30Duck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted March 29 It was a good Sweet 16, take away Michigan's disappearing act in the 2nd half against Auburn. Today: No.3 Texas Tech vs No.1 Florida 3:09 PST TBS, TRU TV No.1 Alabama vs No.1 Duke 5:49 PST TBS, TRU TV Sunday: No.2 Tennessee vs No.1 Houston 11;20 PST CBS No,2 Michigan State vs No.1 Auburn 2:05 CBS 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 2 Share Posted March 29 Hats Off to Mr. Old School, Tom Izzo. PO shares stop growing at the Elite 8, so four SEC teams, two B12 teams, one ACC, and one B1G team score big (SEC?) time. Current odds to reach the Final 4 have Ducke favored followed by Florida, Auburn, Houston, Alabama, Michigan State, Tennessee, and Texas Tech. Bama goes crazy from the 3-point line like it did vs. BYU, with 25 3-pointers made, and Duke could be in trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 3 Share Posted March 29 Only one other time since the Tournament has been seeded was there an Elite 8 field of 4-3-1: four 1's, three 2's, one 3' seed That was the "highest ranked Elite 8 ever" at that time. It was 2007 and Oregon was the 3 seed. Can't remember much about 2007 except eventual winner Florida beat Oregon. But, my impression is that the athleticism of this 2024 Elite 8 is better than any I remember. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 4 Share Posted March 29 Am I ready for 4 from Dixie? No. But if it happens will G. Sankey continue to push for tournament expansion? SEC having four Final Four teams possible with March Madness entering Elite Eight WWW.USATODAY.COM Entering the NCAA men's tournament Elite Eight, the SEC has the possibility of four teams in the Final Four after Auburn rallied past Michigan. FOX College Basketball Crown, begins on Monday, May 31, and concludes on April 6th, with all 16 teams staying and playing in Las Vegas. The CBC is not a threat to The Tournament at this point, but is a threat to the NIT. The CBC awards NIL payments directly to the athletes. The SEC is printing money in this season's NCAA Tournament but none of the money is going directly to the players. With the House Settlement to be decided in April, could FOX come up with enough money in direct to the 'student-athlete' payments and to the participating schools, to convince 32 top teams to play in the CBC? Vegas is one of the few places in the world to have the hotel rooms and the arenas to make this happen. GO SPARTY! REMEMBER THERMOPYLEA! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 5 Share Posted March 29 On 3/29/2025 at 12:13 PM, HDuck said: Only one other time since the Tournament has been seeded was there an Elite 8 field of 4-3-1: four 1's, three 2's, one 3' seed That was the "highest ranked Elite 8 ever" at that time. It was 2007 and Oregon was the 3 seed. Can't remember much about 2007 except eventual winner Florida beat Oregon. But, my impression is that the athleticism of this 2024 Elite 8 is better than any I remember. H Duck, some more on your excellent post. March Madness seed success: Men's NCAA Tournament Elite Eight has lowest seed total ever WWW.USATODAY.COM All four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2s and one No. 3 remain in the men's NCAA Tournament, proving this season was all about the top teams in the sport. I find it interesting that NIL and the portal seem to have leveled the playing field in college football and done the opposite in college basketball. Close to 1,000 CBB players are in the portal and the top G6 coaches are being gobbled up by Power conference teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 6 Share Posted March 29 On 3/29/2025 at 9:13 AM, HDuck said: Can't remember much about 2007 except eventual winner Florida beat Oregon. Another "If only" for OBD, Tajaun Porter, 2-10 on 3's, 2-12 overall, couldn't make a shot, still kept it pretty close, 85-77. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 7 Share Posted March 29 No. 3 Texas Tech vs No.1 Florida No.2 Alabama vs No.1 Duke No.2 Tennessee vs No.1 Houston No.2 Michigan State vs No.1 Auburn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 8 Share Posted March 29 On 3/29/2025 at 9:17 AM, Jon Joseph said: GO SPARTY! REMEMBER THERMOPYLE I had to chuckle at this. I do like the spunk with which Tom Izzo's teams play and they were the last of the B1G squads to kiss the trophy, but success in this field by what is probably the least talented team is probably a bit much to ask. Nevertheless, the toughness of Izzo's past (and current) squad is a factor to be dealt with. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 9 Share Posted March 29 ..."Comparing the 2007 and 2025 Elite Eights, the one 18 years ago did have better team records entering the tournament. In 2007, the Elite Eight teams combined for a 226-39 record when the bracket was unveiled. This year, the teams were 223-45. But looking at the metrics, it's clear this year's crop is in a class of its own. In 2007, the top six teams in KenPom made it, but there was the outlier in Oregon, which was No. 18. By definition, not the strongest team to make it. Meanwhile, all of the remaining teams this season are ranked in the top nine of KenPom. " I will add that the Committee had Texas Tech this year as the No. 9 overall seed - which is the top 3 seed. I believe in 2007 the Ducks, though also a 3-seed, were No. 11 or 12 overall. So, this year, overall seeds 1-7 and 9 make this the top seeded Elite 8 ever. I haven't watched a full-game yet. But, in the snippets I've watched, this field looks as talented as a group of 8 that I can remember. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 10 Share Posted March 29 Florida 40 Texas Tech 37 at the half. Texas Tech started out 6-0, but Florida took the lead back. There have been several lead changes, both teams are hitting 3's and getting offensive rebounds, one difference; the Red Raiders are 2-6 on free throws, the Gators are 10-10. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 11 Share Posted March 29 13:26 left in the 2nd half, Texas Tech up 50-46. Florida had a basket disallowed due to offensive interference, 2 minutes ago it was reviewed and called interference, it was just reversed, 50-48. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 12 Share Posted March 30 Florida 84-Texas Tech 79. Whew, Gat-O, that was close, Hough was the man! It sure helped that Tech missed 2 front ends of 1 & 1's down the stretch. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 13 Share Posted March 30 Duke leads 46-37, this just in, Cooper Flagg is really good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 14 Share Posted March 30 Duke 85 Alabama 65. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 15 Share Posted March 30 My bracket has been so good this year that I can hardly believe it. With three minutes left it the Florida-Texas Tech game I considered wadding it up and discarding it as my pick to win the ball of wax was 9 points down and taking (and missing) hurried shots. But I held on because I had seen many times this year Florida clamping down hard at the end of games on defense and repeatedly feeding their All-American guard who is a lethal shot at the end of games. The formula worked once again and my bracket was saved. Having said this, those Gators had better play the kind of intense defense that they are capable of throughout the game should they beat their semi-final opponent (probably but not assuredly Auburn) and face Duke in the finals. They will pose a much steeper challenge for the Devils than a cold shooting Alabama did today--and yes Cooper Flagg is a very fine basketball player. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 16 Share Posted March 30 Never a good strategy to score 15 points in the 1st half, which is what Tennessee did against Houston. Tennessee got it to 50-40, but Houston went on to win, 69-50. Now, B1G No.2 Michigan State vs SEC No.1 Auburn, Michigan State has a 11 game winning streak against SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament. Go, B1G! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 17 Share Posted March 30 A 16-0 run by Auburn opened up a lead, but State got back to 7 down, Auburn leads, 33-24 at halftime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 18 Share Posted March 30 Here Come the Ones and I Say, It's All Right. There's form and then there is ... Imagine the 4-odds-on horses finishing in order in the Kentucky Derby. Me thinks that Duke will upset the upset the order next weekend. Who knew? Perhaps the best player in the Tourney is a freshman from Newport .... MAINE? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave23 No. 19 Share Posted March 31 On 3/29/2025 at 6:32 PM, 30Duck said: Florida 84-Texas Tech 79. Whew, Gat-O, that was close, Hough was the man! It sure helped that Tech missed 2 front ends of 1 & 1's down the stretch. TT shot 53.8% from the line Florida shot 92.6% 25-27. March is all about the charity stripe. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 20 Share Posted March 31 I hadn't watched Houston very closely and for very long before today. That team is longer, more athletic, and a LOT BETTER than I thought it was. I actually picked Tennessee to beat them but knew coming in that their shooters had to be "on" for that to happen. They weren't however and the Cougars defense had something to do with that, although the Vols missed a boatload of 3's even when they had open looks. I have a feeling that next week's semi between Duke and Houston will be an absolute war well worth the price of admission. And kudos to Sparty for hanging in today against Auburn. Auburn is another team famous this year for going for the jugular in the last five minutes of games. With their best player (Broome) largely ineffective due to an injury, they were unable to do that today. If this injury is anything other than minor, the Tigers have little chance of advancing further in his extremely talented field of participants. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
