2021 March Madness Thread

[admin]

Gonzaga looks okay tonight.

[MUPanther]

Big TV ratings for the Sweet 16 games. I suspect the TV networks will want to keep this schedule going forward and I am okay with that. As much as I liked the Thursday afternoon start, having a Saturday full of first round games was pretty awesome.

Remember the Sweet 16 were stand alone games. So, you figured they would have been higher.

The Elite 8 games on Monday, shall we say were not elite in the ratings.

[billyjack]

Big TV ratings for the Sweet 16 games. I suspect the TV networks will want to keep this schedule going forward and I am okay with that. As much as I liked the Thursday afternoon start, having a Saturday full of first round games was pretty awesome.

I like this year's set-up too. Just me, but Mondays and Tuesdays are perfect for NCAA games.

[Demon22]

Tyger Campbell might have made the right decision to go to UCLA instead of DePaul.

[billyjack]

Big Ten eliminated. Still no championships since the year 2000. Wow. Also, with USC loss, our Big East record of 3 Final Four teams in 1985 stays in place.

Cronin did a great job coaching.
Johnny Juzang is amazing.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Big Ten eliminated. Still no championships since the year 2000. Wow.

Big Ten becomes Big Flop by getting shut out of Final 4 - Michael Marot, AP/Washington Post - March 31, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS — The Big Ten spent most of this season talking about being the nation’s best basketball conference.

It pointed to a league-record nine teams ranked one week in December and how its teams comprised nearly half of the top 10 many more weeks. It sent a conference-record nine teams into NCAA Tournament play, which was being contested entirely in Big Ten country.

Turns out, it was a big flop.

The conference that ruled the regular season was shut out of the Final Four, with the final blow coming Tuesday night when Michigan lost 51-49 to No. 11 seed UCLA in the South Region championship. The Wolverines (23-5) lost twice in three weeks at Lucas Oil Stadium and now head home without the Big Ten Tournament crown or the date in Saturday’s national semifinals they wanted.

“Very disappointing for our guys.” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “It came down to one possession, that’s how it goes sometimes. The game of basketball sometimes comes down to one or two possessions that can really help or hurt you and we came up short.”

[ArmyVet]

Big Ten has 9 of the 68 teams. Can they break their 2 decade long streak without winning a national title?

Here's a bet - which group will the NCAA champ come from:
1) Gonzaga or Baylor
2) Big Ten
3) The Field

what is funny- I'd probably pick The Field last.

I'd say Big Ten.

Wrong again Stever!

I will give very very good odds to anyone who wants to take the field right now.

[Savannah Jay]

Big Ten has 9 of the 68 teams. Can they break their 2 decade long streak without winning a national title?

Here's a bet - which group will the NCAA champ come from:
1) Gonzaga or Baylor
2) Big Ten
3) The Field

what is funny- I'd probably pick The Field last.

I'd say Big Ten.

Wrong again Stever!

I will give very very good odds to anyone who wants to take the field right now.

After no tourney last year and a crazy one this year, seems only fitting that we get a championship game between the two teams that pretty much everyone acknowledges were the two best all year.

[MUPanther]

Elite 8 on Monday/Tuesday... not great for TV ratings

Monday 3/29:
Arkansas/Baylor (9:03, CBS): 6.447M
Oregon State/Houston (6:15), CBS): 5.922M
Tuesday 3/30:
UCLA/Michigan (9:00, TBS): 6.886M
USC/Gonzaga (6:15), TBS): 5.399M


2019 Ratings
Michigan State/Duke (Sunday 4:05, CBS): 16.197M
Auburn/Kentucky (Sunday 1:20, CBS): 10.493M
Purdue/Virginia (Saturday 7:45, TBS): 10.486M
Texas Tech/Gonzaga (Saturday 5:05, TBS): 7.722M

[Omaha1]

Big Ten has 9 of the 68 teams. Can they break their 2 decade long streak without winning a national title?

Here's a bet - which group will the NCAA champ come from:
1) Gonzaga or Baylor
2) Big Ten
3) The Field

I guess we have our answer.