March Madness 2021

[GravitySucks]

My Orangemen were eliminated today. Lost at the 00.2 second point.
Great game though. I think Virginia will be at least an Elite 8 team.

 

[Big_Hitter]

put it all on HOUSTON

 

[harllee]

My Tar Heels win a tough one against Virginia Tech. Survive and advance!

 

[harllee]

Both Duke and Virginia are out of the ACC Tourney due to players testing positive. At this point I wonder if the ACC Tourney will be cancelled.

 

[GravitySucks]

Georgia Tech won the ACC with an impressive defense.
Betting they'll go far in the NCAA tourney.

 

[sengsational]

Both Duke and Virginia are out of the ACC Tourney due to players testing positive. At this point I wonder if the ACC Tourney will be cancelled.

My other alma mater won it! Go Jackets! But I told DW that having been ejected from the ACC playoffs was the best thing that could have happened to Duke this year...the Jacket win will have the dreaded asterisk, and the "usual champions" (coughDukecough) will wave a hand and say 2021 doesn't count due to Covid. And I'm always glad that to see the Seminoles loose

 

[conversationalphrase]

Yesterday THE Ohio State Buckeyes had a nice win over that school up north to advance to the Big10 finals today!

 

[harllee]

Tonight is the NCAA Selection show at 6 pm on CBS. Going to be interesting. Fun time of year.

 

[Montecfo]

Baylor Lady Bears looking rather formidable winning both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. Maybe peaking at the right time.

 

[harllee]

Anybody filling out their brackets yet? The Thursday play in game Mich St v UCLA is a head scratcher for me

 

[harllee]

Baylor Lady Bears looking rather formidable winning both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. Maybe peaking at the right time.

Baylor is having a heck of a basketball season --Baylor men are #1 seed in the east and Baylor women should be a high seed. In the men's tournament if my UNC Tar Heels can squeak by Wisconsin then they will face Baylor in the second game.

 

[MBAustin]

Just to clarify, I haven't seen that any of the teams out for COVID so far have said that a player tested positive. I think the rule is that if anyone in the 34-person travel party (includes coaches, trainers, etc.) tests positive, the team is out until they complete the full protocol (which for the NCAA tournament is 7 consecutive days of testing with no positives). My understanding is that some of the players are out temporarily due to contact tracing (I assume they need to have more than 7 days of testing). Definitely a logistical nightmare to manage. I just hope they can pull off the tournament with most if not all the games played. I'm going to wait to fill out my bracket until tomorrow in case someone drops out in the next 24 hours.

I'm going for Texas as a long shot to make the final four - they have a relatively easy path. Georgia Tech looked solid in the ACC final but got a terrible bracket draw. (Those of you who have been around awhile may remember me as a true-blue Dukie...bummer of a year.)

 

[harllee]

Just to clarify, I haven't seen that any of the teams out for COVID so far have said that a player tested positive. I think the rule is that if anyone in the 34-person travel party (includes coaches, trainers, etc.) tests positive, the team is out until they complete the full protocol (which for the NCAA tournament is 7 consecutive days of testing with no positives). My understanding is that some of the players are out temporarily due to contact tracing (I assume they need to have more than 7 days of testing). Definitely a logistical nightmare to manage. I just hope they can pull off the tournament with most if not all the games played. I'm going to wait to fill out my bracket until tomorrow in case someone drops out in the next 24 hours.

I'm going for Texas as a long shot to make the final four - they have a relatively easy path. Georgia Tech looked solid in the ACC final but got a terrible bracket draw. (Those of you who have been around awhile may remember me as a true-blue Dukie...bummer of a year.)

MB--when Duke had to withdraw from the ACC tournament it was announced that one of their players had tested positive (I think he was a walk on but still he was on their bench and in the locker room and bus etc). UVA also had to withdraw from the ACC tournament and I understand that their issue was contact tracing. Louisville is the first team "out" os the NCAA which means if one of the NCAA teams cannot compete due to Covid issues then Louisville will get in, I bet that will happen.

 

[GravitySucks]

Just to clarify, I haven't seen that any of the teams out for COVID so far have said that a player tested positive. I think the rule is that if anyone in the 34-person travel party (includes coaches, trainers, etc.) tests positive, the team is out until they complete the full protocol (which for the NCAA tournament is 7 consecutive days of testing with no positives). My understanding is that some of the players are out temporarily due to contact tracing (I assume they need to have more than 7 days of testing). Definitely a logistical nightmare to manage. I just hope they can pull off the tournament with most if not all the games played. I'm going to wait to fill out my bracket until tomorrow in case someone drops out in the next 24 hours.

I'm going for Texas as a long shot to make the final four - they have a relatively easy path. Georgia Tech looked solid in the ACC final but got a terrible bracket draw. (Those of you who have been around awhile may remember me as a true-blue Dukie...bummer of a year.)

UVA made it by 1 day but will be playing short one man till Sweet 16 due to Covid.
Geno Auriemma will not be able to coach the Huskies until at least the Sweet 16 as he has Covid.
Six mens referees have been disqualified for this week too.

All before anything starts. Should be an interesting year.

 

[GravitySucks]

Sigh
VCU pulled out due to Covid.

My Orangemen went off last night. Shooting guard Buddy Boeheim dropped over 30 points. So much for the people who were saying he only gets his time because he's the coach's son.

 

[RunningBum]

Fun tourney overall so far. I thought there might be a lot of upsets since there was fewer games between conferences, making it harder to seed teams. Unfortunately none of the upsets I picked in my bracket have come through yet.

 

[GravitySucks]

Well my brackets are not looking good.
But way more important SU moves on to the Sweet 16. Everything looks to be clicking for them. Buddy Buckets has 5 25+ point games this March.
Orangewomen pulled off a nice win, dominating the 4th quarter. Now on to Uconn.

 

[Montecfo]

Texas A&M women with a crazy OT buzzer beating win over hot shooting Iowa State.

Survive and advance... To Sweet 16.

 

[Blue531]

I felt so bad for Iowa State women. They led most of that game and were so poised until toward the end. Mistakes and missed foul shots cost them the game. They fought so hard and played well. Iowa women played their best game yet beating Kentucky. I was pleasantly surprised because the first round game they played they looked flat I thought that was the worst game they ever played. So now my 2 favorite teams play each other --UConn vs Iowa women and I think UConn will come out the victor but I hope Iowa plays well like last game.

 

[GravitySucks]

Uconn looked unbeatable against SU. Uconn Freshman point Gaurd is going to have a career. I get tired of seeing them- only problem with the Women's game, only 3 or 4 teams dominate the field over many years.

 

[gcgang]

My Michigan is one of 3 schools w teams in the Sweet Sixteen for both Men and Women.

Women play Baylor (also one of the three) Saturday. My daughter currently attends and runs track/XC at Baylor, so an intra-family showdown, although this Saturday will be the first time I’ve watched UM Women play.

If the men play each other, it would be in the championship game.

Go Blue!

 

[Dtail]

Uconn looked unbeatable against SU. Uconn Freshman point Gaurd is going to have a career. I get tired of seeing them- only problem with the Women's game, only 3 or 4 teams dominate the field over many years.

I love watching the UConn women play. Gino is a tough coach, but they all come back to him after graduating.
I think having so many freshmen on the team could come into play if/when they play Baylor.
Paige is the real deal, plus they have the top recruit coming in next year.

 

[Montecfo]

I felt so bad for Iowa State women. They led most of that game and were so poised until toward the end. Mistakes and missed foul shots cost them the game. They fought so hard and played well. Iowa women played their best game yet beating Kentucky. I was pleasantly surprised because the first round game they played they looked flat I thought that was the worst game they ever played. So now my 2 favorite teams play each other --UConn vs Iowa women and I think UConn will come out the victor but I hope Iowa plays well like last game.

They shot lights out. 16-29 from 3 point land. And they just missed a single foul shot.

But 24 turnovers was a lot, and down the stretch they cooled off. Several of A&Ms stars had poor games but did just enough to win behind career game by Jordan Nixon, who tied the game in reg and also hit the game winner in OT.

Was very impressed with Iowa State noting they beat Baylor this year and are young but good.

 

[Montecfo]

My Michigan is one of 3 schools w teams in the Sweet Sixteen for both Men and Women.

Women play Baylor (also one of the three) Saturday. My daughter currently attends and runs track/XC at Baylor, so an intra-family showdown, although this Saturday will be the first time I’ve watched UM Women play.

If the men play each other, it would be in the championship game.

Go Blue!

Some fun games ahead. I think Baylor Lady Bears are playing the best ball in the country right now.

 

[GravitySucks]

My Orangemen are eliminated by Houston due to a poor night of shooting.
Moving On to cheer for Michigan and Gonzaga.