2018 NCAA Tournament

Jack Lambert

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I figured I'd get the thread started for the NCAA tourney! At first glance, this has the potential to be a dark year. Most of the mid-level teams are borderline unwatchable. The two teams we've got with a chance to win? Virginia and Purdue. After those two, I'd struggle to find a team that'd be considered a "favorite." Michigan might fall into the next set of teams that could make a run. After that, it's rooting for upsets for the most part. We don't have any strong mid-level teams that can make a run. Those that actually play white players to some degree (Creighton, NC State, Butler) are set up to play tough teams in the second round should they win. Potential white teams with low seeds that could've gone on a run (Davidson, Bucknell, Marshall) with the right match ups are all matched up against fairly strong opponents.

There are a couple games early upsets I like: Loyola Chicago and South Dakota State both have winnable games.


I'm planning on writing up the brackets with Freethinker this year. I don't think they'll be too long. Virginia better keep winning, or the rooting interests in this tournament are slim after the first weekend. Most of our "mid-level" tournament teams (Wisconsin, Marquette, Notre Dame, Iowa, Utah, etc.) either were on the wrong side of the bubble or were rebuilding. A LOT of black teams playing each other the first round; more than usual. As celtic pointed out, there was a strong Big 12 (and SEC) bias this year. The two blackest conferences in the country of course.
 

referendum

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Jack, do we know the Kansas situation with Mitch Lightfoot? Is he a starter now? With him and the Ukrainian kid that makes the Jayhawks a little more tolerable than usual.
 

Bruce

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I haven't followed college basketball this year so I was surprised and very disappointed to see that Wisconsin didn't make the tournament. It's going to be weird not having them to root for. They've been our team for so long. This is like the Patriots missing the playoffs for me.
 

Jack Lambert

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Jack, do we know the Kansas situation with Mitch Lightfoot? Is he a starter now? With him and the Ukrainian kid that makes the Jayhawks a little more tolerable than usual.

He was starting throughout the Big 12 tourney, but a black freshman began playing better than Lightfoot was, and I'm guessing this will take him out of the starting lineup. Not that it matters, since the Jayhawk's starting center is coming back from injury soon. However, Lightfoot blew a huge chance to produce, which he really didn't their last couple of games. I don't know if it's his teammates ignoring him or Bill Self telling him not to post up, but all he did when I was watching him was set screens, rebound, and play defense.
 

Shadowlight

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This looks to be a curious tournament. Very difficult to sort. But JL has been up to the task all season long and I suspect some good things will happen once it all starts. There are some key white players sprinkled about. I like Kyle Guy an awful lot and was glad to see him earn the MVP at the ACC tournament. He was terrific against NC. Just an old fashioned basketball player. Not some guy auditioning for the NBA every time he touches the ball.

I think we can all agree the sooner Kentucky is bounced the better. I cannot stand that team of one and done dudes.

One note. I watch the women as well and if you think the caste talk is bad on the men's side up that ante twofold when it comes to the women. It is really bad. I guess they never got the memo like this isn't the 90's anymore. Brutal.
 

BeyondFedUp

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So, I am thinking Virginia is the only legitimate chance of pulling this off from the looks of things. I don't see any Cinderella in the field even worth pulling for regardless.
If there is a dark horse you guys like I'd be interested. This is the only time of year I start paying attention to College b-ball. Someone else mentioned Purdue. Maybe.

Maybe some hope will be in just seeing the over-hyped teams get upset or overglorified players with super and magic upside will be brought down to earth. We'll see.
 

Jack Lambert

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So, I am thinking Virginia is the only legitimate chance of pulling this off from the looks of things. I don't see any Cinderella in the field even worth pulling for regardless.
If there is a dark horse you guys like I'd be interested. This is the only time of year I start paying attention to College b-ball. Someone else mentioned Purdue. Maybe.

Maybe some hope will be in just seeing the over-hyped teams get upset or overglorified players with super and magic upside will be brought down to earth. We'll see.

Purdue is a great choice as long as their two black "stars" in Purdue's big four (made up of Isaac Haas and Dakota Mathias as the two white players, and Carsen Edwards and Vince Edwards as the two black players) don't hog the ball and take terrible shots. Purdue loses when the two Edwards' chuck up anything. I'd say Michigan is a decent dark-horse. Mo Wagner is the face of that team. Luke Maye is a huge part of North Carolina, and is a shot to the gut of the system. Xavier is decent, Macura is hated, and they've got two bigs who'll play. There are a few Cinderellas who could win a game or two that we could support.

Shadowlight is right in that this tournament is very curious. It could either be real good, or real bad. There's not too many wholly white-friendly teams, but there are a lot of white stars that'll be playing. Like I mentioned, Notre Dame and St. Mary's getting left out is criminal.
 

Shadowlight

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Unlike college football in basketball as players leave early it skews everything. Now that the top white players are often exiting early it leaves a great void . This is very noticeable this season as there were no white players in the top 50 high school prospects from the class of 2017. And predictably there are few white freshman I can think of that made any sort of mark this season. Most come off the bench but that doesn't mean they won't turn into stars as upperclassmen like Mitchell Ballock from Creighton. Conversely there are quite a lot of black freshman this year that have hogged the spotlight. And the media goes into overdrive for these guys like Young and Ayton. This does not mean the cupboard is entirely dry as some upper class white players, who may not have NBA potential, can play pivotal roles for their teams in this tournament. And of course this is a great chance for smaller school stars like Marshall's Jon Elmore to "break out" and get national name recognition.

There are several stalwart sophomores including Killian Tillie, Mo Wagner and Kyle Guy to name a few. Kevin Huerter's Maryland team will be in the NIT.

Too bad the class of 2018, while better overall than the class of 2017 in terms of white prospects, is still too bare for my liking. Thankfully the class of 2019 is more loaded and there will be white freshman that make an instant impact. This season white freshman "stars" have been lacking which has been the most annoying aspect of this season. This makes me even more desperate to find some good news on the young players so when I hear that Eastern Washington (who lost their title game to get in) freshman Jacob Davison can jump out of the gym I make a mental note.

The silver lining is a talented player like Duke bench back up Alex O'Connell will likely continue to improve and as we fast forward to 2019 as a few star white freshman enter the scene O'Connell as a junior should be more of a factor. And this will play out on some other teams where "non factor white freshman " bloom into really good upperclassmen.

In the meantime I will sit back and watch the tournament and as usual follow JL and the gang here.
 
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Jack Lambert

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With two play-in games starting tonight, here's the East Region! Celtic, Freethinker and I will be finishing the other three regions before Thursday.

East Region


#1 Villanova – The Wildcats are one of the very few nearly all-black teams that is actually fun to watch. They are unselfish, play team ball for the most part, and usually avoid comical celebrations. Villanova does have two white players who play off the bench as the 6th and 7th men. Donte DiVincenzo is a stud. A starter for a lot of the year, DiVincenzo has put up some big numbers. However, since black player Phil Booth has returned from injuries, DiVencenzo’s numbers have fallen. Regardless, the 6’5 sophomore guard is completely capable of leading this team in scoring. He plays starter’s minutes off the bench and is one of the Wildcat’s top 3 players. Freshman guard Collin Gillespie has carved out a nice role for himself off the bench. The 6’3 Gillespie hasn’t looked to score much this year, but he’s been a great glue guy when he’s been in the lineup.

#16 LIU Brooklyn/Radford – Two crappy all-black teams from crappy conferences playing for the right to get pummeled by Villanova. My bad, Radford has one white who gets the honor of coming into the game off the bench to shoot threes. I don’t even think DWFs will want to watch this turnover and foul infested mess. Next.



#8 Virginia Tech – Bald wigger Buzz Williams has an all-black team back in the tournament, what else is new? They like to play fast and have guys that can get to the basket. I don’t expect these guys to be around past the Second Round.

#9 Alabama – The NCAA Selection Committee laughably gave this team a 9 seed with a 19-15 record overall and a losing conference record, showing that the Selection Committee believes in team affirmative action. Avery Johnson and the Crimson Tide are all-black, another mess of a team. They would’ve had a white starter, but Riley Norris got hurt, and the walk-ons of course don’t take their warmups off. Get ready for a lot of fouls, terrible defense and bad shots in this affair.



#5 West Virginia – Bob Huggins with another all-black pressing team that loves playing fast and attacking. Big men Maciej Bender and Logan Routt, along with sophomore guard Chase Harler, will usually see a couple of minutes in the first half to give the “real athletes” breathers. All of these guys are underclassmen, so maybe, just maybe, if the stars align correctly, West Virginia may actually have white players that do something next year!

#12 Murray State – The Racers are all-black like they have been the last 10+ years. The end.



#4 – Wichita State – Greg Marshall has the Shockers playing good basketball as usual coming into March. Wichita State will have one white starter in either senior combo guard Conner Frankamp or sophomore combo guard Austin Reaves, who’s really broken out this year. Frankamp began the season as the starter, but the play of Reaves forced him into a sixth man role before Frankamp has gotten consideration to start again as of their last few games. Regardless, both guys usually play starters minutes, giving the Shockers two white players on the floor the majority of the game. The 6’1 Frankamp, a Kansas transfer, usually makes his living shooting jump shots from beyond the arc or mid-range. He gets his shots, but his shooting percentage has been way down recently, leading to some not so good stats. Regardless, he averages 10 PPG, is perfect from the charity stripe, and dishes out a couple of assists per game. Austin Reaves is more of an attacking guard, although he can hit the three as well. Reaves averages around 8 PPG and 2 assists on year but is capable of a big game. Senior big man Rauno Nurger seems to have fallen out of favor somewhat as the season moved on. He still plays but has been seeing less than 10 MPG. One of the few good teams in the tournament that actually lets white players see the floor.

#13 Marshall – The Thundering Herd are back in the Big Dance for the first time since 1987. Coach Dan D’Antoni (brother of NBA coach Mike D'Antoni) has Marshall playing some fun to watch, fast paced basketball, and he has three white starters to boot. The star of the show is guard Jon Elmore. The 6’3 junior is one of the leading scorers in the country at nearly 23 PPG, and I’m glad he’ll be getting to showcase his talents in front of a national audience. Elmore will hit shots that will remind one of Steph Curry or Jimmer Fredette in his BYU days. The kid simply scores and is fun to watch. Elmore can also play a bit of defense; he’s first on the team in steals and second in rebounding. Also starting is power forward Ajdin Penava, a 6’9 junior. Penava is just as dynamic a player as Elmore is. The springy Penava is 3rd on the team in scoring at nearly 16 per game, and also leads the team in rebounding and blocked shots (averaging over four blocks per game; leading the country!). Penava stuffs the stat sheet better than anybody. The third white starter will be athletic 6’9 freshman forward Jannson Williams. With forwards Dani Koljanin and Milan Mijovic injured, these three will be the white players in the Thundering Herd’s rotation. They no doubt have the offense to pull an upset, but will they play good enough defense to allow them the chance?



#6 Florida – The wildly inconsistent Gators live and die by the three. Florida has just one white player, but he’s a good one. That is grad transfer guard Egor Koulechov. The 6’5 Russian senior has cooled off a bit from his scintillating start to the season, but he’s still second on the team in scoring (nearly 14 PPG) and is first in rebounding (6.5 per game). Koulechov alone makes the Gators worth checking out. For the Gators, how well they shoot determines how far they go. It’s simple for Florida: shoot well and they could be in the Elite Eight, shoot poorly and they won’t make it past the first round.

#11 St. Bonaventure/UCLA – The Bonnies are an all-black team with a good backcourt pairing. They like playing fast, and if they’re hot, they’re trouble for a lot of teams. Not much else to say for St. Bonaventure. UCLA is flying under the radar a bit this year after their fun squad last year, but the Bruins still have a couple of good white players. Senior Thomas Welsh is one of the two best players on the team. The 7’0 center is averaging a double double on the season with 13 points and over 10 rebounds per game. He’s the heart of the Bruins’ team this year, and he’ll have a large say in how far they get. Welsh is efficient, shooting nearly 50% from the field. Welsh also has one of the best midrange jumpers I’ve seen from a big man. Fellow senior Gyorgy Goloman is Welsh’s starting frontcourt mate. Goloman has really developed into a nice complimentary player this year, averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds. Goloman has really improved his defense; he leads the Bruins in blocked shots. Due to the blacks at the start of the year who decided to rob a store in China and get themselves suspended for the season, sophomore forward Alex Olesinki gets to be the backup to both Welsh and Goloman, and as a result, plays a fair number of minutes each game. He doesn’t look to score much but is a good player otherwise. Welsh and guard Aaron Holiday need to be playing well for UCLA to move on. This is the last year for awhile we’ll be able to cheer for UCLA.



#3 Texas Tech – A nearly all-black team from the Big 12. They’ve been trending the wrong way, losing five of their last seven. They’re hard to get a read on. The only white player who sees any time is freshman combo guard Davide Moretti of Italy. He averages 10 minutes per game. That marks the end of any regular white contributors, besides the walk-ons who bring out the chairs during TV timeouts.

#14 Stephen F. Austin – The only white player is senior combo guard Ivan Canete. The 6’4 guard is second on the team in assists and is a decent three-point shooter who averages 9 PPG. He’s also second on the team in steals. Finnish sophomore forward Samuli Nieminen gets in on the back end of the rotation to give the starters a breather. Not exactly a thrilling team to support. I guess success made the Lumberjacks forget about the many good white players who put them on the map a few years ago.



#7 Arkansas – The Hogs are another inconsistent (shocking, I know) all-black team who love to run fast and shoot threes. They have two guards who can apparently shoot really well. The one white walk-on is to give the illusion that the Razorbacks are a team of "student-athletes". A hit or miss team for those picking the brackets.

#10 Butler – The Bulldogs have been hit or miss this year; which version of the Bulldogs shows up will determine how far they go. Butler has one white starter but will often have two or three whites on the court. The lone starter is Sean McDermott. Fairly long and athletic, the underrated McDermott is a glue guy and three-point sniper for the most part. Junior guard Paul Jorgensen (who started for a good chunk of the year) will play 20+ minutes in a 6th man role off the bench. He’s capable of a huge game (he averages over 10 PPG on the year) and has the best assist to TO ratio on the team, but he’s struggled with his shot as of late. Center Nate Fowler, the Bulldogs’ second player off the bench, is one of the most perplexing players I’ve seen. He’s got a lot of upside and has had some great games the last two years as proof of that. However, the 7’0 Fowler plays like a p*ssy far too often. Fowler is very contact-averse and doesn’t dunk the ball nearly as often as he’s capable of, leading to some bad blocked shots or missed layups under the basket. I still have hope for him, he’s got an offensive game that stretches out to beyond the arc and he plays 15-20 MPG, but he could be a major player if he ever figures it out. Joey Brunk will get in if both centers ahead of him are in foul trouble. This team is so much better when their black “stars” are sharing the ball instead of chucking up bad shots. Hopefully they beat the Hogs.


#2 Purdue – The Boilermakers have an experienced group and are capable of a deep run. Purdue starts two whites, with five white players total in their nine-man rotation. The literal centerpiece of the team is Isaac Haas. The massive 7’2, 290 lb. senior is a mismatch inside for anybody. He’s great around the basket and will quickly put up big numbers if he gets going. Haas averages 15 PPG and nearly 6 rebounds, both good for second on the team. He’s also second on the team in blocks. 6’4 Senior guard Dakota Mathias is the other white starter. Mathias, one of my favorite players who reminds one of former Boilermaker Chris Kramer or Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser, is one of the emotional leaders of the team. He can do everything. He averages double figures in scoring at 12 PPG and shoots the rock at 48% from the field. He’s also the team assists and steals leader. Mathias also guards the other team’s best perimeter player, shutting them down more often than not. Ryan Cline is a three-point assassin who’s one of the first off the bench and shoots 40% from beyond the arc. Matt Haarms is 7’3 center who comes off the bench in relief of Haas. Haarms is a different type of player, he’s definitely a bit more athletic than Haas is, leading the team in blocks by a wide margin. Grady Eifert (brother of NFL TE Tyler) is an energy guy who’ll usually get 5-10 MPG. The Boilers have two weaknesses, rebounding (an odd problem, given the length of their front court) and the two black Edwards on the team sometimes taking too many bad shots. Overall though, Purdue is one of our best teams in the field with a shot to play for the whole thing and cut down the nets; go Boilers!

#15 Cal State Fullerton – A nearly all-black team who got hot and upset their way into the Big Dance. They’ve got one white forward who gets to exercise his white privilege and come into the game for 5-10 minutes to set screens and rebound. I hope this team enjoyed the flight, because Purdue is going to pound this team.
 

Leonardfan

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I read briefly that this year the selection committee changed the criteria (which probably explains Notre Dame/St. Mary's exemption). Would any of the college basketball experts here be able to elaborate on that?
 

celticdb15

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West Region

#1 Xavier


JP Macura is the guy to watch here on CF. 6'5 205lb Senior Shooting Guard from Lakeville, Minnesota has developed into quite the player(76 starts)Smooth all around game. He averaged 12ppg 4rpg and 3 assists on the year for The Wildcats. 6'10 Bruiser Sean O'Mara is also a contributor for one of the top contenders in The Tournament. 7ppg and 3rpg stat line.

#16 NCCU/TXSO.

Both dark as far as I can see.

#8 Missouri

Dark with hype job mulatto Porter Jr. Lol. 6'2 PG Jordan Geist does average 7 as PG. Forwards Cullen Van Leer and Reed Nikko also see time off the bench.

#9 FSU

Worse than Ferguson University.

#5 Ohio State

Dakich's son gets scraps off the bench.

#12 South Dakota State

Big Man Mike Daum is special! 6'9 250 sharpshooter. Junior from Nebraska. 2x Summit POY. 23.8ppg and 10rpg. One of the best in the country. 6'7 Senior Guard Reed Tellinghuesen is another sniper for The JackRabbits. He's in fact all time 3pt guy at SDSU. 6'5 Guard Lane Severyn also gets PT.

#4 Gonzaga

Starter and NBA Prospect Killian Tillie 6'9 with 3pt range and of course well rounded. 13ppg and 6rpg. G Corey Kispert key bench player .

#13 UNC Greensboro

Leading scorer is Spanish Guard Francis Alonso with 16ppg. C Jordy Kuiper 6'9 250lb big man from Netherlands 7ppg 5rpg

#6 Houston

Dark

#11 San Diego State

Aztecs have a couple of guys off the bench in 6'9 forward Max Montana and Kameron Rooks.


#3 Michigan


Mo Wagner another NBA Prospect! 6'11 German Big Man can stretch the floor and rebound with the best of them. Again well rounded as most of our prospects are. 14ppg and 7rpg. 6'8 Duncan Robinson is a sixth man with a lot of experience. Former D3 player now 2 year contributor for Wolverines. Reserve Big Man Jon Teske is a 7'1 giant to keep an eye on.


#14 Montana

Forward Fabijan Krslovic is a 6'9 Euro who provides 7ppg and 5rpg. 6'6 Guard Bobby Morehead also averages 7 as a starter. FR. PG Timmy Falls off The bench.

#7 Texas A&M

Dark

#10 Providence

Dark

#2 North Carolina


Luke Maye! Nuff said. Put Tarheels on his back last year in their Championship run and followed it up with a stellar Senior season.

#16 Lipscomb

Plenty of our guys to keep an eye on! Here's 5 to watch:

Led by sensational Junior Guard Garrison Matthews. 6'5 220lb scorer 22ppg 5.5rpg and 2apg ! Rob Mayberry is 2nd on the team in scoring with 16ppg 6rpg and 2apg. Nice size for a guard 6'7 215. Forward Matt Rose who is also 6'7 chips in with 8ppg and 3rpg. Also keep an eye on Guard Michael Buckland and Forward Eli Pepper. Proven rebounder. 7ppg 8rpg. They couldmgive UNC a run for their money .

**** Rough draft I'll try my best to edit accordingly with input from others in case I missed somebody!
 
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Jack Lambert

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Good job Celtic; you didn't miss too much! I just caught a couple of things. For UNC-Greensboro, you missed their leading scorer, guard Francis Alonso of Spain. He's averaging about 16 PPG, and is a good all around player. For the Zags, you've missed freshman g/f Corey Kispert, who's an important bench guy for them with a bright future. For Montana, freshman PG Timmy Falls is a quick guy off the bench who can really get to the basket, and Bobby Moorehead starts.

For UNC, they have a second white player in freshman

For Xavier, they do start Enes Kanter's younger brother Kerem at forward.

Michigan is a dark horse for the National Title IMO!

Mizzou has two guys in Cullen Van Leer and forward Reed Nikko who may get minutes off the bench as well; I think Geist starts now!
 

Jack Lambert

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Here's my last region; the South!

South Region

#1 Virginia – Virginia must confuse DWFs. How does a team with 3 white starters have the No. 1 ranked defense in the country, and be the No. 1 team in the country for most of the season? Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers are an incredibly talented group who have a great chance to cut down the nets in San Antonio, despite a key injury they’ve suffered. The Cavs are led by their backcourt, PG Ty Jerome and two-guards Kyle Guy and Devon Hall forming what I consider the best backcourt in the country. All of them can hit shots and drive the ball (they are the only three on the Cavs in double figures), plus they are staunch defenders. The 6’2 Guy leads the way for the Cavs in the scoring department at 14 PPG. He’s been on fire as of late; he can pull up and hit from anywhere on the floor and has a very quick shot. If Virginia is to win, Guy will need to continue his hot streak. Fellow sophomore Ty Jerome is the Cavs’ point guard, and he’s a damn good one. Jerome is also not afraid to take big shots and has hit a lot of them this year for Virginia. He averages 10 PPG and leads the team in assists (nearly 4 per game) and steals. 6’10 junior Jack Salt is the third white starter. Salt is usually the banger down low for Virginia and does his job well. These three are the primary white players who’ll see the court for the Cavaliers. They are easily the most white friendly team with a chance to win it all. Even with their 6th man Hunter out, they are still dangerous. There’s no better choice for us; go Cavs!

#16 UMBC – Upset heavily favored Vermont to make it to the Big Dance. They have one white starter at forward in Joe Sherburne who gets to set screens, play defense, rebound, and sometimes take shots. Off the bench, they have two or three white forwards who get to come in and set screens, play defense, rebound, and not take shots for between 5-15 minutes per game. This team is small and their game plan will likely consist of their two black guards chucking up shots against Virginia’s pack-line defense. Not a recipe for success against Virginia, who’ll likely have these guys heading home by halftime.



#8 Creighton – The Bluejays were dealt a huge blow when their best front court player in Martin Krampelj was injured midseason and is out for the year. Creighton has not been the same team since. They’ll have one or two white starters. Fifth year senior forward Toby Hegner will be the for-sure starter. Although not the quickest guy, he’s carved out of a nice career for himself. Unfortunately, Hegner has also been slowed down by injury this year. He’s added a bit of back-to-the-basket game this year in addition to his normal stretch forward duties. Creighton’s other starter may be freshman sensation Mitch Ballock. The 6’5 lefty guard is capable of a big game and can shoot the ball very well in addition to creating for his teammates. He’s also adept at defense, checking in at 3rd on the team in steals. Jacob Epperson, a 6’11 freshman from Australia, decided to burn his redshirt after Krampelj went down for the year to provide the Bluejays frontcourt depth. He’s a good athlete who’ll be a force next year and is already growing into a better player in the games he’s played this year. Outside of these three, senior walk-on point guard Tyler Clement and senior post Manny Suarez may see some spot duty.

#9 Kansas State – The Wildcats have a legit star who’s even gone fairly unnoticed on CF in Dean Wade. The 6’10 junior big man leads the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding; he is second on the team in blocked shots as well. However, Wade was held out of the Big 12 tournament because of injury. I hope he’s good to go for the Big Dance. If he’s not, no reason to care about this otherwise all-black team. The only other white players are usually waving towels on the bench.



#5 Kentucky – John Calipari has a bunch of NBA-bound black freshman who are hyped to the roof and drooled over by the “reporters” at ESPN and CBS. What else is new? I hate the coach and his team of “student-athletes” he continually puts on the floor. However, the Wildcats are gelling and have talent; they could be a threat to Virginia in the Sweet 16.

#12 Davidson – A team I really wanted to see in the Big Dance, so America can appreciate the brilliance of 6’8 senior forward and star Peyton Aldridge. Aldridge is one of the country’s top scorers at over 21 PPG, and also leads the Wildcats in rebounding with 8 per contest. Aldridge is a scoring machine who’s been on fire lately, and can score anywhere on the floor, from under the basket to beyond the arc. Aldridge is shooting nearly 50% from the floor, amazing given his usage. Davidson has two other white players who start with Aldridge. The first of these is combo guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson. The 6’4 sophomore from Iceland does it all for the Wildcats in the back court; he’s been close to several triple doubles this year. Gudmundsson can score in a variety of ways; averages double figures in scoring at 13 PPG. He also leads the team in assists with over 5 per game, is second in rebounding with 6 per game, and leads the team in steals. There’s one word to describe him, and that would be “stud.” The third white starter is senior forward Oskar Michelsen, who can step out and hit the three. Davidson has two main white players who get good minutes off the bench in senior forward Will Magarity, a versatile 6’11 big man who’d be starting if he didn’t get in foul trouble, and senior guard Rusty Reigel, who is a glue guy that can hit threes. With black scoring guard Kellan Grady producing in the back court as well, this team is VERY dangerous. I’d love nothing more than to see them knock off one of the most odious teams in the country Thursday.



#4 Arizona – The Pac-12 winners are the subject of an FBI investigation, but have played well lately. Their only white contributor is senior center Dusan Ristic, who’s carved out a nice senior year despite all of the black hype jobs on the team. He’s averaging 12 points and 7 boards. Freshman PG Alex Barcello was playing, but his time has been cut and now he doesn’t see the floor. I imagine he’ll be playing a lot more next year. At least Arizona and Kentucky will have to play before the winner gets Virginia in the Sweet 16. This team isn’t one to cheer for this year.

#13 Buffalo – The Bulls are an all-black disgrace out of the MAC. I’ve had the good fortune of not watching this team play. That will likely not change. Moving on.



#6 Miami – The Hurricanes have two white players from Oceania who come off the bench for decent minutes. 6’10 freshman forward Sam Waardenburg of New Zealand has been carving out a nice role for himself recently and has been playing double digit minutes. Sharpshooting sophomore guard Dejan Vasiljevic of Australia will come in off the bench to drain threes. That’s it for the Hurricanes, but it’s more than they usually have.

#11 Loyola-Chicago – The Ramblers are dancing for the first time in a long time under Porter Moser and they have three very talented white starters. In fact, these three won each of the Missouri Valley Conference’s three biggest individual awards. Point guard Clayton Custer is the engine that powers Loyola, and he’s a good one. The MVC Player of the Year, the 6’1 junior can do everything. He leads a well-balanced scoring attack with just over 13 PPG, he leads the team in assists and assist to TO ratio, shoots an efficient 52% from the field, leads the team in 3 pt. FG %, and leads the team in steals with 42! Look for him to have a big tournament. Custer’s back court mate is senior Ben Richardson. Richardson was Custer’s backcourt mate back in high school as well; it’s cool to see them back together in college with a chance to make something happen in the Big Dance. The 6’3 guard is the MVC Defensive Player of the Year. Richardson is just that; he’ll guard the other team’s best perimeter player and shut them down. He’s not much of a scorer at the two-guard spot, but he does everything else very well. The third white starter is freshman big man Cameron Krutwig. Krutwig won the MVC freshman of the year award; he’s one of five(!) Ramblers averaging over 10 PPG, and he’s second on the team in rebounding. Backup guard Bruno Skokna is the other white player to get into the rotation. The Ramblers play a brand of defense like Virginia, have a well-balanced offensive attack with several guys who can drive, and several shotmakers on the perimeter. Loyola has the talent to beat Miami; I hope they do!



#3 Tennessee – Although the Vols have two white scholarship players, they’ll see the court in a competitive game about as much as your or me. Pass. However, this team is playing well right now and could be dangerous.

#14 Wright State – The Raiders are one of the whitest teams in the tournament with four white starters. Wright State is led by former South Dakota St. coach Scott Nagy. Senior two-guard Grant Basile is the guy who leads the Raiders. The 6’3 senior is the heart of the Raiders, and leads the team in scoring. The most intriguing prospect is freshman forward Loudon Love, who starts down low. Love lost a TON of weight last year, and has transformed himself into a good big man, who should only get better. The 6’9 Love is down to 275 after being over 350 when he got to Wright State before his redshirt year! The kid is going to be good; he can own the paint if he needs to and can hold his own against a lot of big guys. He’s the 2nd leading scorer on the team with 13, and also the leading rebounder with 10 per game. Junior Parker Ernsthausen starts next to Love in the front court; he’s mainly a glue guy. Sophomore Cole Gentry runs the point for Scott Nagy and gives a steadying hand to the Raider offense. Hopefully the Raiders can give Tennessee a competitive game.



#7 Nevada – An all-black collection of transfers from high majors that got destroyed in their conference tournament. I’d prefer it if they got destroyed in this game, considering no white players get close to the court for this disgraceful squad.

#10 Texas – Shaka Smart appears to have stopped his blatant all-black teams that he had at VCU; he’s got a single position for a starting white power forward at Texas! First, it was Conner Lammert for a couple of seasons; now it is Tulane transfer Dylan Osetkowski. Osetkowski, who is mocked by DWFs for his appearance (funny, because DWFs would never think of mocking any black player’s appearance) is actually a pretty good player and usually features heavily in the Longhorn gameplan. Amazingly, Osetkowski leads the Longhorns in scoring at nearly 14 PPG and is second in rebounds at 7 per game. Mark this year down in history; Shaka Smart has a white player leading his team in scoring! Has anybody seen pigs flying? At any rate, I wish Osetkowski’s FG % would improve; he tends to take and miss a lot of shots. Never thought I’d say this in an NCAA tournament: hopefully Texas wins its first couple of games. Osetkowski is of course the only white player who gets close to the floor for the Longhorns.



#2 Cincinnati – There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and a Mick Cronin coached team being all-black. This year’s iteration is no different, with Cronin making sure any whiteys are glued to the end of the bench or handing the real players water bottles. Usually, this team feasts off of offensive rebounds from the horrible bricks that their guards throw up. Given that I’d rather do just about anything but watch this despicable team play, I can’t say for sure, but they apparently have guards that can actually hit threes this year, so they are more dangerous than usual. Needless to say, these guys should lose ASAP.

#15 Georgia State – An all-black crappy team that will likely get blown out. They don’t allow any honkies to see the floor for them, yet they still suck. How does that happen? At any rate, I’d rather watch paint dry before I’d watch these two “diverse” squads play.
 

Jack Lambert

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I read briefly that this year the selection committee changed the criteria (which probably explains Notre Dame/St. Mary's exemption). Would any of the college basketball experts here be able to elaborate on that?

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, LF. Basically, they have this new "quadrant" system. From what I understand, the committee placed a "ton" of emphasis on out of conference wins this year. The quadrants (I think) are "ranked" by how good teams are. For instance, Quad I would be the best wins. That's really the only thing the committee looked at this year. So teams like Arizona State, Alabama, Texas, and Oklahoma all got in simply because of who they beat in November. It's utterly insane. Conference games don't mean anything anymore. That's why Notre Dame, Marquette, St. Mary's, Oklahoma State, and USC got shafted. Despite the fact the first four teams I listed fell apart at the end of the year, they still made it in over teams that were playing better.
 

Leonardfan

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Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, LF. Basically, they have this new "quadrant" system. From what I understand, the committee placed a "ton" of emphasis on out of conference wins this year. The quadrants (I think) are "ranked" by how good teams are. For instance, Quad I would be the best wins. That's really the only thing the committee looked at this year. So teams like Arizona State, Alabama, Texas, and Oklahoma all got in simply because of who they beat in November. It's utterly insane. Conference games don't mean anything anymore. That's why Notre Dame, Marquette, St. Mary's, Oklahoma State, and USC got shafted. Despite the fact the first four teams I listed fell apart at the end of the year, they still made it in over teams that were playing better.

Thanks for explaining that JL. Sounds like they are rigging March Madness the same way they rig the college football playoff. Real pathetic stuff.
 

Claimjumper

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From what I’ve read on some MWC sites Gonzaga May switch conference affiliations after the tourney. Quad system may be one of the reasons
 
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celticdb15

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Trae Young and overrated Sooner squad bounced from the Tourney in 1st rd.

Alonso is putting on a show for UNC Greensboro . How could I have missed this guy JL?!
 

Jack Lambert

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Great to see the over hyped Young already out. That spot should've been given to Notre Dame or St. Mary's.

And yes, Alonso has been a beast all year. I was kinda surprised you did end up missing him haha.

Loyola beats the buzzer and knocked off Miami this afternoon!! Good win for a white friendly team. Clayton Custer had 14 points and 4 assists, with no TOs in 37 minutes, while Krutwig had 11 points and 4 boards down low.

Even though South Dakota State ended up losing to Ohio State, Mike Daum did all he could to keep SDSU in the game. The Jackrabbit star had 27 points (hitting all kinds of shots) to go with 6 boards.

Mitch Lightfoot had a decent game today; he nearly had a double double with 9 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks. Penn's star AJ Brodeur had 14 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists. Lookout for the Quakers in future years; their core players are all returning!

Francis Alonso had 16 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists in Greensboro's close loss to Gonzaga.
 

celticdb15

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Arizona also with an early exit, losing by nearly 20 points to Buffalo!

Florida's Koulechov with 20pts in Florida's 1st rd win against St. Bonaventure.
 

Jack Lambert

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Unfortunately, Davidson picked a bad time to go cold from three. They had 3-4 great chances to take the lead late against Kentucky, but they just couldn't convert. Peyton Aldridge also had a bad game by his standards, going 1/9 from three point land, including a couple misses late. However, Davidson played great though and gave themselves a chance down to the final minutes!

I'm glad Arizona and that hype job team is out. The Pac-12 bombs out of the dance with an 0-3 record; what a terrible conference this year.

We've got a few more of our teams playing today. Marshall, Purdue, Virginia, Creighton are all playing. Purdue and Marshall will be playing soon.
 

Shadowlight

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Absolutely JL Davidson put themselves into position to beat KY but missed too many open three pointers not to mention a grisly turnover late. Now dreaded KY looks to coast for a bit as AZ got picked off by a low level school.

Wonder what ole Bill Walton would have to say about the terrible Pac 12 now? His favorite phrase "conference of champions" just doesn't cut it. Ha. Poor Bill amiable enough but he lives IN left field.

Speaking of AZ I suspect Sean Miller will get the axe. Their C Ayton was being drooled over as we entered the tournament. Sure he does seem impressive but the media was going into full steam ahead mode with the big storyline revolving around the "wonders" of Ayton. The typical routine we have to suffer through every season as the media jumps on the newly minted black "star" as they grease him into the pros as a pre packaged superstar. Oddly but not surprisingly ESPN didn't focus too much on the AZ loss. All those NBA "types" on their team and they can't even beat Buffalo. Nothing like team play.

And here they get bounced in the first round. Was it worth it AZ getting a one and done player to go along with a one and done tournament appearance?

Miller would have been better served getting players who aren't eyeing the NBA the minute they step on campus. Look for him to get fired.
 

Jack Lambert

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A ref just called an absolutely ridiculous technical foul on Adjin Peneva on Marshall for "hanging on the rim." It was such a BS call, and if that was called on a black player, there'd be accusations of racism. Must be one of those "playing while white" fouls.
 

celticdb15

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Definitely a bogus technical.

Elmore with 17pts!
 
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