NCAA Tournament

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Is there something funny I should know about?
 
The selection committee did a good job of balancing the brackets pretty well. Sometimes, they're way out of whack with a killer region and a cakewalk region. I think the South is the toughest with Baylor and Ohio State. The Midwest may be the easiest with Illinois and Houston as the top two dogs. Okla St and WV are fortunate to find themselves in the Midwest, and could make some serious waves deep into the bracket. While the West has the best team, Gonzaga, Iowa is their number 2, and a late year weakened KU team with virus concerns is their #3.

I think our East is next easiest, just above the Midwest.

Toughest to easiest regions this year:

South
West
East
Midwest
 
Today are the play-in games.

The top one to watch is Michigan State v. UCLA at 9pm CST on TBS. The winner takes on BYU, and the winner of that takes on us (or Abilene Christian). I want UCLA to win as I consider Michigan State more dangerous.


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This guy looks like the aggie of the ancient world

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It's all fun and games for the UCLA Bruins


I regard Michigan State as a very dangerous team--giant killers. They have beaten Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State. They lack consistency and lost in the first round of the Big 10 tournament to Maryland.

Forward Aaron Henry leads the Spartans with 15.3 ppg
Joey Hauser leads with 5.7 rebound per game

Mich State's scoring is frontcourt heavy--which is unusual in today's game, and means you can count on them pounding it inside some old-school, although these forwards can also shoot from outside--especially Henry. Henry will create match up problems as he scores inside and outside. WV is probably the closest thing we've seen on our schedule.

Henry (F) 15.3 ppg
Hauser (F) 9.7 ppg
Langford (G) 9.6 ppg
Watts (G) 7.7 ppg
Brown (F) 7.2 ppg
2020-21 Michigan State Spartans Stats | ESPN

2020-21 M. Basketball Schedule - Michigan State University Athletics

UCLA has been slumping late in the season. The PAC is pretty weak this year. But it's still UCLA.
Johnny Juzang (cool name) leads the Bruins with 14 ppg. Jaime Jaquez, Jr. leads with 6.0 rebound per game.

The Bruins are well balanced in their scoring player-wise, but it's almost all coming from guards:

Juzang (G) 14.0 ppg
Smith (G) 12.6 ppg
Jaquez, Jr. (G) 11.7 ppg
Campbell (G) 10.5 ppg
Bernard (G) 10.4 ppg
Riley (F) 10.2 ppg

Jacquez is a 6'6" guard who leads the team in rebounds, so they may be sort of like Texas Tech's team this year.
2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule - UCLA

March Madness Preview: No. 11 Michigan State vs. No. 11 UCLA


Coaching--when it comes to clutch performance in tournaments, Tom Izzo is the closest thing to Shaka Smart you'll find. Advantage--Michigan State.
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Michigan State looks quick and opportunistic. They run a lot of picks on O. Their guards are adept at driving.

UCLA is running a lot of plays through Jacquez Jr. He has some good inside and mid range offensive skills.
 
Is that Michigan State big man going to the Olympics in high jump? On that attempted block, I thought he was going to hit his head on the rafters.
 
Welp. Unless UCLA has a big comeback in the second half, it will be Mich State v BYU.

When they’re on they’re tough. Playing this Mich State team in the tournament when they’re on would be about like playing OU, OSU, or Tech. A hard fought game with an uncertain outcome. They did just beat the top seed in our region a week or two ago.
 
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Looks like some internal personality conflicts or something at Mich State. Izzo and a player were arguing and a Spartan player was throwing a hissy fit on the way to the locker room. Team turmoil. They’re good in spite of it though.
 
Tech defeated Utah State 65-53. Tech played tight D, holding the Utah aggies to their lowest point total of the year.
 
Oral Roberts is up on aOSU by 5 in the 2nd half. Could be the big 1st round upset, we'll see.
:fire::fire::fire::fire::fire:
 
Chop said:
Welp. Unless UCLA has a big comeback in the second half, it will be Mich State v BYU.

When they’re on they’re tough. Playing this Mich State team in the tournament when they’re on would be about like playing OU, OSU, or Tech. A hard fought game with an uncertain outcome. They did just beat the top seed in our region a week or two ago.
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And that's exactly what happened. UCLA wins! March Madness indeed! :clap:

This is good. I'd rather face Jaquez and the Bruins than Izzo and the Spartans (if either were to make it by BYU).
 
Chop said:
Oral Roberts is up on aOSU by 5 in the 2nd half. Could be the big 1st round upset, we'll see.
:fire::fire::fire::fire::fire:
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If you enjoy small guards driving to the rim, this is your game. Starting to get the feeling that OSU is about to put this game away even though only 4 minutes left
 
mb227 said:
They are DARING just fine...but the teams they DARED are more than up to the challenge. B1G wrote a bunch of checks that they cannot cash...
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It was supposed to say faring. I just fixed it. But you made it make sense anyway. :beertoast:
 
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