[TheTruth!]

My poor bracket..Had Clemson going to Upset Houston

[Old School Hound]

Guess the committee knew Louisville pretty well, after all.

[Cactus Jack]

For everyone watching the Tennessee game, Wofford's Jackson Sivills played at McCracken County.

[Old School Hound]

It's really gonna happen, isn't it ? ISN'T IT ??? Cal's gonna take that bunch to the Final Four. As sure as shit stinks, that beautiful SOB is gonna to win his way to another Final Four, isn't he?

[TheTruth!]

It's really gonna happen, isn't it ?  ISN'T IT ???  Cal's gonna take that bunch to the Final Four. As sure as shit stinks, that beautiful SOB is gonna to win his way to another Final Four, isn't he?

I’m madder than a wet hen

[Cactus Jack]

Cal struggled when Kansas went zone-- announcers said the Jayhawks had only played something like 16 possessions of zone all season.

UC San Diego did not get any whistles against Michigan. If the game were called the same on both ends, we'd probably have had a different result. Wish more of the nation would have gotten to see another game from the Tritons. Leading scorer Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones' old man at the YMCA game would have given him NCAA Tournament folk-hero status if he'd have been able to play more minutes; each of his last two fouls were pretty iffy calls. Plenty of non-whistles against Michigan underneath that looked pretty bad as well.

Houston had the most impressive squash of the day, as it took Auburn and St. John's awhile to get going. Speaking of, I literally felt for the St. John's players going into halftime, I could not imagine Pitino was happy and even at his age, I'm sure he can still rip into his team when needed.

Will be for McNeese and Texas A&M in their respective games against Purdue and Michigan.

I'm intrigued by the Auburn-Creighton and Houston-Gonzaga games. Many years we'll see one good upset in the 1 vs. 8/9 game, and if not there, one in the 1 vs. 4/5.

Think the media will hype up the St. John's vs. Arkansas game from Providence in Round 2? Definitely think that one gets the prime-time spot.

[Old School Hound]

Who are we rooting for/against in the old grudge match between old ex-UK coaches, Pitino/Cal ???

[4 Quarters]

It's really gonna happen, isn't it ?  ISN'T IT ???  Cal's gonna take that bunch to the Final Four. As sure as shit stinks, that beautiful SOB is gonna to win his way to another Final Four, isn't he?

This will not happen!

[Old School Hound]

It's really gonna happen, isn't it ?  ISN'T IT ???  Cal's gonna take that bunch to the Final Four. As sure as shit stinks, that beautiful SOB is gonna to win his way to another Final Four, isn't he?

This will not happen!

I hope not , but if he gets by Pitino... WATCH OUT!!!

Can you imagine the Big Blue nuclear fallout if KY loses to Troy and Cal rides Adou, Big Z, Wagner and the boys to the Final Four??? HOLY SCHNIKES!!!

[4 Quarters]

Who are we rooting for/against in the old grudge match between old ex-UK coaches, Pitino/Cal ???

Actually I hate to see either one of them win.  With that being said, Ricky P. will show Cal what coaching is all about as the Johnnies blow by the Hogs.

[16BBall Fan]

Nice story on Coach Pope before tonight's tipoff on CBS.

[Jarons]

My poor bracket..Had Clemson going to Upset Houston

I had Clemson in the elite 8

[Jarons]

Who are we rooting for/against in the old grudge match between old ex-UK coaches, Pitino/Cal ???

St. John's.  I have always liked Pitino better. St. John's better win, they are my pick to win the national championship.

[Cactus Jack]

Who are we rooting for/against in the old grudge match between old ex-UK coaches, Pitino/Cal ???

St. John's, but I have to live closer to Arkansas fans than most of you all. Know that there's already an "SEC sucks and got too many teams in" narrative forming and if nothing else, it could affect Kentucky going forward, so neither result would be a complete loss.

[16BBall Fan]

Cats led Troy by 8 at 35-27 at the half.

[jetpilot]

Very weird how TV guys are constantly mentioning where UK players used to play. See if it continues in the 2nd half. Haven't noticed them doing that with any other team.

[Cactus Jack]

Very weird how TV guys are constantly mentioning where UK players used to play. See if it continues in the 2nd half. Haven't noticed them doing that with any other team.

Think they just haven't watched or kept up tons and are reading the network's notes. "Collin Chandler, the #1 player out of the State of Utah!".

ChatGPT wrote those notes and someone quickly proofed them with a "sounds right to me".

---

If you are Pope and you have a 20+ point lead, when do you pull Butler to protect him. I'm giving him breathers at the 8:00 mark and not risking him unless they cut it to 15 and get momentum. Not taking him out for the night necessarily, but I'm looking at protecting him.

[jetpilot]

God Kentucky looks bad. This looks like a regular season Sun Belt or OVC game.

[Old School Hound]

God Kentucky looks bad. This looks like a regular season Sun Belt or OVC game.

Yeah, I would love to see a team that could Three Peat over Rocky Top but, man oh man... I just don't know.

[jetpilot]

God Kentucky looks bad. This looks like a regular season Sun Belt or OVC game.

Yeah, I would love to see a team that could Three Peat over Rocky Top but, man oh man... I just don't know.

Please calculate Milwaukee trip on the other thread lol. I have a number in mind but waiting to see what everyone says.

[Cactus Jack]

They didn't look good by any means at all, but they were still up 20 late in the 3/14 game-- that's more than we'd gotten from Cal in most of his late years.

Kentucky's narrative flips from here though.

Think Illinois will be favored against Kentucky and that they'd be a slight favorite against Xavier. Will be much less pressure with the first one out of the way and will be playing with nothing to lose if we get matched up with Illinois.

Could actually see Kentucky/Illinois becoming a bit of a committee favorite as long as Pope and Underwood are both there. Have to imagine that it'd be a game that would get a lot of eyeballs and the schools aren't that far apart. This year they'll have the Orlando Antigua and Will Riley angles at least.

Seems like we're moving away from the Marquette and Wisconsin pairings a bit, so Illinois would fill that void nicely, especially if the conferences reach a scheduling agreement (like they're trying to do with football) and the SEC and Big Ten keep leveraging their power over the other conferences.

[jetpilot]

UK ain't beating Illinois. Xavier is a coin toss.

[Cactus Jack]

UK ain't beating Illinois. Xavier is a coin toss.

They're starting to pull away from Xavier. Kentucky has something that Xavier doesn't in Amari Williams, but worried that they're going to be able to pull him so far out onto the floor and away from the rim that it probably isn't going to matter.

Illinois looks pretty good. I took them to beat Tennessee and come out of the bottom of the bracket before losing to Houston.

This would have been a really fun game if Robinson were healthy and both teams were playing well.

Think I'd said this before, but I was really impressed with Illinois when I saw them earlier this year; they've had some injuries and I just saw them three or four times, but the team I saw definitely didn't match their record to end the season.


Agree on Xavier being a toss-up. They don't have any of the best of the best, but the Big East might be the best pound-for-pound conference.

[jetpilot]

UK ain't beating Illinois. Xavier is a coin toss.

They're starting to pull away from Xavier. Kentucky has something that Xavier doesn't in Amari Williams, but worried that they're going to be able to pull him so far out onto the floor and away from the rim that it probably isn't going to matter.

Illinois looks pretty good. I took them to beat Tennessee and come out of the bottom of the bracket before losing to Houston.

This would have been a really fun game if Robinson were healthy and both teams were playing well.

Think I'd said this before, but I was really impressed with Illinois when I saw them earlier this year; they've had some injuries and I just saw them three or four times, but the team I saw definitely didn't match their record to end the season.


Agree on Xavier being a toss-up. They don't have any of the best of the best, but the Big East might be the best pound-for-pound conference.

They had a lot of injuries but they are playing great and Milwaukee is a de facto home game for them.

[Old School Hound]

Just a cautionary tale for those ready to hop on the "Lick the Fighting Illini's Orange Taint" Train... Most every time KY's backs have seemed against the proverbial wall w/o much hope of victory, they seem to pull off a surprise and get a big win. I agree with you guys that Illinois looks like the better team but so did Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Rocky Flop, etc... Don't count out the Mountain & Mormon Mambas!!!

[Cactus Jack]

Just a cautionary tale for those ready to hop on the "Lick the Fighting Illini's Orange Taint" Train... Most every time KY's backs have seemed against the proverbial wall w/o much hope of victory, they seem to pull off a surprise and get a big win. I agree with you guys that Illinois looks like the better team but so did Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Rocky Flop, etc... Don't count out the Mountain & Mormon Mambas!!!

Only problem with the next game against one big orange and a potential game against another is that Brad Underwood isn't Rick Barnes.

Much more worried about Illinois than trying to get a third win over a Tennessee team that has a tendency to let their opponent dictate the terms that they want to play at.

Not saying there isn't a chance that Tennessee wouldn't beat Kentucky in Round 3, but definitely saying that Illinois should murk them because I don't like Tennessee in any matchup against them other than Zeigler.

[Old School Hound]

Just a cautionary tale for those ready to hop on the "Lick the Fighting Illini's Orange Taint" Train... Most every time KY's backs have seemed against the proverbial wall w/o much hope of victory, they seem to pull off a surprise and get a big win. I agree with you guys that Illinois looks like the better team but so did Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Rocky Flop, etc... Don't count out the Mountain & Mormon Mambas!!!

Only problem with the next game against one big orange and a potential game against another is that Brad Underwood isn't Rick Barnes.

Much more worried about Illinois than trying to get a third win over a Tennessee team that has a tendency to let their opponent dictate the terms that they want to play at.

Not saying there isn't a chance that Tennessee wouldn't beat Kentucky in Round 3, but definitely saying that Illinois should murk them because I don't like Tennessee in any matchup against them other than Zeigler.

Didn't  UT beat them at the buzzer on the Illini's home court???

[16BBall Fan]

Conference Breakdowns after Round 1 completed:

Big 10- 8-0

SEC- 8-6

Big 12- 6-1

Big East- 3-2

ACC- 1-3

Mountain West- 2-2

West Coast- 2-0

Missouri Valley- 1-0

Southland- 1-0

[Cactus Jack]

Just a cautionary tale for those ready to hop on the "Lick the Fighting Illini's Orange Taint" Train... Most every time KY's backs have seemed against the proverbial wall w/o much hope of victory, they seem to pull off a surprise and get a big win. I agree with you guys that Illinois looks like the better team but so did Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Rocky Flop, etc... Don't count out the Mountain & Mormon Mambas!!!

Only problem with the next game against one big orange and a potential game against another is that Brad Underwood isn't Rick Barnes.

Much more worried about Illinois than trying to get a third win over a Tennessee team that has a tendency to let their opponent dictate the terms that they want to play at.

Not saying there isn't a chance that Tennessee wouldn't beat Kentucky in Round 3, but definitely saying that Illinois should murk them because I don't like Tennessee in any matchup against them other than Zeigler.

Didn't  UT beat them at the buzzer on the Illini's home court???

They definitely did, but history tells me that December Rick Barnes and March Rick Barnes are two different things.

---

Conference Breakdowns after Round 1 completed:

Big 10- 8-0

SEC- 8-6

Big 12- 6-1

Big East- 3-2

ACC- 1-3

Mountain West- 2-2

West Coast- 2-0

Missouri Valley- 1-0

Southland- 1-0

I'll learn my lesson about trusting the Mountain West in the NCAA Tournament at some point, I promise.

[jetpilot]

Illinois opened -1.5 vs Kentucky. Immediately put a big (for me) bet on Illinois. UK wins (ecstatic) or Illinois wins by 2 or more and I'm sad but get paid. If Illinois wins by 1 very sad + mad at the world.