*Competition* 2008 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament

So when the teams are selected (2 sundays from now i believe.. March 16th is selection Sunday) i'll be making an ESPN 'Tournament Challenge' for anyone on Saddo on wants to join up..

I'm thinking winner of the challenge gets rep from everyone who made an entry.. sound alright?

To anyone who doesn't follow college basketball you should play anyway, cause it's free and there is a lot of luck involved.. Also that goes for people outside of the US.. even if you don't know any teams it's still fun to pick teams and see who wins..

Anyway, as it's still early and you can't even create a league yet on ESPN, just respond if you'd be down to play, and then when i create the tournament i'll post the name and password and all that fun stuff..

okay guys.. so selection sunday was yesterday, and the brackets have been created..


I created a group on espn.com.. if you don't have an espn account, just make one it takes 2 seconds..

If we get enough people in it will be fun.. i say whoever wins gets rep from everyone else who participated..

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group...&groupID=49991

There is the link..

the group name is Saddo Boxing

the password is saddo

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Originally Posted by RP33

okay guys.. so selection sunday was yesterday, and the brackets have been created..


I created a group on espn.com.. if you don't have an espn account, just make one it takes 2 seconds..

If we get enough people in it will be fun.. i say whoever wins gets rep from everyone else who participated..

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group...&groupID=49991

There is the link..

the group name is Saddo Boxing

the password is saddo

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I'm getting an error message when I click on the link. I'm sure I have a long shot of picking any teams that make the final four, because I really haven't been paying to much attention this year but I thought it would be fun to give it a shot.

if you just go to Tourney Challenge, and create an entry it asks if you want to join a group


group = Saddo Boxing

pw= saddo

That link don't work

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

That link don't work

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i know vd.. read my above post..

unfortunately there is no link that takes you right to it, so you just have to go to Tourney Challenge, and click "join a group" when ytou get tot he screen and just type in Saddo Boxing

password is saddo


this was the easiest way to do it, otherwise i'd have to get everyones e-mail address..

if you want to gimme your email then i can just invite you that way.. whatever is easier.

Alright I'm in

yeah its me vs you hahah

COME ON YOU GUYS

join up

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Originally Posted by RP33

yeah its me vs you hahah

COME ON YOU GUYS

join up

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So it's only your ass I got to beat? I like my odds

;D

i'm in 2 big money pools besides this one.. feeling pretty confident i must say ;)

USC lost.... :lolhaha:


I got Villanova to upset Clemson. :cool:

good pick Mick. I was thinking originally Villanova and went back to Clemson.

Anyway too late for me to do it on here, I'm on another one and doing allright.

First day was the worst day of an NCAA tournament that I can remember in a long time, it just sucked outside of USC/KState and Duke/Belmont, fucking lucky ass Duke. Yesterday was awesome though.

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

good pick Mick. I was thinking originally Villanova and went back to Clemson.

Anyway too late for me to do it on here, I'm on another one and doing allright.

First day was the worst day of an NCAA tournament that I can remember in a long time, it just sucked outside of USC/KState and Duke/Belmont, fucking lucky ass Duke. Yesterday was awesome though.

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I won Lunch from a co-worker... With the Villanova win. :cool:
Really surprised to see Vanderbilt go. Gonzagas also out I had Davidson also :)
Duke was VERY lucky to get by....

I had Davidson, and Western Kentucky actually. Did not give San Diego much chance at all at beating UConn though. And I also I didn't have Siena and the way Vanderbilt lost was embarrassing IMO.

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

good pick Mick. I was thinking originally Villanova and went back to Clemson.

Anyway too late for me to do it on here, I'm on another one and doing allright.

First day was the worst day of an NCAA tournament that I can remember in a long time, it just sucked outside of USC/KState and Duke/Belmont, fucking lucky ass Duke. Yesterday was awesome though.

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I won Lunch from a co-worker... With the Villanova win. :cool:
Really surprised to see Vanderbilt go. Gonzagas also out I had Davidson also :)
Duke was VERY lucky to get by....

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There luck just ran out today against West Virginia.

Duke was shit from the very start, if they can't shoot the three they're fucked.

Hoping Davidson beats Georgetown but they're behind now.

Mississippi State could give Memphis problems tonight. Almost picked them but figure Memphis is the more likely bet.

How did this Stephen Curry kid end up at Davidson? He's insanely good.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

good pick Mick. I was thinking originally Villanova and went back to Clemson.

Anyway too late for me to do it on here, I'm on another one and doing allright.

First day was the worst day of an NCAA tournament that I can remember in a long time, it just sucked outside of USC/KState and Duke/Belmont, fucking lucky ass Duke. Yesterday was awesome though.

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I won Lunch from a co-worker... With the Villanova win. :cool:
Really surprised to see Vanderbilt go. Gonzagas also out I had Davidson also :)
Duke was VERY lucky to get by....

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There luck just ran out today against West Virginia.

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Fucken amazing.... :o

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

Duke was shit from the very start, if they can't shoot the three they're fucked.

Hoping Davidson beats Georgetown but they're behind now.

Mississippi State could give Memphis problems tonight. Almost picked them but figure Memphis is the more likely bet.

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Davidson pulled it off. :D
Ouma, I'm still rooting for Villanova. I know it's a looong shot but I've been backing them from the start.

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

How did this Stephen Curry kid end up at Davidson? He's insanely good.

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He was on fire man...

I got:
W. Kentucky vs. UCLA
Xavier vs. W. Virginia
N. Carolina vs. Washington St.
Louisville vs. Tennessee
Villanova vs. Kansas St.
Wisconsin vs. Davidson
Memphis vs. Mich. St.
Stanford vs. Texas

I'm sticking with my choice of Tennessee to win it all

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

I'm sticking with my choice of Tennessee to win it all

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I can't see them beating Loui....
Louis been consistent from the start of the tourney....
It's gonna be a helluva' game that's for sure. :)

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

I'm sticking with my choice of Tennessee to win it all

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I can't see them beating Loui....
Louis been consistent from the start of the tourney....
It's gonna be a helluva' game that's for sure. :)

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I can. Tenn's got the better players

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

How did this Stephen Curry kid end up at Davidson? He's insanely good.

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Well shit everyone should have known, his fucking pops could drop 3's all night in the NBA!

I think he's a little small and he doesn't handle the ball all too much but he can stroke it from 3! He wanted to go to Va. Tech and some other schools but they overlooked him and honestly it's paid off for him, he's going to be an NBA player because of his play on the top level....I like Davidson but I hope they get beat because they COULD knock off UNC they almost beat them earlier this year!


Tennessee is going to get smacked the fuck down by UNC IF they make it by Louisville

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

I'm sticking with my choice of Tennessee to win it all

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Your a genius, Tennessee all the way. ;D

i hope UNC loses.. i need UCLA to win it all to win some money ;D;D

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Originally Posted by RP33

i hope UNC loses.. i need UCLA to win it all to win some money ;D;D

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....you have just made a powerful enemy :mad:

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Originally Posted by Lyle

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Originally Posted by RP33

i hope UNC loses.. i need UCLA to win it all to win some money ;D;D

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....you have just made a powerful enemy :mad:

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haha.. lemme guess, you're a hansborough fan?

I'm a lifelong UNC fan....granted I went to East Carolina University but their basketball team is just God awful so I never got into supporting them at that sport.

I have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS supported UNC basketball and sometimes football (when they aren't playing ECU of course).


I saw UNC-Boston College this year....and yeah I like HANSBROUGH, he works hard every second he's on the court and that's more than ANYONE in the NBA can say

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Originally Posted by Lyle

I'm a lifelong UNC fan....granted I went to East Carolina University but their basketball team is just God awful so I never got into supporting them at that sport.

I have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS supported UNC basketball and sometimes football (when they aren't playing ECU of course).


I saw UNC-Boston College this year....and yeah I like HANSBROUGH, he works hard every second he's on the court and that's more than ANYONE in the NBA can say

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yeah credit to him for that, it's nice to see a hard worker, but as far as talent goes he's average, and if you compare him to nba players he is in the bottom half of the draft class..

i'd compare him to Joakim Noah as far as NBA ability..

No offense to UNC, i just hate them cause my friend likes them, and every team he likes i hate..

im a PC fan.. my dad had season tickets every season when i was a kid so i basically grew up at the Dunkin Donuts center watching them play.. and i ended up going to RIC (rhode island college) and we're like d3 or something so i'm still a PC fan..

that kid Joe Mazzula on WVU is from my town and went to my high school.. i remember him in the gym on free periods when he was no better than average.. well even though he's not great now.. also Jimmy Baron (the son) on URI was a year younger than me in HS, and he never brought any championships to our team, but he's playing D1 college ball and has a ton of playing time.. go figure..

oh well, was thinking Davidson had a chance, not Curry's best shooting game.

Memphis is looking strong.

Should be a good final four

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

oh well, was thinking Davidson had a chance, not Curry's best shooting game.

Memphis is looking strong.

Should be a good final four

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It wouldn't say it was cause of Curry. I would lean more to turning the ball over every other posession. :rolleyes:
They had them but the turnovers they made were crucial.

Anyway as you said the final four look to make for some exciting games..

Picks?

I got Memphis and UNC

Not like I'd be shocked if either game went the other way though. I like the underdogs but can't deny this is a good Final Four, anything could happen.

I'm gonna hold out on making a final pick till after I see this one. I would not have picked Memphis before cause of their shooting, free throw and threes, but they were hella impressive against MSU and Texas.

Both games are going to be good. I'm very interested in this UCLA - Memphis game. This is the first time in 3 years that I haven't picked Memphis to go to the Final and now they might do it. I do have them in the final 4 though. My final 4 is almost perfect with the exception of Georgetown, I had them beating Kansas, didn't foresee Davidson beating Georgetown of all teams.

UCLA is for certain the more well rounded team but in college a good backcourt is always better then a good frontcourt. Kevin Love is an animal but he's got to get the ball in order to be effective and in all these close games down the stretch for UCLA, they've gotten away from Love and let Collison and Westbrook handle the ball. That's not all bad because Collison is one of the better point guards in the country but he turns the ball over a lot and Rose and Douglas-Roberts can take advantage of that.

Still, I have a feeling as cocky as Callapari is that he's going to task Dozier with Love and as good as Dozier has been with Memphis having no true center, don't think he can match up with Love and not have Love run all over him.

Very excited about this one. This is the best time of year for sports, the NBA West is about as stacked as one conference has ever been in the entire history of basketball, the NHL has a great race in the East with Ovechkhin tearing it up and possibly facing Crosby in the 1st round of their playoffs and of course the final 4 leave the start of baseball a mere afterthought.

i have the biggest smile on my face as the kansas/unc score is currently 25-10 in favor of kansas..
THIS IS SO GREAT

i hope they pull this off!

Wow 40-12. And NC came all the way back. Didn't even realize the UCLA - Memphis game was on until after I made that post. I was right, Westbrook and Collison tried to hijack the game and it cost UCLA. M'ba and Love were non factors in the second half.

Well UNC is fucked....Kansas just played out their asses

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Originally Posted by amat

Wow 40-12. And NC came all the way back. Didn't even realize the UCLA - Memphis game was on until after I made that post. I was right, Westbrook and Collison tried to hijack the game and it cost UCLA. M'ba and Love were non factors in the second half.

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they were covering love HARDCORE.. it was impossible to get it inside to them, so i don't blame collison or westbrook in THAT fashion..

but i DO blame them for CONTINUING TO FUCKING DRIVE and trying to score on the inside.. if they took some perimeter shots, EVEN IF THEY MISSED, UCLA OWNED the boards #1, and #2 when they actually started to hit shots from the outside, then it would force their defenders to play up on them, leaving Love single covered by Dorsey or whoever was in at the time, giving him a better chance to get the ball.. i swear to christ some coaches are so fucking overrated in college basketball.. I've helped coach middle school teams, and i could've said that to a disciplined UCLA team and you would've seen results right away.. they needed to spread the floor.. every time they penetrated they would clog the middle leaving love/m'ba no advantage to get a rebound..

with that said, after watching Memphis completely own Texas, i had a strong feeling they would've taken UCLA with their guard play.. I think they'll have a harder time with Kansas cause their guards are bigger, but i still think they'll be fine and win it all..

Indeed, Memphis definitely had the faster feet and the longer arms on the inside, you're not going to be able to drive and kick against them and that's what UCLA kept trying.


Anyways, I'm glad it shook out this way. I would have been disappointed if it had been either UNC/Memphis or UCLA/Kansas. Maybe not so much UCLA/Kansas but I won't get tied up into that.

The defense for Memphis was too much for North Carolina and that is essentially where the game was lost. Aside from a good run in the middle, that 28 points was pretty close to insurmountable. It was the 2-3 zone. Memphis had faster feet inside early and while Hansbrough is a great positional player, he was overwhelmed by 3 sets of faster feet and longer arms inside. It was to much, there were a lot of loose balls in the middle of the paint for this very reason and Kansas just ran away with it. Then the game began to speed up a little more and instead of going out of the set offense, North Carolina ran the court and that and a few really good plays by Green off the bench got them back in the game. That couldn't be sustained.

This game versus Memphis they aren't going to match up in a 2-3 so we'll see them tested there. Davidson gave Kansas' backcourt hell so it'll be interesting to see what Memphis does. Memphis meanwhile, isn't going to win on the size of their backcourt like they did today. The two teams have very similar physical builds and that is going to make for a good game. Both teams' strength is in their back court but neither team is a perimeter team. Hopefully the refs let them play because both teams are always cutting to the basket in the lanes. Dorsey isn't going to have an assignment like Kevin Love where he plays against a conventional center, neither of these teams have a true center.

Should be interesting, I would think Memphis, Derrick Rose really seems to have put them over the top, and with defensive attention now split in the backcourt, Douglas-Roberts is having himself a tremendous season. They've been close the last couple years, they certainly appear to be the team of destiny, they have been ON FIRE this season and most people passed over their 1 loss season and attributed it to C-USA but now, they've just run through the tournament. Quite a season, if they pull this out I think you have to compare this Memphis teams to the great teams of all time.

Back to UCLA, wow, 3 straight final fours and no titles to show for it. Collison might aswell change his name to Kelly, as in Jim Kelly.

If UCLA was to win, Westbrook is best to pass the ball and not try to make everything happen himself. That, above everything in this stretch of UCLA games where they really have to fight for the win, they've gotten away from M'ba (I won't try to spell the rest) and Love until the stretch where they could come up big. This game, that point never came and the long arms of Memphis were able to cut off the passing lanes and thus cut off the ball supply to Kevin Love. They looked totally confused without their big man able to play point guard from the post because that's what he did in the Pac 10 all year. Props to Joey Dorsey, what a full circle he has come. He was huge today, played the game of the year against one of the players of the year in Love.

Memphis will win it.

I tend to think so too

Rose and Douglas-Roberts are virtually unguardable, if they get anything from their inside guys its just a bonus.

Nobody talks about their defense, they play very good defense.

I'm thinking Rose for number 1 pick. Beasley's very good but its not like he's a Shaq or even Greg Oden, he's a 6'10 power forward.

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

I tend to think so too

Rose and Douglas-Roberts are virtually unguardable, if they get anything from their inside guys its just a bonus.

Nobody talks about their defense, they play very good defense.

I'm thinking Rose for number 1 pick. Beasley's very good but its not like he's a Shaq or even Greg Oden, he's a 6'10 power forward.

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Rose #1?? nah.. Beasley will go #1 still, and i think the Heat plan on taking him without a doubt.. Beasley was NBA ready from day 1, Rose has gotten better as the season progressed.. his confidence soared in the tourney, he really didn't play this way every game of the regular season..

if he declared for the draft he'd def be a top pick but i think Miami is sold on Beasley..