I turned it off with about 10 seconds left in the game.

I almost turned it off a handful of times. UVA was losing pretty much the whole game.

All Deng had to do was heave the ball to midcourt or better and hit someone. Hell, all he had to do is throw the ball off the guy jumping up and down in front of him. Even if the ball doesn't go out of bounds and the guy grabs he it doesn't have time to shoot at that point. Instead, he walks. Jesus.

There was no foul on the 3. He got all ball and the ref from 20+ feet made a horrible call.

Yeah, Louisville should blame the loss on the refs.

I love it. My VOLS put the SMACK DOWN on Miss Mistake this past Tuesday, at the HUMP. We are surging at the perfect time, and we were picked to finish second to last in the SEC. Don't look now Bruce Criminal Pearle, but if we win Saturday, we tie for the regular season championship.

Meh, thats nothing. Tuesday Davidson and st. Bonas went into 3 nailbiting overtimes. #19 Rhode island got hammered by st. Joes. Losing by 35+ points.

Watching with my father, we were exhausted watching basketball till midnight.

At least Michigan got to the tournament without a plane crash this year

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Was it a clean block?

It was and Louisville should of had the ball shooting FTs up 4, but a ref that was out of position made a horrible call and gave Virginia 3 FTs with a 90+% FT shooter at the line. Then to make it worse after an incredibly stupid play by Adel they give Virginia a timeout for no reason what so ever when they had none to setup up a play to win the game. I would say that the refs heavily influenced the outcome of the game along with some horrible plays by Louisville.

Every college basketball game has bad calls/no calls that go against both teams. Hell, when that little white guy missed the layup after the steal with a couple minutes left, Wilkins was in position for the rebound and got a forearm shiver to his back that knocked him over - no call.

The offensive foul against Jerome at the beginning of the second half was absolute horseshit, and it completely affected the momentum of the game.

Winners find a way to win. Losers complain about the refs.

Yet all those didn't happen in the last .9 seconds of a game giving Louisville no chance to over come them. The calls that I am talking were as much a part of Virginia winning the game as them hitting the shots because of when they happened. I have never said that Louisville or Virginia didn't benefit from calls at other times during the game. Those two were the worst two calls of the game. An all ball block on a 3 and then a free timeout to setup a play. Very few teams could overcome those calls and win the game. Acting like those calls didn't help Virginia win the game is a joke.

I can tell you are taking this loss hard.

Louisville was up 4 points with .9 seconds left and yet you are claiming that they were the ones who had to overcome difficult odds.

That's a good one.

Yup, Nova has lost a bunch of games down the stretch, OTloss to Creighton and had to go to OT to pull out the W against Seton fucking Hall. UGH. Must be March.

The only saving grace is that it will drop us to a 2 seed. We seem to poop the bed when we are a #1 seed (2nd round shameful exit).

Good luck with the #1 UVA, and my coach is still hotter than your coach :)

No way...my wife claims Bennett is hotter, but I'll concede that Wright is better dressed (and he did win a Natty, which goes a long way).

I've said all year it would be great for UVA and Nova to meet in the championship game. I can dream.

My dream FF is UVA, Nova, MSU and a Cinderella to be named later. Our loss to St. Johns will cling to us like dog poo stuck in the treads on the bottom of a running shoe.

We have rounds 1-2 here in Boise this year. Always a dream we will lose a few more games and somehow Nova will end up far from home, here in Boise. Not gonna happen, but a girl can dream.

You are again not addressing the point that he refs greatly influenced the game in those last .9 seconds. Without those horrible calls Louisville wins the game.

Did Louisville lose to UVA today because of the refs?

You are again not addressing the point that he refs greatly influenced the game in those last 0.9 seconds. Without those horrible calls Louisville wins the game.


You fail to realize that Louisville did everything within its power to lose a game when they were up by four with 0.9 seconds left.


1. Who tries to block a three point play when their team is up by four with .9 seconds left? The game is over even if the ball goes in ...


2. Refs call a lane violation on the third free throw against Virginia! How many lane violations have been called all season in Div. I basketball? Three ... maybe ... and you think the referees helped Virginia?


3. Virginia now has zero, no, nada, never happen, turn the TV off, change the channel chance of winning because Louisville has possession of the ball with 0.9 seconds left to play and UP BY TWO POINTS. All Louisville has to do is put the ball in play. Just send all four of your players to the other end of the court and throw the ball into the bunch. Game over.


4. Instead, Louisville travels before in bounding the ball!


... and you blame the refs ...

No they didn't they got beat. Again you aren't addressing the point that the refs greatly influenced the game in the last .9 seconds.

It was a bad move but he got all ball and that block should have won the game instead a ref that was out of position makes a horrible call and changes the course of the game.

You fail to realize that the lane violation actually won the game for Virginia. If they didn't call that Louisville had the rebound and time would have ran out. So you helped to prove my point.

Yes Louisville messed up inbounding the ball but messing up doesn't excuse the blown call on the blocked 3 or the phantom timeout the refs gave Virginia for no reason. The refs greatly influenced the game in the last .9 seconds and their calls along with some bad plapys by Louisville helped Virginia win the game.

Did you have a different view of the foul? If so, can you post it?

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_____
TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

You don't need a different view of the foul. Just look at the regular view and it is clear that there is zero contact. The ref that was right next to the play didn't call anything because there was zero contact.

I've watched the regular view many times and it is not clear that there is zero contact.

What is clear is that Louisville's epic choke job and subsequent ACC tourney beat down relegated you to the NIT.

Tourney brackets are set!

How is your team looking?

How does the overall #1 end up with Arizona and Kentucky as its 4/5?

Still, I'm glad UVA is not in the Midwest - Kansas, MSU, Duke, West Virginia, Florida - that's brutal.

Villanova was basically gifted a date in the Final Four. What a joke of a bracket the East is.

I'm going with UVA, 'Nova, MSU and UNC in the Final Four.

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

As always the committee has a chip on their shoulder against mid-majors.

My school St. Bonaventure got an #11 seed and needs to play in against UCLA. I'm very happy with the bracket they are in, but I think they should have been an #9 or #10 seed. I'm not a fan of this final four play-in crap. But we are in, better than two years ago.

Agree with Villanova. They should have a cakewalk. UVA still has a challenging conference, but nothing like the midwest. I can speak from the teams I have watched, Davidson is on a role (and their best player is a freshman), Buffalo is no joke either.

Oh and finally...how the hell does an 20-13 Syracuse get in? They had some terrible losses.

I agree there was the typical no-love for the mid majors. St. Mary's, Middle Tennessee St. out in favor of Syracuse and OU. Some things never change. Syracuse getting in is an absolute joke.

And Notre Dame was about to get in, but Davidson won. Why the hell should Notre Dame have gotten in?

Here is one thing that bugs me, and I'm not criticizing the Bonnies. But I think the final 8 at-large teams should be in the play-in games, and not any of the conference tourney champs. Even though teams like Radford have no chance of advancing, they should get in the round of 64 by virtue of having won their conference championship. Let OU and the other crappy power 5 conference teams be in the play-in games.

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

MSU ended up in the loaded Midwest bracket. Having the first to games in Detroit should help get them to the sweet 16 but then it's likely Duke and Kansas after that. It's a tough road.

Lot's of talking heads are picking the Spartans but I have concerns. The talent is there, but they are young and haven't always played well. Hoping Izzo can continue getting them playing over their heads in March.

No reason for the Irish to get in!

As for St. Mary's, they beat Gonzoga, that is really the only big win they had. I don't know if they should have gotten in either. Middle Tennessee should be in.

I get what your saying, I just have my team bias :). I do think all conference champs should be in. Just not a fan of the play-in game set up. I don't know whether to say they are in the tournament or not?

Ohio State is a 5 seed with the same guys who missed the tournament the last two years. They can lose by 50 and I am ok with it (and they may). Coming into this year the projection was grim.

Almost winning the Big 10 was insane. Turn the 3 losses to a mediocre at best Penn State into wins and they may have been a 2 seed after winning the conference by a full game. No way we could see that coming.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

The committee eliminated record in last 10 games as a measurement this year, and while I like that they are trying to award a team's entire body of work, this clearly led to Syracuse and OK getting in when frankly, right now, they are not tourney worthy teams.

Notre Dame I give a bit of a pass to. I hate to parrot Jay Bilas, but he is right. If Bonzie Colson played all year we wouldn't even be discussing Notre Dame. Notre Dame beat Syracuse at Syracuse, and lost one possession games against UNC, Miami, and UofL and another really close one to Va Tech, with Colson out.

Syracuse's best non-conf win was either Maryland or Bufflalo, finished 8-10 in conf play (that included 2 wins over winless Pitt) and their best conf win came in the tourney beating Clemson.

Exactly why I am so confused by the Syracuse pick. At least OU has some good OOC wins early in the season. Syracuse doesn't, and they finished below .500 in conference play. They didn't beat Clemson in the ACC tourney, UVA did. Syracuse beat Wake and then lost to UNC. There is no reason for Syracuse to be in the tournament. If they weren't Syracuse, they wouldn't be in.

I realize that ND would be in had Colson played all year, but that's tough luck for ND. The majority of teams have injury issues during the year, and it shouldn't be a factor. BTW I think Colson is a great player but he is a prick and I hate him, so I'm glad ND got left out.

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

If Colson wasn't injured ND would probably be in. But as you said, tough luck, I agree. Tournament teams shouldn't be one man teams. If one person is injured the rest of the team shouldn't collapse, teams should have depth in case someone is injured or sick.

I only bring up Colson because the Committee says that they take injuries to key players into account. Had Colson not been available to play in the tourney, then the Committee would have to evaluate ND as they played without him. But with him back, they say that they evaluate based on what the team has done with him. At least that's what history has shown. This year though, the Chair said something different. In talking about Jarrod Vanderbilt's injury for UK, he said "Again, it will be a discussion. We don’t try to project how a team will do with or without a player. We try to look at what they’ve done over the entire year and make a decision based upon that.”

Last year Duke suffered a number of injuries throughout the year, and Coach Rat was out for some games with back surgery, but everyone was back and healthy for the tournament. Duke ended up with a 2 seed, despite finishing 5th in the ACC but winning the conf tourney. I think the committee clearly evaluated Duke's seeding based on a full strength team and not on what they did all season long. Of course, it's a unwritten rule that Duke must get a 1 or 2 seed and play every NCAA game at home, so maybe that is a bad example.... :)

And you are right, the win again Clemson was on the last day of regular season, my mistake.

Finally, the 2 Cincinnati schools (U.C. and Xavier) get to stay close to home for the first 2 rounds. While in separate brackets, #1 seed Xavier and #2 seed Cincinnati both play in Nashville Friday (and presumably Sunday). Typically both teams get sent out west. U.K. fans get screwed, having to go to Boise Idaho. Calipari was quoted as saying most of his players didn't even know where Boise was, or something to that affect.

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I miss YaHey

.....effect.


Go Heels!!!

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Circling back around, the BIG10 was played at MSG because Rutgers was the host [last year, they played in DC, as guests of Maryland]

Starting next year through 2022, they'll bounce between Chicago and Indianapolis

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Going to be interesting to see if the week layoff has any effects.

If you had UVA going deep, you may want to reconsider:

http://www.virginiasports.com/...c-rel/031318aad.html

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

I think you meant to use this one

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Is anyone willing to set up a bracket challenge group at cbssport.com ? I know we had done it in past years.

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-----------------------------------------------------------
Pain or damage don't end the world, or despair, or beatings. The world ends when you're dead, until then you're due for more punishment. Stand it like a man. And give some back.

Let's hope the surgeon doesn't amputate. That kid has 3 more years of eligibility!

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Nice win by the Bonnies last night!

I hate UCLA and the Pac-12 in general so nice job.

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Freedom just around the corner for you. But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Glorious win!

I'll say defense won the day. Bona's big issue is they can't freaking make layups. They can hit jumpers and 3-pt shots but not easy layups. If UCLA can keep their team together I can expect them to be an elite 8 or better team in the next few years. Young team, they lost because of inexperience, but from UCLA forums, everyone is asking for their coach to be fired.

For Bonaventure no easy break either. 2am flight to Dallas and then a 9 pm game Thursday. As our coach said, Florida has 5 days ahead of em, they will be watching tape on the flight down.

Oh yeah, fun story, alumni raised $50k in about 12 hours to bus ~150 kids to Dayton, also Dayton dihard going to the game, who is a fellow A-10 team, pretty much made this a home court advantage game.

Doesn't look like the Hurley's will be playing each other this year

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Madness is in full swing!!

Gonzaga had a big scare from UNGB, URI vs OK went into OT. Loyola and Miami tied at the half.

Love this!

i've waited all year to see him, and i've just watched one half of one half and the dauminator is the real deal, baby!

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

He is at my wife’s alma mater (and mine’s arch rival I might add). But ya he is good.

big, sort of soft, 6'9" or 6'10" farm boy from america's heartland. slow. no hops. nobody like that has ever been any good, in college or in the NBA ;-)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Coworkers are peeved that I had the Loyola upset picked. Now SDSU needs to put OSU down.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Itd lookin like they are heading back to moo U

they have a little ground to make up.

daum, down on his family's nebraska farm, didn't really have a winning stroke. he decided he needed some shooting expertise. so of course he learned how to shoot from... his mom ;-)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Maybe he could have taken a few pointers from the coaches wife too since she was a WNBA player. At least he’s getting some love from the analysts and has a shot at the next level. But he’s not the next Larry Legend

ESPN Bracket challenge-

Not sure if you can create bracket after the games have started. If you already have one you can join this one.
Group name: slowtwich
Password : TDS

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Surprised at that outcome, I thought for sure SDSU would win that, and that some of the Big 10 teams would have a little layoff hangover.

Now, about the Conference of Champions.....





One Shining Podcast‏Verified account @oneshiningpod
LIVE LOOK AT SEAN MILLER LIVE LOOK AT ARIZONA BASKETBALL LIVE LOOK AT THE ENTIRE PAC-12
8:44 PM - 15 Mar 2018

Can't get the tweet embedded I want. Funny ones on AZ's loss here: http://larrybrownsports.com/...-loss-buffalo/433423

Buffalo is the real deal, good team. I'm pretty sure they are only losing one player after this year.

Sucks for me because I had Arizona going to the elite eight, but then again anytime a P5 team loses to a mid-major, I'll drink to that.

It used to be a rule of bracket picking, like a 12 always beats a 5, that the MAC champion would win its first round game. The MAC has been a little down (based on its history) for about a decade now, but used to be the mid-major no one wanted to see in the first round.

Marshall!!! Well there goes another one of my sweet 16 teams!

Well, it finally happened.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Cincinnati was up by 22 and the score is tied with 30 seconds left

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I miss YaHey

What a classic shit the bed that was.

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I miss YaHey

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

And somehow my Cats are the highest seed left in the South

Nevada being my Alma mater, I’ve watched most of their games this year. When they were down 22 with 11min to go I thought, well, Nevada has them right where they want them. Nevada is THE worst D1 team in the 1st half. And THE best team in the 2nd.

They have been down a total of 36 points in their 1st 2 games, prob some kind of tourney record. They’ve been down at halftime in each of their last 5 games.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

On the backside of March, there are other winners and losers. The risk of doing well means your coach is sought out. I just wonder who would be suckered into going to Pittsburgh....


I can see UConn being good soon.I bet a lot of Hurley's kids ask for release and follow him.


http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22862828/dan-hurley-leave-rhode-island-become-uconn-men-basketball-coach

depending on where dan hurley lives, he may not even need to relocate. he'll just drive north instead of south to get to work.

but to your point, mark few's in the sweet 16. where's pitino? last year few was in the championship game. pitino? calipari? coach k? few makes one-sixth of what calipari makes, and calipari earns about what coach k earns.

being a really good coach: great. being a really good coach who knows how to find happiness where he is: priceless.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Agreed, look at Phil Martelli. Coach of St. Joes for 21 years, no plans to leave. I think a lot of it is job security and branding. Sure you can get paid well for a few years, but if you keep at the same school for a long time your bound to have a building named after you or a statue somewhere on campus.

But you also look at Shaka Smart, he would of been solid at VCU for a long time, Texas gave him a pay raise and he was gone.

but transfer athletes are "quitters". says serial transferer, mid-contract-switcher tubby smith. who (fittingly) just got fired from memphis. live by the (coach) transfer, die by the transfer.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman