Iowa State. LOL.

[uconngb]

We really gotta have a thread on this subject after every win?

We had the hardest bracket region, only one school gets to come out of each region, that means every other school in the region has to lose to somebody.

We just so happen to be a wagon so it shouldn’t matter, but that doesn’t mean our draw wasn’t the hardest on paper.

Thank you for explaining this properly for those that just don’t get it

 

[Inyatkin]

There were likely people "scared" of Iowa State and Auburn, but they're the kind of fans that were also scared of Stetson. So what.
There were people who had legit complaints about the draw, which happens every Selection Sunday.
My complaint was and is that the committee phoned it in, not that they were out to get UConn or anyone else.

 

[navery12]

You bums were afraid of a spreadsheet.

I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, this is what happens in the Sweet 16 when 2 good teams play. One of them has to lose and if it was Illinois then you'd just claim people were unjustifiably "scared" of Illinois. The reality was always we were only going to have to face 1 of Illinois and Iowa State, who were both underseeded. But also, it doesn't really matter.

The difference between the 2 seeds and 4 or 5 seeds is very minimal this year, so people would have complained no matter who we got paired with

 

[Dogdeacon]

No one is very good. They were the better of the not very goods though.

Why would it matter then and why would you whine about it and continue to defend your whining?

Just admit you were wrong, over-estimated teams you hadn't seen play. I doubt you'll even answer if you had you seen multiple games of any from the alleged group of death (Auburn, Illini, SDST, ISt)?

Or at a minimum say everyone should have put a bigger emphasis on UConn is the best team and there should have been more posts saying things like; 'I don't love the draw but given our team it shouldn't be a problem.'

UConn wasn't ranked #1 for the entire year and this is no NCAA rule or ironclad tradition that the tournament overall #1 gets a cakewalk & tea party each round. They have been typically saying who is the overall #1, but what they said about that is it meant UConn gets to pick their region. UConn leap-frogged to #1 the last weekend of the season when as we know most of the seedings were done.

 

[87Xfer]

You weren't afraid. Perhaps you didn't think that, once again, the whole world was out to get UConn. But many were. It's a common theme. Everyone hates UConn. They put these very good teams in here to get us. They weren't that good! They were what the committee thought they were.

You clearly weren't in the Selection Sunday threads here enough to see people freak out. They aren't hard to find.

We had a thread on this board of people concerned we didn't have the capacity to guard LeDee.

keep bangin' that drum...

 

[tzznandrew]

keep bangin' that drum...

It's been a loud and successful drum. So you're welcome.

Also, our E8 matchup is a really good team that wasn't a spreadsheet warrior, so I'm not about to pretend this will be easy.

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, this is what happens in the Sweet 16 when 2 good teams play. One of them has to lose and if it was Illinois then you'd just claim people were unjustifiably "scared" of Illinois. The reality was always we were only going to have to face 1 of Illinois and Iowa State, who were both underseeded. But also, it doesn't really matter.

I haven't. You can see what I said from the beginning. All were appropriately seeded given actual success on the court.

re: the game. Iowa State literally only ever tied 0-0. They never led. They would have been beaten by 15+ if Illinois hit FTs at a normal rate. I'd suggest that's pretty strong evidence they were frauds.

 

[superjohn]

He absolutely does not believe the committee intentionally gave them a hard draw. He creates imagined slights to keep them dialed in. He admitted as much to Kornheiser.

Intentional or not we got screwed with our bracket and Iowa State, Auburn, and Illinois got screwed. It had 3 other top 10 teams in it who all were also power conference tournament winners. It's most likely no grand conspiracy and the committee just didn't do their job and watch the games at the end of the year and stacked a bunch of top 10 teams in the same region which shouldn't happen. Hurley talk is Hurley talk, you don't actually believe we aren't contacting people in the portal right now.

Tzzandrew is running with something that's really stupid since those brackets came out and claiming any Uconn fans who point out we had the toughest bracket are scared, this is nonsense. Fans were telling him this is the best UConn team they've ever seen and they don't fear anyone. Everyone and their mother knew the bracket was jacked up, this isn't some UConn woe is me thing.

It's simple, the #1 overall shouldn't get the toughest bracket.

 

[TrueBlue22]

Yay we’re going to the Elite 8!!!!

Now let’s start threads trying to pick fights with people who love the same team we do!

I love it though, without the infighting we’d just be a Kansas board.

This is what happens when you get a bunch of passionate schmucks from Connecticut together.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The interview was posted here. Great way to respond when someone points out you were wrong.

You obviously don't get why I made this post. Fine. You don't get it.

But let me say this, which is not entirely unrelated to why I posted: suggesting that the committee actively tried to screw UConn by putting too many good teams in the field is, by any measure, a confession of a fear UConn might lose to the teams placed there more than a they might lose to teams in another bracket. It seems axiomatically "fear" despite you insisting I lied.

I'd also add that I'm sick of the insane conspiracy theories here that even Hurley doesn't truly believe. Pointing out that Iowa State and Auburn weren't as good as this board (or the predictive metrics) assessed them is a way of pointing out the inaccuracy of the conspiracy.

But also, you don't get why I've posted it. It's fine.

It wasn't an intentional slight, but they very, very clearly gave us the #3 bracket and then slapped the #1 overall seed label on us, without changing anything else, when Houston and Purdue lost.

It wasn't conspiracy or homer-colored glasses to say we got an unusually hard draw for #1 overall. Everyone said so. Favorable commentators, Duke grad commentators. People who were angry about it, people who were happy about it. Vegas betting odds. Everyone. Iowa State had just beaten Houston by 30! Auburn and Illinois won P5 conference tournaments.

The fact that Auburn stepped on their D in a 1-and-done scenario and ISU ran into one of the few hotter teams in the country in Illinois doesn't invalidate that.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Trying to wait to say anything until we beat Illinois but man that freak out about our bracket looks sad now lol I was one of the few who had no problem with it.

 

[navery12]

I haven't. You can see what I said from the beginning. All were appropriately seeded given actual success on the court.

re: the game. Iowa State literally only ever tied 0-0. They never led. They would have been beaten by 15+ if Illinois hit FTs at a normal rate. I'd suggest that's pretty strong evidence they were frauds.

I just don't think that the #10 KenPom team beating the #7 KenPom team is the gotcha against analytics you think it is. This was a matchup of 2 teams that the analytics loved

 

[tzznandrew]

I just don't think that the #10 KenPom team beating the #7 KenPom team is the gotcha against analytics you think it is. This was a matchup of 2 teams that the analytics loved

I'm not anti-analytics. I'm very pro KenPom, but in context. And Iowa State gamed them.

Iowa State losing isn't a gotcha. Iowa State being overmatched the entire game, never having the lead, never being tied, and only even having a chance because of anomalous free throw shooting I think suggests that, perhaps, they weren't really as good as people were making them out to be.

Iowa State deserved to be the #4 two seed or a high three seed. Ultimately I'm playing it up a bit with some because of UConn conspiracy nuts acting as if we had been purposefully screwed. We weren't. Metrics are great, but they aren't everything. Having four Top 10 kenpom teams in your bracket isn't some punishment when the metrics aren't perfectly aligned with actual team ability, which it wasn't for Iowa State or Auburn. The B12 was overrated because they gamed those metrics and Iowa State blew out a tired and exhausted Houston team in the title. Auburn literally beat nobody.

Illinois...yeah, they're dangerous. They're going to give us a game. That said, Iowa State is their best win, and despite the fact that they were obviously much better than Iowa State, they seemed to try to give that game away. If Iowa State was able to rebound or stopped with their gimmicky defense, they might have pulled an upset. And we would have beaten them by 20+.

 

[AntG168]

The interview was posted here. Great way to respond when someone points out you were wrong.

You obviously don't get why I made this post. Fine. You don't get it.

But let me say this, which is not entirely unrelated to why I posted: suggesting that the committee actively tried to screw UConn by putting too many good teams in the field is, by any measure, a confession of a fear UConn might lose to the teams placed there more than a they might lose to teams in another bracket. It seems axiomatically "fear" despite you insisting I lied.

I'd also add that I'm sick of the insane conspiracy theories here that even Hurley doesn't truly believe. Pointing out that Iowa State and Auburn weren't as good as this board (or the predictive metrics) assessed them is a way of pointing out the inaccuracy of the conspiracy.

But also, you don't get why I've posted it. It's fine.

It was a joke.

I even liked his post

I have no problem backing down when presented with evidence contrary to my belief

Settle down. We’re in the elite 8 bud. Lmaoo

Smile

 

[AntG168]

Why would it matter then and why would you whine about it and continue to defend your whining?

Just admit you were wrong, over-estimated teams you hadn't seen play. I doubt you'll even answer if you had you seen multiple games of any from the alleged group of death (Auburn, Illini, SDST, ISt)?

Or at a minimum say everyone should have put a bigger emphasis on UConn is the best team and there should have been more posts saying things like; 'I don't love the draw but given our team it shouldn't be a problem.'

UConn wasn't ranked #1 for the entire year and this is no NCAA rule or ironclad tradition that the tournament overall #1 gets a cakewalk & tea party each round. They have been typically saying who is the overall #1, but what they said about that is it meant UConn gets to pick their region. UConn leap-frogged to #1 the last weekend of the season when as we know most of the seedings were done.

I never whined.

Not once.

But do your thing

Lmfao

Also I’m almost 100% I watch more CBB than you. I’ve seen all of those teams play multiple times. The committee did a tty job. It has zero to do with my predicted outcome. It was still a horrible job. Illinois and Iowa state were both under seeded. Idk why one of them beating the other makes you think some point has been proven. Youre last sentence is the example of the committees incompetence. It’s right there! Lmao.

 

[AntG168]

I'm not anti-analytics. I'm very pro KenPom, but in context. And Iowa State gamed them.

Iowa State losing isn't a gotcha. Iowa State being overmatched the entire game, never having the lead, never being tied, and only even having a chance because of anomalous free throw shooting I think suggests that, perhaps, they weren't really as good as people were making them out to be.

Iowa State deserved to be the #4 two seed or a high three seed. Ultimately I'm playing it up a bit with some because of UConn conspiracy nuts acting as if we had been purposefully screwed. We weren't. Metrics are great, but they aren't everything. Having four Top 10 kenpom teams in your bracket isn't some punishment when the metrics aren't perfectly aligned with actual team ability, which it wasn't for Iowa State or Auburn. The B12 was overrated because they gamed those metrics and Iowa State blew out a tired and exhausted Houston team in the title. Auburn literally beat nobody.

Illinois...yeah, they're dangerous. They're going to give us a game. That said, Iowa State is their best win, and despite the fact that they were obviously much better than Iowa State, they seemed to try to give that game away. If Iowa State was able to rebound or stopped with their gimmicky defense, they might have pulled an upset. And we would have beaten them by 20+.

We agree 1000% on the gimmicky defense costing Iowa state the game. That was terrible

 

[gtcam]

People cried over spreadsheets and suggested the committee tried to screw us. It was laughable. That's why I'm laughing.

Auburn and Iowa State feasted mostly on bum teams and when the lights turned on they weren't very good.

First, I agree to a certain extent that some folks took the bracket seedings way too serious.

You are out of the ballpark with the Auburn/ISU statement. It's match-up issues that hurt teams.

ISU is an extremely good team yet had a terrible offensive game due to decisions they made on the court on that particular night. They played a highly explosive offensive team that was a bad match-up for them. Every team goes through a game like that - remember Seton Hall and Creighton losses?
You seem to over generalize on this seeding topic.
Who gives a rip about metrics when its a one and done situation?
Seeding below the 1 spot is who cares - you play who is in front of you not to the seedings
This thread goes nowhere very fast.

 

[bballgrda]

Who is more annoying?

The crowd that thinks the world is out to get UConn

or

The people on this board obsessed with trolling said crowd

 

[Fishy]

Auburn was always garbage, but anyone who saw the Big 12 Tournament and was not worried about Iowa State is out of their minds. They beat Houston by 28 points…they looked pretty good.

 

[tzznandrew]

It was a joke.

I even liked his post

I have no problem backing down when presented with evidence contrary to my belief

Settle down. We’re in the elite 8 bud. Lmaoo

Smile

Fair enough. I'm not going around checking "likes" like the board's resident Robert Parrish wannabe.

 

[tzznandrew]

I never whined.

Not once.

But do your thing

Lmfao

Also I’m almost 100% I watch more CBB than you. I’ve seen all of those teams play multiple times. The committee did a tty job. It has zero to do with my predicted outcome. It was still a horrible job. Illinois and Iowa state were both under seeded. Idk why one of them beating the other makes you think some point has been proven. Youre last sentence is the example of the committees incompetence. It’s right there! Lmao.

I mean, the only reason you and I are engaging on this is because you jumped in. I really was never directing this at you. You've always been (what I consider to be) appropriately confident in this team.

We don't need to get in a measuring contest here. The committee did a bad job elsewhere, but Illinois is in no way underseeded. There's no logical argument for them to be on the 2 line. The B1G had two teams that were very good: them and Purdue. They never beat Purdue. They lost their two big OOC games to Marquette and Tennessee, both on the 2 line. They were seeded correctly.

I stand by my take on Iowa State. They were seeded correctly but weren't as good as their predictive metrics. They would have been absolutely blown out by Illinois if they shot well from the FT line and Illinois had some discipline. We'd have beaten them by 15+ At this point, my position is clear enough (and intentionally bombastic enough) to let that be after this.

Cheers.

 

[FearThePups]

this thread is bad karma.

Agreed. We are UConn. Geez. What other fan base rails against each other? It’s all of us against the world at this point. Stop the petty arguments.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Auburn was always garbage, but anyone who saw the Big 12 Tournament and was not worried about Iowa State is out of their minds. They beat Houston by 28 points…they looked pretty good.

Auburn had an extremely high variance.

Their computer numbers were incredible, but they hadn't really beaten anyone. They had the highest ceiling and lowest floor out of all of the 2-3-4 seeds.

When you're a favorite, you don't want a high-variance opponent. You want a predictably decent but reliably beatable opponent. Auburn was the opposite, and that was the concern. As it turned out, they were near their floor.

And, yeah, having the ISU-Illinois winner as an Elite 8 opponent is probably the toughest that any #1 seed would have to contend with, both looked dangerous and one of them was going to lose.

 

[tzznandrew]

Auburn had an extremely high variance.

Their computer numbers were incredible, but they hadn't really beaten anyone. They had the highest ceiling and lowest floor out of all of the 2-3-4 seeds.

When you're a favorite, you don't want a high-variance opponent. You want a predictably decent but reliably beatable opponent. Auburn was the opposite, and that was the concern. As it turned out, they were near their floor.

And, yeah, having the ISU-Illinois winner as an Elite 8 opponent is probably the toughest that any #1 seed would have to contend with, both looked dangerous and one of them was going to lose.

Illinois as a 3 seed, I agree, but they were an appropriately seeded 3.

I think Marquette and Tennessee are both objectively better than Iowa State. I never bought into or worried about Arizona, so you can talk me into Iowa State being #7.

 

[willie99]

The strength of a bracket is determined November through Selection Sunday. We were in the bracket of conference champions. I think the whole college basketball universe, every metric and my eye test said we had the toughest bracket.

What happens after selection Sunday doesn't matter. You have to play the games. The winner in a one and done tournament is very often times not the best teams.

Can't wait