Upset picks

[tzznandrew]

I don't why these people in the media, including Seth Davis on the selection show, think this is a home game for UConn. Washington, DC is closer to Hartford than Buffalo is. If UConn was in a bracket in DC would anyone say this is a home game for UConn?

People on this board said Atlanta is a home game for Duke, and it's about the same distance, so, yeah, this is a UConn home game.

 

[storrsroars]

lol Buffalo is closer to Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh than it is to New England. It's a midwestern city.

You’re right. It IS a midwestern city (happens to be one that is VERY accessible to both Connecticut and Vermont). Doesn’t matter a bit to to the kids who are from way down in Arkansas. It’s still in NY. Still looks like a slight.

It's "Rust Belt"/Mid-Atlantic with a nod to Appalachia, which starts just a couple counties south of Buffalo.

If you were standing next to me and called Pittsburgh "midwest", you'd get throat punched.

 

[Vuce]

Charles Barkley picked us to lose every game lol

Then he bought us all drinks at the UConn hotel bar after we won it all in 2014. He’s a really good dude and was laughing about it that night

 

[Chonky]

It's "Rust Belt"/Mid-Atlantic with a nod to Appalachia, which starts just a couple counties south of Buffalo.

If you were standing next to me and called Pittsburgh "midwest", you'd get throat punched.

Pittsburgh is Midwest.

 

[Chonky]

Pittsburgh is Midwest.

 

[storrsroars]

View attachment 74462

Say to it my face you geographically and culturally ignorant nimwit.

 

[Tenspro2002]

It's "Rust Belt"/Mid-Atlantic with a nod to Appalachia, which starts just a couple counties south of Buffalo.

If you were standing next to me and called Pittsburgh "midwest", you'd get throat punched.

Buffalo isn't mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't call it Appalachian either.

It's Great Lakes. Maybe a little Rust Belt-y.

 

[Tenspro2002]

View attachment 74462

Eh, I think the Midwest isn't that expansive. I'd probably cut it off no farther west/south than St. Louis. Minneapolis, fine. West of there is Plains.

The eastern extent is pretty good, probably would tighten that up by 50-100 miles, but not bad. Ohio River as the southern boundary is straightforward.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

My bracket has UAB beating Houston and Chattanooga beating Illinois creating a 12/13 second round matchup with UAB making the sweet sixteen.

I also have South Dakota State over Providence, but that’s more out of spite than objective analysis, but that’s what’s fun about making a bracket, right?

 

[PNolanFan]

View attachment 74462

I think my biggest problem with this map is putting Denver in the midwest

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Say to it my face you geographically and culturally ignorant nimwit.

Historically Pittsburgh’s development has centered on its position as the head of the Ohio River, a categorically “Midwest” river.

Coal and iron sourced in Western PA were turned to Pittsburgh steel and shipped, first on barges and then rails, to midwestern industries.

Sorry but Pittsburgh has more in common with Detroit Buffalo and Cleveland than it does with eastern cities, even Philly

** braces throat **

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

My bracket has UAB beating Houston and Chattanooga beating Illinois creating a 12/13 second round matchup with UAB making the sweet sixteen.

I also have South Dakota State over Providence, but that’s more out of spite than objective analysis, but that’s what’s fun about making a bracket, right?

I think UAB or UTC will win . Would love to see both. In my mind I think it would be an upset if Providence beat South Dakota State even in Buffalo. SDSU is much more dangerous than NMSU. UConn got a break there.

 

[storrsroars]

Historically Pittsburgh’s development has centered on its position as the head of the Ohio River, a categorically “Midwest” river.

Coal and iron sourced in Western PA were turned to Pittsburgh steel and shipped, first on barges and then rails, to midwestern industries.

Sorry but Pittsburgh has more in common with Detroit Buffalo and Cleveland than it does with eastern cities, even Philly

** braces throat **

Historically, Pittsburgh modeled its governance more on NYC and Boston than Chicago or Detroit. Which is why it's so damn messy with a ridiculous number of boroughs and townships with redundant municipal services and why Pittsburgh is routinely powerless in trying to annex its neighbors, unlike many midwestern cities.

Btw, a whole lot of Manhattan was built with Pittsburgh steel, as well as in other East Coast cities. But that's neither here nor there.

There's no argument here that Pittsburgh is "East Coast". But it's definitely not Midwestern in almost any regard. It's more a mix of Eastern & South than anything Midwest. Kids go to college either locally, to Eastern or SEC schools. Few go to midwest universities comparatively.

 

[methodology]

I think my biggest problem with this map is putting Denver in the midwest

Or that he has Oklahoma is the Midwest lol… try telling someone in Oklahoma or that sliver of northern Texas they are Midwest

 

[Umami Zen]

UVM over Arkansas

 

[auror]

Iowa is the trendy final four pick that will lose in the first round to Richmond

Iowa is 9-2 in its last 11 Q1+2 games (5 Q1 vs, 4 Q2). 8 of the wins are by double digits. They are for real. The only loss in the last 10 is by 2 at Illinois on senior night when Illinois had a chance to clinch the conference (and Iowa was up by 15 at one point).

Keegan Murray should be 1st team All American.

They never turn it over and they have 3 awesome offensive rebounders, so they actually lead the country in shot volume. So even if they miss shots, they still score.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Another “upset”:

I have LSU in the sweet sixteen. Yeah, it’s crazy and counter-intuitive to have a team with a brand new coach to win a few games, but LSU is so freakin’ tenacious on D where I can see them making life very hard for every other Badger and force Johnny Davis to win the game himself, which he can’t. I also don’t see a defender on Wisconsin who can handle Tari Eason.

In the first round matchup, Iowa State is prone to TOs, especially with freshman Tyrese Hunter as their point, so I see a ton of transition offense for LSU while forcing the other Cyclones not named Isaiah Brockington to make plays.

 

[microfich]

Charles Barkley picked us to lose every game lol

Sir Charles manned up and served us well at the hotel afterwards!

 

[superjohn]

I could see that. Purdue is who I really think is overrated from B10 though.

The entire league is overrated every year.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

lol Buffalo is closer to Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh than it is to New England. It's a midwestern city.

You’re right. It IS a midwestern city (happens to be one that is VERY accessible to both Connecticut and Vermont). Doesn’t matter a bit to to the kids who are from way down in Arkansas. It’s still in NY. Still looks like a slight.

Storrsroars DISliked both of the above posts.

It's "Rust Belt"/Mid-Atlantic with a nod to Appalachia, which starts just a couple counties south of Buffalo.

If you were standing next to me and called Pittsburgh "midwest", you'd get throat punched.

Here's where things get interesting-er...

Buffalo isn't mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't call it Appalachian either.

It's Great Lakes. Maybe a little Rust Belt-y.

Picking up some speed...

Historically Pittsburgh’s development has centered on its position as the head of the Ohio River, a categorically “Midwest” river.

Coal and iron sourced in Western PA were turned to Pittsburgh steel and shipped, first on barges and then rails, to midwestern industries.

Sorry but Pittsburgh has more in common with Detroit Buffalo and Cleveland than it does with eastern cities, even Philly

** braces throat **

And some fine-tuning...

Historically, Pittsburgh modeled its governance more on NYC and Boston than Chicago or Detroit. Which is why it's so damn messy with a ridiculous number of boroughs and townships with redundant municipal services and why Pittsburgh is routinely powerless in trying to annex its neighbors, unlike many midwestern cities.

Btw, a whole lot of Manhattan was built with Pittsburgh steel, as well as in other East Coast cities. But that's neither here nor there.

There's no argument here that Pittsburgh is "East Coast". But it's definitely not Midwestern in almost any regard. It's more a mix of Eastern & South than anything Midwest. Kids go to college either locally, to Eastern or SEC schools. Few go to midwest universities comparatively.

There's geology, natural resources, American history, commerce, and transportation all in play. Maybe more.

Buffalo is a Great Lakes city, and thereby part of both the NYC-Hudson River-Erie Canal-Great Lakes AND St Lawrence-Great Lakes channels.

Pittsburgh was an outpost in westward expansion prior to the Erie Canal, and is the origination point of the Ohio River, which flows down through Cincinnati and Louisville, and meets up with the Mississippi in Cairo, IL.

Much that is bounded by those two rivers encompasses and defines the Great Lakes, Rust Belt, and Midwest regions. Navigable waterways, rail beds, roadways, and airline hubs for passengers & freight delivery of raw materials and finished goods are all in the mix.

Lewis & Clark set off from the western bank of the Ohio River where natural falls at Louisville brought that city to prominence and westward expansion ran through St. Louis (along the Mississippi) and into the great northwest and throughout the Louisiana Purchase.

There's a lot of opportunity for 'difference-splitting' within this thread, especially where it shines a light on parochialism and lack of greater awareness.

As an interesting side note, some time in the past couple decades, there was an inquiry into whether Lake Champlain shared a certain geological DNA enough to be considered a 'lost' 6th Great Lake, and it came up negative, but there lies the best case to link UVM and its Round 1 game location in Buffalo.

Finally, my musings come from the heart of Kentuckiana, where I can confidently proclaim that no American city draws in a more balanced fashion from the East, the North, the South, and the Midwest than Louisville, Kentucky. In the same way that Omaha got some props as an underrated city in the McDermott/Creighton thread, the Falls/River/Derby city gets misinterpreted when simply seen though the quick-take of a Northeasterner's mindset.

And with that, GO HUSKIES!

 

[elmcityboy]

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fantasy.espn.com

has anyone taken a look at espn's "who picked whom" breakdown? we are the second favorite 5 seed of "the masses" after iowa. not sure if that is a good or bad thing...

 

[xclamations]

I like Tennessee and iowa as sleepers

south dakota st might beat pc

Indiana is going to the sweet 16

 

[87Xfer]

View attachment 74462

you think Wyoming and Colorado are "midwest"??

 

[August_West]

you think Wyoming and Colorado are "midwest"??

The AWA ran their territory in Denver . Thats how I judge it.

 

[Chonky]

you think Wyoming and Colorado are "midwest"??

Nah.

I dunno where the exact western boundary would be. Somewhere around the eastern boundary of the Great Plains. Wichita/Omaha/Sioux Falls maybe.

But where’s the fun in that?