Here Today... Gone To Hell!

The new season is upon us!

It is with much enthusiasm us hoops fans welcome back one of our favorite sports.  I am so stoked that summer is over and am looking forward to some hot chili, wings, ice cold brew, and college hoops!

Bring it on!

ESPN magazine has my Cuse at #46.  Just after the national championship game, we were being ranked #2 overall...that was before Jonny Flynn and a couple others left school early.   :crying:

That's okay, SU does well in the years it's not expected to do well.   ;)

Let's go Orange!!!   :beer:

my UK Wildcats are FINALLY back

had to get rid of Tubby and Billy G but finally we got the coach we need and deserve.

John Wall will lead us to greatness a long with Patrick Patterson

They didn't do too well last night losing to Division II LeMoyne, or whoever it was.  Granted, it's only an exhibition so I wouldn't put too much stock in it.  But not something you ever want to see, no matter what time of season.

Yeah, it brought to mind Apollo Creed's coach as he's getting his ass kicked by Ivan Drago, "It's only supposed to be an exhibition!"  Embarrassing, but a good wake-up call.

I'm waiting to see just what my Uconn Huskies manage to do this year.  They lost a LOT at the end of last year, and if they can just be respectable, I'll be happy.  I'm not expecting anything much out of them but to maybe be competitive.  If they can GET to the NCAA tourney, I'll be ecstatic.

Pilferk, the ONE time a year we actually agree.  Basketball season.

UConn has some talent, but a bit of a youth movement outside of Stanley Robinson, Jerome Dyson, Gavin Edwards, and Kemba Walker.  They have a couple freshmen who they expect big things from including big man Alex Oriakhi.  He's not quite like the centers they've had in recent years, I think he's only 6-8 or so, but he's supposed to be pretty good.  Expectations obviously aren't as high as last year.  Last season they were pre-season #2 or so, this year they're #3 in the BIG EAST alone behind Nova and West Virginia.  It should be fun though, it always is.

Tell em how it is D!!!  Cant wait for this season to start 8)

UConn opened up their season last night and it looks like more of the same from them.  They have a lot of freshmen that are gonna need to contribute, but they do have 3 upper classmen to help lead the way.  They're quick and athletic which will make them a good transition team and they should give teams trouble on defense.  BUT, they don't have the extreme shot blocker in the middle that they've had in years past with Okafor and Thabeet.  Right now, freshman Alex Oriahki is starting at C and he's only 6'9".  6'11" Ater Majok will be eligible for 2nd semester so they will get some added size and depth.

BUT, it appears yet again that this team is severely lacking a consistent outside shooting threat.  Jerome Dyson is about the only guy you can count on to hit 3's, outside of that there's not much there.  They were killed by good old William and Mary from 3 last night, which kept them in the game pretty much the whole way.  Not since the days of Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson has the 3 point shot been a factor in their game.  I knew they were bad last year, but last night they said UConn was #301 in 3 point field goals made.  I didn't even know there were 301 division 1 schools.  That's just awful!  It's tough to compete when you're only making 3 3's a game and your opponent is making 10 or so.

UK Vs UConn here in a few weeks

we are going to crush u guys

I might be going to that game. 

We'll see about the outcome, UConn's got some work to do but I have faith they can get it done.

How about those Orange??????????  Fucking great.  Knockin' off #6 and #12...not just winning but kicking their asses!  The only prob is Wesley Johnson's totally goin' pro after this season.   :'(  I'll enjoy it while it lasts.  :beer:

First big test Saturday for my Cats

lets see if we can knock off UNC

Hey, if he can do it the way Carmello Anthony did, then you certainly can't complain.

WHAT A GAME!

should've been a blowout but we showed great poise hanging on down the stretch

come March.. we are going to be TOUGH to put out.

What an Awesome game

john Wall could be one of the greatest players I've ever seen.

Yeah that was a good one.  Not the outcome I was hoping for, but nonetheless.  Certainly no shame in losing to a top team like Kentucky and giving them all they could handle in the process.  It was certainly a much better showing than UConn had against Duke, that's for sure.  They still made the same mistakes though.  Missed free throws and stupid unforced errors, unneeded passes and so forth.  The Huskies still have work to do.  I hope this Ater Majok everyone keeps talking about is half as good as they're pumping him up to be, but I have my reservations.  I heard the same things about Ajou Deng years ago and he was such a non factor that he had to transfer to Fairfield.  And he only had one good year there.

For heavens sake Huskies, work on your damn free throws!

09-10 is all about the 'cuse!!!  Knocking off #12 Cal., #6 UNC, and #10 Flor. already and undefeated still!  Hello Top-5...we'll be there shortly.

Makes me wish I was still up in Syracuse...okay, with that fucking snow, no way!  :hihi:
Seriously, a good UConn-SU matchup or G-Town SU will pack 32,000+ guaranteed this season.  This SU team is THAT good.  Pre-season they were ranked 46th...love it!!!  :rofl:

Figured I'd continue this discussion in the proper section.

By the way, UConn got HOSED at SU last week.  That BS timeout that was awarded to Syracuse after UConn gained possession of the ball.  Just an AWFUL call.  I jumped out of my seat when they made that call.  I'm usually a pretty reserved guy.  But to see the refs completely blow a call and basically hand the game to Syracuse after UConn fought so hard to come back in that game, was just atrocious.  Then UConn went and laid an egg against Cincy in Jim Calhoun's return.  Unfortunately I witnessed that one in person.  You'd think Calhoun's return would've been motivation enough.  But apparently that loss to Syracuse took it's toll on them.  Last night they bounced back and no doubt played their best game of the season.

With all that being said though, I honestly don't expect it to continue.  They have been so up and down this season and last night they shot the lights out both from the line and from 3 point range.  They haven't done that all season, so I don't see why I should expect them to carry that on the rest of the way.  I expect the team from the first 24 games, much more than the game last night unfortunately.  We'll see though.  I'm just glad it looks as if they'll at least get to play in the NIT this year.  Even that was looking doubtful until last night.  To make the NCAA's they'd have to win at least 4 of their last 5 (@Rutgers, @South Florida, @ND, L'ville, West Virginia) and one game in the Big East tourney.  That'd put them at 9-9 in league play, 20-12 overall, with one of the toughest schedules in the nation.

a Carrier Dome record 34, 616 will be in attendance as the Orange ker-SLAM the Villanova Wildcats tonight!!!
With Kentucky losing earlier today, and Purdue just eeking out a 1 point win against a so-so Minnesota team this week, there's a chance Syracuse with a big win tonight can take over the #2 slot behind Kansas.

Cool.  8)

I must say, I am worried about my Cats


we just play too lackadaisical for my liking. the team with all the talent but thinks they can win with that alone.

John Wall is also, maybe the most overhyped, overrated player of all time. seriously, there were UK fans trying to tell me he was Lebron or Chris Paul...... STFU

How about #1?  Then again, Nova could win and Kansas could remain at the top.

Who's #1 fellas?  The 'cuse is in the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Check this out:
#2 Kentucky (blue) loses to Ok. St. (orange)
#1 Kansas (blue) loses to Tennessee (orange)
#7  'nova (blue) loses to #4 Syracuse (orange)

pretty weird eh?   8)

#3 Purdue lost their 2nd best player for the rest of the season, and tomorrow they face #14 Mich. State...wow man, we're always a great team, but to be #1 again will be sweet.  :)

I think Syracuse should be #1 even if Purdue wins today.  They've only got 2 losses compared to 3 for Purdue, and have more impressive wins as well.  Even though they should have lost that game to UConn a couple weeks back.  Damn refs!

Cuse is in the house oh my gawd oh my gawd!!!  Fuck yeah!
Ranked somewhere in the 40's before the season started...now, we're numero uno.
My mom will be at the St. John's game tomorrow night...then this coming weekend we end the reg. season with revenge on our mind...sorry D, Louisville's goin' down!  :)

Syracuse shouldn't be number 1

i am sorry but I hate polls who punish teams for losing last.


Syracuse have way worse losses than Kansas and Kentucky.. so why should the fact they lost last mean more than the team who lost first?

I hate polls in football and basketball. 2 losses are 2 losses, so i think the teams shouldn't necessarily lose their rank because they lost.

Syracuse lost 2 home games. no way they should be ranked over Kansas and UK who lost 2 rough road games.

The other side of the coin D tells me Syracuse is undefeated on the road...guess what?  There are no home games in the Big Dance. ;)

Now Faldor!  UConn better get it rollin' in the Big East Tourn.  Actually, as strange as it sounds, I'd like my Orange to lose early in the BE Tourn. to get some rest.  In '03 when we won the National Championship, we bowed out of the BE Tourn. early.
GO ORANGE!  :beer:  :beer:  :beer:
Who's #1?  WE'RE #1   8)

Props to The Cuse for really coming out of nowhere this year.  Not much was expected of them really, they lost an exhibition game to Lemoyne.  Yet, here they are, #1 in the nation.  And completely deserving.  Big East is the best conference in the nation.  There's no letup in the schedule.  The completely deserve to be above Kansas and Kentucky at this point.

UConn is just so frustrating.  They're so inconsistent.  They could really play with and beat any team on any given night.  But they really have no set offense, have no outside shooting, and they turn the ball over way too often.  I had given up on the season a few weeks back.  Then they won at Nova.  Didn't do it for me.  Then they cruised at Rutgers.  Still not enough.  Then they beat West Virginia at home.  That was it, they finally sucked me back in.  Two wins over top 10 teams in two weeks.  Things were looking good.  And then what happens?  They go out to a 13 point lead at home against Louisville only to lose the game by 2.  So now they're in a position where they need to win their final 2 Big East games on the road to finish 9-9 in conference play.  Tomorrow's game against Notre Dame is an elimination game to a certain extent.  If UConn wins, both teams are 8-9.  If ND wins they're assured of finishing at least .500 and UConn is out unless they can somehow win the Big East tourney.  No Harongody, but ND seems to have played better without him lately.  If I know this UConn team well enough, they'll probably win tomorrow and get all the Husky fans hopes up again and then lose at South Florida this weekend.  That sounds about right.

^Faldor, great post.  Yes, UConn is so frustrating.  There's a lot of talent on the floor, but you're right, it's a little chaotic.  You better have a lot of antacid and a strong heart if you're a UConn fan this winter!  :hihi:  Seriously man, I remember being at the gym watching UConn-G'Town on tv a few weeks back.  You guys had a huge lead.  Everything looked good...and when I got home later and checked the scores, UConn lost!? 

Up in Syracuse, we've just got a ton of balance.  We don't have a Player of the Year candidate. 
One thing I should point out as well, one of our best players, Wesley Johnson, had an injured swollen hand in our loss to Louisville.  In fact, he was hurt for several games, and still isn't 100%.

Don't worry D, S.U. will show ya what we have when we see ya in the Big Dance.  :)  :beer:
btw, 1996 wasn't fair when Kentucky beat the 'Cuse...you guys had a freaking NBA team on the floor!  All we had was a future NBA bench-warmer John Wallace, and a bunch of roll-players. (just some old sour grapes, venting!  :hihi:)
 
p.s. Faldor, you'll beat ND...and I still think you can beat S. Flor.  You better have a good BE Tourn.!  Being in the best conference in the country should mean something. 

Damn Axl4Prez, why do u have to expose my weak argument with so much factual shit? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

D, I love ya man!   :beer:
Usually, I just pull shit out of my ass to support my Orange, but I'll be damned!  They really do have a legit lock on #1...right now...and yes, I realize it doesn't mean jack-shit because nobody remembers regular season #1's.  It just makes an early NCAAs exit that much more disappointing!   :(

Now let's give Faldor's Huskies positive energy.   :beer:

In all honesty, I've been saying Syracuse are the best team ive seen all year

seriously, my UK team are BIG time overrated.

ohn Wall has no "J" so from now on he is ohn Wall

most overrated player since Greg Oden.

Didn't work.  Yet another disappointing effort from the Huskies.  Just a putrid effort on offense.  They're pretty much done unless they at least make the finals of the Big East tourney.  I've always been a believer that you don't deserve to dance if you can't finish at least .500 in conference play.  And the best they can finish now is 8-10.  I don't really care how good a schedule they played or what a tough conference they play in.  They had plenty of chances this year to get more signature wins and just didn't do it.  Here's to a high seed in the NIT!  Oh, how depressing.

Sorry Faldor, UConn's goose is cooked.  NIT here ya come.  :no:

The Big East will get at least 8 teams in (in my opinion) and I think the committee's gonna love Notre Dame and what they've been able to do without Harangody. 

Syracuse is getting their revenge on Louisville today at 2:00 on espn.  If Louisville manages to win in the last game at that arena, against the #1 Orange, it's gonna be bedlam in that place!  Let's make sure that doesn't happen.  :nervous:

I could NOT believe Louisville is a 1-point favorite against the #1 team in the country.  If I was a betting man, I'd put the house on Syracuse today!   :beer:

Yeah I was surprised to see that too, and I'd bet on the Cuse as well.  So since we both agree, I'm sure Louisville will win. 

I agree the Big East will probably get 8 teams in, they have the last couple of seasons.  I'm actually surprised Notre Dame hasn't gotten as much credit as they deserve of late.  I don't see why people think they're still on the bubble.  They have 20 wins, 9 in conference, they've proven they can win without Harangody.  I think they might be better than Georgetown, who they trounced on the road a few games back, and the Hoyas have been ranked (and overrated) all season long. 

And I'm also surprised that the "experts" still aren't declaring UConn's tourney hopes dead yet.  The consensus seems to be, if they can win 3 more games and get to 20 wins they could still get in.  Would wins against (for example) South Florida, Providence, Georgetown and a loss to Villanova be enough?  However, I don't really see them winning today at South Florida and I don't see how in the world you could allow a team into the NCAA's that finishes 7-11 in conference play.  That's unheard of.  Just a shame.  Dyson and Robinson have completely disappeared of late and teams are just collapsing the lane since their whole offense is based on Dyson or Walker driving to the hoop.  They're just awful.  Let's recruit some shooters for once!  Is it that hard?

Rick Pitino is my coach of the year

all the stuff he had to go through plus all the losses due to graduation and NBA draft...

Watch out for UL in the NCAA Tourney.. they can shock somebody.


Goodbye Syracuse at number 1!

That's what I get for jinxing my Orange!  No worries though.  It's a good thing to have the losses humble the team before the real games begin.  We'd have to really fuck up to lose the #1 seed.  Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Duke all seem to have the #1's locked up.
We'll see what happens...NO team is a lock to win this thing.  There is no one dominant team out there...and I like it that way.

Everybody in KY are so jazzed over UK and I hate being the negative one, but we have like 2 quality wins all season.. 1 at vandy and 1 at home against UT... that is it

so i am very worried about our teams lack of killer instinct and innate ability to lose focus during the games and they have the switch it on and off mentality which i hate.

D, I think you're right.  That said, another Kentucky team is who I'll be pulling for (along with my Syracuse Orangemen of course)...LOUISVILLE! is in Duke's bracket!  I sure hope Pitino can get in there and knock fucking Duke off!  Duke did not earn the 3rd #1 seed...even the CBS pundits said that was not right.  Go Cardinals!!!
btw, love how the NCAA committee also stuck fucking Purdue in as a 4 seed in DUKE'S region!  Listen, I respect Coach K a ton too, but he shouldn't get preferential treatment for God's sake.

Yeah, ridiculous how Kansas were penalized for being the best and Duke is rewarded for being in a terrible conference this year.

I restarted the HTGTH vs GNREvolution bracket battle. check your emails for invites.

Down goes Kansas mwahahahaha! 

UK can definitely win this thing now.

Is it me or did Georgetown and Kansas and Villanova screw everyone's brackets up also?

Villanova not so much, but definitely Georgetown and Kansas. In nearly every bracket I filled out I had Kansas winning it all, and I figured Georgetown would get to the elite 8. My brackets were busted even earlier than usual this year. And I've noticed that in the ones where I actually tried and put thought into my picks, I've done terrible. But then in the couple that I just threw caution to the wind and picked randomly, I've actually somewhat decent. This has been a crazy tournament.

I filled out 4 brackets, 3 of them I had Kansas winning it all.  The other I've got Kentucky, and that one I actually adjusted at the last moment.  I had the same final 4 for all brackets to that point, but after I slept on it, I thought that was a stupid idea since last year I was doing awesome with my picks.  I had 7 of the 8 elite 8 teams, which I've never done before.  But that was the end of that.  I got ZERO games right from there on out. 

So anyway, that one last minute bracket is by far my best one right now and all my final 4's are still alive.  I didn't pick Nova or G'town past the sweet 16 in my brackets.  Nova has been on the decline for some time now, and while Georgetown showed some life in the Big East tourney, they've been highly inconsistent and overrated all season long.  Kansas though, didn't see that one coming.  Unfortunately I think they kind of got screwed having to face a highly under seeded Northern Iowa team in the second round.  I think they would've wiped the floor with Cal, Wake, etc.  Northern Iowa is such a tough team to prepare for and play because they play such good defense and almost force you to play at their slowed down pace.  They only have 4 losses on the season, they probably should've been a 5 or 6 seed instead of a 9.  And it sure didn't hurt them, that they were shooting the lights out this weekend.  Not sure if they can keep THAT up next week.  One thing is for sure, the other number 1 seeds certainly took notice of Kansas losing and made sure they got out to quick starts to avoid an upset.  Kentucky, Duke, and Syracuse looked every bit deserving of the #1 seeds they received.

Great first weekend overall.  Lots of close games and buzzer beaters.  Plenty of upsets.  All of which make March Madness so great.

My only bracket has my Finals hopes still alive (Syracuse-West Virginia)...but those 2 are my only saving graces.  The rest of my bracket is fucked 6 ways from Sunday!   :hihi:

GO 'CUSE!!!  (we NEED Onuaku back soon if we have any hope.  I think we can beat Butler without Onuaku, but Kansas State and Ohio State...and possibly Kansas in a Championship game, that's a tall order without our big man.

GO CORNELL!  Fucking great.  This is why I love March Madness.  Teams like N. Iowa (my fav. game of the tourn.) and Cornell...how great is this tournament???   :yes:

So it looks like the NCAA is going to expand the tournament to 96 teams or some bullshit. I think that's pretty much the worst idea ever. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and I think the tournament is pretty much perfect the way it is. If anything, the tournament should get smaller, not bigger. Why water it down to the point it doesn't mean anything to get in?

Exactly.  What a load of crap.  96 teams? 
So many reasons why this is just dumb...but the one reason that trumps all of them:  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 :(

I agree.  BUT, they've expanded the tournament before and it worked out just fine so who knows.  96 does seem a little overboard, but I'm sure people thought the same about 64 back in the day.

How are people going to fill out brackets with 96 teams?  That's gonna be crazy.

What a crazy tournament we had this year.  More first-round upsets than anytime since 1991, and a mid-major program makes it all the way to the final game.

Already ready for next season.

By the way, I like the format for the tourney next year.  FOUR play in games.  I like that kind of expansion.  96 teams would've been a little much, but 4 play in games to decide the 16 seeds makes sense to me.

Also, ALL the games will be available to view as TBS, TNT, Tru TV, and CBS will all televise different games during each block.  Can't argue with that.