In a game that was free flowing, full of offense, and very un-Big East, tonight’s Notre Dame @ UConn game was a preview of the 2009 Final Four. This game was an absolute pleasure to watch, and these are two very good teams. After an impressive win, UConn now has a fairly slick road the rest of the way, and they’ll likely be challenging Georgetown for the Big East lead. The Irish are still fine as well though, and will be playing for the lead of the conference down the stretch run.

And both have pretty much EVERYONE coming back next year (as long as Thabeet stays), and if everyone is back next year, both UConn and ND will both be Top 5 teams nationally in 2009.

Categories: Commentary
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There’s nothing I can say that would add to what Jay Bilas said (as usual).

Great use of the press by Jay Wright, though. Villanova almost always seems to play Georgetown tight because of this.

(Editor’s note: I retract my original love for ESPN. You’ll notice that if you go to this page, there is no embed text, so it seems like you can’t put it in your blog. If you look at other game highlights, you’ll notice the same thing. But, if you go to one of their videos with some fucktards (excluding Jay Bilas, of course) wanking it around a table discussing “bracketology” — well, of course then you can embed the video. Dumb.)

Categories: Commentary, Connecticut, donald, Georgetown
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If bracketologists were marine biologists, poll voters would have their assistants report on goldfish in bowls, RPI enthusiasts would hang out at Sea World, and Sagarin and Pomeroy would only be found by the Coast Guard. I’ve wasted time looking at the polls, and I guess I’ll continue to do so here and there. The RPI is definitely better, but it does a very good job at telling us nothing special. There are two animals that the RPI simply can’t handle: the ridiculously good record against moderate or worse competition and the moderate or worse record against ridiculously good competition.

Naturally, the great records and mediocre schedules come out of the secondary conferences. Drake, Butler, and St. Mary’s, I’m talking about you. Not only is your RPI inflated, you’re shooting up the polls too. “Wait a minute! Give those guys a break, they’re screwed by the BCS bullies!” Well, I think the RPI and polls actually do these schools the bigger injustice. Name the non-BCS schools that have gotten a 5th seed or better in the last decade and done something with it. That list is awfully short. These teams are good, but they don’t belong in the top 25. There’s nothing wrong with being one of the top 40.

And of course there’s the “Izzo-Chaney-Olsen Plan,” in which you schedule half a dozen elite non-conference games before conference play starts. No surprise, it’s Olsen this year with the #8 RPI and #1 schedule. UConn, yes UConn! is a bit overrated by the same method.

What the RPI fails to do is recognize quality basketball and pick out would-be sleepers (if they get to dance at all). Kansas State will obviously dance, and I expect to see them in the Elite Eight. Wisconsin’s very quietly 19-4 and a lot better than their #20 RPI. But the one I’ll be watching will be West Virginia. They’ve got a #48 RPI, a 12-seed from Joe Lunardi, and a resume full of quality play all year. Barring a disaster the rest of the way, they’re going to slip into the tournament in the #8 to #12 range and will have a great shot at the Sweet Sixteen as “underdogs.”

Categories: Connecticut, Dan'l B, Rankings, West Virginia
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From this article:

Louisville harried Georgetown with its press, forcing the normally deliberate Hoyas into 15 turnovers. When the Hoyas managed to get into their offensive set, they rushed shots and hardly played with the efficiency that has carried them all season.

I’ve been saying this for a while. The way to beat Georgetown is to reduce the amount of time they spend in their half court set. Villanova did it last year quite effectively. Looks like Rick Pitino has been reading bigeasthoops.com.

Categories: Commentary, donald, Georgetown, Louisville
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With an incredibly difficult upcoming schedule (Providence, Marquette, Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati & Syracuse in a row), Pitt really needed a win this evening to keep pace with the upper echelon teams of the league. Kudos to Ronald Ramon for knocking down one of the most important shots of the season so far. Sorry Roy, you’ve just been one-upped.

Categories: Commentary
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