(Updated) NCAA Day One Open Thread; Barnes vs Tubby in NC; Tubby emerges as UVA’s #1

General NCS Basketball95

Evening Sessions
Maryland’s win over California today was really big for the conference. Gary Williams has now won his first round game in nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Wow! (And you were told how you should be happy with four first round NCAA Tournament wins in a decade.)

How tough is playing basketball in the ACC? Cal hasn’t had to worry about an NCAA Tournament bid since January. The Bears tied Arizona State for third place in the weak Pac-10 with an 11-7 conference record and 22-10 overall record. As you remember, Maryland entered the ACC Tournament needing to win games to earn a bid to the Big Dance. (…but, not needing to advance to the ACC Championship game as ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes confidently proclaimed multiple times during Maryland’s first round win over NC State).

If Clemson & Florida State can pull through in their tough first round games then the ACC could go a fantastic 7-0 in first round games, further supporting the conference’s annual claim that our 6th-9th place teams should deserve more credit from the tournament committee than we seem to receive. ACCNow has a nice entry about the conference.

As opposed to this afternoon’s games, this evening’s slate may be the best of the four first round sessions. I’ve bolded the games that will be streaming on my computer at home. In fact, I picked the worse seed in each of these four games in one of my brackets.

7:10 – Texas vs. Minnesota
7:10 – Clemson vs. Michigan
7:20 – Villanova vs. American
7:25 – Gonzaga vs. Akron
9:40 – Duke vs. Binghamton
9:40 – Oklahoma vs Morgan State
9:50 – UCLA vs Virginia Commonwealth
9:55 – Illinois vs. Western Kentucky

I’m most interested in the Minnesota vs Texas game tonight in a battle of two coaches from North Carolina – Rick Barnes & Tubby Smith – playing in Greensboro. WOW! This is awesome! If I weren’t sick this week I would have hopped in the car and driven up. These gentlemen’s ties to the NC State job three years ago are well known; and now it appears there is a chance that we may see more of Tubby Smith in these parts as he has emerged as Virginia’s top choice to replace Dave Leitao.

“Nothing else will happen until we talk with Tubby, and he’s obviously busy right now,” one source close to the Virginia search said Thursday. “Obviously, in the meantime, there will be due diligence done on several other coaches.”

The Minnesota head coach gave Virginia serious consideration four years ago, before eventually electing to stay at Kentucky. The Cavaliers eventually hired Dave Leitao.

Both parties are in a different place now. Virginia is seeking to make a splash with a big name to replace Leitao, who resigned on Monday, while Smith is in his second season as the head coach at the University of Minnesota.

The Cavaliers’ strong interest in Smith indicates that the school is willing to spend big money on in its next coach.

It’s no secret that one Rick Barnes’ Texas Longhorns is one of our all-time favorite non-Wolfpack programs to support. Barnes has amazingly directed Texas to the NCAA Tournament in EACH of his eleven seasons in Austin. (Tell me more about how ‘great’ it was to go to ‘Five in a row’ and win a grand total of five NCAA Tournament games in those five years?)

This is one of the weaker Texas teams in recent years as the Longhorns are absorbing the premature departures of DJ Augustin and Kevin Durant. This link provides a quick look at this year’s Longhorns.

In an attempt to draw a quick line to NC State, I thought I would share the following quick video. In light of how NC State has stuggled the last few years with the effort and hustle of some players I found this interesting.

Afternoon Comments
It’s NCAA Tournament time, and we can all pull up a chair alongside our basketball team and watch the games on TV. (or with live online streaming on CBS’ website). Here’s a quick look at today’s schedule with my quick comments on each contest. You can click here to see which announcers will be calling today’s games. Discuss below.

BJD Insert – I wanted to give some free publicity to WRAL and Time Warner Cable, for showing HD broadcasts of every single NCAAT game, at no extra charge. WRAL’s broadcast schedule is here. God bless you, WRAL.

Greensboro, NC
Regions: South (afternoon) and East (evening)

#8 LSU vs. #9 Butler, 12:20 PM

SEC Coach of the Year Trent Johnson leading the regular season SEC champs LSU into Greensboro, making the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since their Final Four run in 2006.

#1 North Carolina vs. #16 Radford, 2:50 PM

I say UNC in a yawner. Radford says they “are ready for UNC” but I will go with the inimitable philosophical musings of Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until I hit ’em in the mouth.” Lawson or no Lawson, expect Carolina to roll and for most Tar Heel fans to be unbearable until at least the weekend.

Kansas City, MO
Regions: West (afternoon) and South (evening)

#2 Memphis vs. #15 Cal State Northridge, 12:25 PM
The Memphis Tigers are probably the best defensive team in the country, and that’s bad news for CS Northridge. They lose in an earthquake.

#7 California vs. #10 Maryland, 2:55 PM
The Greivas Vasquez Show rolls into the NCAA. I’m torn on this one, but I think that Gary Williams sweats this one out.

Philadelphia, PA
Regions: West (afternoon) and East (evening)

#8 BYU vs. #9 Texas A&M, 12:30 PM
I have no real opinion on this game except for the fact that BYU is better at taking care of the ball and that usually makes the difference.

#1 Connecticut vs. #16 Chattanooga, 3:00 PM
Lookout Chatanooga, UConn will see your Rock City and blow you out…again. The Huskies eradicated the Mocs in 1995 by a 100-71 final, despite Chattanooga star Terrell Owens. Yes, THAT Terrell Owens.

Portland, OR
Regions: West (afternoon) and South (evening)

#5 Purdue vs. #12 Northern Iowa, 2:30 PM
This game will probably be a lot more entertaining than the UNC game. Both teams feature balanced attacks and defenses that are in the upper half of their respective leagues in field goal percentage defense…that sounds like runs in both directions, and a game I would rather see than UNC. Thanks, DirecTV!

#4 Washington vs. #13 Mississippi State, 5:00 PM
Don’t sleep on the Bulldogs. Despite a low seeding, this is a team that can and I think will take down the Huskies. First of all, Miss State is a hot team, they played their way in by winning the SEC tournament. Look for Jarvis Varnado (13.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 4.7 bpg) to have a big game.

As you gear up for today’s games we thought you would find this article interesting to read. What does one have to look forward to if they own March Madness? Perhaps they could become a used car salesman in Las Vegas:

Ed O’Bannon, who not long ago owned March Madness and won just about every college basketball award imaginable following a dream senior season at UCLA, is now a car salesman in Las Vegas. He works for Findlay Toyota, whose founder, Cliff Findlay, just so happens to be a former UNLV player and a huge supporter of the Runnin’ Rebels program. It’s the same program that O’Bannon committed to coming out of Artesia High near Los Angeles in 1990. And before and during halftime of most UNLV home games, you can find O’Bannon, whose No. 31 is retired by UCLA, here on the Thomas & Mack Center concourse, hawking “the official vehicle of the Runnin’ Rebels.”

General NCS Basketball

95 Responses to (Updated) NCAA Day One Open Thread; Barnes vs Tubby in NC; Tubby emerges as UVA’s #1

  1. Alpha Wolf 03/19/2009 at 1:19 PM #

    72-69 LSU over Butler with a couple free throws coming. Not too long is left. 74-69 11.6 seconds left. It’s all but over.

  2. choppack1 03/19/2009 at 1:24 PM #

    “Since State is not dancing, I will pull for Duke as my ACC team. My daughter is a Duke fan, and I find that I have no trouble rooting for Duke against everyone but State (and it’s much easier when Paulus is on the bench for 35+ minutes!).”

    SJ – I’m w/ you. This year though, I’ll pull for Wake, Clemson and FSU the hardest, then Duke.

    And I have to say this, I’m guilty of pulling for Duke in last Sunday’s ACC tournament so that they could tie UNC. It might be different if I knew any Duke fans, but here in Winston, I don’t run into too many.

  3. Classof89 03/19/2009 at 1:27 PM #

    I have little faith in Clemson. Picked ’em out in the 1st round. Picked maryland to lose to memphis. I have little confidence in Wake, either, but did pick them to survive until their whipping at the hand of Louisville (with considerable trepidation).

  4. Classof89 03/19/2009 at 1:47 PM #

    Maybe Vitale can shut his trap about the mid-majors now…they are 0-3 so far, and Northern Iowa (the champion of whatever pissant conference they are in) is being dismantled by Purdue from the supposedly overrated Big Ten.

  5. Alpha Wolf 03/19/2009 at 1:49 PM #

    I’m honor-bound by the wife to never pull for Duke, not even if they played Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda All-Stars. Since she goes to State football and hoops games, wears red, pulls like hell for State, was in WoW, tolerates me and my rantings (I sounded like I had Tourette’s during the State-UMD game last week) all after she went to Carolina and got her degree, well, that’s not too much to ask. She hates Duke with the power of 1,000 suns and has even more reasons why.

  6. wolfonthehill 03/19/2009 at 1:50 PM #

    Nothing “supposed” about the Big 10 being overrated. That doesn’t, however, mean that Northern Iowa can compete with Purdue. Two different arguments…

  7. choppack1 03/19/2009 at 1:57 PM #

    See alpha – you haven’t met one of co-workers. Hates Duke like there’s no tomorrow. Goes on these rants that are irrational.

    I’ve been down the hatred road – and it’s not pretty. Some things happened in my life to help me realize that these feelings are unhealthy and reduce my enjoyment in life. Don’t get me wrong, I love when it the Heels lose, but I no longer see the value denigrating everything Chapel Hill – because at their core, they are no more good/bad than us – just more spoiled by success.

  8. choppack1 03/19/2009 at 1:58 PM #

    Regarding the Butler game – if that had been Brady’s team, I would have picked them. However, they’ve got a better coach now – and I knew from reading about Butler – they were young, and not athletic enough to hang w/ a real good team.

    Texas A&M – I just went w/ them because I figured they were a lot tougher than BYU

  9. primacyone 03/19/2009 at 2:03 PM #

    Something to read at gopack.com:

    http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=3695538

    I guess one way to make the potential of next basketball season intersested is to just look at from the perpective of: Going to be interesting to see exactly what does happen next year, either way.

  10. primacyone 03/19/2009 at 2:04 PM #

    And waxing the car. It’s now on the list. Good one Alpha. Thanks.

  11. Greywolf 03/19/2009 at 2:37 PM #

    I’m sitting here scratching my head trying to figure what I can do to get in Spring Practice. I remember the 70’s when I was scratching my head trying to figure how I was going to get in the first round of the ACCT and the NCAAs.
    `
    Anybody remember when the “good old days” were when Spring Practice was open and getting tickets to the ACC were “closed?”
    ‘
    I just hung a 28″ flat-screen HD TV in my office and I’m wondering if I can hook my computer to it so I can watch some very cool YouTube bits of NCSU football. Can this be done? My monitor is bigger than my first TV. Don’t laugh, I’m 71 so it ain’t like 19″ was all that small in the early days.
    `
    Primacyone, enjoy the 6 year old. I could “hardly wait” for my son to be on a travel team, then on Jr Hi Soccor team, then play for Sanderson, then it was App State and the NCAAs, then he was married and gone with a family of his own. I’d give a bunch if he were 6 again. Being there with him when he found out he made the All-South team — his only concern was would he make 1st team All-State — was great but just being on the sidelines watching him have fun was just as great. Having my own granddaughers — yes, all 6 grandchildren are girls — has me realize how much I miss him and his sister just being children.
    `
    I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or what but whether or not NCSU wins the ACCT or not isn’t quite as important as it used to be. What is more important now is that our coaches be the kind of men that young poeple can emulate. Winning is an important trait to emulate, it’s just not the be-all, end-all it once was. We need to win the right way and TOB leaves no doubt that we will win the right way. Now if Sid could just include winning in his repertoire, we can call the next case.
    `
    So primacyone, thanks for the impetus to take a thoroughly delightful trip down memory lane. 😉

  12. TOBtime 03/19/2009 at 3:32 PM #

    Greywolf, I have a 7 yr old and 4 yr old, both girls. Thanks for the reminder that most of the things I worry about currently don’t really amount to a hill of beans unless it affects my girls long-term. I am young enough to remember being your sons age and not really having a care in the world. I realize now how much of an effect “men” (not males) like TOB had on me and I was totally clueless at the time.

  13. Noah 03/19/2009 at 3:41 PM #

    I just hung a 28″ flat-screen HD TV in my office and I’m wondering if I can hook my computer to it so I can watch some very cool YouTube bits of NCSU football. Can this be done? My monitor is bigger than my first TV. Don’t laugh, I’m 71 so it ain’t like 19″ was all that small in the early days.

    Probably. My TV in my bedroom has a port for an HDMI cable. I run that from the back of my laptop to my TV and I can watch “House” episodes off of a hard drive.

    You ought to have an HDMI cable running to your monitor, if you have an external one.

  14. BJD95 03/19/2009 at 4:01 PM #

    Kudos to the Terp fans for the “ACC” chant in the final minute.

  15. BJD95 03/19/2009 at 4:24 PM #

    I could certainly do without the Duke and UConn fluffing commercials. Disgusting.

  16. StateFans 03/19/2009 at 4:27 PM #

    FYI — Original entry has been updated for new information heading into the evening.

  17. Garrett 03/19/2009 at 4:55 PM #

    Yeah, good win for the terps..and while i don’t generally like maryland, i wouldn’t mind seeing them give memphis a dose of acc ball saturday.

    And for those who thought butler could give unc fits, LSU has plenty of talent to do just that.

  18. Wolfpack_1995 03/19/2009 at 5:10 PM #

    I am definetly pulling for Sweaty Gary over Slimy Cal!

  19. wolfonthehill 03/19/2009 at 5:13 PM #

    My 7-year-old twin boys did a bracket together this year in our pool. They’re 7-0 right now, while I missed the Butler game.

  20. 61Packer 03/19/2009 at 5:30 PM #

    UVA is after Tubby? Oh, GREAT! Now we’ll have another ACC team rising above us in the ACC pecking order. With Georgia Tech not giving us any more Favors, we should sink to the bottom of the ACC next season with a resounding THUD. All we need now is for Arizona State to go deep in this tournament.

  21. smile102 03/19/2009 at 5:46 PM #

    “Probably. My TV in my bedroom has a port for an HDMI cable. I run that from the back of my laptop to my TV and I can watch “House” episodes off of a hard drive.”

    How’s ther picture quality?

  22. NJpack 03/19/2009 at 6:09 PM #

    If we don’t fire Lowe, can we at least fire Monty Towe? I think I’m more disappointed in him not being able to teach any college basketball fundamentals than I am Lowe.

  23. wolfonthehill 03/19/2009 at 6:34 PM #

    Clemson looking like dog shit early on – mostly because Oglesby won’t stop chucking it from 24 feet. A mini Adam Harrington, I tell ya…

  24. wolfonthehill 03/19/2009 at 6:36 PM #

    Not helping that KC Rivers can’t even hit a layup… why oh why don’t teams do that against us???

  25. wolfonthehill 03/19/2009 at 6:43 PM #

    At least 5 missed layups for Clemson so far… looks a lot like the Pack against unc-ch in the first matchup.

    Lucky to be tied…

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