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Studio 46 - Non-TPiR Discussion => Out In Left Field => Topic started by: SeaBreeze341 on November 04, 2021, 11:27:35 PM
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I can't believe it's here already, but the 2021-2022 College Basketball is upon us! The upcoming season will start in 5 Days (as of this post) and last about four months and 4 days before the Selection Sunday Show, two days before the start of the dance (specifically the First Four).
Things get started on November 9th, 2021 with the Championship Classic featuring Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, and Kentucky. Those schools combine for 18 National Champions in the modern era of the game (22 overall I believe), and a ton more Final Four appearances.
There will be several early season Tournaments that may or may not affect one's participation into the postseason. Aside from that, most of everyone will play non-conference games prior to the all but exclusive conference games from around the New Year through the end of February into the beginning of March. While the regular season concludes on Selection Sunday (March 13th, 2022), the week leading up to that date will feature conference tournaments; most will conclude the Saturday before & a couple on that Sunday. That's mainly the Big conferences; some of the others could wrap up early in the week or even a week plus before.
The Postseason gets started on 03/15 & 03/16 with the first four (on TruTV). The main part of March Madness gets underway on Thursday, March 17th, 2022. The first two rounds take place on TBS, CBS, TNT and TruTV from 03/17 - 03/20, and the following week, the Regionals take place from 03/24 - 03/27 on TBS & CBS.
The NCAA Tournament will conclude the following weekend featuring the winners of the games played on March 26th & March 27. The Final Four starts on April 2nd, and it concludes on April 4th with the National Championship game starring the winners of the 04/02 games. TBS has exclusive coverage of the tourney's final three games.
Two big notes are that this the final year for Coach K, and the first year in decades without Roy Williams. The former UNC coach retired last year, and Mike Krzyzewski announced the end of an era, effective whenever Duke's season ends, but it's a wrap for the 5 time champion after 42 years. Probably didn't think Boeheim would outlast him, and there may be effort for Jim to reach fifty seasons, which would occur by coaching Syracuse up to spring 2026.
While I've considered picking Duke for the win, I'll wait until Tuesday. I did pick Villanova last year, but early. I don't think I picked them for my main bracket though. Anyway, Nova did make it out of the first week before losing to the eventual champions Baylor. This is slated to be the first full season since 2018-2019, so I don't think we're getting a team heading into the NCAA Tournament or even senior week / Conference Tourney week undefeated. Gonzaga could complete unfinished business, but it likely will be a tougher road this year
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I'm hoping Maryland pulls out a stunner and wins it all this year. It would be a fitting end to my undergraduate career. Go Terps!
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It would also be fitting if Maryland won 20 years after their most recent title!
Forgot to mention a couple of things in my original post: The CBS Sports Classic is slated for the week before Christmas (December 18th, 2021). Once again it'll feature one of the four teams playing in the Championship classic in Kentucky, who'll face Ohio State, while North Carolina squares off against UCLA.
Six fouls apparently is the target for DQ, despite the total regulation time remaining at 40:00. Though it could be curtains for a player if someone gets to four within a half
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It's Jimmy V Week (27'th annual), and nearly 30 years since Coach Valvano's speech, one of his best friends is going through his own journey of never giving up (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/32707817/v-week-2021-dick-vitale-battles-cancer-legacy-shines-brightly-next-generation-cancer-fighters-helped-inspire). Dick Vitale recently returned to announcing games for ESPN, and he is the latest inspiration for cancer fighters out there. Past icons include Stuart Scott, Craig Sager, Robin Roberts, and Jim Kelly.
It's always a nice day when College Hoops returns to CBS. Looks like the post-season version of the CBS theme (a theme remixed for the Turner/CBS era of March Madness) has been made permanent to the regular season after a decade or so. Unless I forgot and they had it last year. Michigan wins big; maybe it's the first half of a double for the Wolverines on Championship Saturday!
This could be the year of top teams falling to teams they have no business falling to. To be fair, Duke losing to Ohio State does nothing to the eventual outcome (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/32758958/ohio-state-shuts-no-1-duke-final-minutes-rallies-pull-upset). If the Blue Devils miss out on something, it'll be a lot of stuff (and yeah, OSU beating them in the ACC/Big 10 challenge will be a factor).
Due to that upset and several other stuff, Purdue is slated to be ranked Number One for the first time ever. That is rather surprising TBH.
Speaking of the Boilermakers, they are slated as the Top Overall Seed in the first prediction for March Madness (https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-projecting-2022-march-madness-men-field). Super Early, but it would be nice to see Purdue do well enough to reach New Orleans this season
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Well, the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers will remain the most recent undefeated team in College Basketball as Baylor, who was the very last undefeated team, suffered a 75-72 setback at the hands of an underrated Texas Tech program.
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With the NFL football season taking over the sports world, you had to pay extra attention to what was happening in the College Hoops world.
For example, Auburn, who will likely fall from the Top Spot despite a rebounding performance vs Texas A&M, earned its first-ever top spot in the AP Poll (01/24/22). Unlike many others before it, the Tigers did not lose that honor immediately afterwards. Anyway, after Auburn's No. 1 ranking was made official about two weeks before their loss at Arkansas, it should make way for Gonzaga's return to the Top spot. The Razorbacks, who pulled the upset as an unranked team (might've been No 27), might enter the AP Top 25 (FWIW they lost a close one at Alabama, where many usually get routed following a home upset).
Tough news for the defending champion with star forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua likely done for the year (https://www.si.com/college/2022/02/12/jonathan-tchamwa-tchatchoua-knee-injury-baylor-win-texas) with a knee injury. Speedy recovery, but something to pay attention to come tourney time.
No show on CBS this weekend that spotlights the NCAA Tournament. Around this time, they usually have a Bracket Show (if the season ended today) similar to what ESPN does with the Top 25 CFB Playoff. They might have it next week if at all; it's typically the week after the Super Bowl. If they have it, it'll be 3 weeks and change before Selection Sunday
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Even though they'll be on CBS facing #3 Purdue today, this is turning out to be Maryland's worst season since 1992-93, with a humiliating defeat to Iowa being a new low after surrendering 110 points. A new head coach (Danny Manning, who was fired from Wake Forest) means that even making the CBI will be a longshot for them this year, and will definitely set back the program for awhile. The Mark Turgeon era looking back turned out to be a bit less successful than what their potential turned out to be, only making it as far as the Sweet 16 just once in his 11 seasons.
Meanwhile, Rutgers not far up I-95 is getting back into the bracket picture after their upset over #14 Wisconsin yesterday on the road, following two other wins over Top 25 teams.
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Naturally, Maryland nearly pulled off the upset on the road. Gotta respect conference play. It did cost Purdue a couple spots in the polls, but I think they'll be okay going forward.
That game was on CBS as part of their Big Ten coverage, and between periods, Adam Zucker pretty much did confirm things with the "Bracket Special" on Saturday, February 19th sometime after noon Eastern. Plus, he did promote Greg Gumbel's return (and he should be there from here on out); Kellogg probably heads back to the studio with Seth already in place. That special precedes College basketball, and I believe the Genesis follows that, which should be the final golf coverage (until April); it'll be a ton of hoops after that on CBS leading up to the postseason.
Purdue drops a couple spots in the aftermath of their survival against Maryland, and Gonzaga & Auburn swap spots in the AP Poll thanks to a previously unranked Arkansas team, now at Number 23. Arizona & Kentucky complete the Top 5 within the latest rankings (https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll)
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Selection Sunday is 3 weeks from Sunday as of the day of this post, and as is the custom, CBS had its preview show. It’s one of those “If The NCAA Tourmanent Started Today” shows, and it’s similar to those weekly shows ESPN did throughout the end of October, throughout November, and early December with College Football. To be fair, the teams that lead the way pretty much stay there. They’re unlikely to lose much, if at all, prior to their conference tournaments. Though I think Kentucky and Kansas could flip (the Wildcats won head-to-head against the Jayhawks). The former just dismantled Alabama, which helps with their case.
In addition to Kansas, the other three projected Number One seeds include Arizona, Auburn, and overall top seed Gonzaga. 1495092226728284164[/tweet]]Here is the Top 16 as of 02/19/2022 (http://[tweet). For what it’s worth, the CBS Hoops studio show did a forecast of all projected 64 teams, which will change between now and Selection Sunday
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Well, the month of March will be here on Tuesday. That’s tomorrow. However, if you told me that March actually started this past weekend, I’d believe you. For the first time ever, the Top 5 crumbled, all on the same day.
To be fair, the AP Top Six were all on the road when they lost. It was a great day. As mentioned, it’s a long season for these players. They’re all going to the NCAA Tournament. And at this point, and for the most part, the teams that were locks for a one-seed are going to be just that. Those that probably needed to win out and get help weren’t getting a top spot.
Nope, Duke did not jump to the top spot, nor did Baylor, who wasn’t the highest ranked team that didn’t lose but are the reigning champions. Gonzaga and Arizona are still the top 2 (https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll), while Baylor moved to the third spot. Duke, the highest team that didn’t lose, is the new number 4. Auburn fell two spots to Number 5.
The other news outside of the chaos that occurred on February 26 is that Coach Howard is still serving his suspension following the aftermath of the Michigan/Wisconsin game last weekend. Plus there will be another back-to-back triple header on CBS this weekend, which includes the annual Missouri Valley Championship Game for one of the early bids into the NCAA Tournament.
Finally, Coach K's final home game is on Saturday in what may be his last game against North Carolina
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Sorry I didn’t post here over the past week. There have been a ton of awesome College Hoops action during Championship Week. Probably the first time in at least quite a long time I enjoyed mid-major and optional conference championship games (with only one tourney bid per conference). This might be the first time in a long time where the field is wide open. While it probably excludes a 12-16 seed, I could see anyone winning the dance, or at least their region.
It’s Selection Sunday, which started with most of the auto spot being filled. For the most part, all that was left was the Atlantic 10, Ivy League, SEC, AAC, and the Big Ten. Of course, it was pretty much an exhibition for the Big 10, with both Big 10 champions Iowa and Purdue guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Ditto with the SEC & AAC, I think, and maybe the A-10. Richmond’s win probably puts the Notre Dame community in panic mode.
2021-2022 Auto Bids include: Murray State, Loyola, Gonzaga, Kansas, Boise State, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Yale, Richmond, Tennessee, Houston, and Iowa
The top seeds should be Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Baylor.
Probably might be the toughest bracket (or brackets) I’ll be filling out in a long time!
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What the committee got right: The teams selected. None of those left have much to whine or Prizes about. Dayton had numerous quad 4 losses, Oklahoma had too many overall losses, SMU had a non conference strength of schedule of 285, Texas A&M had an 8 game losing streak and I have no words for how Xavier collapsed down the stretch. There were no snubs.
The 1 seeds. Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Baylor were a clear cut top line.
While they got the teams and the 1s right, they got a few seeds wrong:
Iowa should've been a 4 instead of a 5 after winning the Big 10.
Tennessee should have been a 2 instead of a 3 after winning the SEC.
Ohio State should have been an 8 or 9. A 7 seed is too high for the Buckeyes as they lost down to stretch to Maryland and NEBRASKA.
Michigan and Indiana should have swapped places after Indiana beat Michigan in the Big 10 Tournament.
What I personally like: The fact that Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and Indiana are in the field in the same year. Go storied programs!
What I personally hated about this season: My Sun Devils being 1 of the worst teams in the nation. :)
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Well, my brackets are done. They've been done for quite some time prior to the 11 AM EST hour. Might be the fastest I completed them in quite a while. I'm usually turning everything in around the time the CSS players finalize things with their bids. Or to be accurate: the time they would with a first-run show.
Meh on Michigan. They probably should have fought their way into the tournament. FWIW, there should be four more at large teams in Dayton in place of 4 16 seeds that actually had to win their conference championship game to even be apart of the field of 68. Or at least have them play in the sight of their first round game. Yeah, that might be a bit extreme, but playing and losing in Dayton makes a team miss out on an opportunity they might not get again. Of course, they have to travel again with a win prior to losing to one of the best.
So tip off is set for 12:15 EST on CBS. FYI: CBS has the only game for about a half hour before TruTV joins at 12:40. TNT and TBS will be joining with hoops action at around 1:45 - 2:00. All of this is after the pregame shows.
Save for a couple of people, more or less: The cast pretty much should return to what it was in 2018-2019. For New York, it's status quo (following the format that started over a decade ago). That's hosts Greg Gumbel & Ernie Johnson, and analysts Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. Seth Davis heads to Atlanta for the first week and the regional semis (where Ernie will return for Thursday & Friday before his weekend off). Wally, I believe is in NYC, he usually covers for Chuck and the Jet (one of each early on Saturday & Sunday).
Not too sure of the lineup in New Orleans, but it should emulate what they did in 2019.
For the people calling the games, save for a number of changes, it's basically the same thing as it was last year in terms of the Top 4 teams. That includes Reggie Miller's return. One big change (and an awesome one IMO) is the move to have Lisa Byington doing play-by-play has now been made permanent. She called games last year, but not in 2019
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There are 3 certainties in life: death, taxes, and the Mountain West crashing, burning, and failing in every NCAA tournament.
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There are 3 certainties in life: death, taxes, and the Mountain West crashing, burning, and failing in every NCAA tournament.
LOL. Pretty much true! Though if I had to correct/edit that "fact", it possibly would've gone as follows. "There are three certainties in life. Death, taxes, & a 12 seed over a 5 seed in every NCAA Tournament."
Going 25-7 (13 on Thursday & 12 on Friday), I pretty much did well on those 5/12 matchups. The only one I missed was Iowa & Richmond. That was not an easy game to pick, but Iowa came around to where you'd be wrong to bet against them. Eventually I picked them (Big Ten title game & their first round game). Too bad for them to lose against a team that needed to beat Davidson to get in period. Coincidentally, Richmond & Iowa both won their conference back to back on CBS last weekend
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Here are the teams & networks for this Weekend's Games (including the rather big Baylor/North Carolina game that's underway).
In a nutshell, CBS has a quad header on Saturday & a triple header on Sunday (where TruTV will air one game Sunday evening while CBS moves into their typical Sunday schedule with 60 Minutes and various programming). TNT & TBS resume action later on both days (both channels have double headers on both Saturday & Sunday)
Saturday, March 19:
UNC vs Baylor (CBS Early Afternoon)
Creighton vs Kansas (CBS Mid Afternoon)
Michigan vs Tennessee (CBS Late Afternoon)
Richmond vs Providence (TNT Evening)
Saint Mary's vs UCLA (TBS Evening)
Saint Peter's vs Murray State (CBS Evening)
New Mexico State vs Arkansas (TNT Primetime)
Memphis vs Gonzaga (TBS Primetime)
Sunday, March 20:
Houston vs Illinois (CBS Early Afternoon)
Ohio State vs Villanova (CBS Mid Afternoon)
Michigan State vs Duke (CBS Late Afternoon)
Iowa State vs Wisconsin (TNT Evening)
Notre Dame vs Texas Tech (TBS Evening)
Miami vs Auburn (TruTV Solo)
Texas vs Purdue (TNT Primetime)
TCU vs Arizona (TBS Primetime)
I disregarded the tip times, as several games are approximate. It's really second ones from a particular site are factored into the conclusion of the first one
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Man, what a week of college basketball! And that’s the truth, though I’m not going to lie; my performance in the brackets and picks helped make it exciting. Even without it, it was a great weekend, from Kentucky’s fall & Auburn’s exit, to a near fall from teams like Duke, Gonzaga, and Arizona. Of course, defending champion Baylor is done, courtesy of UNC. North Carolina is looking like it would’ve been ranked 1 or 2 if they were like this throughout. I sensed that they were peaking & getting hot at the right time. They knocked off Duke in their finale, and even though they fell short in the ACC Tournament, that was definitely a team that you didn’t want to see in the dance.
Apparently, the refs didn’t want to see UNC either; that was the worst game I’ve seen in a long time in terms of officiating. That team better not work another game again. There was also an issue at TCU’s expense and in favor of Arizona, but despite TCU’s rally, that end sequence was not good. Typical Jamie Dixon stuff, I guess. This week will determine if Arizona winning will help or hurt me and others that might not have them winning. Plus, unless it doesn’t happen, all of my teams, mainly Duke, Gonzaga, and Villanova will crash. That is not a big deal since the competition will be fierce and very decent.
I don't have the ratings available right this minute. I hope & plan to get those as soon as possible. I imagine they'll be pretty huge, especially when you factor in Coach K vs Coach Izzo Sunday late afternoon into the early evening
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No concrete totals in terms of ratings & viewership, but in brief, Saint Peter/Kentucky with a 3.1 rating & over 5 million viewers. On a related note, the numbers caused the Blacklist to fall to an all time low, and American Idol got beat with a 60 Minute overrun.
Well the Sweet 16 is just about set. The start of the regionals will include Big 10 teams despite their struggles on the second day of the Round of 32 (first four games all had Big 10 teams losing). The top stories from the end of the first week to the second include Duke surviving & Coach K’s farewell continuing, Baylor’s fall which will result in a new champion, and the Top seed Gonzaga surviving where coach Mark Few will try to finish the job and get that first championship.
What a weekend! Anyway, three days to recover before they’re back at it next Thursday evening!
Here are the teams & networks for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8. CBS and TBS have the games going forward. The tip times for the Sweet Sixteen should be sometime after 7:00 PM EST on CBS & a bit later afterwards on TBS. The second games will tip soon enough following the conclusion of the first games on each network. I believe TBS will have exclusive coverage when down to 8, save for Sunday’s games.
Thursday, March 24:
Arkansas vs Gonzaga (CBS Evening)
Michigan vs Villanova (TBS Evening)
Texas Tech vs Duke (CBS Primetime)
Houston vs Arizona (TBS Primetime)
Friday, March 25:
Saint Pete vs Purdue (CBS Evening)
Providence vs Kansas (TBS Evening)
UNC vs UCLA (CBS Primetime)
Iowa State vs Miami (TBS Primetime)
On Thursday, the team of Jim Nantz, Bill Raferty, Grant Hill, & Tracy Wolfson will be on the call for the CBS games, while the team of Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, & Allie Laforce will be on the call for the TBS games. Then on Friday, the team of Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, & Jamie Erdahl will be on the call for CBS, leaving the team of Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Reggie Miller, & Dana Jacobson calling the TBS games. Rules Analyst Gene Steratore should be available for all the broadcasts on both nights and networks as he’s a part of all four teams, though he’ll be tapping into the broadcast from New York by request / when needed & necessary.
Speaking of New York, the studio cast for the regionals include Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. That’ll be the team throughout the Sweet 16 & Elite Eight. Seth Davis, who’ll return briefly to New York on Saturday, will still be in Atlanta with Candace Parker and Ernie Johnson, who leaves New York to work as the host there on Thursday & Friday for the regional semis before taking the weekend off. Mr. Johnson will return following the regional finals when studio coverage moves to New Orleans for the Final Four.
The full release of everything is at the NCAA webpage. Anything is subject to change. However, it should be status-quo; the broadcast teams working on Thursday will call action on Saturday, and the broadcast teams working on Friday will call action on Sunday
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The St. Peter's Peacocks becomes the lowest seeded team to advance to the Elite 8 after upsetting no. 4 Purdue 67-64. St. Peter's entered the tournament as the 15th seed in the East Regional. They had a 0.1% chance of getting to the Elite 8.
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Saint Peter’s is the first team seeded 13 or lower to get to the Regional Final. While it’s unfortunate that the chance of a one seed playing a 15 seed didn’t happen, North Carolina, who has been a top seed several times over the years, is playing like one. Of the top of my head, I believe this might be the highest number ever in terms of an Elite 8 matchup. 23 should be a record (8 seed vs a 15 seed). I’m not looking at my past material to confirm; I didn’t see it mentioned on Twitter but I think I definitely will see it this weekend. The lowest is obviously 3 (1 vs 2). Wins from Arkansas and Saint Pete this weekend will produce a new record in terms of the total number between national semifinalists.
Sports Center anchor Randy Scott made a joke at Purdue’s expense, basically saying “If you’re going to be denied by Saint Peter, it’s best that it occurs in a basketball game.”
I didn’t expect to go 4 for 4 on Friday (straight up, definitely not 4/4 ATS), especially picking the Peacocks for the win. No: I didn’t have them advancing in my bracket. I picked Kentucky like most of the participants. It’s just my daily picks for the games (with only Kansas being a pick that matched what I had in my bracket.) I said I will never pick against St. Pete again. On a sports level, it was risky, but Purdue wasn’t a super candidate to win the tournament. Now it’ll be difficult to win against North Carolina, then whomever else, but to be fair, everyone left will have to earn the win to advance to New Orleans. Not easy at all!
I was comfortable picking Kansas, and their win means that the streak of 1 seeds in the Elite Eight continues, or at least one top seed. While I had UCLA advancing in my bracket, I did a rather rare flip to North Carolina (BTW, I had the Bruins beating Baylor, not UNC). The Tarheels are one of those examples of a team peaking later in season & at the right time. Plus, matchups are important in sports. Not an easy move since UCLA is a very good team. The toughest game was Iowa State vs Miami. A slight lean toward the Hurricanes, I went with them since they had experience playing against teams like the Cyclones
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FYI & just a reminder: Tonight's games are on TBS, and not CBS!
Tomorrow is on CBS, which will be the final games played on the network for the 2021-2022 season (in terms of Division I).
I’m probably going to pass on picking today, though I might pick against the spread and O/U. I also passed on picking games on Thursday, mainly since it lined up with my bracket. For example, I would’ve picked Gonzaga, Duke, Villanova, and Arizona. I would’ve gone 2-2, but might’ve gone 1-3 if I actually flipped on Duke. I doubt I was flipping on Gonzaga or Arizona. All four games were great games, so I did the best and sat those out.
After checking, I did go 3-1 ATS with my stuff yesterday & 2-2 O/U. With several fans brackets done, the focus comes with a typical day in March Madness. For instance, yesterday & Thursday's Sweet 16 action. Yesterday's review:
Purdue was favored by 13 / Saint Peter’s won outright. 134 O/U [Correct Moneyline & O/U]
Kansas was favored by 7 / Providence covered. 141.5 O/U [Correct with Providence/Points, wrong O/U]
UCLA was favored by 2.5 / UNC won outright. 141.5 O/U [Correct pick, incorrect O/U]
Miami was favored by 3 / Iowa did not cover. 131.5 O/U [Incorrect pick ATS, but correct with the O/U]
The under hit in all of the above games
BTW, my picks are for entertainment purposes. No actual gambling from me here. I’m more of a participant that likes to be correct, and not so much for a payout. A lot of pride comes from winning; money comes from hard, legitimate work. At least that’s how I was raised.
Here are what should be the final lines for Saturday's game & possibly Sunday's games:
Houston is favored by 3 vs Villanova. The Over/Under is 127
Duke is favored by 4 vs Arkansas. The Over/Under is 147.5
Kansas is favored by 6 over Miami. The Over/Under is 147.5
North Carolina is favored by 8.5 over Saint Peter’s. The Over/Under is 137.5
The totals ATS (against the spread) and over/under (O/U) come to you courtesy of Fan Duel. However, they're pretty much close enough everywhere else (Fox, CBS, Yahoo, USA Today, etc).
In a rematch of the 1994 Tournament Final, Arkansas is attempting to return to the Final Four for the 7th time, and first in over a quarter century. Duke, who'll try to reach the Final Four for 17th time, is playing in its 23rd Regional Final & 17th in the Mike Krzyzewski Era. Meanwhile, North Carolina is in their 29th Regional Final & 18th in the Modern Tourney Era, Kansas is in their 23rd Regional Final & 16th in the Modern Tourney Era. Villanova is three wins away from its 3rd title in 6 years. The chance of a torch pass is there but it's not free either. Miami and Saint Peter's are new to this part of the NCAA Tournament; they, along with Houston are the 3 programs that haven't won the title
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It took from the beginning of time until now, but Duke and UNC will finally face off in the NCAA Tournament. The winner will face the winner of Saturday's First Game (Kansas vs NOVA).
Here are the opening lines:
Kansas is favored by 4 over Villanova. Over/Under is 133
Duke is favored by 4.5 over North Carolina. Over/Under is 150
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Saint Peter, don’t you call Cinderella. The Tar Heels are moving on.
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Man, I think tonight's a night for a historic prediction-hedge!
Several people on the boards & in Discord are aware of my tournament predictions, and I usually don't swap my picks. For those of you who may or may not know, I do have Duke beating Villanova on Monday. However I have based on a certain team getting hot (or cold) and/or a key injury. It may sound petty to hedge my predictions, but I can't change my bracket, and there really isn't a super great reason to move against what's set in stone (picks, not what happens). That Moore injury is a big deal, and UNC probably would rather not be the victim of the penultimate episode of its biggest rival. Game time is about an hour from this post.
Nothing changed significantly from the lines/odds/etc. These teams combine for 61 Final Four appearances, including 1971 as a program. Finally, 22 trips to End City for the current head coaches, including a record 13 from Coach K
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Title game is set. North Carolina and Kansas. 9:20 ET tipoff tomorrow night on TBS.
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Kansas is favored by 4 over North Carolina. The over/under is 153. That is subject to change as that was the line & O/U upon the conclusion of the National Semi-Finals.
The ratings & viewership are likely to fall under the 2019 totals; this is the first TBS Tournament Final since the end the last decade. It probably might trail last year to be honest. It'll be interesting to see what the totals are following Monday's game; while a lot of people might link that to a Coach K and Duke free National Championship Game, several will come up with that conclusion before looking or remembering what the 2016 & 2018 totals were
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Kansas has done it, beating UNC in a 2nd half comeback! That was a crazy 2nd half, no doubt. Congratulations to the participants in the Yahoo GR.net bracket challenge and those who picked Kansas to win. I personally am happy to take a top 3 finish
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Largest comeback in championship history, no less!
I took 4th (would've been 3rd with a North Carolina win). Despite having the lead to start the final four, both team I needed to win to clinch on Saturday didn't win, so it was nice to watch a great game just for that reason knowing that I was out of the running to win the contest.
I felt bad for Bacot as he went down late. No surprise, but at least he went for it. Looks like surgery/rehab going forward, but chances are he'll get well and continue with what's next
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I personally am happy to take a top 3 finish
Correction on my post. Standings updated ; I've ended up 4th, therefore I'm happy for a top 4
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Correction on my post. Standings updated ; I've ended up 4th, therefore I'm happy for a top 4
That means 5th place for me. I forgot about Kevin. Otherwise I was wondering how I could've finished 3rd since it was impossible to move up after Duke and Villanova both went down. Still, top 5 is alright & good enough for me
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The final ratings & viewership indicate that the Final Four & National Championship game did not take a hit due to the fact that it was on TBS. According to several places including Forbes & Deadline, the Men’s Tournament Final was the most watched Title Game ever on Cable television.
18,500,000 on average tuned into Kansas’ comeback over North Carolina, which is an increase over last year’s Baylor vs Gonzaga Final where the former ended the latter’s quest for a perfect season.
For the site’s contest: PhatBoi, Randy, Kevin, Mike, Seabreeze, and CU round out the Top 6 in terms of the final placement in the Bracket Contest.
There was case for concern for a ratings dive with the New Orleans games on cable TV. TBS and CBS rotate annually, so that’s that. Duke’s fall may have added to the concern, but the fact is, with a blue blood exclusive Final Four, it was more probable than not that the numbers were going to be decent.
Overall, March Madness over TBS, CBS, TNT, and TruTV hit a 10.7 rating on average and had 10,700,000 viewers in 2022.
As mentioned, Turner and CBS are on a rotation that was extended from mid-decade to early next decade. CBS, who aired the previous two Final Fours & National Championship Games, had the super bowl in the same TV year. Going forward, they are no longer scheduled to air the Super Bowl in the same season as the Men’s Final Four/NCG. The reason is due to a new NFL television contract where ESPN/ABC joins in turning a three-year network rotation into a four-year one. FWIW, NBC and CBS swapped places for 2021 which allowed for NBC to air the Olympics and the Super Bowl for the second consecutive time that network had the big game. Of course, the switch put an end to a scenario where there would have been a clash between the winter games and the Super Bowl, but going forward, NBC will have the Super Bowl and winter Olympics in the same TV season.
It makes me wonder if CBS will try to swap years with Turner so that they can have the Super Bowl, Final Four, The Masters and the PGA Championship one after each other. That was a nice line up for the network. As a courtesy, they could switch with Turner starting next year (and go even years instead of odd years). It would make up for TBS losing it in 2020, but knowing CBS, if a move were to be made, they would want to start in 2024 (as CBS has the Super Bowl in that year and then 2028 & 2032).
Nevertheless, apart from that, I can’t really tell a difference. It’s basically the same thing regardless of who airs the Final 3 games. There is a difference with their pregame and postgame coverage, but not too much. It’s a blessing that CBS/Turner have the NCAA Tournament, and it looks like they’ll have it for the rest of time until they’re ready to move on from it