2004 NCAA Basketball "March Madness"Thread (1 Viewer)

[Dave Morton]

Well, I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with Purdue. Of course, I'm biased as I'm a Purdue Alumni. They come off and beat Duke and now they advance beating Clemson in the ACC big 10 challenge. Watch out for Kenneth Lowe too. He's going to be a big factor in the Boilermaker offense.

 

[Brad Porter]

Oh yeah! Kenneth Lowe rocks!

Everybody bow down and worship Purdue! The power of the combover compels them.

This has to be unprecedented - the Colts, Pacers, and Boilermakers are all playing well in the same season. And Indiana University is having a mediocre season so far. If Michigan hadn't won the Big Ten football title I'd have to get religious or something. :p)

Brad

 

[Shane Martin]

The team that is impressing me the most right now is Georgia Tech. They have some serious athletes there playing ball right now.

And like every year the Kansas fans are up in arms happy go lucky until the tournament. They do look good so far but I've only seen them once and that was at home where things are very different than on the road. If they go undefeated in the Big 12, then I'll be impressed.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This is Paul Hewitt's 4th year at GT, and he's basically got most of his recruits in the house, so he's got the guys he wants to play the way he coaches the game. I'm optimistic, but it's a long season, we'll see how this team reacts to their ACC schedule starting in January.

GT's Muhammed's dunk last night was the #1 highlight on Sports Center. Muhammed's got some serious hop in his steps.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I missed the last few remaining minutes of SC, and I missed some of the game last night, but man did Michigan St. look bad. Glad UK's not their next opponent.

I forgot, is it Kansas or Roy Williams that's good during the regular season?

 

[Shane Martin]

I missed some of the game last night, but man did Michigan St. look bad. Glad UK's not their next opponent

I think Oklahoma is. I just hope they don't play poorly up in Meeeeeeeeeshegun.

 

[Mike SJ]

"I forgot, is it Kansas or Roy Williams that's good during the regular season?"

For the past 15 years, the answer was, Roy williams is a good coach therefore Kansas is good during the regular season. Now that Roy is hiding back underneath Dean's shadow (sorry im a KU fan, had to put that in) only time will tell if Bill Self can continue the run of 25+ wins per season. I do believe that Roy spent more energy on the regular season and didnt care too much for the Big 12 Tourney. And we all know that he's never won the BIG one.
KU definately has more depth than last year but lack of experience might be our big downfall. again only time will tell.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Did you guys ever see that one article on ESPN.com way back when where they picked actors to play certain sports figures? I agree that the guy that played Uncle Phil would be perfect for Mike Jarvis.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Glad Harrick is gone. Good coach but totally screwed the UGA program.

 

[Carlo_M]

Well it was ugly, but my UCLA Bruins started their climb out of the Dark Ages (aka The Lavin Years) with a decent showing vs. #3 Kentucky.

Now no doubt UK was a bit overrated, and the game wasn't pretty, but the fact that UCLA played hard-nosed defense and structured, fundamental basketball is something we haven't seen in Westwood in a very long time. Our team went 10-19 last year, lost the top three scorers from that team to graduation, lost one starter (TJ Cummings) to academics, and lost our frosh phenom who was our leading scorer in the preseason (Trevor Ariza) to a collapsed lung. And they took UK to the wire (lost 52-50).

New Bruin Coach Ben Howland has us on the right track though, and he's already recruited some great talent coming in 2004. We the fans and alumni are willing to give him several years for this reclamation project, but it looks like Howland is not going to use the easy excuse of "the cupboard is bare" (and it is) and is having this team overachieve.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

UCLA was UK's first "tough" opponent. And considering how UK played and that MSU lost again, this doesn't bode well for next week's game. Ben Howland's a pretty good coach and should fit in nicely at UCLA, considering he knows the area much better than Pennsylvania.

The thing that bugs me is that schools will still hire certain people like Harrick.

 

[Shoaib Lateef]

just a prediction:

UNC will beat Duke TWICE (maybe THRICE, if they meet in the ACC Tourney) this season.

ahhh, the good ole days are BACK!

 

[Patrick Sun]

And for the 4th time this young season, the #1 ranked team in the nation goes down as Maryland beats Florida in an OT squeaker 69-68. I actually turned away when the lead was 4 points for Florida, and was surprised that Maryland pulled it out at the end.

 

[Shane Martin]

Well tonight we get to find out what Oklahoma is made of.. They beat Michigan State in Michigan which wasn't easy and now they get a shot at Purdue at home(I assume they play at Purdue next year /shudder). Ou's team is really young so I'm a little anxious.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I'm torn. On one hand, I want U.K. to win. On the other, I don't want U.K. with a number one ranking. They aren't the best team in the nation, and besides...

IT'S A CURSE!!!

 

[Armando Zamora]

Patrick, at one point, Maryland was up by 17 early in the 2nd half. I'm surprised they hung in and won. Gary Williams said at the end of the game that he knew that his team wasn't 17-points better than UF. He knew what he was up against in that UF team. Great game....especially in hi-def!!!

 

[Shane Martin]

Well OU pulls one out against Purdue. They are 2-0 against ranked Big 10 teams. This will help come Tournament time.

 

[Chris]

Keep a watch out for Missouri; the team is really playing well.. which is one reason to watch. The other reason is to see if their team or coach survive the season in tact..

Damn, between Baylor (Dave Bliss.. need I say more?); Iowa State ('nother drink coach?) and MU, the Big12 is scandal ridden the last two years.

 

[Brad Porter]

Congrats to the OU fans, Shane. I thought the Boilers rushed their shots in the last minute, which was just what a solid shot blocking team on defense would ask for. Both teams played stellar defense, I just wish the shots would have been falling.

I hope Oklahoma fairs as well against Prairie View (#312 out of 326 in the Sagarin ratings), Jackson State (#251) and Texas Pan American (#288) over the holidays. Sure you beat two Big Ten teams in very tough games, but the rest of the schedule is too easy for you to see much schedule benefit at tournament time.

Brad

 

[Shane Martin]

Well considering they still need to play UConn and the big 12 schedule which isn't too easy, I'm ok with that. All teams go thru that type of schedule but I'm really surprised all these freshmen are coming together. One thing is for sure, Kelvin Sampson is a great coach.