Rhom Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 Hadn't heard that about Olsen. I do hope he gets back soon. The man is a class act all around. I didn't know that he was remarried either. As I read the article, I knew the name Kevin O'Neil sounded familiar but I couldn't place it... then it said he was one of the string of failures on the bench at Tennessee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Further evidence that the Big Televen is a horrible basketball conference (again). OSU lose to Div II Findlay (?) in an exhibition. I know OSU lost a lot from last years team, but they brought in another great recruiting class, and seriously Findlay - WTF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 I just saw that scroll along the bottom of the screen too. Pretty amazing. All I can say is that I hate ESPNU with a f'ing passion. Seems like half of UK's games are on that station this year... I'm smack dab in the middle of Kentucky and none of the cable providers carry it. Made me miss the first game of the year tonight. Doesn't sound like I missed much... but I'm definitely of the opinion that state schools should be available to watch on television and not relegated to obscure cable channels no one has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 At the risk of coming off as a brazen asshole, as far as the conference thing goes, I think the Pac-10 is easily the best league in the nation this year. WSU is the 10th team in the nation on one pole. I think they are at best our 4th best team. UCLA, USC, and Oregon are easily better, and U of A, Stanford, Cal, and UW could all be better. We had three teams in the 16 last year and could easily be better this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I just saw that scroll along the bottom of the screen too. Pretty amazing. All I can say is that I hate ESPNU with a f'ing passion. Seems like half of UK's games are on that station this year... I'm smack dab in the middle of Kentucky and none of the cable providers carry it. Made me miss the first game of the year tonight. Doesn't sound like I missed much... but I'm definitely of the opinion that state schools should be available to watch on television and not relegated to obscure cable channels no one has. Man, that sucks! I know last year the Kansas-DePaul game was on ESPNU, but it was still broadcast on ESPN+ in Kansas (although not on Full-court, the bastards). I f'in hate how ESPN/Disney does that, because I know all the KY cable companies were bombarded with calls demanding they carrier ESPNU. And that is how Disney will force ESPNU into regular cable packages which will increase their revenue, and then the ad spot are worth more so that will increase their revenue more.... They did the same thing back when ESPN2 was introduced. At the risk of coming off as a brazen asshole, as far as the conference thing goes, I think the Pac-10 is easily the best league in the nation this year. WSU is the 10th team in the nation on one pole. I think they are at best our 4th best team. UCLA, USC, and Oregon are easily better, and U of A, Stanford, Cal, and UW could all be better. We had three teams in the 16 last year and could easily be better this year. Nothing brazenly assholish about that, because (preseason-wise) the PAC 10 is indisputably the best conference. They may not be at the end of the season, but they are right now for damn sure (and I think they probably will be at the end of the season too). Probably the only conference with two national championship contenders IMO. Here's how I rank the major conferences right now (with NC contenders) 1. PAC 10 (UCLA, Oregon) 2. Big East (Georgetown) 3. ACC (UNC) 4. SEC (Tennesse) 5. Big 12 (KU) . . . . . 6. Big 10 (maybe IU, but I don't think Sampson will ever win a NC) Missouri Valley is better than the Big 10, but they're not a major conference and that is why I didn't include them. I also don't feel that they have a team that is a illegitimate threat to win the title. ETA: Don't get me wrong though, there are definitely other teams that can win the NC this year. Including Memphis from the abysmal CUSA (based on the strength of Memphis alone, CUSA is a better conference than the Big 10). I think Texas and aTm will be very good, but they are not on my short list. Depending on player development, injuries, etc. I would put these teams on the outside looking in: Texas, aTm, Marquette, Syracuse, and UK. I think the champion will come from one of these 13 teams (with IU being the biggest long shot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 ETA: Don't get me wrong though, there are definitely other teams that can win the NC this year. Including Memphis from the abysmal CUSA (based on the strength of Memphis alone, CUSA is a better conference than the Big 10). Word. Memphis needs to relocate conferences. Gonzaga is another program that could go far. I certainly would not predict they will win the national championship, but they could threatan people in the tournament more than your typical non-BCS team for lack of a better term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Word. Memphis needs to relocate conferences. Gonzaga is another program that could go far. I certainly would not predict they will win the national championship, but they could threatan people in the tournament more than your typical non-BCS team for lack of a better term. The Big 10 is looking to add another team, and I think Memphis would perfect. (or they can always have Missouri, and the Big 12 can add Memphis) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 The whole conference thing is such a mess...Memphis should be elsewhere...where...I don't know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 The ACC/Big East realignment a couple years ago really did a number on the conference structure. The last such occurance I can remember might be the dissolution of the SWC almost 20 years ago. The Big East definitely picked up too many schools (any time you have difficulty figuring out how to get everyone to play each other at least once in a season... its a bad thing) and it left CUSA as a shell of its former self. There is no doubt in my mind that the Pac-10 are where the big boys play this year. I would be reluctant to pin my hopes on the likes of OJ Mayo... but the rest of the teams out there certainly have the pedigree to get the job done this year. As to ESPNU, you are exactly right. I'm certain their marketing plan is to get teams like Kentucky on there... then Kansas... Nebraska football... etc. Rabid fanbases who will demand to see their teams. Before long, ESPNU is standard cable package in several states and that gives them the pull to start getting exclusive games from other regions of the country as well. Smart marketing... shitty in the meantime for the average sports fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGalley Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Further evidence that the Big Televen is a horrible basketball conference (again). OSU lose to Div II Findlay (?) in an exhibition. I know OSU lost a lot from last years team, but they brought in another great recruiting class, and seriously Findlay - WTF! I'm going to have a little bias here, but the exhibition games mean nothing really. If anything a loss this early is a good thing to get your team to sharpen up. UNC lost a similar game early on a couple of years ago and then went on a dominating run (and won the NCG). I think Mich St. and Wisconsin are going to be pretty good. Wisconsin was humbled last year by being knocked off in the 2nd round by UNLV, but they've played well in the past and have a bunch of experienced players. Mich St--well, I just never ever count them out. I Illinois and Indiana are wild cards. Indiana has good talent but Sampson (despite his good record at Oklahoma) is a bit of a question. Illinois.. I just don't know. I don't get the feeling that they've had recruiting classes equivalent with their performances a couple of years ago. I concede the B10 appears to be one of the weaker conferences and the Pac 10 and Big East are likely to be at the top. The ACC/Big 10 challenge will be fun to watch. The ACC isn't as strong this year as years past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 This weekend will show us a lot about the landscape for college basketball with several of the pre-season tourneys getting rolling. Assuming that the four regional hosts of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic win out, it will be a good field in New York this weekend. Memphis will play Oklahoma and Kentucky against UConn. I'll get to find out a lot about my Cats. UConn is down also, so it will be a good measuring stick game. Assuming they get past that... we can really see how far Billy G has to go when they take on (presumably) Memphis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Missouri Valley is better than the Big 10, but they're not a major conference and that is why I didn't include them. I also don't feel that they have a team that is a illegitimate threat to win the title. While I agree with your last sentence there, I have to say I *love* when the Valley gets chalkboard material like your first sentence. It's the reason that D-1 basketball severely trumps D-1 BCS football. Everyone gets a shot at knocking down Goliath, as long as they can win their own conference tourney. Speaking of that, one of the gripes that I have about D-1 basketball is this constant need to expand the NCAA Tournament to accomodate the bubble teams. They need to get it back down to 64. I mean, if you really wanted to get to the Big Dance, you'd win your own conference tournament. Conference tournaments for me are tantamount to an expanded NCAA tournament, anyway. So, I'm sorry big conference 5th place regular season team or mid-major third place team, you had your play in games. Have fun at the NIT and stop complaining that Nobody Tech made it in with a losing record. They knew how to get in, apparently. Ciao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 I'm in complete agreement with you there on the 65 team field. Of course... that does leave some potential for difficulty there when smaller schools see an opening to the tourney. The current 65 team field was created when one of the smaller leagues (thinking the WAC here... but not sure) split into two smaller leagues; both of which got automatic bids to the tourney. In an effort to keep the big boys happy, the field was expanded to 65 to accomodate this without losing an at large bid. The debate then shifts to: Who has a better chance of winning some games in the tourney? The 16th seeded team from Slippery Rock... or the 12th seeded team who finished 6th in the Big East? Its an interesting quandry. Speaking of 16 seeds... I'll throw in my $0.02 on why I never want Kentucky to be a 1 seed. Its never happened before, but someday... somewhere... somehow a 16 is going to beat a 1. And that 1 seed will forever go down in history as the only 1 to lose to a 16. Its damning enough as it is to have to relive the Laettner shot every March over and over and over... much less if Kentucky were to achieve that dubious distinction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 The debate then shifts to: Who has a better chance of winning some games in the tourney? The 16th seeded team from Slippery Rock... or the 12th seeded team who finished 6th in the Big East? Its an interesting quandry. For me, it's not a quandry. I'd rather see a Slippery Rock or Samford give its all against a number one or two seed and send, say, a 17-13, 5th/6th place Big East or Big Ten team to the NIT. Let them gripe all they want that they didn't get that last at large. Tough luck. Granted, the selection of at-large teams is still too subjective, but I think it has stablized in recent years as mid-majors have stepped up their programs and conference images to start grabbing at-large spots with consistency. Perhaps they need to go to a BCS type system to have computers select the at-large teams, but that might take some of the selection show suspense away. Someone's always going to feel left out no matter if it's 64, 65, or 128 teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeu Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Someone's always going to feel left out no matter if it's 64, 65, or 128 teams. Unless you put them all in. There can't be that many D-I schools, can there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Unless you put them all in. There can't be that many D-I schools, can there? Well, if you look at the conference tournaments as an extension of the big one, then they are all in it. There are over 330 D-1 schools with men's basketball programs. That's triple the number of football D-1 BCS schools. Ain't nothing like a campus fieldhouse packed to the rafters with a close game. Nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Well... I guess my desire to watch anymore basketball this season just went out the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoundRules Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Are Kentucky fans asking for Billy Gillispie's head yet? Ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrim Fox Cauthon Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Speaking of 16 seeds... I'll throw in my $0.02 on why I never want Kentucky to be a 1 seed. Its never happened before, but someday... somewhere... somehow a 16 is going to beat a 1. And that 1 seed will forever go down in history as the only 1 to lose to a 16. Its damning enough as it is to have to relive the Laettner shot every March over and over and over... much less if Kentucky were to achieve that dubious distinction.It is amazing how the repercussions of Michigan vs. App. State have reached even College Basketball. But I understand, and somewhat agree, but if a 1 Seed team spends its time just worrying about being defeated by a 16 Seed, it will happen sooner rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGalley Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 So now Kentucky loses by 16 toa DII and Michigan St. barely beats Michigan Tech. Maybe this will be the "year of parity" for college basketball too. I'll say what I said before, these are the best type of losses. Early in the season and to a 'seemingly' unworthy foe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.