NCAA Basketball 20-21 Catch-All

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After March Madness was canceled in the spring, we're back to try again. Opening day, Thanksgiving week. And we've already had games canceled. There's talk of a bubble for March, in Indy. We'll see if we make it to then.

Here's your preseason AP Poll from 2 weeks ago.

1 - Gonzaga
2 - Baylor
3 - Villanova
4 - Virginia
5 - Iowa
6 - Kansas
7 - Wisconsin
8 - Illinois
9 - Duke
10 - Kentucky

But who really knows?

Also, this CBS feature released last week. Greatest programs of all time, 1-68. Can argue with some of the criteria (Why NBA picks give points?), but the teams are generally, mostly, in the right places.

A teaser:

1. Kentucky
2. UNC
3. Duke
4. UCLA
5. Kansas
6. Louisville
7. Indiana
8. UConn
9. Villanova
10. Cincinnati
11. Syracuse
12. Ohio State
13. Arizona
14. Michigan State
15. Illinois

Let the games begin!

Sorry, a few games started at noon today, so I'm just a bit late. First top 25 game starts at 1:30 though, haha.

Wow, hi spam.

Anyway, Louisville survives a tough Seton Hall rally today. Terrible call on a flap under a second left gave the Pirates 3 FTs to tie, but ball don't lie, and the 3rd missed. 71-70!

And UVA goes down to San Francisco.

Pepperdine took UCLA to 3 overtimes, but fell short.

Early season upsets and exciting games already.

UNC starts cold, but wakes up to handle UNLV relatively convincingly. I definitely think this team could have used some private scrimmages and/or exhibition games to work through some of the links I see playing out on the court.

Still, it's nice to win a couple early. If I recall, the schedule gets tight pretty quickly. ACC should be an odd place this year.

Funny to see Roy sub in 5 full new players. Sent the message and they played better.

Louisville starting 3-0 and looking solid. WKU tomorrow, with a star big man, and our best defender is out the first 10-12 weeks. So, a little nervous, but should be a good test.

Nice to see Richmond take down Kentucky yesterday.

Stele wrote:

Funny to see Roy sub in 5 full new players. Sent the message and they played better.

Louisville starting 3-0 and looking solid. WKU tomorrow, with a star big man, and our best defender is out the first 10-12 weeks. So, a little nervous, but should be a good test.

Nice to see Richmond take down Kentucky yesterday.

Yeah, sometimes that's just what you have to do when the team is playing like they would rather be somewhere else, I guess!

The Kentucky loss was a surprise. As were the UVA and Villanova ones! 2020 basketball, starting off right!

Yeesh. This UNC team needs to find a point guard soon. 20+ turnovers? Some wack officiating, too. I saw some serious phantom fouls called. It was spread pretty liberally, but UNC was definitely the beneficiary in some opportune moments. Of course, the prize for winning is a game tomorrow against Texas... a team that always seems to be UNC Kryptonite. But now, more ranked matchups! MSU v. Duke! Kentucky v. Kansas!

On a related note, I'm still really terrified of this whole covid thing. Too many programs already having to postpone or cancel games due to infections within a team, sports program, or larger college footprint. An upcoming UNC game was postponed due to positive tests from some of the staff and/or players on the opposing team. I feel like it's just a matter of time. All it takes is a false negative, an asymptomatic player, and a series of games back to back (like, say this Maui Invitational tournament).

As much as I love the game, should we REALLY be playing college sports right now?

No, it's actually worse now than in March when they canceled. If they're going to play now they should have had March Madness.

Granted, we know more now about the disease and how to treat it. But it's still got weird cardiovascular effects that no one knows much about long-term. It could really wreck some kid's career. And the spread is out of control. And look at MLB/NFL and all the postponements or cancellations vs NHL/NBA who went full bubble and played with no issues. Colleges are mostly doing the first two but pretending they are doing the later two. It's going to blow up.

That's exactly my fear. There are still a lot of unknowns about the damn thing. Yes, we have some treatment plans/regimens, but they're not perfect. Worse, the post-infection effects are still a big question mark.

I feel guilty watching at all. It shouldn't be happening.

Kentucky has a losing record. Let's stop the season now.

Sigh. UNC Kryptonite.

Good on them for fighting back from 16 down, but missing so many free throws effectively sealed the deal.

Clutch shot, great game. As a basketball fan, that was a lot of fun.

Forgot to mention, Cards beat WKU last night, by 21. Bassey is good but otherwise we held our own. Can't believe we're playing this well without 4 scholarship players, at least 2 starters out.

Stele wrote:

Clutch shot, great game. As a basketball fan, that was a lot of fun.

Forgot to mention, Cards beat WKU last night, by 21. Bassey is good but otherwise we held our own. Can't believe we're playing this well without 4 scholarship players, at least 2 starters out.

Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the defensive set on that last play, but you have to hat tip to Texas. They executed beautifully, down to the clock management!

Young team, probably a good early loss. They were in it right up to the end, just some missed opportunities to close out.

The ACC is clearly going to be competitive. Duke looked great for about 9 minutes and then just kinda fell apart (too much reliance on Jalen Johnson?). UVA shows talent, and then forgets how to basketball against San Francisco.

Assuming things don't go south over the next month (and I am not holding my breath), the conference season should be entertaining.

And just like that Louisville suspends basketball activities. No game against UNC-G tomorrow.

Prairie View had positive tests a day or two after they played us. Figured it was only a matter of time, someone from that game spread it to us.

More games getting postponed. I really don't see this ending well.

Kentucky lost again?!

To Georgia Tech?!

https://apnews.com/article/georgia-m...

Haha yes, to the GT team that lost to Ga St and Mercer and was 0-2. And it wasn't close.

I love it.

Even if we don't finish the season, UK having a losing record was worth starting it.

Stele wrote:

Haha yes, to the GT team that lost to Ga St and Mercer and was 0-2. And it wasn't close.

I love it.

Even if we don't finish the season, UK having a losing record was worth starting it. ;)

I figured that'd make your day. Heh.

Ugh. Iowa has too much experience, too many weapons. UNC did well to fight back and briefly take a lead, but Iowa just kept making shots.

UNC really needs to figure out the point guard situation. Turnovers and poor shot selection really doomed us.

ACC getting an ass-kicking tonight.

Hey, my Vols finally got to play. I think there was only one other team that hadn't played a first game yet. Nice win against what seemed to be a decent Colorado, even if they need to get the young guys up to speed about playing a zone.

Stele wrote:

ACC getting an ass-kicking tonight.

It was baaaaaaad. Miami somehow pulls out a squeaker of a win at home... and then, VA Tech, UNC, Duke, BC, and ND all explode.

Tyrian wrote:
Stele wrote:

ACC getting an ass-kicking tonight.

It was baaaaaaad. Miami somehow pulls out a squeaker of a win at home... and then, VA Tech, UNC, Duke, BC, and ND all explode.

Wow. That is bad. Hopefully the ACC will be better tonight (or at least FSU)

Ego Man wrote:
Tyrian wrote:
Stele wrote:

ACC getting an ass-kicking tonight.

It was baaaaaaad. Miami somehow pulls out a squeaker of a win at home... and then, VA Tech, UNC, Duke, BC, and ND all explode.

Wow. That is bad. Hopefully the ACC will be better tonight (or at least FSU)

It was brutal to watch. Both UNC and Duke basically just fell apart at inopportune moments. Lots of freshmen on the floor for both teams, and they were playing some powerhouses from the Big10. VA Tech... I dunno what to say about that. It's like they just forgot how to basketball.

ND was hanging tough for most of the game, but couldn't close the gap at the end.

BC was actually up big on Minnesota but collapsed in the 2nd half. Took it to OT, but ran out of juice.

And Coach K gave a big postgame talk questioning what we are doing, why are we playing, shouldn't we look at the numbers again.

The cynic in me says he wouldn't be saying that if he didn't just lose 2 games at home. But maybe there's enough truth there that schools will start to reevaluate. Covid numbers are worse now that in March when they canceled everything.

Stele wrote:

And Coach K gave a big postgame talk questioning what we are doing, why are we playing, shouldn't we look at the numbers again.

The cynic in me says he wouldn't be saying that if he didn't just lose 2 games at home. But maybe there's enough truth there that schools will start to reevaluate. Covid numbers are worse now that in March when they canceled everything.

As much as I loathe Duke, I tend to think coach K is typically a pretty straight shooter.

I saw NCSU has paused their program. This is going to keep happening. More and more colleges. Realistically, the right option is to shut things down and wait for the vaccine to become more available.

Kentucky loses again. They're 1-4. Wow.

Tyrian wrote:

Kentucky loses again. They're 1-4. Wow.

I love it.

But a lot of pressure on Cards now. We have to win that day after Christmas game. No excuses this season

My Vols are still figuring out offense, but this may be the best defense I can every remember out of a UT team.

We'll see if that holds true once they start the SEC schedule.

Keyontae Johnson seems to be doing better.

I am sure his medical woes have nothing at all to do with COVID

Tyrian wrote:
Ego Man wrote:
Tyrian wrote:
Stele wrote:

ACC getting an ass-kicking tonight.

It was baaaaaaad. Miami somehow pulls out a squeaker of a win at home... and then, VA Tech, UNC, Duke, BC, and ND all explode.

Wow. That is bad. Hopefully the ACC will be better tonight (or at least FSU)

It was brutal to watch. Both UNC and Duke basically just fell apart at inopportune moments. Lots of freshmen on the floor for both teams, and they were playing some powerhouses from the Big10. VA Tech... I dunno what to say about that. It's like they just forgot how to basketball.

ND was hanging tough for most of the game, but couldn't close the gap at the end.

BC was actually up big on Minnesota but collapsed in the 2nd half. Took it to OT, but ran out of juice.

Well the 2nd night went better. But with games cancelled the ACC trailed 6-5.

But wait, since NCSU couldn't play yesterday, Louisville and Wisconsin rescheduled for Saturday at noon!

ACC B1G challenge final game. Win tie or go home.

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