March Madness

...Hopeful fans in Wisconsin.

I had Duke, but not Wisconsin.

I had Kentucky/Duke

If Wisconsin wins, they'll have done so by beating North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke in succession.

Chalmers1 said:

If Wisconsin wins, they'll have done so by beating North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke in succession.

or at least three of the most hated teams in college basketball (or two of the most hated by me)

Chalmers1 said:

If Wisconsin wins, they'll have done so by beating North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke in succession.

That is an impressive list. When the Terps made their title run, it was somewhat similar. Kentucky, UConn, Kansas, Indiana(First Year Post Knight IIRC).

hankzona said:

Chalmers1 said:

If Wisconsin wins, they'll have done so by beating North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke in succession.

or at least three of the most hated teams in college basketball (or two of the most hated by me)

Gee, why the hatred for Arizona?

DaveSchmidt said:

hankzona said:

Chalmers1 said:

If Wisconsin wins, they'll have done so by beating North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke in succession.

or at least three of the most hated teams in college basketball (or two of the most hated by me)

Gee, why the hatred for Arizona?

I could never hate 'Zona.

Process of elimination. I knew no one could hate the Heels, either. ;-)

(As a fan of Ralph Kramden, I love watching Sean Miller coach.)

Is North Carolina a hated team? Really? I mean, obviously I'm biased, but I have never gathered that in terms of reputation.

I think probably some people had the final matchup. Wisconsin was a #1 seed, after all! But I'm sure Kentucky was favorite.

TarheelsInNj said:

Is North Carolina a hated team? Really? I mean, obviously I'm biased, but I have never gathered that in terms of reputation.

Before your time, but the Four Corners was, shall we say, an acquired taste. (I admired it long before I knew where I'd be going to college, but I'm the type who salivates over a 1-0 baseball game that's decided on a stolen base, a bunt and a sac fly.) Also, any team that's always there risks, among other things, going from growing tiresome, to getting on nerves, to projecting hubris and self-regard, to generating hatred.

It's baseball season ...

Bring on the sac flies.

@daveschmidt fair enough. I just never think of us as a team folks love to hate... maybe love to "hate on" though

Soul_29 said:

It's baseball season ...

go back to your Mets thread then.

TarheelsInNj said:

@daveschmidt fair enough. I just never think of us as a team folks love to hate... maybe love to "hate on" though

my high school coach, who we still cant stand thirty five years later, despite our success, emulated Dean Smith and North Carolina. Our uniforms, sneakers, plays all lifted from Carolina...even our plays were named after Carolina players. It was fitting that Jimmie Black, heading to be the point guard at Carolina, torched us in the city quarterfinals. My dislike goes so far back, I never disliked Duke because of it.

Heh. Jimmy Black's on-court interview after the 1982 title game -- sharp and incisive -- is what convinced me that I had picked the right school.

//self-regard

Does anyone think Wisconsin has a chance of winning tonight?

odds makers, for starters...the game is a pick'em...over and under is 140 1/2 for anyone interested in that too. Wisconsin is a really good team. That said I thought they would be 6-7 point underdogs. I don't know what the spread was for the KY game...obvious underdogs there and they won, but this is a team that had a great year, Well, except for losing to Jersey's Team.

Wisconsin absolutely has a chance. Duke is beatable this year - sure, they've had a lot of wins, but they've had some major losses as well.

hankzona said:

Well, except for losing to Jersey's Team.

You mean these guys?

CapnMarko said:

http://forum.maplewoodonline.com/discussion/115239/the-deafening-silence-about-the-only-new-york-metro-mens-basketball-team-still-in-post-season-play#Item_1

Personal bias aside (not just anti-Duke but pro-Bo Ryan), I really like Wisconsin's chances. A hot, healthy Dekker is a difference maker since the early-season meeting.

Rutgers beat Wisconsin!!!

That was an awesome game.

Until that last part

Bo Ryan ragging on the officiating when expected to be quietly gracious. His team may have lost this one in the weight room. Coach K trying to speed up the cutting down of the nets either because he didn't want to see his wife's leather jacket on the Jumbotron one more time or he wanted to hear One Shining Moment. Seeing the NCAA officials handing over the trophy I keep thinking they are akin to IOC criminals, I mean, officials.

I'm kind of disillusioned by the one and done thing, because I think that the charm of this tournament is the illusion that coaches build a team. And so I feel sort of hypocritical for enjoying the victory. But c'mon, Grayson Allen.

Grayson Allen played a major role in the past two games and especially tonight where he shined on the biggest stage. You gotta feel bad for the Wisconsin Boys who stayed in school to build a team. BUT wow Duke.

He is the next Greg Paulus or Steve Wojahowski or JJ Reddick. Not good enough to go out early to the pros, but we will have to hear Dick Vitale talk about how great he is for the next 3 years.

Don't feel bad for Wisconsin.... They played well but got bad calls. That's to be expected when you play Duke.

I was rooting for Wisconsin...found their story more compelling, but its hard to argue that they got bad calls. Duke played a more aggressive game. One can argue Wisconsin benefited from some calls against KY but as much as I cant stand Calipari, he didn't complain about it after the game. For any bad call there may have been, one can point to a handful of easy baskets the Badgers missed, as well as poor free throw shooting, too much dribbling and not enough ball movement. I don't think it was a great game...it was fun, exciting, but in this game, Wisconsin lost because they didn't execute. Saturday not, Kentucky didn't play poorly, Wisconsin just played better.

There is no question Duke was a beatable team this year. But, they didn't get beat, and that's March Madness for you! Wisconsin had it until the last few minutes, which is a real shame.

@campbell29, so true. This is the first year Dick Vitale did not call the Carolina-Duke games, and while it was a relief in some ways, I realized that hating on "Dookie V" is also part of the rivalry

Did I mishear, or did one of the announcers call him "The Magnificent Oakafor" at one point? LOL.

These are the days I'm grateful to live in NJ, where very few people give a flip about college basketball My Tar Heel friends that live in NC are hurting right now!! Especially two close friends who actually work for Duke. Ugh.

campbell29 said:

Don't feel bad for Wisconsin.... They played well but got bad calls. That's to be expected when you play Duke.

And this is why I stopped watching college B-Ball about 20 years ago. Last night I decided to watch the championship game for the first time in ages and was disgusted all over again. From the point of 5min left to 30 seconds left (I turned it off at that point) every missed call was an infraction by Duke and every marginal called made was against Wisconsin. Step on the line wearing a Duke jersey and play continues, tip the ball out and you get the ball back even after instant replay. Different standard for charging and for blocking. It was pathetic and it will probably be another 10 years before I'm dumb enough to watch again.

Neither team means anything to me but I have to feel for the Wisconsin players. Duke may have still won if it was officiated fairly but the Wisconsin players (or the rest of us) never got the opportunity to find out if Duke deserved the title or if Wisconsin did.