NCAA Tournament Day 1

[Chip R]

Let the madness begin. Princeton and Notre Dame will be tipping off any minute.

[Chip R]

Notre Dame hangs on to beat Princeton by 2. Virginia up by 5 over UNC Wilmington - a 12 vs a 5 seed - and South Dakota State is leading 1 seed Gonzaga by 2 in the first half.

[Boston Red]

Butler is sticking it to poor Pat Kelsey.

[WildcatFan]

My five favorite sports days of the year, in order:

1) Opening Day
2) NCAA Tournament Thursday
3) NCAA Tournament Friday
4) NCAA Tournament Saturday
5) NCAA Tournament Sunday

[WVRed]

Florida only up by 1 at the half.


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[M2]

Am I correct that nearly everyone on the planet picked Middle Tennessee over Minnesota as the annual 12-5 upset? If so, and if MTSU wins, can we even consider it an upset?

[klw]

My five favorite sports days of the year, in order:

1) Opening Day
2) NCAA Tournament Thursday
3) NCAA Tournament Friday
4) NCAA Tournament Saturday
5) NCAA Tournament Sunday

I loved it when Opening Day and the NCAA men's final were on the same day. opening Day should be a national holiday but the combo demanded that it be.

Tomorrow will be nuts in some places with the St. Patrick's day and NCAA combo. When I worked in R.I. that combo happened and they essentially closed the courthouse. No hearings and most attorneys were at the local bars in Providence.

[Boston Red]

Am I correct that nearly everyone on the planet picked Middle Tennessee over Minnesota as the annual 12-5 upset? If so, and if MTSU wins, can we even consider it an upset?

Middle Tennessee was a one point favorite, so no.

[Revering4Blue]

Am I correct that nearly everyone on the planet picked Middle Tennessee over Minnesota as the annual 12-5 upset? If so, and if MTSU wins, can we even consider it an upset?


Middle Tennessee was a one point favorite, so no.

An over-seeded team (and one that just lost one of it's best players to a torn ACL) against an under-seeded team.

This was predictable.

[Revering4Blue]

If we're going to continue to sing the praises of Keatts and Kelsey, shouldn't Mitch Henderson be mentioned in the same breath?

After today, the answer is yes.

[M2]

Middle Tennessee was a one point favorite, so no.

You can tell how little attention I pay to basketball and football that it doesn't even dawn on me that there is a line on these games. I just look at the seedings. Yet the one article I read on ESPN with a brief breakdown on every team in the tournament praised MTSU mightily and presented Minnesota as a boring mess, and I saw a segment on the tournament where all the assembled experts picked MTSU.

[Cyclone792]

Vandy is the goat of Day 1 so far. What an awful final 30 seconds of basketball.

[dabvu2498]

Vandy is the goat of Day 1 so far. What an awful final 30 seconds of basketball.

MFD has had a strange year. Last year he was 3rd leading scorer on the team behind two kinds who were drafted. There was some thought that he might transfer because he didn't love Bryce Drew's hiring. He started the year in shooter/scorer mode and Drew had a come-to-Jesus with him about spreading it around. It didn't take and MFD was suspended for their trip to Arkansas... And VU played like a house afire. The last 10-12 games of the year, MFD didn't play much but Drew didn't kick him off and MFD didn't quit (which was important as they only had 9 eligible bodies to suit up). In fact, at times during the stretch they played well and turned the season around, MFD hurt them. But he was playing a little better. He was huge in the win over UF in the SEC Tourney. But his head and his heart clearly weren't in it. Like I said, I'm proud he didn't quit when a big part of him probably wanted to. And it sounds like he faced the media music after the game like a kid of character.

[Revering4Blue]

Vandy is the goat of Day 1 so far. What an awful final 30 seconds of basketball.


MFD has had a strange year. Last year he was 3rd leading scorer on the team behind two kinds who were drafted. There was some thought that he might transfer because he didn't love Bryce Drew's hiring. He started the year in shooter/scorer mode and Drew had a come-to-Jesus with him about spreading it around. It didn't take and MFD was suspended for their trip to Arkansas... And VU played like a house afire. The last 10-12 games of the year, MFD didn't play much but Drew didn't kick him off and MFD didn't quit (which was important as they only had 9 eligible bodies to suit up). In fact, at times during the stretch they played well and turned the season around, MFD hurt them. But he was playing a little better. He was huge in the win over UF in the SEC Tourney. But his head and his heart clearly weren't in it. Like I said, I'm proud he didn't quit when a big part of him probably wanted to. And it sounds like he faced the media music after the game like a kid of character.

The narrative -- and I'm not suggesting that you guys are pushing that narrative -- MFD's foul single-handedly cost the "Dores the game is ridiculous. Who is to say that NW doesn't score a basket with little time left on their own without the aid of the foul. MFD scored 22 points, and Vandy would have lost without his contributions.

[Stray]

RIP my bracket

3/16/17-3/16/17

[Stray]

Vandy is the goat of Day 1 so far. What an awful final 30 seconds of basketball.

Felt awful for that guy tho. What a brutal way to go down. But they never woulda came back without him, so I hope he doesn't take it too hard.

[Cyclone792]

The narrative -- and I'm not suggesting that you guys are pushing that narrative -- MFD's foul single-handedly cost the "Dores the game is ridiculous. Who is to say that NW doesn't score a basket with little time left on their own without the aid of the foul. MFD scored 22 points, and Vandy would have lost without his contributions.

Anything could have happened without that foul, but it was still a dumb foul. When you're in a tight game at the end of the game, you can't make dumb decisions unless you're interested in increasing the probability of losing. Between that foul and the awful shot selection at the end, it was a poor 30 seconds of basketball.

[Revering4Blue]

Anything could have happened without that foul, but it was still a dumb foul. When you're in a tight game at the end of the game, you can't make dumb decisions unless you're interested in increasing the probability of losing. Between that foul and the awful shot selection at the end, it was a poor 30 seconds of basketball.
Yeah, it was an awful 30 seconds for sure, and, yes, the shot selection was indefensible. This compares with the last minute or so of the '06 Gonzaga/UCLA Sweet 16 game, in which the Zags flat-out blew it.

[goreds2]

Commenting on this day 1 thread because my work corporate office sent this email to everyone on Thursday.

We appreciate all your excitement for the NCAA tournament, but we have experienced an overload on our networks which is causing an impact to our systems, including (company website).com business. We are asking all associates to reframe from streaming video. Sites offering streaming media coverage of the NCAA tournament will be blocked. We appreciate your understanding.