Billikens_Fanatic

According to the NCAA website, UCLA has won the most championships in any sport with 90, followed by Stanford with 87 and USC with 82. Wouldn't that make the Pac 10 the best conference if you're talking about all sports? Also, Mizzou has 2 national championships. SLU has won 10.

Many teams in the Elite 8 have got there without playing a top 20 RPI team. GT has played (and beaten) Northern Iowa (89), BC (26) and Nevada (42), have won none of their games convincing, yet we don't talk about the validity of their 3 seed. Kansas has played UIC (103), Pacific (66) and UAB (31). Moreover all three games have been essentially home games for KU. And then UConn. They play Vermont (130), Depaul (48), and Vandy (28). St. Joe's schedule is Liberty (190), TT (33), and Wake (7). Therefore throwing out the first gimmee game, The average RPI for the last two rounds of games: GT: 34 KU: 48.5 UConn: 38 St. Joe's: 20 Whether or not they deserved a high seed or not, teams with lower seeds have had easier roads to the Elite Eight. Since St. Joe's has beaten some quality teams now in the tourney while other powerhouses have strolled in, I don't see why people still have a problem with them as one. St. Joe's as a one seed isn't overrated. It's GETTING a one seed that is overrated. Having upsets in your bracket (which isn't the case in St Joes bracket) is much more beneficial than a 1 seed. Look at Kansas. Since GT's RPI is 24, they could get to the Final Four, without having played a top 20 RPI team nor playing more than 6 hours away from Lawrence. I think Bill Self would take that anyday over a 1 seed.

Sorry Steve, but I too have posted during class. My prof was going over the Excel instructions for a project for the third time after some people still didn't get it. StlCardinal is a MIS major, so I would expect that he too has posted during some of his boring classes in the computer lab (but he'll never admit it b/c of Scrivener ;-) ).

Conference USA continues to fall apart. According to ESPN, Larry Eustachy has been hired by none other than C-USA's very own Southern Miss. Anytime I think of Eustachy, the 2000-01 season always comes to mind, where he finished 25-4 with a team led by Jamaal Tinsley, then proceeded to lose to Baylor in the first game of the Big 12 tourney and let 15 seed Hampton upset them in the Big Dance. Sure he took his team the year before that to the Elite Eight, but that team not only had Tinsley but Marcus Fizer as well. He's not going to have guys like Tinsley and Fizer at Southern Miss. Then you throw in his off the court problems... It's a real shame James Green retired. Between Eustachy's hiring and UAB's Anderson possibly departure, who would want to stay in this nascar conference which is becoming a bigger joke everyday? Only Memphis I guess.

Well it's good that at least one West Coast team is winning in the postseason. :-)

Agreed, people talk about what a great "team" the Lakers are because they have four "me" players on one team. Shaq, to me, is the worst example of a modern day basketball player. He has absolutely no skill except his size. His idea of defense is throwing his weight into a guy, and if he still tries to shoot, then smacking his arm to interfere with the shot. One Lakers game I committed myself to watching just to see how many fouls should be called on Shaq in a game. I remember it was in the lower twenties. However, should the ref dare call just one foul, he whines and acts like he is picked on because he's Shaq. Then on the offensive end, dare anybody try similar techniques against him, he will get in the ref's face. He's a terrible team player, and has no raw basketball talent. We have 11 guys on our team who are better free throw shooters. The fact that Shaq even gets MVP consideration signifies the deterioration of professional basketball. Give me college anyday, please.

Andre Miller, Jason Terry, Stephon Marbury, and Tony Parker are all 6'2" and around the same weight. Obviously, Thomas has a lot of work to do before he gets to any of their levels. I don't think the height will hurt him getting drafted at least. TJ was a top 5 pick last year and he was 5'11" or 6'0", and the one thing Ford could NOT do was shoot. The defense may hurt Thomas, and I think the other knock on his game is his turnovers. He may have corrected that this season, but last year at least it was an issue. Thomas actually put his name in the draft pool last year, but withdrew it. I would guess he would go pro after this season, but that's purely speculation.

It's a good thing nobody plays defense in the NBA. Seriously, Fisher posted him up a couple times, but really should have more. But it did seem like when Fish was even posting up, guys weren't looking for him underneath. I recall Reggie taking a couple shots when Fisher had position on Thomas. Fisher is much much stronger than Thomas. Even though Josh didn't post up enough, he still managed to put up 21 with Thomas guarding him most of the night. I don't know if posting up would have led to foul trouble, though. Do you think the refs would have really allowed their star to be on the bench? Anyways, hats off to Thomas. He had a helluva game against a great defensive club.

Thank you for the nice post. Also, much thanks for defending my post which was put up on NDnation by another member of that board. You reminded everyone that it was in response to another post, not an instigating post. I would have defended myself, but the registration takes a week for that board, and by that time, it would have been forgotten. Very classy move, and much appreciated. Anyways, best of luck to your team thru the rest of the NIT.

Joe Wiley does a humilitating job at play by play. Wiley is practically a soundboard for Frank, rephrasing what Frank says at best or, what's worse, repeating verbatim everything out of Frank's mouth. Maybe the most embarrassing part of the play by play tonight was when Frank actually asked Joe a question, so Joe would have to think on his own and not repeat Frank. The series went something like this: Frank: So how do you think the Billikens can score on this possession? Joe: Well you can give it to Reggie and get him hot, or give it to Fish, to maybe draw a foul on Thomas. This was with about 7 or 8 minutes left, and Thomas had no fouls. Now if you want to give it to Fisher to back down the weaker Thomas, that's one thing. Or because Fish was shooting pretty well, that's acceptable. But to say give it to him in hopes of getting Thomas in foul trouble is ridiculous. Even a couple quick fouls wouldn't have gotten Thomas out of the game, and by this time, much of the damage had been done. If SLU wants more people watching the game on Charter, then Scott Highmark or Rammer needs to be doing the games with Frank.

JJ hasn't really proven anything yet, to me at least. I hope he can develop into a better player over the summer. DC got some good minutes the last few games, and shows flashes of athleticism and the ability to create a shot. IO continues to be enigma. A healthy TF would be invaluable. Who knows what to expect out of IV and BH. AD's got the heart to possibly carry this team, if he wants it enough and continues to work on his shots, especially his free throws. RB needs to be more consistent. Hopefully our frosh can play a significant role. Next season will be an adjustment, especially with JF and CS gone, but we're just in the beginning of Brad's reign, and you gotta believe the best is yet to come.

Why was Phil Hunt guarding Thomas for most of the night? I guess Fisher shut down Quinn, but he wasn't the problem tonight...

Varner, Sloan, Bryant, Fisher, and Drejaj

I think Fredo is a poster on this board, if you notice his 27 posts. I think he is just posting what he found on NdNation on this board. I was a little confused by this at first too. Can you confirm this, Fredo?

Brad had some interesting things to say tonight. Here's a brief recap: -Frank asked him how the Bills were able to overcome four double digit deficits this year. For Marquette, Brad said stifling D in the 2nd half. Depaul, Ross Varner's play and fast paced offense. Houston, "luck". Iowa, slowly chipping away at their lead, and not losing faith in the guys. -Brad conceded that his team is not fun to watch, but said that with Polk, Liddell (fingers crossed), and Meyer, he's hoping to run a transition offense. Right now, his responsibility is to give his team the best chance to win, and that's not with a transition offense. -Brad compared ND guards Chris Thomas and Chris Thomas to "two Travis Dieners," saying that their basketball IQ's are high and are playing as hot as any backcourt in America. He pretty much said in order to beat the Irish, we're gonna have to shut both down. Other interesting one liners: Player who he would let his daughter date: Ross Varner Best coach in NCAA: Coach K Player who he would like to be a Billiken:Travis Diener Chris Sloan: heart Phil Hunt: opportunistic Lorenzo Romar: a great man Who he has winning it all: Pitt

Coaches are always the hot commodity. Besides Auburn, Georgetown or St Johns out of the Big East might make a run at Anderson. Even (gasp) Mizzou?? Think Anderson would play us if he coached the Tigers?

Stanford downed by the Crimson Tide!?!?!? What's become of West Coast basketball??? Stanford, Gonzaga, Arizona not in the Sweet 16?? No Pac-10 teams left after 3 tourney days and only Pacific (for one more day) and Nevada remain?? I never thought I'd say this, but maybe the East Coast bias is rightly justified in college basketball, althought the midwest of course deserves its respect. All the West Coast offers in the way of basketball is the Lakers and the Kings.

I hope he'll be fresh on Monday coming off 4 days of golf! Just further proof that our basketball players are fine all around athletes (if you consider golf athletic ;-) )

You have to be joking saying Saint Louis is a downgrade from South Bend. I have had the pleasure of visiting South Bend many times, as my girlfriend attends school at your alma mater. If you travel 5 miles in any direction from the center of town, you're in a cornfield. In the booming metropolis of Mishiwaka-South Bend, every street looks the same, lined with chain restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and retail establishments (many of them abandoned). It is a town clearly built for the six saturdays that people actually travel there. Indiana calls itself the "Crossroads of America." Clearly the state prides itself on the great number of people who only set foot in the state at a gas station or McDonalds, on the way to their out-of-state destination. As for SLU, the majority of the students attending here are from outside the St Louis area, and move back to their homes after graduation. We have 18 active alumni clubs in cities from coast to coast. I personally have friends from around the country, including Dallas, California, Wyoming, Montana, Seattle, Chicago, Michigan, Indiana (leaving the cesspool), Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, and Maryland, to name a few. Many of the posters on this board alone are also SLU alum from all over the country. SLU isn't the top Catholic school but it's also not a huge pricetag. After scholarships, I would be paying $25,000 a year more at ND. Times 4 years is $100,000 more. Education is an investment, and considering the time value of money, that is an investment most likely not going to pay for itself. You can't judge a city by size alone. St. Louis wouldn't be the same if we had 10 million people instead of 2.5 in our metro area. I don't see how that would even make us any better, except perhaps get us an NBA franchise, with the increased traffic, pollution, etc. I think more St. Louisans like the city more because of the small town feel in a big city environment than a free zoo or food. It's a nice place to live, the economic envirnoment is healthy as our unemployment rate is consistently below the national average, and people can actually say hi to strangers on the street- a friendly atmosphere not found in comparable cities. St Louis also has plenty to offer in the way of arts/culture, and talented athletic teams (including a football team that actually wins). If you don't like the ethnic foods of the Hill or Dogtown, there are plenty of Applebee's and TGI Friday's, like there are in South Bend. Also, Papa John's and Domino's can be found at most street corners, like in South Bend, if you don't like the pizza. I'm not going to say that Saint Louis is utopia, but it's definitely not the armpit you make it out to be. If St. Louis is so awful, why would a smart guy as yourself leave your cornfield and come here? The fact that St. Louis is better than South Bend is proven in that you moved here, but I would never move there. Perhaps if your entire salary wasn't going to pay off your student loans, you could live in a nicer part of town and your opinion of the city would change...

I remember watching part of that game on ESPN and noticing the low turnout. In defense of Iowa's fans, wasn't it in the middle of their spring break week?

Andy Katz (ESPN) reports that Lon Kruger will be named new coach of UNLV. Should be interesting to see what he does with the team...

According to the Tennessee's site. Assuming the dates/games are right, can anyone explain how some first round games are before opening round games?

I'm not sure if Wisconsin could beat the bottom teams of the ACC, let alone any teams in the top 4. Duke, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Wake all deserve higher seeds than Wisconsin for the following reasons 1. All three Big 10 teams in the tournament lost their games to their aforementioned ACC foes. Michigan State got trounced by 20 at home by Duke. Illinois lost to UNC, and Big 10 tourney winner Wisconsin lost to ACC tourney winner Maryland. 2.Winning the Big 10 tourney is about as impressive as if the Billikens basketball team won the SLU intramural tourney. The fact is that the Big 10 is extraordinarily weak this year. Maryland winning the ACC tourney by beating Wake, NC State, and Duke on consecutive days is a much greater achievement. 3. The tourney selection committee chair is the Iowa AD, and they meet in Indianapolis, where the Big 10 tourney is that same weekend. If any conference should be favored, it would be the Big 10. 4. According to teamrankings.com, all six teams have a higher ranking. Most ACC teams have played around 20 games against top 50 RPI opponents, and 14 against top 25. Wisconsin has played 4 top 25 RPI, and 8 top 50. Wisconsin's a decent team, but by no means do I think they could fair so much in the ACC, SEC, Big East, C-USA, or Big 12 south this year

Charlotte got Texas Tech, and Memphis was dealt South Carolina. Two more interesting games.

Not only that, but the Big 10 and Pac 10 both getting the same number of bids as the Mountain West: 3. This should be quite an interesting tourney. Maybe there wasn't as much smoke in the NCAA boardroom as some people thought.