RaceToTheTop

Combined LCS/Joe/WAR poll through March 10th games 1. Houston 28-3 (74) 2. Purdue 28-3 (73) 3. U Conn 28-3 (69) 4T. North Carolina 25-6 (63) 4T. Tennessee 24-7 (63) 6T. Auburn 24-7 (55) 6T. Arizona 24-7 (55) 8. Iowa State 24-7 (50) 9. Duke 24-7 (45) 10T. Baylor 21-9 (44) 10T. Creighton 23-8 (44) 12. Marquette 23-8 (43) 13. Illinois 23-8 (39) 14. Kentucky 23-8 (35) 15. South Carolina 25-6 (32) 16. Alabama 21-10 (28) 17. Kansas 21-9 (27) 18. Utah State 24-5 (26) 19. BYU 22-9 (23) 20. Nevada 25-6 (17) 21. Gonzaga 24-6 (16) 22T. St. Mary's 24-7 (10) 22T. Dayton 24-6 (10) 24. Texas Tech 22-9 (9) 25. San Diego State 20-9 (7) Also: Clemson 22-9 (6), New Mexico 21-9 (5), Florida Atlantic 24-7 (4), Drake 27-6 (4), Boise State 20-9 (1).

The fans tricked him.

Simple question....if we had landed an Anthony Walker level player who was a shooting guard instead of a post, would IU have made the tournament? I know it's kind of moot because we could have had both given that there was an open scholly, but even given the troubles we had that the difference between IU at least making the tournament and being where we are now was having an okay backup guard to come in as a starter when X went down as opposed to Cupps moving into the lineup and a combination of Gunn and Leal coming off the bench. For reference, this is the most comparable player I see to the level that Anthony Walker was as a transfer (he was the 52nd rated PF transfer, played at a power 5 school where he was a starter in his career when Miami was struggled and then played a backup role later): Julian Roper. Transferred from Northwestern to Notre Dame. Not a great player. Plays decent defense, okay shooter -- had a great shooting year the year before transferring, came back down this year. Good rebounder for a guard. Not all world or anything, but I think a player like him was more needed to getting two bigs in the portal. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4683949/julian-roper-ii

I'm just here for Schitt's Creek gifs.

Got to thinking.....Woodson's problems in terms of what he says is as much about what he doesn't say as what he does. When he said "I'm not going anywhere" with the media, I kept waiting for the rest of the statement. Same at senior day. "I'm not going anywhere" comes off 100% at a poke at his critics. Something like "I'm not going anywhere, I came back to return Indiana to the top and we are going to get there" comes off more as a 'I'm not quitting on this program and we are going to get it there'. Whether or not that thought is true, it's about the team instead of himself. Not sure he can change his ways, though. Gonna hope I'm wrong and it works out.

Think he did it himself. I'm sure the athletic department wasn't happy about and would prefer 'no comment' to being combative to the media and fans.

NBA draft withdrawl deadline isn't until June, correct? Will be quite a few guys in the NCAA important to their team and those teams will be going in to the portal not knowing who is coming back or not.

CBS accidentally sent Jeff Goodblum instead. He was very confused.

Really bad draw for Michigan State. Bracket Matrix still has six at large bids below them but personally I think they are closer to being out than that. No bad losses helps them but loss to Minnesota would put them at 18-14. Don't see any way they beat Purdue if they do get past Minnesota. IMO, a loss to Minnesota puts them out of the tournament or on the last 4 line and at risk to having their bid stolen.

nitbracketology.com: IU 5 seed playing at 4 seed Butler. thebarkingcrow.com: IU 7 seed playing at 2 seed Cincinnati dratings.com: IU 6 seed, does not provide matchup

Saw one that had IU as a 5 seed yesterday. About to check again.

Louisville/NC State tied with 4 1/2 left.

Agree. It also could result in some power conference teams of lower NIT preference getting in. For instance, assuming Cincinnati doesn't get in the NCAA tournament, the two auto NIT bids from the Big 12 would likely be Cincinnati and UCF. But I don't see any way that the NIT would leave out Kansas State who is more preferable to UCF. And if something like somehow the Big Ten were to get 7 teams in the tournament (I think it will be 6, but let's say Iowa or Ohio State makes a BTT run) then Maryland would actually be in the NIT despite likely having a losing record.

@Uspshoosier: your thoughts on the NIT changing its automatic selection structure this last? In the past, all regular season champions who lose their conference tournament and didn't make the NCAA get an NIT invite This year, previous rule eliminated but the top 6 power conferences all receive two automatic bids for the two teams in their conferences with the highest NET ratings that don't make the NCAA?

Ledlum committed and then decommitted after Knecht signed. I have wondered if he was told he had a starting spot with Tennessee and then when Knecht was signedd he was told that he wouldn't, or if Ledlum just knew that would mean less time. I know they don't play the same position but Ledlum seeing himself as a SF or combo forward, there is a ripple effect on playing time.

Screw that: Mike Woodson: New Purdue head coach. Assistant Kent Benson.

6. Consensus building professional development opportunity.

Off topic, but I have really enjoyed this board and love the posters here even when I had some intense disagreements so I thought I would share in the most active thread. Had some lumps that I was really concerned about and between seeing the doctor and then getting the ultrasound scheduled took some time before I noticed them to when I had them checked. Ultrasound results look positive from what I can see from the radiologist report. Will follow up with my doc but a load lifted off my mind.

Just wanted to thank @Uspshoosier for everything he does for this thread and the bracketology thread.

Yeah, better to be able to unload than not.

Correct. I was just saying IU wasn’t close to getting Knecht. Wasn’t making any proclamations as to why.

I’m still a WWE fan. Last couple of years the product has been improving.

I was the one who called you a narcissist. And I’ll never claim that I have or know what it takes to be a D1 coach at a power 5 university university. But I do think there are some very valid criticisms being made about Woodson. You may not agree with delivery of those messages but the point of those messages are certainly worth examining. And it’s not just what’s been put on message boards that woody refused to answer. The post game interview after the Minnesota game was a perfect example where he was being asked a very straight forward question about the portal period. His answer was unnecessarily combative. Even if it were the 1980s and he were Bob knight, it’s a different informational age. Whether or not those questioning him are right or wrong, the combativeness isn’t going to do anything but feed the fire of those who don’t like you. Just a matter of reading the room.

Plan B.

The reports on Love is he was asking for offensive autonomy which is a big reason why IU didn’t come after him as hard. Woody not knowing who he was when he was on campus is also s bad look. As you have said, multiple things can be true. you are correct about knecht. We weren’t close to getting him.