Jon Joseph Moderator No. 1 Share Posted March 25, 2023 With the Elite 8 games being played today and tomorrow only two Power 5 conferences have the opportunity to make the Final 4, the B12 and the ACC. Texas vs Miami in the Elite 8 game means that a B12 or ACC team will head to Houston for the Final 4. Kansas State will be in the Final 4 if it defeats FAU. Although having seeds galore, no Power 2 team from the SEC and the B1G made the Elite 8. And no number-one seed will play in the Final 4. The B1G has not won an NCAA basketball title since the year 2000. Pathetic when considering the number of teams the B1G sends to the Tournament season after season. $8.2M a year Kentucky coach John Calipari has rarely parlayed his always highly-rated roster into championships. Last evening 5 seed San Diego State (hopefully a soon-to-be Pac conference member) started 4 seniors and 1 junior in its victory over overall number 1 seed Alabama. Darren Perkins delivered a terrific article this week on the need for Oregon's NIL arm, Division Street, to step in with NIL money for the basketball program. However, many of the teams that recruit and depend upon 'one and done ' players straight out of high school do not have the chemistry to succeed come Tournament time. I imagine Coach Dana Altman is paying attention. I hope so. Players like four-year guard Pritchard, now with the Celtics, are solid gold come Tournament time. Meanwhile, expect the SEC and B1G to continue to be overrated season after season. 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 2 Share Posted March 26, 2023 I have to concur about the SEC and B1G being badly overrated in terms in terms of number of entrants in the Dance this year. I will say that since 2001, the SEC has produced three national champs as compared to 0 for the B1G and Pac-12. And by far, using championships as a measuring stick, the ACC and Big-12 have it all over the other three Power-5 Conferences. Calipari at Kentucky has probably done less with more than any coach of the modern era. I actually think that he is not a bad floor coach. His over entitled 5-stars need to recognize that they are not yet ready for prime time and need to develop beyond their freshman year before jumping to the NBA, where many of them do not stick. I often wonder what Mark Few of Gonzaga could do with these Kentucky classes if he could get a few of them to stick around for three years. Yet I suspect that the delights of Spokane, WA would not be much of an enticement. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 3 Share Posted March 26, 2023 With all this nil money flowing into college sports you would think more 5 stars would stick around longer. Guess it proves that the money for these kids has always been there and in one form or another always will be. As far as The power 5 conferences not performing up to the status that we expect in basketball or other sports it is much easier to put together a team with 7 studs than it is with 45 which Kirby and Nick always seem to get. Plus the kids that pick Gonzaga for instance might be going there for an education as an example. With a good point guard and a couple of bigs that can shoot a free throw at the end of a close game can be all you need to win in basketball these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennsylvania Duck Moderator No. 4 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Brian Dutcher pitches Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to join conference Since USC and UCLA announced their decisions to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, San Diego State has been linked to the conference as it looks to regroup from the two high-profile departures. It sounds like the Aztecs’ head basketball coach would be on board with making the jump. Brian Dutcher made his case for the Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to the league during his Saturday media session ahead of the Elite Eight. He said he wouldn’t expect an invitation if USC and UCLA were still in the league because the Pac-12 already had the Los Angeles market. If the conference wants a replacement, Dutcher thinks SDSU would be a good fit both on and off the playing field. “My own personal belief is I always thought the Pac-12 would not ask us in with UCLA and USC because they would put us on equal footing, and we would be too great a competitor to let in,” Dutcher said. “Now that they’re gone and Southern California has a really good team sitting in San Diego, I would think we would be desirable for the Pac-12, the Big 12, a lot of conferences. “We’ve won a lot of games in football and basketball. Non-revenue sports have always been good. We do things the right way, we have a great university, and we have a competitive athletic program.” Brian Dutcher pitches Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to join conference - On3 WWW.ON3.COM San Diego State head basketball coach Brian Dutcher made his pitch for the Pac-12 to invite the Aztecs to the conference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 5 Share Posted March 26, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 1:31 AM, Nevada Dawg said: I have to concur about the SEC and B1G being badly overrated in terms in terms of number of entrants in the Dance this year. I will say that since 2001, the SEC has produced three national champs as compared to 0 for the B1G and Pac-12. And by far, using championships as a measuring stick, the ACC and Big-12 have it all over the other three Power-5 Conferences. Calipari at Kentucky has probably done less with more than any coach of the modern era. I actually think that he is not a bad floor coach. His over entitled 5-stars need to recognize that they are not yet ready for prime time and need to develop beyond their freshman year before jumping to the NBA, where many of them do not stick. I often wonder what Mark Few of Gonzaga could do with these Kentucky classes if he could get a few of them to stick around for three years. Yet I suspect that the delights of Spokane, WA would not be much of an enticement. Great take. After last night in Las Vegas, I think Coach Few has gone into hibernation for the rest of the winter. There is a Power 2 financially. But a Power 1 when it comes to football and that is clearly the SEC. And I more than agree that the SEC has performed better than the B1G in the Tournament. The B1G has big money based mostly upon a huge number of living graduates and its teams benefit financially from being located in the eastern and central time zones. The B1G has 3 teams that play very good to excellent football and the conference year after year is vastly overrated basketball. This season, I have generally seen the best CBB being played in the Big East. Last night's win by FAU, the UConn beat down of Gonzaga and the other teams it has played in the tourney, as well as the play of San Diego State and Creighton, show how often wrong the AP top 25 basketball poll is and how erroneous is any number of seeds the Committee comes up with. For the most part, the football playoff (BCS x 2) Committee has gotten it right. Future SEC member Texas could defeat Miami today and win the whole darn thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 6 Share Posted March 26, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 11:01 AM, Pennsylvania Duck said: Brian Dutcher pitches Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to join conference Since USC and UCLA announced their decisions to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, San Diego State has been linked to the conference as it looks to regroup from the two high-profile departures. It sounds like the Aztecs’ head basketball coach would be on board with making the jump. Brian Dutcher made his case for the Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to the league during his Saturday media session ahead of the Elite Eight. He said he wouldn’t expect an invitation if USC and UCLA were still in the league because the Pac-12 already had the Los Angeles market. If the conference wants a replacement, Dutcher thinks SDSU would be a good fit both on and off the playing field. “My own personal belief is I always thought the Pac-12 would not ask us in with UCLA and USC because they would put us on equal footing, and we would be too great a competitor to let in,” Dutcher said. “Now that they’re gone and Southern California has a really good team sitting in San Diego, I would think we would be desirable for the Pac-12, the Big 12, a lot of conferences. “We’ve won a lot of games in football and basketball. Non-revenue sports have always been good. We do things the right way, we have a great university, and we have a competitive athletic program.” Brian Dutcher pitches Pac-12 to invite San Diego State to join conference - On3 WWW.ON3.COM San Diego State head basketball coach Brian Dutcher made his pitch for the Pac-12 to invite the Aztecs to the conference. IMO, the Pac-10 should be on its knees hoping SDS says 'YES" to the Pac and not to the B12. As to the Aztec's success in football and basketball, the coach is spot on. I want to hear no beefing about academics from CAL and Stanford especially. 2 schools that can no longer compare to SDS on the field and on the court. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 7 Share Posted March 26, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 10:45 AM, Just Ducky said: With all this nil money flowing into college sports you would think more 5 stars would stick around longer. Guess it proves that the money for these kids has always been there and in one form or another always will be. As far as The power 5 conferences not performing up to the status that we expect in basketball or other sports it is much easier to put together a team with 7 studs than it is with 45 which Kirby and Nick always seem to get. Plus the kids that pick Gonzaga for instance might be going there for an education as an example. With a good point guard and a couple of bigs that can shoot a free throw at the end of a close game can be all you need to win in basketball these days. Great take about it being far easier to field a strong basketball team than a strong football team. As to education? I'm not certain about Alabama but I believe that Georgia is ranked higher academically than Gonzaga. Last night evidenced why Gonzaga players, including Drew Timme, stick around and excel in the WCCC. UConn was far deeper and far more athletic than Gonzaga, IMO, UCLA with the 2 important players it was missing would have defeated the Zags by at least 7 to 10 points. Gonzaga in most years would be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big East. And if the Zags do go to the B12 it will not be pretty on the basketball court. As to NIL? One reason Miami is playing Texas today is because of the kid Canes' booster Ruiz bought in from K State. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennsylvania Duck Moderator No. 8 Share Posted March 26, 2023 More administrators should listen to what Brian Dutcher says about travel... San Diego State's Brian Dutcher: 'Going to be more realignment' With San Diego State playing in the school's first-ever Elite Eight NCAA tournament game on Sunday against Creighton, Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said opportunity looms for the basketball program and the school's athletic department, with both USC and UCLA headed to the Big Ten next season. "Realignment is here," Dutcher said. "So everybody is just waiting for the next shoe to drop. Whether that's the Big Ten or the Pac-12 or the Big 12 or ACC. There's going to be more realignment." With UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 and soon to be playing a vast majority of their conference games thousands of miles away, San Diego State plans to entrench itself in Southern California as a sensible regional option. The Aztecs played their opening weekend of the NCAA tournament more than 2,000 miles away in Orlando, Florida, and Dutcher said that trip gave him a window into the travel challenges that the new Big Ten schools will be facing in basketball. San Diego State's Brian Dutcher: 'Going to be more realigment' WWW.ESPN.COM With San Diego State playing in its first Elite Eight game vs. Creighton on Sunday, Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said the... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioDuck No. 9 Share Posted March 26, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 1:31 AM, Nevada Dawg said: I have to concur about the SEC and B1G being badly overrated in terms in terms of number of entrants in the Dance this year. I will say that since 2001, the SEC has produced three national champs as compared to 0 for the B1G and Pac-12. And by far, using championships as a measuring stick, the ACC and Big-12 have it all over the other three Power-5 Conferences. Calipari at Kentucky has probably done less with more than any coach of the modern era. I actually think that he is not a bad floor coach. His over entitled 5-stars need to recognize that they are not yet ready for prime time and need to develop beyond their freshman year before jumping to the NBA, where many of them do not stick. I often wonder what Mark Few of Gonzaga could do with these Kentucky classes if he could get a few of them to stick around for three years. Yet I suspect that the delights of Spokane, WA would not be much of an enticement. Yeah, a couple of things I wonder about in CBB. 1. How Mark Few gets done what he gets done where he's at? 2. How Cal is still at Kentucky? I know they didn't hire him to create a minor league team for the NBA. The NC is all that matters at UK. Cal hasn't done that in a long time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioDuck No. 10 Share Posted March 26, 2023 SDSU vs FAU, all mid-major semi-final. For a mid-major basketball fan (sorry, Duck football fan, VCU basketball fan) it could only be better than that if they were playing in the final. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 11 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Well for some reason, my drag function is not allowing me to select quotes. I have I point of agreement and one informational agreement with Jon Joseph. Point of agreement: I do think Texas could well win this sucker and will be rooting for them today to support a good Longhorn friend. However if I had to bet $1000 on this game, my money would be on UConn. Point of information: Gonzaga is a private university and, as such, privates are usually not compared academically to public universities. But I will say that Georgia is a "Public Ivy," and has been since the late 80s. This is a loose designation for the top 20 public institutions in the country. In the SEC, Florida is also a member of that club, and the league picks up another with the admission of University of Texas.. Vanderbilt would also be in the club were it a public institution. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 12 Share Posted March 27, 2023 I thought it really interesting that three of the final four entrants, FAU, SDSU, and Miami, are newbies having never been there before. In my humble opinion, this is great for college BB. I knew Texas had been once and then learned that this was in the inaugural 1939 tournament which consisted of only 8 teams, Oregon being the winner over Texas I believe. At any rate, a lot of new tams were making noise this year. Great! I don't honestly remember but has Oregon won other Nattys in MBB other that the first one in 39? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus No. 13 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Oregon defeated Ohio State in the ffinals of the first ever NCAA tournament. Ohio State defeated Oregon in the first ever CFP Championship Game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 14 Share Posted March 27, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 5:06 PM, OhioDuck said: SDSU vs FAU, all mid-major semi-final. For a mid-major basketball fan (sorry, Duck football fan, VCU basketball fan) it could only be better than that if they were playing in the final. 2nd time ever in Tourney history that 2 'little guys' play one another in the Final 4. Play SDSU and you best be ready for a brawl game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 15 Share Posted March 27, 2023 On 3/26/2023 at 5:13 PM, Nevada Dawg said: Well for some reason, my drag function is not allowing me to select quotes. I have I point of agreement and one informational agreement with Jon Joseph. Point of agreement: I do think Texas could well win this sucker and will be rooting for them today to support a good Longhorn friend. However if I had to bet $1000 on this game, my money would be on UConn. Point of information: Gonzaga is a private university and, as such, privates are usually not compared academically to public universities. But I will say that Georgia is a "Public Ivy," and has been since the late 80s. This is a loose designation for the top 20 public institutions in the country. In the SEC, Florida is also a member of that club, and the league picks up another with the admission of University of Texas.. Vanderbilt would also be in the club were it a public institution. Forbes does a combined ranking every year of all colleges and universities, public and private in the USA every year. Proud to say my alma mater, Bowdoin College, finished #14 last year. When I attended I did very little to lift the school's academic excellence. I did lift many the cup from a keg. I believe the 1st president of Georgia was a graduate of Yale and brought with him the Bulldogs as the school's mascot. The name UGA for the mascot is perfect. (Please correct me if I am in error.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 16 Share Posted March 28, 2023 I trust you are talking about. Josiah Meigs, revolutionary war hero also credited as the founder of the University of Georgia. I am proud to say that I once held a professsorship named for Meigs. The first game ever played in Sanford Stadium was the Yale Bulldogs vs. Georgia, in 1929 if I remember correctly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 17 Share Posted March 28, 2023 On 3/28/2023 at 1:31 AM, Nevada Dawg said: I trust you are talking about. Josiah Meigs, revolutionary war hero also credited as the founder of the University of Georgia. I am proud to say that I once held a professsorship named for Meigs. The first game ever played in Sanford Stadium was the Yale Bulldogs vs. Georgia, in 1929 if I remember correctly. Exactly and thanks for the feedback. Making money off a Revolutionary War Hero? Hats off to you Sir. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
