March Madness - NCAA Tourney discussion

[EMoMoney]

Any big college basketball fans here? Have you filled out your brackets? ESPN has the tournament challenge you can play for free and create up to 5 entries. I have created a group named TiVo Community you can join for free. Just click the join or create a group link and search for the word tivo. No password required to join.
First and Second round schedules:
Thursday:
12:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- Wichita State vs. Seton Hall (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner)
12:25 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- Oklahoma vs. UW-Milwaukee (Tim Brando, Mike Gminski, Stephen Bardo)
12:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Boston College vs. Pacific (Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel)
2:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif. -- Marquette vs Alabama (Dick Enberg, Jay Bilas)
2:50 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- Tennessee vs. Winthrop
2:55 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- Florida vs. South Alabama
3:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Nevada vs. Montana
5:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif. -- UCLA vs. Belmont
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- George Washington vs. UNC Wilmington
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- LSU vs Iona
7:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Gonzaga vs. Xavier
7:25 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif. -- Illinois vs. Air Force
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- Duke vs. Southern
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- Syracuse vs. Texas A&M
9:50 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Indiana vs. San Diego State
9:55 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif. -- Washington vs. Utah State

Friday:
12:15 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- Ohio State vs. Davidson (Gus Johnson, Len Elmore)
12:25 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Iowa vs. Northwestern State (Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery)
12:30 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- Arkansas vs. Bucknell (Craig Bolerjack, Bob Wenzel)
12:30 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Arizona vs. Wisconsin (Jim Nantz, Billy Packer)
2:45 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- Georgetown vs. Northern Iowa
2:55 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- West Virginia vs. Southern Illinois
3:00 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- Memphis vs. Oral Roberts
3:00 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Villanova vs. Monmouth/Hampton
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- Michigan State vs. George Mason
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Pittsburgh vs. Kent State
7:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- California vs. North Carolina State
7:25 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Connecticut vs. Albany
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- North Carolina vs. Murray State
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Kansas vs. Bradley
9:50 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- Texas vs. Pennsylvania
9:55 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Kentucky vs. UAB

Saturday:
1:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- Duke vs. George Washington
3:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- Florida vs. UW-Milwaukee
3:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Greensboro, N.C. -- Wichita State vs. Tennessee
5:30 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif. -- Illinois vs. Washington
5:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Boston College vs. Montana
5:50 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Jacksonville, Fla. -- Texas A&M vs. LSU
8:00 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- San Diego, Calif -- UCLA vs. Alabama
8:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Salt Lake City, Utah -- Indiana vs. Gonzaga

Sunday:
12:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Bradley vs. Pittsburgh
2:15 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- Memphis vs. Bucknell
2:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- George Mason vs. North Carolina
2:30 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Kentucky vs. Connecticut
2:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Auburn Hills, Mich. -- West Virginia vs. Northwestern State
4:45 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Dallas, Texas -- Texas vs. North Carolina State
4:50 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional) -- Dayton, Ohio -- Ohio State vs. Georgetown
5:00 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND (Regional; HDTV) -- Philadelphia, Pa. -- Villanova vs. Arizona

[jeff125va]

Have the schedules been set for the weekend yet? Or do they wait until the first round games have been played, to see who's playing whom? I need to go out of town Saturday morning and want to set my TiVo for Villanova's 2nd round game on Sunday, for which I may need to order the March Madness package. They play about the same time as Georgetown on Friday so we'll get that game here in D.C., but I'm not paying $60 mostly to watch the 1-16 game. If I knew we weren't getting the Sunday game either though, I'd go ahead and order it for tomorrow, too.

[EMoMoney]

Edited original post to include the first 2 rounds schedules.

[jeff125va]

Cool, thanks. Same time as Georgetown on Sunday again (if they win). Might have to spring for the package, at least my team's in HD both days. Guess I should check DirecTV's schedule to see if it's on in HD in the package as well. I think it said "select games" but they may be more "select" than just what's available from CBS in HD.

DirecTV's schedule (http://www.directvsports.com/Packages/MegaMarchMadness/Schedule/) shows the same games in HD. Looks like half of the sites have it, half don't.

[jeff125va]

I was going to join your group, but it said it no longer accepts entries.

[EMoMoney]

I was going to join your group, but it said it no longer accepts entries.
Looks like you're in. I should have created this the other day. It's probably late for a lot of people to join.

[jeff125va]

Looks like you're in. I should have created this the other day. It's probably late for a lot of people to join.
Yeah, I tried again and it worked.

[Martha]

I'm in.
Thanks! :up:

[EMoMoney]

We got 4 in. Not much time left to join. Anybody else?

[jeff125va]

Well I subscribed to the Mega March Madness package. Think I'll "work" from home tomorrow.

[EMoMoney]

I didnt buy the package, but I do have the NY feed as well, so I get to see 9 different games today.

[jeff125va]

Anyone know what the blackout rules are for the Mega March Madness package? I'm just curious really. The Belmont-UCLA game says it's not available in my area, just wondering why. I really don't care about it, was just gonna put it on in the background. It's not on my local affiliate or anything (the one 6:00 or so EST game almost never is on the East Coast) but I figured the point of the package is to get the games not carried locally.

Almost had a couple big upsets there. BC and Tennessee.

[jeff125va]

Well it's on now, bit only on 708, not in HD on 710.

[bcrider]

I've got the Air Force and Illinois game on and it's not in HD nor have I seen any games in HD yet. Is CBS not airing it in HD or is Time Warner (Memphis at least) having issues yet again?

I should state that I have HD Digital Cable (803 is the HD CBS channel here in Memphis).

[bcrider]

Update: Duke game came on and it switched to HD about 2 minutes later.... (go figure). ;)

[iceturkee]

our local cbs affiliate ran the hd games on the sub channel, while our local sd coverage ran on the regular dt channel.

just a note cbs sports is running march madness on demand (for pc) for free. go to ncaasports.com/mmod. i signed up sunday, so i didn't have problems getting into the viewing area.

[EMoMoney]

I've got the Air Force and Illinois game on and it's not in HD nor have I seen any games in HD yet. Is CBS not airing it in HD or is Time Warner (Memphis at least) having issues yet again?

I should state that I have HD Digital Cable (803 is the HD CBS channel here in Memphis).
The schedule I posted indicates which games are being broadcast in HD. If they're not in HD, then it's an issue with your local.

[EMoMoney]

Iowa loss hurt me. I had them going to the final 8 in many of my brackets.

[EMoMoney]

Original post edited with updated weekend schedule.

[Z-Todd]

Last night's coverage on regular ol' CBS was top notch. They kept cutting back and forth to the end of every exciting game. In the past they would just go to a commercial.

Who needs Mega MM when CBS does it right for a change?

[jeff125va]

I noticed during the Villanova-Monmouth game on Friday, they did not cut to other games on the Mega March Madness feed. They even showed the players huddled around the bench for at least a full minute during a timeout, even though the announcer said they'd be checking in on other action. They did show the Georgetown-Ohio St. game yesterday during the Villanova-Arizona halftime.

Looks like my other alma mater, George Mason, will be on here in D.C. the same time as Villanova on Friday evening, so the MMM package will really have been worth it, as Georgetown played at the same time as Villanova in each of the first two rounds. Although I had Carolina in my Final Four, so I was torn during that game. I assume that everything will be in HD now, since they're down to four locations.

[EMoMoney]

I noticed they didn't switch over on my HD local, but they did on the SD local.

Thursday
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Duke vs LSU (Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas/Bob Wenzel) Atlanta, Ga.
7:27 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Memphis vs. Bradley (Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Tracy Wolfson), Oakland, Calif.
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Texas vs. West Virginia Atlanta, Ga.
9:57 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- UCLA vs. Gonzaga, Oakland, Calif.

Friday
7:10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Villanova vs. Boston College (Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Jim Spanarkel), Minneapolis, Minn.
7:27 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Wichita State vs. George Mason (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Mike Gminski), Washington, D.C.
9:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Florida vs. Georgetown, Minneapolis, Minn.
9:57 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS (Regional; HDTV) -- Connecticut vs. Washington, Washington, D.C.

I think all these teams matchup well with each other except for the Memphis Bradley game. I'm really looking forward to seeing the UCLA Gonzaga game.

[TriBruin]

Now that was March Madness

Two awsome endings to the late games. Texas with a 3 pointer to the win.

UCLA scores the last 11 points to beat Gonzga who lead by as much as 17 in the first half!

And don't forget LSU downing Duke!

[EMoMoney]

Absolutely. We should have four great games toninght as well.

[jeff125va]

I realize and appreciate the intense emotion that is a sign of a true competitor. Shedding tears the way J.J. Redick did is fine, but lying on the floor crying like a baby the way Adam Morrison did is, IMHO, an embarrassment. Perhaps he felt so much shame at blowing a 17-point lead that he didn't think he could look any worse.

I couldn't believe how lazy Duke was looking near the end. When Davis got his own rebound on that free throw near the end, I don't even think there were any other LSU players around, and the Duke guys were just standing there. For a team to be missing that many free throws in a close game and still win, not to take anything away from LSU, but Duke just wasn't playing like they wanted this one, at least not near the end.

[jeff125va]

Tonight will be fun for me. Went to Villanova undergrad and got my Master's at George Mason. :-). Of course, I guess it'll depend on the outcomes how much fun it will be. Would love to see a Villanova-Georgetown matchup on Sunday, or a rematch from last year vs. Florida.

[TomK]

I'm finally glad that some coach figured out that the way to beat Duke was to guard Reddick all over the floor, on the bench, in the locker room, etc.

[iceturkee]

Go Gators

[EMoMoney]

Saturday:
4:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT REGIONAL FINALS (National; HDTV) -- Texas vs. LSU (Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas/Bob Wenzel), Atlanta, Ga.
7:05 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT REGIONAL FINALS (National; HDTV) -- Memphis vs. UCLA (Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Tracy Wolfson), Oakland, Calif.

Sunday:
2:40 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT REGIONAL FINALS (National; HDTV) -- UConn vs. George Mason (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Mike Gminski), Washington, D.C.
5:05 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT REGIONAL FINALS (National; HDTV) -- Villanova vs. Florida (Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Jim Spanarkel), Minneapolis, Minn.

[jeff125va]

Wow 3 more amazing games, plus the Mason game which wasn't really close but amazing they're in the Elite 8.

[jeff125va]

Go Gators
I was hoping to see Villanova-Georgetown, but should be a good rematch from last year.

[InterceptPoint]

I've been watching the West Coast feed over the air on my 10-250 and the picture quality in the LA area is pretty darn good. But ...

What was CBS thinking when they decided to broadcast their Control Center in ugly old SD? The only benefit to this is that when they switched to the games they typically started out in SD and then switched live to HD. This gave you an instant A-B comparison of SD and HD. I think I'll Tivo one of these transitions and save it to show to some of my friends who haven't caught HD fever yet.

[EMoMoney]

What was CBS thinking when they decided to broadcast their Control Center in ugly old SD?
Yeah, I think the same goes for their football pregame show.

[iceturkee]

bring on the rematch.............GO GATORS!!!

[sptnut]

I was so hoping that UConn was going to lose last night. I was getting tired last night so I tivoed the end of the Georgetown/Fla. game and UConn/Washington and just now watched the end of the games. Since my Dukies lost I am now in morning and the tourney isnt the same for now. However I really do not want UConn to win it all, mainly because thats who everyone is picking. I would love to see someone different like Memphis win it all. Plus they are a mid-major, which would make things even more interesting.

[bruinfan]

I noticed they didn't switch over on my HD local, but they did on the SD local.

I noticed during the Villanova-Monmouth game on Friday, they did not cut to other games on the Mega March Madness feed. They even showed the players huddled around the bench for at least a full minute during a timeout, even though the announcer said they'd be checking in on other action. They did show the Georgetown-Ohio St. game yesterday during the Villanova-Arizona halftime.

Watching the UCLA-Gonzaga on my HD feed, and every 30 min or so, they put a ticker on the bottom saying that we were watching a HD feed, and if you want to see the game switchovers or the control central, you need to switch over to the SD feed. Interesting. And they didn't cut away when they said they would, but I'm sure they did on the SD feed.

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Graymalkin]

Well, that's two #1 seeds outta here. Shall we try for the other two today? Both Connecticut and Villanova have seemed vulnerable.

[iceturkee]

i think there's a good possibility that villanova could go down. of course, i'm a die hard gators fan and my opinion isn't objective.

but realistically, i think the chances of them going out is better than uconn. however, it would be a hoot to have an 11 seed in the final four!!

EDITED TO ADD: what the heck do i know? george mason is going to the final four.....unf'inbelieveable!!!!

[TriBruin]

OK who had George Mason in their Bracket?

Anyone??????

Let me just say "WOW"

[fischproduction]

This is one crazy bracket...

[iceturkee]

i've been watching the final four for over 40 years now and this is the first time i recall none of the number 1 seeds advancing. at this moment, i'm predicting a florida-lsu rematch for the national title.

GO GATORS

[IndyTom]

i've been watching the final four for over 40 years now and this is the first time i recall none of the number 1 seeds advancing.


I couldn't remember the last time it happened either. Sportsline is reporting that the last time it took place was 1980.

[jubrand]

There are at least 3 people that nailed this final 4 in ESPNs tourney contest. Unreal. :eek:

[Zevida]

I don't like basketball and usually couldn't care less about March Madness, but I grew up near George Mason and knew a lot of people who went there (including a high school best friend) and I was a grad school student there for about thirty seconds, so it is pretty cool to see their unlikely rise!

[EMoMoney]

There are at least 3 people that nailed this final 4 in ESPNs tourney contest. Unreal. :eek:
It's the law of averages. Several thousand entries, you're bound to get some who nail it. A few years ago, somebody got every game correct.

[iceturkee]

actually, espn.com said this morning that 4 people nailed the final four. and last night, i heard this was the first time none of the top four seeds had made it to the final four, since the tourney was expanded to 64 games (whenever that was).

[Guindalf]

Well, that's MY office pool shot to hades in a handbasket!

[iceturkee]

this is why this year i played the women's tourney bracket, instead. i have 700 points and rank 64,000ish. late last week, i had dropped to 100,000ish. however, i picked oklahoma to win the national championship. and they got demolised by stanford last saturday!

[jeff125va]

The Mason game was great, but even my grad school's huge upset was little consolation for a life-long Villanova fan and alum. Would have loved to see them play each other, but oh well. I'm not even sure if I want Mason to win and break Villanova's record from 1985 as the lowest seed to get that far.

If those people who picked the Final Four weren't Mason students or alumni, then I'm seriously impressed. Otherwise it's just lucky homer picks. Picking 2, 3 and 4 seeds isn't that unusual. I'm sure a lot of people had those 3, I'll have to look, I'm pretty sure they show the percentages of how many people picked each team.

[TriBruin]

It's the law of averages. Several thousand entries, you're bound to get some who nail it. A few years ago, somebody got every game correct.

Want to bet that the only people that have this Final Four are GMU fans/alumni? These have to be "throw-away" bracket swith the dream of your team making the Final Four

I don't think anyone has every gotten all games right. I think the best I heard was 62 or 63 of 64. (At least on ESPN.)

GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!

[jeff125va]

actually, espn.com said this morning that 4 people nailed the final four. and last night, i heard this was the first time none of the top four seeds had made it to the final four, since the tourney was expanded to 64 games (whenever that was).
As someone mentioned earlier, the last time that happened was 1980. They didn't actually assign numbers to the teams until 1979, although I'm sure that they must have used them internally before that. I can't imagine they just suddenly decided to have the best teams play the worst teams in the early rounds. And they expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

[TiVo'Brien]

Maybe it was just me, but didn't the CBS announcers for the Florida-Villanova game seemed to favor Villanova? They mostly talked about Villanova, plus the enthusiasm in their voices seemed to wane whenever they had to talk about Florida. Maybe it's just me since I'm a Gator fan.

[jeff125va]

Maybe it was just me, but didn't the CBS announcers for the Florida-Villanova game seemed to favor Villanova? They mostly talked about Villanova, plus the enthusiasm in their voices seemed to wane whenever they had to talk about Florida. Maybe it's just me since I'm a Gator fan.
I didn't really notice (of course, it would have just seemed natural to me). But it would make sense, since Villanova was trailing the whole time, that they'd want to make it seem like they were mounting a comeback so as to keep viewers from tuning out.

On a somewhat similar note, I was driving home last Sunday and listened to the GMU-UNC game on the GMU radio station with their highly partisan home announcer. That was cool, wish I'd have had him on yesterday.

[MickeS]

As someone mentioned earlier, the last time that happened was 1980. They didn't actually assign numbers to the teams until 1979, although I'm sure that they must have used them internally before that. I can't imagine they just suddenly decided to have the best teams play the worst teams in the early rounds. And they expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Which is so funny, because I remember after the selection, the "experts" on CBS said that this was a year when they expected all #1 seeds to go to the final four. :D

[jeff125va]

I saw a graphic this weekend or last that showed that right about 50% (52% maybe?) of the #1 seeds have made it, but never have all four made it in the same tournament.

[jubrand]

A few years ago, somebody got every game correct.

Sorry, that never happened. At least not on any site like ESPN or CBS.

[eugene82]

I realize and appreciate the intense emotion that is a sign of a true competitor. Shedding tears the way J.J. Redick did is fine, but lying on the floor crying like a baby the way Adam Morrison did is, IMHO, an embarrassment. Perhaps he felt so much shame at blowing a 17-point lead that he didn't think he could look any worse.

I couldn't believe how lazy Duke was looking near the end. When Davis got his own rebound on that free throw near the end, I don't even think there were any other LSU players around, and the Duke guys were just standing there. For a team to be missing that many free throws in a close game and still win, not to take anything away from LSU, but Duke just wasn't playing like they wanted this one, at least not near the end.


I agree. Duke simply gave that game away. That is not to say LSU is not a talented team.

[eugene82]

I'm finally glad that some coach figured out that the way to beat Duke was to guard Reddick all over the floor, on the bench, in the locker room, etc.

They absolutely did a great job of doubling down on him and even triple teaming him. Still that was not the reason Duke lost the game.
Williams missed critical shots under the basket and Dockery could not hit the 3 pointer. Duke blew the game like they blew the one against Georgetown earlier in the year.
Missing easy layups simply want help any team win. You have to play a balanced game. Dockery only had to hit 3 threes and the rest not miss the lazy layups. Nah. Reddick was not the key in that game.
Eugene