March Madness

The fact that Oakafor had 4 fouls and still played several minutes after, as a big man, without fouling out is good evidence that the calls didn't go Wisconsin's way.

I came in 3rd in my pool ... Despite the fact that jeffl tried and screw me at every turn!

Soul_29 said:

I came in 3rd in my pool ... Despite the fact that jeffl tried and screw me at every turn!

he sounds worse than the officiating!

Soul_29 said:

I came in 3rd in my pool ... Despite the fact that jeffl tried and screw me at every turn!

Soul, I forgot to tell you the third place prize. Wait for it... Wait for it...


A great big congratulations! You go, boy! Woohoooooo! And this cool emoticon:

TarheelsINNj - you had asked why the hatred of UNC earlier - last night's game was a perfect example of why most of the country dislikes Duke and/or UNC. Last night's officiating left a lot to be desired with seemingly every close call going Duke's way. A blatant charge by Winslow that was not called, stepping on the line and the tipped ball were just examples. Duke players have been flopping for years and they always get that call. There seems to be a different standard.

And don't get me started on the phantom Allan Ray travel call from the 2006 NCAA tournament that knocked my Wildcats from the NCAA tournament. It is still listed by many as the worst call in NCAA Basketball History (i wouldn't go that far, but it was pretty bad).

Both Duke and UNC are perennially good teams that don't need the benefit of horrible officiating and probably win most games on talent alone but when the perception is that they get every call, the ACC gets over promoted its nauseating to watch year after year.

With all that said, bottom line is that Duke made the plays down the stretch. Tyus Jones was exceptional again and Wisconsin didn't execute at the end of the game and missed way too many easy baskets, including free throws.

College Basketball is changing - getting closer to the NBA, which is unfortunate because I consider the NBA un-watchable.

@sportsnut I agree 100% about the Duke part of that. But us UNC folks complain all.the.time about terrible officiating when we play Dook too. I guess perhaps it's different when you're watching your own team, but it sure doesn't feel like we get that same "benefit" of officiating. Duke's #1 seed was another example of that. Many people said that they really didn't earn it or deserve it; they didn't win either the regular season or the conference championship, and that's rare (if not completely unheard of). Of course, you could argue now that it's justified. Though I won't argue that

All I meant is I didn't think UNC had a reputation as one of those schools everyone despises. Some others do - not just Duke - but again, I'm very close to it!!

And for what it's worth, I think the ACC was incredibly strong this year. It's not true every year, but we had some really solid basketball in the conference, especially when you factor in our new pals Notre Dame and Louisville.

TarheelsInNj said:

but it sure doesn't feel like we get that same "benefit" of officiating.

Down this way of thinking madness lies, for a fan of (or against) any team.

Fear the Turtle......l grew up MD so lived with the crappy calls, the Dickie V diaper dandies incessant Duke slurping. Many cousins went to Carolina, great program. Dean Smith, Roy Williams class acts all the way. I can't find fault with Coach K, he runs a great program and probably doesn't need the calls.

As far as strength of ACC, Md would be a midrange team in the ACC, but 2nd behind Wisconsin in the Big 10. Can't complain about the bounce in rankings.

campbell29 said:

Fear the Turtle......l grew up MD so lived with the crappy calls, the Dickie V diaper dandies incessant Duke slurping. Many cousins went to Carolina, great program. Dean Smith, Roy Williams class acts all the way. I can't find fault with Coach K, he runs a great program and probably doesn't need the calls.

As far as strength of ACC, Md would be a midrange team in the ACC, but 2nd behind Wisconsin in the Big 10. Can't complain about the bounce in rankings.

If Maryland was in the ACC they would be battling for 3rd with ND. The bottom of the ACC is awful btw. The B1G was a better conference top to bottom.

Anyhoo, Duke gets all the calls. They got most of the calls in the tournament. They got the lions share of the calls in the final. That being said, it was within the acceptable levels.

I will say this. The officiating in College Basketball is really bad. Its inconsistent. Its hard to know what they are going to call, not even between games, but often within a game.

This is a billion dollar industry where they don't pay the players. You'd think they'd be able to get some better officials.