The Annual Bubble Discussion Thread - 2021 Version

[RF2044]

View attachment 197977
Andy Katz had us in the field of 64

I'd take it -- we'd mop the floor with Creighton. And not just because they got smoked by Gtown -- that team has quit on McDermott.

 

[nyucuse]

I'd take it -- we'd mop the floor with Creighton. And not just because they got smoked by Gtown -- that team has quit on McDermott.

Would love that bracket and Houston 2nd round would be winnable. But as it seems every year at this time, nervous heading into Sunday night...

 

[OrangeXtreme]

View attachment 197977
Andy Katz had us in the field of 64

Playing the Fighting Zegarowskis

 

[OrangeXtreme]

So, here's a slightly OT question:

Since the entire tournament is going to be held in Indianapolis, what are they going to call the regions this year? View attachment 197975

Unser
Andretti
Mears
Foyt

 

[Cusesky8214]

 

[Cuse69]

View attachment 197977
Andy Katz had us in the field of 64

This would be a dream scenario for us, I could smell the sweet 16 if this is the draw we get.

 

[orangenauburn]

This would be a dream scenario for us, I could smell the sweet 16 if this is the draw we get.

Elite eight

 

[Orangezoo]

This would be a dream scenario for us, I could smell the sweet 16 if this is the draw we get.

Houston rebounds well but is sloppy with the ball. If we made it to the second weekend a revenge shot at Ohio St. Love it.

 

[Cuse1055]

View attachment 197977
Andy Katz had us in the field of 64

Creighton then Houston? Wow yes please.

 

[skurey]

So, here's a slightly OT question:

Since the entire tournament is going to be held in Indianapolis, what are they going to call the regions this year? View attachment 197975

Hope we don't get sent to the West Indies

 

[jncuse]

Wow, that was a wild day. And not a good one for us.

Palm has dropped us behind Maryland, UL and UCLA. He has Wichita State just ahead of us; they stay ahead even with their bad loss. Interesting to see such big late movements, all for teams that have not played in days.

Why? My speculation is that Palm floated some fake changes to mess with Lunardi and other bracketologists. My guess is that the new order is the real order. It is either that or someone on the committee leaked some info to him on the contents of the S curve.

Right now, he has VCU behind us. If they beat the Bonnies, you can expect them to move above us. Why is this significant? We are both 11 seeds and destined for play in games regardless.

It is important because SU and VCU are the last 2 at large teams in Palm’s bracket. If Houston loses, one more at large has to get booted, and if VCU wins as well, that at large team is going to be Syracuse.

Some random comments...

Everyone is assuming the NCAA is not going to rule on the Oklahoma State appeal and has them in the field. Will the NCAA deign to respond to the cheating Cowboys today?

The discrepancies between what Palm and Lunardi are projecting are pretty vast. As best I can determine, here are the last 8 at large in and the first 4 out for both, listed in order...

Palm	Lunardi
In
St Bonaventure	Maryland
Louisville	VCU
Maryland	Michigan State
Colorado State	UCLA
UCLA	Syracuse
Wichita State	Louisville
Syracuse	Drake
VCU	Utah State
Out
St Louis	St Louis
Boise State	Wichita State
Drake	Colorado State
Utah State	Ole Miss

Colorado State is in and doesn’t have a PIG for Pam and is not even in the field for Lunardi. Can’t imagine what their fans are thinking right now.

Palm has VCU as the last team in. Lunardi has team in and not in a PIG. If you believe him, heck, they might even survive losing the game to the Bonnies this afternoon.

Bottom line:

If we are in, we are playing in a play in game.

If Lunardi is right, we have no worries. We obviously won’t play UL because we play in the same league, even though in this screwed up year, where we were scheduled to play them twice, we never did.

Drake and Syracuse makes sense and would be a great story...a blue blood and the unknown from nowhere, popping out of a corn field.

If Palm is right, which he probably is, we need Houston to win. If Houston can’t beat Cincy, we need St Bonaventure to do us a solid and beat VCU. Both teams will be playing for a bid and there is no bigger motivation to win a game than that. Both will be playing against teams who are in.

If Cincinnati and VCU win, we are reduced to hoping the NCAA acts responsibly, or hoping to get a last minute COVID related bid, because we will be the first alternate. And we have to root for Lunardi to be right. You know his track record with Syracuse...

Palm is very good and better than Lunardi. but he has taken some skeptical positions in recent years as well on the final weekend. I remember California one year a few years back.

 

[pearl31]

DO hoops writer who studies the bracket pretty closely:

 

[sutomcat]

View attachment 197977
Andy Katz had us in the field of 64

Someone agrees with Alsacs that Syracuse will get a bye. Sweet. That would be nice.

6 pm can’t come fast enough.

 

[walsh2012]

anyone else ok with just getting in at all regardless of seed?

 

[sutomcat]

I think it's because there's a thought Lunardi "hates" Syracuse. So you then have to elevate the other primary guy.

I don’t have specifics but it seems like every year there is genuine concern over whether Syracuse will make the field, Palm and Lunardi are on opposite sides of the fence and Palm is the guy who is right.

For this, I have learned to distrust Joe and trust Jerry.

It is nice they are both picking us. So far.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Unser
Andretti
Mears
Foyt

Chitwood, Knight, Bird, Cutters

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

anyone else ok with just getting in at all regardless of seed?

Will be a bit disappointing to play the extra game but sure I’d take it

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Will be a bit disappointing to play the extra game but sure I’d take it

With 7 games under his belt this season, Buddy will set a new scoring record.

 

[Arangeman]

I miss the days of just getting mad about our seeding

 

[Cuse1055]

I miss the days of just getting mad about our seeding

That and worrying about what we have to do in order to get the best geographic location.

 

[pearl31]

I mean, gotta have some perspective-
things went especially well with the games on Thursday/Friday - just think if Xavier had won a couple of BET games, unc had lost to VaTech, etc...

 

[Sherman20]

Wow. I just looked at Drake’s team sheet. If they’re in the field, this process is insane and the committee has lost its mind. Their whole resume is based on one 1-point victory at home over Loyola Chicago in mid-Feb when they played them in back to back days, and Loyola beat them in the first game by almost 30 points. Their 3 next best wins are all against Missouri State, which is 97 in the NET. basically all their other victories are sub 100. They may have a gaudy record but their strength of schedule should disqualify them. They should NOT be in. Has anyone seen them play? Do they pass the eye test? I guess it doesn’t even mean much when they’re playing weak competition.

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

Wow. I just looked at Drake’s team sheet. If they’re in the field, this whole process is insane. Their whole resume is based on one 1-point victory at home over Loyola Chicago in mid-Feb when they played them in back to back days, and Loyola beat them in the first game by almost 30 points. Their 3 next best wins are all against Missouri State, which is 97 in the NET. basically all their other victories are sub 100. They may have a gaudy record but their strength of schedule should disqualify them. Has anyone seen them play? Do they pass the eye test?

they pass the eye test of Drake fans.

Love the drake!

 

[kmart128]

Disagree. There were never any years we got in when we didn’t deserve it. The year we really got screwed was 2007.

If i remember correctly the final 4 team was a huge surprise that no on expected. We just didnt have the resume. Yes they took advantage of being in and went on a run... but i remember being shocked when theyre name wad called. And a 10th seed at that. The "experts" questioned it and even us fans didnt expect to make it. I remember that was year bracket got leaked and i was thinking it was fake... then the selection show hit and it was identical and i called my father saying omg they actuallt put us in the tourney

 

[Sherman20]

Palm is very good and better than Lunardi. but he has taken some skeptical positions in recent years as well on the final weekend. I remember California one year a few years back.

I agree with Palm that Wichita State should be in ahead of Drake, but they shouldn’t be ahead of us on the curve.