I love our draw

[OttoinGrotto]

It's up to us to perform. Feel great about our road. We'll be challenged but I don't think we are running into any buzz saws.

 

[Marsh01]

I do too. Bring on these teams. Vandy and FSU are trendy picks based on todays games. Lets see how they play in their openers.

 

[RoysRunts]

FSU/Ohio State/KState

 

[Marsh01]

FSU/Ohio State/KState

KState got swept by Oklahoma this year so they are very up and down.

 

[Guinness]

Florida State does not scare me because we have already faced a slew of defensive oriented crawl ball kind of teams. Vandy is simply too trendy at this point to believe they are anything other than the early flame out team they were the past couple of years. Out of all the 2 seeds I like our odds against OSU the best.

 

[Cuseman78]

Agree completely. We couldn't have asked for a better draw. I will say that we haven't played like a 1 seed for over a month now so if we don't bring it one night, we're going to be in a Cincy type of dogfight. 1 vs 8/9 type losses happen, so we better be ready. But as JB said on Bracketology, I'm hoping the loss re-focuses this team and we see pre-Fab suspension basketball.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Florida State does not scare me because we have already faced a slew of defensive oriented crawl ball kind of teams. Vandy is simply too trendy at this point to believe they are anything other than the early flame out team they were the past couple of years. Out of all the 2 seeds I like our odds against OSU the best.

Actually, I think Vandy is a pretty good team. They have an inside presence and have guys who can shoot the 3. Not a bad team; kind of like a better version of Michigan.

 

[RF2044]

It's up to us to perform. Feel great about our road. We'll be challenged but I don't think we are running into any buzz saws.

Ditto. Think we have the easiest half-bracket in the draw.

 

[Cuseology]

Nothing in this bracket should scare this team. There are no really bad matchups. If they want to win it all, go beat who is in front of you. They have done that 31 times this year. Do it 6 more times and bring it home!

 

[EastCoast2]

Kansas State/Ohio State/NC State/Michigan State?

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Actually, I think Vandy is a pretty good team. They have an inside presence and have guys who can shoot the 3. Not a bad team; kind of like a better version of Michigan.

There were a couple times yesterday that Ezeli made Anthony Davis look like a freshman. That hasn't happened many times this year. He would be a real problem for us on the offensive glass. Not to mention the big-times shooters they've got.

 

[orange2win]

I don't like that there are 2 other BE teams in our quarter. The East is the only quarter with 3 BE teams. We might face Cinci again. Also KSU is a much harder 2nd round game that I would have liked for a #8 seed.

 

[Millhouse]

It's up to us to perform. Feel great about our road. We'll be challenged but I don't think we are running into any buzz saws.

conference tournaments are stupid in so many ways. i'm curious how it can be so impressive for the underdog to win while it doesn't matter at all that the top seeds lose.

the only time i care about a conference tournament is when we had a crappy regular season. otherwise, whatever.

people should just reset their opinions of FSU and Vandy to what they were on wednesday.

 

[RF2044]

conference tournaments are stupid in so many ways. i'm curious how it can be so impressive for the underdog to win while it doesn't matter at all that the top seeds lose.

the only time i care about a conference tournament is when we had a crappy regular season. otherwise, whatever.

people should just reset their opinions of FSU and Vandy to what they were on wednesday.

True--which is why they were both vogue picks yesterday.

 

[ebucklewis]

I don't like that there are 2 other BE teams in our quarter. The East is the only quarter with 3 BE teams. We might face Cinci again. Also KSU is a much harder 2nd round game that I would have liked for a #8 seed.

if we face either big-east team, it will be for the right to go to the final four. I would love to see Cinci in that slot - we would not lose to them again.

 

[orange2win]

if we face either big-east team, it will be for the right to go to the final four. I would love to see Cinci in that slot - we would not lose to them again.

Good point

 

[kingtidge]

I could see a Vandy team that is hot from the perimeter clearly giving us problems.

 

[NovaOrange]

I could see a Vandy team that is hot from the perimeter clearly giving us problems.

I really wouldn't be suprised to see Vandy go out in the first round with such a emotional win against UK. I could see there heads swelling a bit

 

[Madbiker]

We got a decent draw. You will always have to play some good teams. The thing that is most important is how you match up with teams in your bracket. K-State is a difficult match up for SU. While they are somewhat inconsistent they beat Missouri twice, beat Baylor (who plays a pretty good 2-3 zone), and lost to Baylor by 2. So this team can play against a 2-3 zone and also has good quickness. Their style is similar to Pitt. They are very physical and push and shove you all game. That style gives SU trouble because our guys are thin and don't like brawl-ball. KJ especially. The good thing is they are not a good 3-pt shooting team. Wisconsin is a terrible match up for us. They will control tempo, slow the game to a crawl, all half-court with no transition, and beat us up badly on the boards. We will have to shoot it well to beat them. This is our worst match-up in the region. Of course Vandy could take them out before then. Everybody is in love with Vandy after they beat UK yesterday. But they are very inconsistent and I think we match up pretty well with them.

 

[BuffOrange]

I realize not everyone really likes Sagarin/Pomeroy ratings but as somebody who does I don't like our draw at all. A good draw and a good draw relative for a 1seed are two different things. If you had to rank the 4s & 5s 1 through 8 I think you could make a pretty good case Wiscy and Vandy are 1 and 2. K St is obviously a strong 8 as well.

 

[JrodCuse]

If we can't beat Kstate and Vanderbilt (who before their win yesterday, we would all be begging for in our bracket), then we don't deserve to be in the tourney.

 

[jimsonjunction]

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but every draw looks about the same to me. No path is harder than any of the others until the upsets start.

 

[jr4750]

I really wouldn't be suprised to see Vandy go out in the first round with such a emotional win against UK. I could see there heads swelling a bit

I agree, picked them to lose early myself.

 

[reedny]

I like our draw:

1- People are forgetting something - we're in the East region. This will be familiar territory, no problems with long travel times/weird locations or even altitude issues, and our fans will be there in droves;

2- Although we'll play a spunky K-State team in the 2nd round, this is not off the chart-difficult compared to other 1 seeds. Ky has UConn, and MSU has Memphis;

3- We don't get to the other bracket until (if we advance) the Sweet 16 game, where we will face EITHER Wisconsin or Vandy. Both are as good as any 4/5 seeded teams, but we only have to beat 1 to make the Elite 8, and I think we can beat either team;

4- If we beat Vandy/Wisconsin to make the final 8, OSU/FSU will be a brawl. Neither team will play timid, and FSU is hot and has experience against quality ACC teams. If it's OSU, Sullinger will give us fits inside and cause foul problems. They also have shooters and Kraft is a great defender;

5- Notice that we do not have to play any team from our own conference that has our number (like Marquette last year). Cinci's is in the other half-bracket, and I would love to face them again instead of OSU. Either way -- it's great not having to canibalize our league by pitting us against a conference rival that has seen us multiple times;

Overall, if we can get by KSU, I think we have the team to beat Vandy/Wisconsin. Our guys have won against a variety of tournament quality opponents: quicker teams with shooters (GT, NCSt), clutch and grabs (Marquette), teams with shotblockers (UL, UConn), even grinders (USF).

And I love our talent, length, athleticism, experience, depth and coaching -- I like our chances.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I like our draw:

1- People are forgetting something - we're in the East region. This will be familiar territory, no problems with long travel times/weird locations or even altitude issues, and our fans will be there in droves;

2- Although we'll play a spunky K-State team in the 2nd round, this is not off the chart-difficult compared to other 1 seeds. Ky has UConn, and MSU has Memphis;

3- We don't get to the other bracket until (if we advance) the Sweet 16 game, where we will face EITHER Wisconsin or Vandy. Both are as good as any 4/5 seeded teams, but we only have to beat 1 to make the Elite 8, and I think we can beat either team;

4- If we beat Vandy/Wisconsin to make the final 8, OSU/FSU will be a brawl. Neither team will play timid, and FSU is hot and has experience against quality ACC teams. If it's OSU, Sullinger will give us fits inside and cause foul problems. They also have shooters and Kraft is a great defender;

5- Notice that we do not have to play any team from our own conference that has our number (like Marquette last year). Cinci's is in the other half-bracket, and I would love to face them again instead of OSU. Either way -- it's great not having to canibalize our league by pitting us against a conference rival that has seen us multiple times;

Overall, if we can get by KSU, I think we have the team to beat Vandy/Wisconsin. Our guys have won against a variety of tournament quality opponents: quicker teams with shooters (GT, NCSt), clutch and grabs (Marquette), teams with shotblockers (UL, UConn), even grinders (USF).

And I love our talent, length, athleticism, experience, depth and coaching -- I like our chances.

Nice breakdown.