Tag Archives: Big12

Issue # 3.1.2 “Not the Expected Upsets” (3/18)

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3 MORE DOUBLE-DIGIT SEEDS WIN; BIG 12 PERFECT
Shepwick leads as 3 most popular upset picks fizzle out

POST-FUNERAL WITH STAY AT HOMIE , ROSEMEAD, CA (smt) – There were three near-shoo-ins of a double-digit seed winning and all three lost today.  Getting outpicked must have been locker room motivation for their opponents as Sweet 16 darling #10S-Loyola Chicago and ACC champ #11E-Virginia Tech crashed hard while #10W-Davidson blew a late 5-point lead.  But three double-digit seeds did win as #10MW-Miami (FL), #11W-Notre Dame (making it 10 out of 11 years a First Four team has won at least two games), and #11MW-Iowa St (against #6MW-LSU who fired their coach) advanced. 

Just missed

No Sister Jean magic this time as the 102-year old had to witness her Loyola Chicago shoot 26.8% from the field, 28.6% from three, and at one time were 1 of 8 from the free throw line in their loss to #7S-Ohio St, giving the Big Ten a confidence boost that would see the Big Ten go 5-0 today (not to be outdone, the Big 12 went 6-0 in the first round).  The Ramblers had made the Sweet 16 in their past two appearances.  Miami committed just 3 turnovers to #7MW-USC’s 18 but had to survive a mid-court go-ahead 3 by USC that just banked off the rim (missing a true buzzer beater), a la Butler’s last shot vs Duke in the ’10 Final.  USC had a chance to go up but missed the front end of a one-and-one late (there were 12 second half lead changes) and Miami then rolled six straight points.

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Issue # 4.2.1 “Sister Jean to Sweet 16” (3/21)

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3 DOUBLE DIGIT SEEDS + RAMBLERS MAKE SWEET 16
License to ILL remains in 1st but lost champ Illinois

Sister Jean

DREAMING THROUGH AN UPSET, CA (smt)- So this was the morning I was going to sleep in, after working most weekends the past month, to get some good REM sleep.  I mean, #1MW-Illinois was the first game.  So if my phone was buzzing, I didn’t hear it.  Woke up and saw #1MW-Illinois was upset by fellow Illinois-team #8MW-Loyola Chicago.  And not really close at all, never letting the Illini get closer than 7 in the second half.  Sister Jean apparently gave a pre-game speech and magic happened.  The Ramblers were a top 10 team by statistics, which no one believed, and thus made an 8 seed.   They now get #12MW-Oregon St who withheld several rallies by #4MW-Oklahoma St to keep the Pac 12 perfect (6-0, 7-0 including First Four).  Elite 8?  We’ll see.

Two other double-digits seeds advanced with #11MW-Syracuse nearly blowing a late 9 point lead to beat #3MW-West Virginia (battle of the 900 win coaches) and #15S-Oral Roberts overcoming an 11-point deficit with under 10 minutes left to stun #7S-Florida.  Oral Roberts becomes just the second #15 seed in the Sweet 16 (Florida Gulf Coast ’13).  #10MW-Rutgers nearly joined them but blew a 9-point lead with under 5 minutes left as #2MW-Houston scored the last 7 points of the game (making just one shot, 5 points on free throws) in losing by 3.  Rutgers did the “prevent defense” which took them out of their rhythm, trying to hold the ball before the shot clock ran out, scoring just two points in the final 4:55.

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Issue # 25.3 “25 Years: The Conferences”

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Tuesday, April 7, 2020 [ 1-Entries | 2-Teams ]

25 YEARS:  38 CONFERENCES HAVE EXISTED IN OUR POOLS
30-32 automatic bids each year, 9 conf never getting more than 1 bid

Teams and Titles by Conference

EL SEGUNDO/HOME, CA (smt)- Would the Big Ten (B10) have gotten a record 12 (of 14) teams into the tournament?  More likely 10 which would’ve been the second-highest ever (Big East (BE) 11 in ’11).  Would the Big Ten top the record 19 wins by the Atlantic Coast (ACC) in ’16?  But we’ll never know.  So without a tournament, here is another 25 Year retrospective, this time focusing on the conferences who have made the tournament (the proper 64 that is).

What we do know is that for the past 25 years, 38 conferences have existed with only the American West (AW) (’95-’96) and Great West (GW) (’10-’13) not putting any teams in (no automatic bid due to not enough teams in conference those years).  Currently, all 32 Division I conferences get an automatic bid (though again, four of the worst conference tournament winners will vie in First Four).  Nine conferences have never gotten an at-large bid.  From ’01-’10 the two lowest auto bid tournament champions (team #64 and #65) played in the Opening Round game.  From ’11 to present, the four lowest auto bid champions play in the First Four.  13 conferences have put their auto bid team in the Opening Round/First Four with the Southwestern Athletic (SWA) doing it 11 of 19 years.  Because they have lost 9 of those Opening Round/First Four games, the SWA have only placed a team in the proper 64 bracket 16 of 25 years.

The Atlantic 10 (A10) is a perfect 3-0 in the First Four with five others 2-0 (America East (AE) – keeping a streak of all 25 years with just one team in proper 64, Big West (BW), Colonial Athletic (CAA), Ohio Valley (OVC), and Summit (SUM)).  The Pac-12 (P12) is 3-4 (including losing both in ’18, the only conference to ever have 2 teams in First Four) while the Big 12 (B12) has appeared just once (won in ’17).  The Northeast (NEC) has appeared in 7 straight First Four games (’13 to present) going 3-4 (4-5 overall).  The Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEA) has lost 3 straight First Four games (’17 to present) (3-6 overall).  Despite this, the MEA actually has 3 wins in the tournament (#15 Coppin St ’97, #15 Hampton ’01, and #15 Norfolk St in ’12).

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