Stupid domers, ruining my bracket.

[jay santos]

As long as we have been discussing refereeing here (where's Haddow when you need him?)....

I didn't think that was a backcourt violation on Syracuse at the end of that game.

If you can catch the inbounds pass completely in the backcourt, why can't you catch the ball with a foot on the halfcourt line like the Syracuse player did and then bring the ball into the frontcourt?

That call made no sense to me.

Bad call. He caught the ball in the air and landed on the line. I wonder if they're going to roll the old guy out to explain why it was a good call.

[CardiacCoug]

The elaborate matching tattoos of the Morris twins for Kansas crack me up.

Only Ohio State had a larger margin of victory in its "third round" game than BYU.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

If FSU beats ND and Kansas holds on here's the Sweet 16 breakdown by conference:

ACC: 3 (4 teams, 2 teams seeded to make sweet 16)

Big 10: 2 (7 teams, 3 teams)

Big East: 2 (11 teams, 5 teams)

MWC: 2 (3 teams, 2 teams)

SEC: 2 (5 teams, 2 teams)

A 10: 1 (3 teams, 0 teams)

Big 12: 1 (5 teams, 2 teams)

Colonial: 1 (3 teams, 0 teams)

Horizon: 1 (1 team, 0 teams)

PAC 10: 1 (4 teams, 0 teams)

Conclusions:

The Big East was ridiculously over seeded. I can't say they didn't deserve to get 11 teams in because the 11th team is in the sweet 16, then again that 11th team beat a BE team to get to the sweet 16.

Certain teams/conferences deserved higher seeds. Most notably the PAC 10. UCLA and UW probably should have been higher than 7 seeds. Kentucky should have received Syracuse's 3.

The Colonial league has played well. OD got beat on buzzer beater. GMU won its first round game and VCU is in the sweet 16. More of these types of conferences deserve multiple bids, most notably conferences like the WCC and the MVC.

[pellegrino]

The Big East had 5 teams seeded to make the Sweet 16. Three of them have now been beaten. Granted one of teams that beat them was another BE team, but that team is going to get its ass kicked by UNC.

and I look forward to it

[Flystripper]

I thought the first foot that came down after he caught the ball was on the line and then after that he was barely in frontcourt. I would have to take another look at it though.

You could be right. I don't think they would have called a violation if he was not trying to do a balancing act and just caught the ball nonchalantly. The way that he caught it should not have made a difference in the call, but I think the attempt to stay in the front court drew attention to the ref that player thought that he had possession in the front court.

[FN Phat]

I think he caught it in the front court and then stepped on the line

This. If Scoop would have let.the ball get to the back court first he would have been good to go. He caught it in the front court andnthen went into the back court. One of 3 costly turnovers at the end of the game that proved to be costly.

[Flystripper]

Yeah I don't get it either.

It was a bad call if he did not have possession in the front court. If he established possession in the front court and then stepped on the line then it is a back court violation. I thought it was a close call. He should have just caught it in the back court and made the easy play.

[CardiacCoug]

I think he caught it in the front court and then stepped on the line

I thought the first foot that came down after he caught the ball was on the line and then after that he was barely in frontcourt. I would have to take another look at it though.

[FMCoug]

FSU is beating ND right now. It's impossible to say that will hold, but if it does it will just show that the BE continues to be the ACC's you know what. The ACC got four teams in the tourney and three of them will be in the Sweet 16.

Can't have that. We need ND in the Final Four so Jimmer can go coast to coast on them with seconds left to win the game and send BYU to the championship game.

[Coach McGuirk]

Marquette is Big East, no? Also Notre Dame is still alive so far.

If ND loses they will have 2. Marquette is a Big East team so someone had to advance.

Yes. I missed them while perusing the sweetness of the 16.

[Jeff Lebowski]

As long as we have been discussing refereeing here (where's Haddow when you need him?)....

I didn't think that was a backcourt violation on Syracuse at the end of that game.

If you can catch the inbounds pass completely in the backcourt, why can't you catch the ball with a foot on the halfcourt line like the Syracuse player did and then bring the ball into the frontcourt?

That call made no sense to me.

Yeah I don't get it either.

[Flystripper]

As long as we have been discussing refereeing here (where's Haddow when you need him?)....

I didn't think that was a backcourt violation on Syracuse at the end of that game.

If you can catch the inbounds pass completely in the backcourt, why can't you catch the ball with a foot on the halfcourt line like the Syracuse player did and then bring the ball into the frontcourt?

That call made no sense to me.

I think he caught it in the front court and then stepped on the line

[Color Me Badd Fan]

FSU is beating ND right now. It's impossible to say that will hold, but if it does it will just show that the BE continues to be the ACC's you know what. The ACC got four teams in the tourney and three of them will be in the Sweet 16.