OT: Other NCAA Games

[JerseySean]

And now NCC (Norwood Community College -- I don't care where their actually stinky college resides) is getting hammered by Purdue. Wow... can the B10 (11? 12?) really be this good? I think not...

 

[ucdave]

They are playing Tennessee.

 

[JerseySean]

They are playing Tennessee.

Oh, yes, correct. Was thinking Purdue. I was watching that game on the other channel. "Just" Iowa beat them.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Xavier came out with no energy after the devastating loss last night. They will still be ready when they play UC, Xavier always is....

 

[Robert]

I like the little boast of how their in our old conference now. I've heard so many X fans saying this the last few months. Can't wait for reality to set in that the new Big East is just a good mid-major with a bigger name. Yeah it's better than the A10 was and might be better than the AAC going forward, but it is not a major conference.

The problem with the new Big East is that it doesn't have any elite programs. Georgetown and Marquette are nice, but neither has been good enough lately to make me think they are on the cusp of winning a national championship. The ACC has Duke, UNC, Louisville, and Syracuse. SEC has Florida and Kentucky. Big Ten has Indiana, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Big 12 is dominated by Kansas, but Oklahoma State and Texas are nice programs as well. The Pac 12 has Arizona and UCLA (although they have underachieved lately). Hell, even the AAC has UConn as a flagship program -- as much as I would love for Cincinnati to hold that honor.

Xavier, Creighton, and Butler all did their damage in mid-major conferences. There is no way of knowing if they will be able to bring in the kind of recruits necessary to go from Cinderella to elite. DePaul, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall have been garbage for most of the past 2 decades. Villanova isn't what it was in Jay Wright's early years.

I think the Big East will be a very nice conference, but it's not going to be much better than the AAC. If the Big East wants to compete with the ACC and Big Ten, they need to expand. Dayton and St. Louis are hot right now and fit their profile. If not for travel concerns, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's would be great cultural/basketball fits as well.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

LOL this Alabama-Drexel going to 3OT basically ruins ESPN TV scheduling. It pushes back the hyped Duke-Arizona game and moves the UCF-USF game to another channel because of Duke-Arizona starting late...and Memphis-LSU gets bumped to ESPNews.

How awesome...

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Villanova takes down #2 Kansas 61-59.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

The problem with the new Big East is that it doesn't have any elite programs. Georgetown and Marquette are nice, but neither has been good enough lately to make me think they are on the cusp of winning a national championship. The ACC has Duke, UNC, Louisville, and Syracuse. SEC has Florida and Kentucky. Big Ten has Indiana, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Big 12 is dominated by Kansas, but Oklahoma State and Texas are nice programs as well. The Pac 12 has Arizona and UCLA (although they have underachieved lately). Hell, even the AAC has UConn as a flagship program -- as much as I would love for Cincinnati to hold that honor.

Xavier, Creighton, and Butler all did their damage in mid-major conferences. There is no way of knowing if they will be able to bring in the kind of recruits necessary to go from Cinderella to elite. DePaul, St. John's, Providence, and Seton Hall have been garbage for most of the past 2 decades. Villanova isn't what it was in Jay Wright's early years.

I think the Big East will be a very nice conference, but it's not going to be much better than the AAC. If the Big East wants to compete with the ACC and Big Ten, they need to expand. Dayton and St. Louis are hot right now and fit their profile. If not for travel concerns, Gonzaga and Saint Mary's would be great cultural/basketball fits as well.

Completely agree. I think top to bottom the Big East will be the sixth best conference most years, the AAC will be seventh. I only say that because I think DePaul and Seton Hall seem to me to be better programs than Tulane, etc. that our conference will have at the bottom. I do think our conference has a better chance to make a name for itself and become better over time while the Big East as it stands today is at the top of where it will be considered. Right now they are Big East, the name still holds weight almost like it never changed. As time passes it will become more and more not the same Big East and the name will lose it's luster. I think the name Big East will help them in the short term to get better recruits. I think going forward the problem with that conference is it is all made up of small schools for the most part and while all the programs have a little history, none were ever elite programs. You might could make the argument for Georgetown. Marquette was good in the late 70's and then had a good run with D-Wade and are good now. Most schools will be able to recruit somewhat but will still be the little brothers to whatever state university they are near. Schools like Xavier and Butler who have had recent success are one bad coach hire away from struggling and becoming mediocre again. Butler lost Stevens, so who knows if they will continue their success. Mack hasn't exactly looked great compared to his predecessors. These schools will always be stepping stone schools, with the exception of maybe Georgetown. For them to keep a coach they need to go the route of St. Johns hiring a Lavin who used to be big time or even us with Tuberville.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Xavier is down by 23 to USC. It is looking like they will leave the Battle for Atlantis 0-3.

 

[UCalum08]

Uconn just continues to win. Napier made a jumper with .3 seconds to win. I swear they win so many 1-2 point games. Before it was Kemba Walker and now its Napier.