That finish was just great execution and body blows the whole way. Excellent excellent play right down to the teasing final shot. A+ performance on both sides.
NCAA tourney open thread
- Thread starter CappyNU
- Start date
Vandy vs Nebby game was exciting. Half court shot by Vandy star at the buzzer nearly went in. Nice to see another BigTen team in the Sweet Sixteen. Nebby escapes to move forward.
Still had a second and a half on the clock when he released it. Thought they could have gotten a better look, but I guess that's what they drew up.
Illinois advances to the Sweet 16 to play the University of Houston....in Houston. That should be a good matchup and a fun game to watch.
High point plays like NU imagined it could play early in the year when we were running and gunning all over the place
Eight teams in the Sweet 16 so far. Four from the Big Ten, two from the SEC, one from the ACC, and one from the Big12.
The biggest surprise in the group is Texas as a #11 seed. Not exactly a traditional Cinderella.
Pretty much. Only one 12 seed upset and no 1-4s losing and the only “Cinderella” so far is the one of the largest sports brands in the country. And there is literally only one game tomorrow that could result in a genuine Cinderella (Itah State), all the rest would be result like 7 seed Kentucky going back to the final four. All the talk about Miami Ohio gritting their way in because Indiana and Auburn couldn’t handle business in their conference tournaments is cute, and making the tournament at all is an achievement worth having for all sorts of schools, but it is what it is. More resources needed for Nu.
More fun today. KU SJU was an odd game but a real great finish with more up and down yet gutty play. And Iowa!
Bennet Stirtz is NOT better than Nick Martinelli, but a great win!
Bennet Stirtz is NOT better than Nick Martinelli, but a great win!
Six B1G teams in the Sweet 16 so far, with UCLA currently leading UConn.
Iowa gets Nebraska next. That'll be fun.
Iowa gets Nebraska next. That'll be fun.
It makes me feel the tiniest bit better about this season that the Big 10 has finally showed up in March.
Everyone thought they were getting Florida-Vanderbilt round 3, and instead will get Nebraska-Iowa round 3.
Houston thought they were getting two home games and instead the entirety of the Midwest will be caravanning down to Houston.
Everyone thought they were getting Florida-Vanderbilt round 3, and instead will get Nebraska-Iowa round 3.
Houston thought they were getting two home games and instead the entirety of the Midwest will be caravanning down to Houston.
Top half of the Big Ten was super good this year. Puts the disappointing Nu season in a little more perspective.
Dan Hurley and UConn secured a significant victory against UCLA, advancing to play against Michigan State. This upcoming game promises to be an exciting spectacle.
FWIW, I recall witnessing Bob Hurley and his father years ago when they coached high school teams, specifically St. Benedictine in New Jersey, during an annual holiday tournament held in my area in San Diego. Their high school teams were consistently composed of top players who were highly sought after for college basketball. The Hurley family has a distinguished history of exceptional coaching.
FWIW, I recall witnessing Bob Hurley and his father years ago when they coached high school teams, specifically St. Benedictine in New Jersey, during an annual holiday tournament held in my area in San Diego. Their high school teams were consistently composed of top players who were highly sought after for college basketball. The Hurley family has a distinguished history of exceptional coaching.
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Dan Hurley. Bob is the brother who just got fired from ASU.
We will see how it goes, BIG has had a number of good showings but has not won the big one in a long time and unfortunately that is all that is generally rememberedIt makes me feel the tiniest bit better about this season that the Big 10 has finally showed up in March.
Everyone thought they were getting Florida-Vanderbilt round 3, and instead will get Nebraska-Iowa round 3.
Houston thought they were getting two home games and instead the entirety of the Midwest will be caravanning down to Houston.
Am I the only one who hates seeing Iowa do this well?
I hate it when any lower level B10 team pulls off something like this. A game changing win like this along with a good coach like McCollum has the strong potential to make the Cats world much more difficult.
I get the feeling Medved is going to pull off something similar soon. He did a nice job with a lot of garbage in Minnesota this year.
I hate it when any lower level B10 team pulls off something like this. A game changing win like this along with a good coach like McCollum has the strong potential to make the Cats world much more difficult.
I get the feeling Medved is going to pull off something similar soon. He did a nice job with a lot of garbage in Minnesota this year.
I think the opposite, having teams like Iowa win just makes the Big Ten more desirable for may prospective players. A chance to prove yourself, maybe make the NBA. More likely than if you play in the Sun Belt conference or wherever.
I'm probably more impressed, then "hating it" - but perhaps I'll move into the "hate space" as the recency bias of this game fades.
McCollum brought with him from Drake: Bennett Stirtz, Tavion Banks, Cam Manyawu, Isaia Howard and Kael Combs. Given that Drake is in-state, that transition for those players was probably less jarring (at least geographically). He was able to transfer in: Alvaro Fogueiras and Brendan Hausen. Of course, they were able to get contributions from returners like Cooper Koch as well as frosh like Tate Sage. Credit to him for being able to capitalize on cohesion for a strong start to his Iowa term, and gotta think the sky is the limit for him and Iowa from here on out. (You're right, I'm hating it already.)
Agreed with Medved at Minnesota - I could imagine him getting better results this past season if he only had more depth. He wasn't able to bring as many players from Colorado State to get the same running start that McCollum had. However, I'm very impressed with how in such a short time he was able to establish an identity for the Gophs, and given he grew up in nearby Roseville, MN - this appears to be a precious destination hire for UM.
It's quite striking how those 2 new B1G coaches had success with likely lower NIL$ than DeVries did at Indiana - who also tried to strike gold with veteran transfers alongside his son. As a result, they didn't really play the frosh (like Collins did), and now they're looking at '27 having to do another portal build.
NCAA tournament rooting is almost entirely based purely on bracket interests, especially when you're still in position to win. I am extremely very much still in position to win a lot of money and I have Houston beating Illinois and then coming out of the Florida bracket, so the #1 seed in that region biting the dust before Houston would even have to play then is very bueno.
Also it was a fun game.
Iowa winning the one game isn't going to make or break their program or make a difference in the future.
Nico Medved is going to have to figure out how to raise some money and get some non bottom of the barrell talent in the door. Yeah, he got his team of mostly guys he brought in with him from CSU to overachieve, but their overachievement was just avoiding being TOTAL ****, not actually accomplishing anything or looking like they have any future stars available. They need money.
Medved only brought Jaylen Crocker-Johnson over from CSU. The other main contributors were transfers - Cade Tyson (UNC); Bobby Durkin (Davidson); Langston Reynolds (Northern Colorado); Isaac Asuma was a Gopher last year and Grayson Grove was a frosh.
If anything, he proved that he's worth investing in more as that hobo stew went 8-12 in the B1G!
Bob Hurley Sr coached St Anthony's in Jersey City until the Diocese closed the school in 2017. St. Anthony's provided a lot of underprivileged kids a quality education, unavailable in the public sector. The closure of Catholic High Schools in major cities has been been unfortunate
With Illinois up 38-26 against Houston with 13 minutes to go, it looks like the first three Elite Eight teams will be from the B1G
The Big Ten is frankly kicking ***. With Illinois matching up with Iowa we’ll have at least one final four team guaranteed. Purdue be Arizona will be a slugfest. And the league’s best team plus Michigan State haven’t even had their say yet.
It looks like the only way to beat a B1G team is to be a B1G team!
I don't hold out much hope for Purdue. They've looked like a good team finding victory against other good teams. I'm not sure Arizona is just a good team. It continues being a bummer that B1G teams bump into each other so often. I guess I don't pay enough attention to the other conferences to know how common that is. But this season, it looks like we'll have two separate rounds of the B1G beating its own team to advance.
Purdue is a two seed, 2/3seeds tend to run into one seeds a lot in the elite eight. So which other one seed would you want them going up against? Duke or Mich (FL did get knocked out)?
Don't they play Arizona? If you're talking final 4, then I'd want them to play UConn because UConn is in Duke's bracket.
Well we haven't see Duke or Michigan play their Sweet 16 games, so who knows how those will go. I'm just saying Purdue has been playing like a better than average team.
The #1 seeds Duke & Michigan playing now are being challenged. Both St. John’s and Bama are looking strong and could pull the upset. Michigan in particular didnt play well the last few minutes of the 1st half. Let’s see if they can pick it up in the 2nd half. Both games are tight.
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Illinois curbing alcohol ahead of their showdown with Iowa. Not sure if the drunken riots will be worse if they win or lose 
www.espn.com
Illinois curbs alcohol sales Saturday with Final Four at stake
Champaign officials announced an emergency order limiting alcohol sales on the Illinois campus Saturday night in anticipation of potential property damage and excessive celebrations if the Fighting Illini beat Iowa to advance to the Final Four.
www.espn.com