OFFICIAL 2011 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[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.

[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.

[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.

[TripletDaddy]

The big east.

Stupid domers, ruining my bracket.

[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.

[CardiacCoug]

This was awesome. Nothing better than Barkley talking college basketball. Nobody else would ever say something like that with Pitino sitting two seats away.

[YOUTUBE]KICopya1O14[/YOUTUBE]

[TripletDaddy]

Pitino went on record to say that Notre Dame wasn't going to lose.

Thanks, Rick.

[pellegrino]

I couldn't agree more w/ Sir Charles. Does anyone know if he makes his bracket public? I may have to take some crib notes next year.

[CardiacCoug]

Kansas only has to beat two double-digit seeded teams to make the Final 4.

[smokymountainrain]

This was awesome. Nothing better than Barkley talking college basketball. Nobody else would ever say something like that with Pitino sitting two seats away.

[YOUTUBE]KICopya1O14[/YOUTUBE]

That was funny, but also somewhat uncomfortable. Barkley is a big-mouthed, opiniated, experienced, studio guy where Pitino is a just a coach who agreed to sit in for the rest of the tournament. Not a fair fight, IMO. But yes, Barkely is right and it's soooo sweet to see the Big East going down in flames like this. Hell, the only two teams left are teams that beat other big east teams. Somebody had to win. Hysterical.

[doctorcoug]

This was awesome. Nothing better than Barkley talking college basketball. Nobody else would ever say something like that with Pitino sitting two seats away.

[YOUTUBE]KICopya1O14[/YOUTUBE]

Is it a coincidence that the tournament expands and the big east gets three extra teams in than some feel should have been in?

[cougjunkie]

If the Big East did not get lucky and have UCONN and Marquette play other Big East teams they might not get anyone to the 2nd weekend.

Big Least is weak and overrated. They have proven that with their play so far in the tournament.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The inclusion of Barkley in the studio has been great and I think his ripping on the Big East will have some lasting effect on the perception. He didn't just barely start saying this, he's been saying since Selection Sunday.

The fact of the matter is this:

Marquette and Villanova probably shouldn't have even gotten into the tourney. I say this even though Marquette is in the sweet 16-- they beat Syracuse to get there. Georgetown, St. John's and Cincy were overseeded- they should have been 9-12 seeds. The fact these teams got 6 seeds over teams like UCLA and UW is a joke. WV should have been a 6 or 7. Syracuse should have been a 4.

[Clark Addison]

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.

I am weighing in late here, but I think it was the right call.

I agree with you, he caught the ball in the air, but he had left the ground from the front-court, therefore, while he was in the air, he was still in the front-court. So he catches the ball in the front-court (due to his position), and when he lands, he lands with a foot on the line, creating a back-court call.

[il Padrino Ute]

9 out of 11 eliminated after the first weekend. Yep, the Big East is definitely not overrated.