NFT: With the Giants done, anyone following college hoops?

The Heels are going to win it all. Haha. I hope.

I can't wait for March Madness.

and man, what a rollercoaster this season has become. Went from being #1 in kenpom to almost unranked in a matter of weeks, lol. We need a true PG so badly.

20-25 teams capable of making a run this year. No truly dominant team or even close to it. Could make for a wild tournament.

In comment 16011047 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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The Heels are going to win it all. Haha. I hope. I can't wait for March Madness.

All depends on Caleb Love. If the Love from UCLA and Duke games in tournament shows up consistently in March they certainly can win it all, but he's been so streaky and for the most part bad this year its hard to depend on that.

UNC has 2 big time recruits coming in 2024 from NYC area.

As said, quite a rollercoaster so far. Once Big East games started, the reliance on 3 point shooting killed us. Sanoco and Clingon need to be more aggressive on offensive boards. Other than Hawkins, guards are meh. Need guards to penetrate the lane more. Team is very deep on talent but rely way too much on 3pt shooting.

Undergrad at GW and they still suck

Though did my MBA at FAU and they're ranked for the first time ever. #21 this week and I think 19-1 now?

on the ropes....Go Terps...getting better every game.

it is hard to watch.

In comment 16011047 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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The Heels are going to win it all. Haha. I hope. I can't wait for March Madness.

UNC at The Dome tomorrow night.

In comment 16011065 ElitoCanton said:

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it is hard to watch.

I dunno ... watching a pretty entertaining game between Greg's favorite teams, Duke and Virginia Tech. :-)

My Older daughter just graduated from Providence College, so I still follow the Friars. They had a lot of turnover from last year, lots of new faces but they actually have a pretty good squad again (Ranked #23 right now).

Beat Duke to stop the seven game skid tonight!

Big 12 is where it's at again in terms of conferences. Wouldn't be surprised to see another Big 12 squad in the final.

Houston, Gonzaga, Alabama, Tennessee, UCLA, Arizona, lots of very good teams that play good basketball.

Then there's the Big Ten, which is just brutal to watch this year.

Follow the Big 12 & Big East. Two best conferences. SEC has a few worth watching.

!

Nevada beat #25 New Mexico in double OT in the MWC. New Mexico has Jamal Mashburn's kid.

I’m a Seton Hall grad and miss seeing him on the sideline.
I thought he did more with less talent when coaching the Pirates
Wish him well at Maryland

The team always goes cold in the last five minutes.
Will Mike Anderson be back next year?

In comment 16011061 BCD said:

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on the ropes....Go Terps...getting better every game.

That was a tough loss Sunday they had no business being in the game but had a chance to steal it in the end. Just couldn't hit a shot. They need a signature road win. MD can't score on the road. Its incredible how horrific they've shot the 3ball for coming up on 2 months now.

In comment 16011395 Rick in Dallas said:

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I’m a Seton Hall grad and miss seeing him on the sideline. I thought he did more with less talent when coaching the Pirates Wish him well at Maryland

They started out great 8-0. Then they've been basically in a 2 month shooting slump. They're under .500 in the B1G but have had a brutal schedule with 5 of their first 8 on the road including Purdue, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Rutgers who's top 25 this year. They'll be on the bubble all year. The vibe though has been much more positive than the Turg years.

So many teams with little to separate them. Duke, UNC, Kentucky with surprising losses, Kansas now too. Manny teams lack pure shooters. March will be so unpredictable.

Maybe Willard has figured out that a path for Maryland to win in the Big Ten is to press these slower teams.

In comment 16014310 Bobby Humphrey's Earpad said:

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Maybe Willard has figured out that a path for Maryland to win in the Big Ten is to press these slower teams.

Definitely Hump. The B1G is definitely short on quality PG's this year. Press them to kingdom come. The problem is we've been so bad offensively on the road we can't get enough makes especially early in games to get into the pressure. The 1st half sched for MD was an absolute murderer's row of road games, coupled with the early Dec 3 games in a row Ill-Tenn-UCLA. I think they have maybe made it through the woods as the sched softens up a bit finally.

...probably fallout of the top 20 this week.

So many rapid rises and falls. UNC from #1 to unranked in a span of two weeks. UConn from unranked to #2 and now probably unranked again. Purdue from unranked to #1. Both UNC and Duke unranked.

Preseason top 10 was:

UNC: 1 -> unranked
Gonzaga: 2 -> 14
Houston: still #3, top 10 all season
Kentucky: 4 -> unranked
Kansas: 5 -> 9, and they will drop further next week
Baylor: 6 -> 17
Duke: 7 -> unranked
UCLA: 8 -> 8, but they fell down to 21 at one point
Creighton: 9 -> unranked
Arkansas: 10 -> unranked

Half of the preseason top ten is now out of the rankings. And two of the current top five started the season unranked. That's crazy.

Tiger Campbell and Jaime Jacquez are really good, if they can get production in the tourney from Singleton and Jaylen Clark with their team defense, they are going to be brutal to play. They don't get a lot of press on the East Coast, but they are definitely a team to watch out for and I would not want to play in March.

I agree with the comments about about UNC. If Caleb Love and RJ Davis can play well, UNC is a hard team to beat (maybe even impossible if both play well), but Love has been bad this year for the most part and Nance is nothing like Manek--although he had a fantastic game at Syracuse and maybe he is going to get going. UNC probably is not going to get it together again at the right time like last year, but if they do--watch out.

Purdue definitely has the resume but wasn't particularly impressed with the Sunday. Maryland couldn't buy a basket for 20 minutes, and almost came back to beat them in Lafayette. They caved to Maryland's pressure d as Hump pointed out. UVA will be a real tough out as well.

Kadin Shedrick finds his game and Reese Beekman stays healthy. Sheds started off the season so well but he's absolutely lost right now and barely plays anymore. Tony's been using small lineups most of the time. It's worked so far but eventually we'll likely face a team with a good big man, and we'll need him.

Our little slump coincided with Beekman being hobbled by a sprained ankle. He seems recovered now.

I could see Ryan Dunn emerging as a real X factor, similar to De'Andre Hunter in 2018, though Hunter was more skilled on offense. Didn't play much for a while (Bennett rarely gives freshmen PT from the get go) but he's a fantastic wing defender, a very athletic 6'8" with a long wingspan. This year's team has been merely good on defense, not up to par with past seasons, but Dunn could give them a real boost down the stretch.

Purdue @ Michigan, and UCLA @ USC.

In comment 16014947 Del Shofner said:

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Purdue @ Michigan, and UCLA @ USC.

Michigan needs that one bad. They're on the wrong side of the bubble right now.

The defense is atrocious and they lost to someone in the conference aside from St Mary’s or BYU for the first time in 117 games. They needed late comebacks to avoid losing 3 other conference games. They got destroyed by Texas, fell apart in the second half against Purdue, and choked away a game late to Baylor.

But they’re still ranked highly because they beat Bama in Birmingham by 10 and Xavier… two first place Power 6 teams.

Still a lot of time to improve, but the expectations are certainly lower than they were a few months ago.

Was texting with cousin who lives in New Brunswick & goes to a fair amount of Rutgers games at the RAC. Apparently Pikiell is cleaning up in recruiting. Good for the Scarlet Knights. NJ is loaded with basketball talent.

In comment 16015301 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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Was texting with cousin who lives in New Brunswick & goes to a fair amount of Rutgers games at the RAC. Apparently Pikiell is cleaning up in recruiting. Good for the Scarlet Knights. NJ is loaded with basketball talent.

Yup have 5 star top 20 overall Gavin Griffiths for next year. In 2024 have 5 star top 10 overall committed in Ace Bailey. Going to be close with other 5 star top 10 overall Dylan Harper, Ron's little brother. Have a 4 star PG committed as well, Dellquan Warren You combine that with being currently 2nd in B1G playing some of the best D in the country and things are super exciting for my Scarlet Knights. Would love to grab a top 3 finish in B1G and a 4 or 5 seed in the tourney. Really exciting times!!

Awesome. Yeah, he mentioned those names too, though he made it sound like Harper is leaning towards Duke. Blah if true. As an aside, I love Ron Jr.'s & Dylan's old man. Helluva player.

during the 70's, I was and I still am a PC fan. Go Friars!

In comment 16015401 OlyWABigBlue said:

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during the 70's, I was and I still am a PC fan. Go Friars!

y

Loved the old Big East. I am not a St John's alum but I still follow them from the glory days of the Big East. That was some conference in those days.

Plus there was Mike Riordan of PC on the Knicks in their glory days!

In comment 16015401 OlyWABigBlue said:

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during the 70's, I was and I still am a PC fan. Go Friars!

Ha Oly, I knew I liked you!! lol

UCLA @ USC - ESPN2

Purdue @ Michigan - FS1

In comment 16015419 Del Shofner said:

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UCLA @ USC - ESPN2: Purdue @ Michigan - FS1

Purdue up 10 with 9 to go

USC up 5 with 7 to go

Michigan made it interesting at home but Purdue looks veg iry complete as a team, esp. their big man who is a force.

Brandon Miller is a Nashville kid, goes to the same barber shop I do. Nicest kid you ever want to meet, respectful, polite, very humble. he might be in the league as early as next year.

Siena just boatraced Iona last night. Looks like that tournament will be crazy.

BC at 7 Virginia
13 Xavier at Creighton
2 Alabama at Oklahoma
12 Iowa State at Missouri
Cincinnati at 3 Houston
10 Texas at 4 Tennessee
9 Kansas at Kentucky

Creighton / Xavier, Wisconsin / Illinois, fun day for hoops.

Creighton beat Xavier, WVU beat Auburn - and Houston, Alabama and Iowa State all trailing at the moment.

Texas @ Tennessee should be a good one.

#3 Houston trailed most of the game but caught Cincy at the end, good game.

But they’re still dangerous, as Xavier learned

2 and 18

In comment 16015570 Del Shofner said:

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Michigan made it interesting at home but Purdue looks veg iry complete as a team, esp. their big man who is a force.

I bet they would've won if Juwan's son was playing

In comment 16016855 Rick in Dallas said:

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2 and 18

And some wanted the Knicks to make Kenny Payne the new HC

beat #18 Charleston in Charleston.

2 Alabama 11 TCU 12 Iowa State 13 Xavier 15 Auburn 18 Charleston 20 Miami

all lost to unranked teams

handling a decent Spartans team with relative ease. Zach Edey is a load. 7'4", 290 lbs., at 37 points and 12 rebounds with 2 minutes to go.

To be followed by #11 Baylor at #10 Texas, also on ESPN.

Carrier will be rocking for that.

I’ll take the road win, but we were very lucky to win that game. Defense really struggled. Good thing Cuse missed a bunch of free throws.