Bay Area Billiken

SLU lost at Arkansas State. Our hard earned California taxpayer Dollars are at work. Let’s go Eaters. The NIT is the de facto D1-AA Tourney, had 6 A10 teams in its 32 team field. One doubts Chattanooga would have advanced past #1 seed Dayton had Dayton not waived its home game there. That game was played at unseeded Chattanooga.

The NIT Championship matchup is UC Irvine (Big West), one of the 4 #1 Seeds vs. unseeded Chattanooga (SoCon). Although the Anteaters are a #1 Seed, one doubts many had this matchup on their bingo cards. As they say in the OC, Let’s go Eaters.

These would be two very good players for SLU. I have seen both play in game action. Observers say Mahaney should have stayed at St. Mary’s, rather than trek clear across the country to Dan Hurley’s program at UConn. Mahaney’s high school, Campolindo, is right down the hill from the St. Mary’s campus in Moraga.

I've read this year's NCAA Tourney is getting good TV ratings. But man, with the entire Sweet 16 coming from the Football Power 4, this has to be the most boring tourney ever.

Kudos to billiken_roy for picking all 4 Final 4 teams, all #1 seeds. I have 3 of the 4, could not bring myself to pick Duke on the principle of the matter grounds. For me, no NCAA Tournament is complete until Duke is eliminated.

https://x.com/JBristolKHOU/status/1906528639811784767

Same here, for both Ms. BAB and me, as we read our morning briefings at Starbucks. The transfer portal is the current flavor of the month system. But I still have to think there’s a better way.

https://x.com/trillydonovan2/status/1906699912160460844?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw

Two 6-12, .333 conference also-rans have no business being anywhere near the NCAA Tourney, and most certainly did not deserve NCAA at large bids irrespective of some rigged metric utilized to justify their presence. Ah but they both took $2M payable over 6 years back with them for their time and effort. It was good to see a deserving team in #1 seed Florida reach the Final 4 from the Bay Area where its young coach was a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Some successful coaches are coming out of that coaching tree, which started with Lorenzo Romar at SLU.

I remember as a kid watching that 1971 (1970 season) NFC Championship Game from Kezar Stadium, with the sea gulls flying in. I certainly never thought I’d be moving out here 14 years later. But that game and Giants’ Baseball games from Candlestick Park did make an impression.

Yes. Plus George H.W. Bush won California in 1988. And the Dallas Cowboys won NFL Championship Games at Kezar Stadium and Candlestick Park, as well as a playoff game at the latter. I was thinking more recent history, as in this century.

Seth Davis is likely pointing to Villanova soon to be having more to spend on players than a Maryland, which first must service its football team, if the House settlement is approved without limiting its terms.

Fordham hires UC Riverside Coach. https://x.com/mattnorlander/status/1906031088100651185?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw https://x.com/tompenders/status/1906109639986409979?s=12&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw

https://x.com/sethdavishoops/status/1906316408637571296?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw

https://x.com/whitlockjason/status/1906186189385662623?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw https://x.com/whitlockjason/status/1906202700720607487?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw

Young Coach Todd Golden returns triumphantly to San Francisco. We all know Texas never wins in California.

A 6-12 also ran in any conference, even if there was a Heaven Conference, has no business being anywhere near an NCAA Tourney At Large bid, irrespective of some rigged metric used to justify its presence, in this year’s case, two of them, Texas and Oklahoma.

The entire NCAA Sweet 16 is composed of Power Football 4 conference members. The only non-Power 5 conferences to receive NCAA Tourney at large bids were the Mountain West (3) and WCC (1). Thus, 33 of the 37 NCAA at large bids went to the Power 5, 29 of those 33 to the Football Power 4. We are seeing the takeover of the NCAA Tourney.

Six (6) of the whopping 14 SEC teams in the NCAA Tourney had sub-.500, losing records in SEC conference play.

NIT Final 4 matchups: North Texas (American Athletic) vs. UC Irvine (Big West); Chattanooga (Southern) vs. Loyola Chicago (Atlantic 10).

This is absolutely fascinating. Under the revenue sharing plan, the Big East would have significantly more to spend on basketball players than the Football Power 4. The objections are already being raised, with talk of a return to cheating, under the table payments, "third Party" payments and continuing the collectives.

In 2025, the NET transferred 6 NCAA At Large Bids from the non-Power 5 to the Power 5 from the previously used RPI. Each NCAA unit is worth ~$2M payable over 6 years. The actual NCAA field had only 2 variances with the NET.

https://x.com/rivalsportal/status/1904194717157400650?s=46&t=jikm5nKg-NlIUjy2c9C9zw It’s official.

Loyola is the only A10 team left in the NIT, hosts Kent State in Wednesday’s Quarterfinals. The NIT Elite 8 conference breakdown is: American Athletic 2, and 1 each for the Big 12, Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, Big West, Southern (SoCon), and Mid American (MAC).