March Madness 2025

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Yes! Go Huskies!

There. You see? It worked! (Barely.)

[CONN CHRIS]

One Uconn team down but we have another rooting interest left!

[Jordan]

Dan Hurley's postgame tears come across as crocodile-esque. Nothing he does deflects attention. People can contain multitudes, but screw that guy

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Jordan

Dan Hurley's postgame tears come across as crocodile-esque. Nothing he does deflects attention. People can contain multitudes, but screw that guy

You are referring to this, I believe. The emotion seems genuine, even if he lacks sportsmanship.

[Déjà Bru]

Speaking of sportsmanship, this ticked me off a bit:

Texas fires Rodney Terry, opening up a top-10 job in college basketball: Longhorns aim to land proven winner



Let's see if I can itemize why.

- Texas gave him a five-year contract after he took over on an interim basis in 2023, taking the team to the Elite Eight.
- Thereafter, he was only two full years on the job and made the NCAA tournament twice.
- But of course, that was not enough; he was fired for losing a First Four game to Xavier.
- And yet, Texas has so much cash that needing to pay him another $6 million over the next three years is no big deal.

So freakin' desperate for bragging rights that very good is not good enough and they don't give the guy a decent chance to prove himself (if he still needed to do so). Instead, we waste millions of education dollars looking for the next "proven winner." I guess they feel they may have overlooked that criterion when they hired Terry in the first place?

Tell me that I shouldn't focus on this kind of thing, because it ruins my enjoyment of sports.

Edit: Oh, and I forgot something. Just couldn't wait to can him, could they? Like, until after the tournament is over and the public eye is elsewhere, to save him some embarrassment? I have never, never been envious of sports management, from top to bottom. I wouldn't last a week in that environment.

[Jordan]

They nailed their last two hires in Shaka Smart and Chris Beard, what could go wrong? /sarcasm

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Jordan

Dan Hurley's postgame tears come across as crocodile-esque. Nothing he does deflects attention. People can contain multitudes, but screw that guy

UConn was one of the four teams I had in our $640 random team bracket. I wasn't really aware of what an a-hole Hurley is. Kinda regret rooting for them.

[CONN CHRIS]

As a long-suffering Detroit Tigers fan, used to no one caring about anything the team does, says or is; it warms my heart to see such vitriol hurled at UCONN. We used to hear it about Calhoun all the time too.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

As a long-suffering Detroit Tigers fan, used to no one caring about anything the team does, says or is; it warms my heart to see such vitriol hurled at UCONN. We used to hear it about Calhoun all the time too.

It is the price of sustained excellence.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

It is the price of sustained excellence.

It is indeed!

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Speaking of sportsmanship, this ticked me off a bit:

Texas fires Rodney Terry, opening up a top-10 job in college basketball: Longhorns aim to land proven winner

Attachment 1054625

Let's see if I can itemize why.

- Texas gave him a five-year contract after he took over on an interim basis in 2023, taking the team to the Elite Eight.
- Thereafter, he was only two full years on the job and made the NCAA tournament twice.
- But of course, that was not enough; he was fired for losing a First Four game to Xavier.
- And yet, Texas has so much cash that needing to pay him another $6 million over the next three years is no big deal.

So freakin' desperate for bragging rights that very good is not good enough and they don't give the guy a decent chance to prove himself (if he still needed to do so). Instead, we waste millions of education dollars looking for the next "proven winner." I guess they feel they may have overlooked that criterion when they hired Terry in the first place?

Tell me that I shouldn't focus on this kind of thing, because it ruins my enjoyment of sports.

Edit: Oh, and I forgot something. Just couldn't wait to can him, could they? Like, until after the tournament is over and the public eye is elsewhere, to save him some embarrassment? I have never, never been envious of sports management, from top to bottom. I wouldn't last a week in that environment.

My thoughts on this.............

Education dollars are not being spent. Universities like Texas have boosters w/such deep pockets that rarely are coaches salaries coming from the education budget. Especially Texans, they are the closest America has to Saudi Arabian oil sheikhs. Those people are tossing millions and are looking for somewhere for all that $ to land................

..........The timing was one, actually good and two, actually necessary. It was good because the sports media was concentrating on the tourney itself, so it didn't make the normal headlines. & 2, if you are going to do it, you have to do it now because the transfer portal opens up this week. Players will be leaving Texas because of the new regime & the Horns can't afford to be left behind.

.......Fans & boosters better realize consistent 20 win seasons & tourney appearances are the closest thing college basketball will see to a dynasty from this point forward. The game is not the same as it was 10 years ago. Heck, probably even 5 seasons ago. & It will look drastically different from its present form in 2030. The NIL situation in basketball is not the same as it is in football.

1. Football rosters have 100 mouths to feed. Basketball just 15.
2. Football players have to stay in college for 3 years minimum. Basketball just one.
3. There are approx 120 football schools competing for players. Basketball has 330+.

So for example, I can pay the top HS QB in the country my best offer, but it won't necessarily change my team's fortunes cause I need to fill 23 other positions. And I can be pretty assured he will stay for 3 years. So the only schools who can really translate this situation into wins will be schools with deep pockets & a network that donates enough into the pot that it can make ":best offers" to 20 or more players a year. Not to mention they can pick off prime transfers from smaller programs offering less NIL.

I can pay the best HS b ball player my best offer, but I will get him only for one season. Yes, one player can make a much larger impact in basketball. But I'm going to have to start the whole process again the next recruiting season. And I will have to compete with more schools who don't need a deep enough treasure chest in order to compete for that single player that may make a difference. Plus, the transfer portal is more volatile. You may be able to offer a smaller college player a step up, but your current roster is being picked apart by other schools offering more playing time.

Therefore, there is no such thing as roster certainty anymore in basketball. UNC's season ended & no one knows who will be on the roster next season. Seriously, no clue. Not even Coach Hubert Davis.............

Two SR's have used up eligibility............There is one player who had to redshirt cause of academics. Does he come back?...............Two who are considered potential 2nd round picks, longshots for the 1st. Do they make the jump? One of those guys saw his playing time drop cause his all around game isn't mature enough. So if he doesn't go pro, does he leave because he wants guaranteed playing time?.............Three players were former starters that lost their spots. One tried to transfer last year. Another was a transfer that bombed & wasn't made for this level. A 3rd regressed as the year progressed. Last 2 mentioned had their playing time drastically reduced, all 3 were playing out of position. Do they leave?...........Two others were transfers who never made the regular rotation do they seek playing time elsewhere?......And whatever the Heels get now, does that answer change if Carolina brings in a better player at any of those positions? And do any leave because they are offered more than what UNC is willing to pay?

The above is the example every college coach is having to deal with at the end of every year. There is no such thing as stability. You have to recruit the high schools, opposing campuses AND your own locker room.

How can any coach sustain winning in those conditions?

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

It is the price of sustained excellence.

Has there ever been a dynasty(or team with multiple championships in a short span) that people didn't turn against? Big Red Machine? Don't remember people actively rooting against them, but they only won 2. Plus, there was a ton less media back then. I do remember the A's having folks that disliked them, but I was only 8-10 year old back then.

[Déjà Bru]

Texas women's coach Vic Schaefer saved his job by defeating Illinois 65-48. Still, it wasn't quite the rout that Texas boosters wanted, so he's on thin ice. He'd better take it all the way if he wants to hold onto his job. If he loses to Tennessee, he's liable to get a pink slip while he's walking off the court!

[Jordan]

I think there's a difference between disliking a coach and disliking a team. UConn is a bootstraps program if there ever has been one. The players aren't a problem. I've payed moderate attention to the college basketball season, and I could only name Karaban. Most of the talk about the team has to do with their emotionally stunted coach

[CONN CHRIS]

A while back, he was 'passionate" he "wore his emotions on his sleeve". A few titles later and he's an "A-hole" and "emotionally stunted".

Calhoun was "underhanded", "arrogant" and encouraged "dirty players" (that was Mike Francessa's NY-central whine).

I'll take the 6 titles over 25 years - it's been fun!

[Jordan]

Last thing I have to say about this, since none of what I've had to say has been refuted

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-bas...171111073.html

If the guy wasn't allowed to be there, then he wouldn't have been

[CONN CHRIS]

What's to refute? If he was the same guy coaching Prarie View to a 5-27 season, no one would give a rip.

[Jordan]

In other news, by my count, as of 4:33 CT on 3/24, 3 seed upsets in Women's March Madness vs 10 for the men. Not quite at same stages of the tournament, but I found that interesting. Mainly because I've heard a little bit of talk that NIL was to blame somehow for the lack of "Cinderella" stories/upsets. Nevermind that 2 years ago, the tournament was crazy with the Final 4 having no seed higher than a 4. Or Saint Peter's getting to the Elite 8 3 years ago

[pilight]

UPSET = Any lower seed winning
BIG UPSET = Upset in which the teams are more than four seeds apart
CLOSE GAME = Any game decided by single digits or in OT
BLOWOUT = Any game decided by 20+ points

[Cobra Mgr]

Where every Sweet 16's starting 5 started in college.