2013-2014 College Basketball Thread

[MCBarrett]

So the NCAA Basketball Season started up this week and the Kickoff Tournaments are about to start tomorrow so I figured it would be a good time to start up this thread!

I'll list a few topics that are interesting to myself coming into the season but feel free to bring up discussion on your favorite teams and players as well!

-State Farm Champions Classic (#1 Kentucky vs. #2 MSU and #4 Duke vs. #5 Kansas are both on tomorrow night)
-Early Season Predictions: Who do you think will cut down the nets in March?
-Which Freshmen are going to make the biggest impact this season?
-Which Mid Majors are going to be Cinderellas this year and are any going to be true contenders?
-How is the Conference Re-Alignment (fuck football) going to make a difference this season?
-New Rules: How do you think the new Hand Check and Block/Charge Rules are going to impact this season?

Let the Madness begin!

 

[Nog]

BTW imdabes basketball player alive. I dunk on people all day, and shoot over blobs all night. I am the true king of basketball mcb. Hit me up if you want to get spanked. On a more serious note I am REALLY not looking forward to playing Kentucky, they have been too solid for my tastes and we will be in for a tough, tough game come january.

 

[Alan]

I don't really follow college basketball beyond draft value (I like the NBA 1000x more than college ball). Is Wiggins still considered the consensus No. 1 overall?

 

[MCBarrett]

Nog (e) i'd dunk on ur face all day. also uconn > texas a&m :]

and Alan, seems like you aren't the only one here that feels that way about college ball, but its ok thanks for replying :]

Wiggins is definitely still going to be a very high draft pick but he definitely isn't the lock for #1 that it seemed like he would be before the season started. He's been playing well but hasn't had any monster performances yet. Jabari Parker has been playing better than him up to this point and is looking like the top Freshman in the country right now. And if whoever lands the #1 pick needs a big Julius Randle of Kentucky and Aaron Gordon of Arizona have both shown a ton of potential. Also look out for Marcus Smart of Oklahome State. If you remember he would've been a top 10 pick last year but he decided to forego the draft and has been absolutely killing it. He had a 3 game stretch where he averaged over 33 points a game and can do everything on the court. He's like a smaller version of LeBron basically. So yea I could see any of those guys, except for maybe Gordon, going #1 this draft. There's gonna be a lot of happy teams this offseason for sure.

EDIT: Also dont be surprised to see Joel Embiid up there. Freakishly athletic 7 footer from Cameroon who has been playing pretty well for Kansas. Unlike other huge African prospects he actually has some potential on the offensive end.

 

[Byrne]

I'm an Indiana student so obviously I root for them in basketball, but we aren't very good this year tbh. Zeller and Dipo leaving hurts, and now we're left with a shell of last year's team that didn't even end up getting out of the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[Nog]

-Which Freshmen are going to make the biggest impact this season?

Now that our season is nearing its end, I can safely and humbly say that I was the best freshman on my team. GIG EM! Also Julius Randle, the Harrison twins, Jabari Parker, Wiggins (pretty sure he's a freshman), and Tyler Ennis are all aight.

 

[The_Chaser]

I've been watching a fair number of UCLA games, I definitely think that Kyle Anderson should be a top-15 pick, he's an exceptionally versatile all round player who can pass, shoot and rebound.

 

[tennisace]

welp i lost the billion dollar challenge in the first game

fuck dayton

 

[WaterBomb]

why are there not more posts in here? GO HOOS!

In other news dem 5 seeds...

 

[Nog]

March Sadness totally ruined all chances I had of making a decent bracket. Seriously fuck upsets.

 

[tennisace]

why are there not more posts in here? GO HOOS!

In other news dem 5 seeds...

i got all the 12/5 games right but duke really fucked me. granted, a couple of them went to OT but the champs of little conferences are generally seeded 12th and decent big conference teams are seeded 5th. the committee undervalues the little guys bcos of poor SOS but it's not their fault :/

 

[Phadunk]

A lot of these games have been decided by a possession, maybe two. It's exciting to watch regardless of your bracket choice.

Somehow my dad has only 2 wrong so far. The duke game and the VCU.

It's just blind luck. No reason to rage lol.

 

[WaterBomb]

The end of that VCU game was particularly crazy considering the four point play. I mean, in a situation like that you don't even have to be defending the guy that closely because you know even if he makes it you still have the lead with what, 2 seconds left? VCU definitely shit themselves in the foot there.

 

[moonbound]

Kansas and Nova lost, only 2 two seeds left. At this point you wonder how many brackets even got a perfect sweet sixteen.

UK-Wichita could easily be game of the tournament, you all better be watching. As a Louisville native, I really do not want anything to do with either team. At least I can root for the school I'll be attending next fall (UVA) as well as UofL.

 

[MCBarrett]

Yea this game is absolutely huge. I could see either one being a final four team and it's such and early matchup. This year has been brutal in terms of picking a good bracket but so many teams have a shot at winning I think it's gonna be one of the most exciting tournaments in a long time.

 

[tennisace]

I picked Kentucky over Wichita from the start but I wanted to see them shut up the haters and go undefeated all the way :(

I had Nova losing to UConn too, since the Big East was nowhere near as good as they seemed this year. Watch for Creighton to lay an egg vs Baylor. I also had Kansas losing round 2 because I knew Embiid wasn't gonna play, but I had them losing to New Mexico. OH WELL.

 

[MCBarrett]

Yea i was definitely rooting for Wichita but can't be disappointed with such an exciting game like that. Both teams played their best ball and it came down to the last shot. One of the best games of the year imo.

Definitely agree with you on the Big East hype by the selection committee. It's just not the same conference anymore and the AAC got boned as a result of the committee not realizing that. I would've liked to see SMU in the tourney since they've come so far since Larry Brown took over but the committee didn't feel that the AAC was a legit conference I guess. UConn and Louisville are both gonna make deep runs though imo.

And i made the same pick with New Mexico over Kansas after hearing Embiid wouldn't play but the Mountain West boned me for the 3rd straight year lol. Last time I'm picking any team from that conference to go deep.

 

[Phadunk]

Lol. These brackets are soooo shit atm. Group of 28 people and it's all just a fucking mess.

A beautiful, exciting, mess.

 

[WaterBomb]

Watch for Creighton to lay an egg vs Baylor.

Holy crap were you right on the money on that one...

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I called Creighton losing as well, I have Baylor going to the final four before losing to Louisville in my bracket.

Then again I had Kansas and Villanova in the other half of my final four /me cries

 

[tennisace]

Holy crap were you right on the money on that one...

The Big LEast strikes again :V (plus Baylor has a bunch of huge guys in the frontcourt and Creighton has to play small). 13/16 is pretty good for this year's Sweet 16 tho, I wiffed completely on Duke and then 'cuse and New Mexico got bounced.

 

[Nog]

UCONN, that is all