Thoughts on your draw?

[mpwalsh8]

I am a Nova fan so I expect to either lose in the R32 or make the FF.

VTech has beaten two 2 seeds (Duke and UNC) and @ the overall 1 seed (UVA). So they have the ability to beat top teams. With that in mind I am sufficiently puckered for Saturday's game should both advance. Think I'd rather see 'Bama. After that I really like the matchup against either WVU (not going to turn Brunson over) or Wich St. (Bridges on Shammet should do it). Purdue, Butler or Tech Tech in E8? Prob would rather see the other two, rather than Butler. Too much familiarity there.

Selfishly I am hoping for either a Nova - X final or Nova - UVA. I think both games would be a lot of fun.

This is almost exactly how I feel. I think VaTech will pose a bigger challenge so I guess I want Alabama. After early exits 3 of 4 years, I consider anything after the first weekend gravy and am almost expecting an early exit. Why? Because I am going to the Final Four this year and I figure the odds of me getting tickets combined with the odds of Villanova making it to the FInal Four have to be incredibly small. I got tickets through the NCAA lottery a year ago - they're not great seats but I am in the building and if VU can be there too it would be a dream come true. I went to the Final Four in Atlanta in 2007 (Florida won) and had a blast, I can't imagine how much fun it would be if your school was actually participating.

Two years ago during Villanova's win over UNC I was halfway across the Pacific on an airplane to Taiwan following the game on Twitter and listening to the Westwood One feed over airplane WiFi. The audio feed was about 30-40 seconds behind so I saw VU win on Twitter before I heard the call on the radio. All things considered it was better than waiting until I got to Taiwan to find out what happened. I am sure I drove the person sitting next to me nuts fidgeting in my seats for three hours. I was jealous of several of my old roommates who were in Houston for the game.

I am going to the Friday night games in Charlotte - I'll be rooting for Creighton wearing my Villanova gear. Go BigEast!

[Bill Marsh]

Villanova will beat VA Tech, and I don’t think it will be close.

[kayako]

Not if Buzz Williams and my Hokies have anything to say about it...

Nova's vulnerable to opponents that shortens the game, and that's exactly what Wisconsin did to us, and we were a willing participant with no depth. That isn't the case this year, and Alabama and VTech aren't experts are exploiting our weakness. I'd be shocked if we don't at least reach the elite 8.

[cu blujs]

Location - Disaster. Wichita, KS is difficult and expensive to get to, and nowhere near my list of cities I have a particular desire to travel to.

Tough to get to, yes, and not a place I recommend going out of your way to visit. If they sold their tickets like we do in Omaha for NCAA tournament games, the Shocker fans got first dibs. Those who don't make the trip to San Diego - and not many will - should be in attendance. While their disdain for Creighton, and by association the Big East, may run high, at pales in comparison to their disdain for all things Jayhawks. Sure, plenty of Jayhawks will find their way into the arena (money talks), but there will be a lot of Shocker fans who would probably rather their seats be empty than sell them to a Jayhawk. The Shocker fans in attendance will be all in on seeing the Jayhawks upset. It will be nothing like Creighton playing UNC in NC. I think you will have at least half the fans on your side (of course, you have to get past NC State first). Good luck to all BE brethren.

[Jet915]

Location - Disaster. Wichita, KS is difficult and expensive to get to, and nowhere near my list of cities I have a particular desire to travel to.

Tough to get to, yes, and not a place I recommend going out of your way to visit. If they sold their tickets like we do in Omaha for NCAA tournament games, the Shocker fans got first dibs. Those who don't make the trip to San Diego - and not many will - should be in attendance. While their disdain for Creighton, and by association the Big East, may run high, at pales in comparison to their disdain for all things Jayhawks. Sure, plenty of Jayhawks will find their way into the arena (money talks), but there will be a lot of Shocker fans who would probably rather their seats be empty than sell them to a Jayhawk. The Shocker fans in attendance will be all in on seeing the Jayhawks upset. It will be nothing like Creighton playing UNC in NC. I think you will have at least half the fans on your side (of course, you have to get past NC State first). Good luck to all BE brethren.

Yeah, Wichita was the one place I was not going to go to if Creighton landed there.

[Edrick]

As for Butler, Purdue is a bit of a monster in Round 2 but if they were able to somehow get past them....that's a pretty attractive set of games. The Bracket would sort of open up like when Butler went to the Final Four in 2011 out of the 8/9 after taking out 1-seed Pitt.

I do not think they will have issue with Arkansas, that's the kind of team they always seem to comfortably handle in the NCAA

[Bill Marsh]

Not if Buzz Williams and my Hokies have anything to say about it...

Nova's vulnerable to opponents that shortens the game, and that's exactly what Wisconsin did to us, and we were a willing participant with no depth. That isn't the case this year, and Alabama and VTech aren't experts are exploiting our weakness. I'd be shocked if we don't at least reach the elite 8.

Sounds like you’re talking about Virginia.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Nova's vulnerable to opponents that shortens the game, and that's exactly what Wisconsin did to us, and we were a willing participant with no depth. That isn't the case this year, and Alabama and VTech aren't experts are exploiting our weakness. I'd be shocked if we don't at least reach the elite 8.

We all kind of know the deal... Nova hits close to 40% from 3, they win going away. They hit under 30%, they are vulnerable. I'd like to hope that if shots aren't falling that Paschall, DD, JB, Booth and Bridges all start driving the ball to the hoop as they are more than capable. Or that they start feeding Jalen or Omari down low, as both can sore down there regularly if fed. But 30+ games into a season and a leopard just doesn't change it's spots.

This is a team built around the 3 point line. 7 players who all can stroke it big time is a thing of absolute beauty when they're on, and is a cringe-worthy stress-inducing toss-up when not.

Some #'s:
- As a team Nova shoots 40.1% from 3 (if you take out the walk-on attempts in junk time)
- 6 players shoot over 38% from 3; the 7th Eric Paschall shoots 33% from 3.
- But the crazy stat of the day: Eric P. started the year 1/25 from 3 (4%). Since then he has connected on 25/54 from 3 or 46.3%.
- In their 4 losses VU shot a combined 27.5% from 3
- In 3 other wins in which they were held below 70 pts, they shot a combined 27.7% from 3
- In their other 27 games they shot 43.6% from 3 on an average of 28 attempts per game, or about 12 made 3's per game and 90.3 PPG.
- For the season they shoot about 60% on 2FGA's.

So, logic would tell you that Nova should be able to score effectively from 2 should they have to. But as we Nova fans all know: they "shoot 'em up and sleep in the streets."

I guess everyone can say, if we shoot well, we win. But I'm not sure that applies to any team in America as much as this Nova team. If they are on, I do not think any other team in the country can play with them. So here's hoping we get good shooting Nova for 6 more games.

[kayako]

Sounds like you’re talking about Virginia.

If we're matched up with Virginia, 50/50 is probably a fair assessment. And they're the best team in America. The problem is, IMO, we were also 50/50 with Wisconsin last year, who were grossly underseeded, but still not a top 10 team. Also, we're a lot better at combating this vs. last year's 7 man rotation team. Have faith in your team! The Providence college took an elite team to OT.

[kayako]

- But the crazy stat of the day: Eric P. started the year 1/25 from 3 (4%). Since then he has connected on 25/54 from 3 or 46.3%.

Early on, BE teams left Paschal open, which wasn't the best idea. Let VTech or Bama make the same mistakE!