Rock Chalk Talk: FanPosts

Rock Chalk Random Talk

2013-04-30T16:45:48Z

So it's officially the off-season and barring an Andrew Wiggins commitment, things are going to start getting quiet around here for the next few months. Here are some discussion questions to keep us occupied for the time being. Maybe do something like this every week or two in the off-season?

1. How will Jason Collins' announcement yesterday be looked at farther down the road? Will it be forgotten when a higher profile player comes out or will we look at it in the way we remember Jackie Robinson (obviously very different circumstances)?

2. What are your summer plans? What was your most memorable summer?

3. HCCW has 4 years left on his contract. What is your honest expectation for the state of KU football at the end of those 4 years?

4. Who were your sports idols when you were a kid?

5. I am getting a new grill in a couple weeks. What is your best grilling recipe?

6. What song are you currently enjoying? I'll publish a spotify playlist of all the answers

2. What are your summer plans? What was your most memorable summer?

3. HCCW has 4 years left on his contract. What is your honest expectation for the state of KU football at the end of those 4 years?

4. Who were your sports idols when you were a kid?

5. I am getting a new grill in a couple weeks. What is your best grilling recipe?

6. What song are you currently enjoying? I'll publish a spotify playlist of all the answers

Jayhawks in the Playoffs

2013-04-18T15:02:38Z

The NBA playoffs start this weekend and with RCT being your one stop shop for all things NBA, here is a preview and predictions for the playoffs. I'm sure most of us are just rooting for former Jayhawks and there are plenty of them in this year's playoffs. There is a good chance that one will end up with a ring. Please note that I have watched a total of 1 quarter of 1 game this year so I think I know a little something about the NBA. Uneducated opinions to follow.

Boston Celtics vs New York Knicks

Paul Pierce vs. a member of the 2003 Syracuse team. Massive edge: Boston

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets

For those who missed it, Brandon Rush tore a couple of ligaments in his knee the second game of the season. He had surgery and has been without crutches for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately, he still won't see the court until next year. Even with the best player in the arena on the sidelines, Golden State will sweep the Nuggets.

Brooklyn Nets vs. Chicago Bulls

This will be an evenly matched game featuring 2 KU greats. Kirk Hinrich against Tyshawn Taylor. I have to give a slight edge to Kirk as he will be seeing more minutes than T2.

Memphis Grizzlies vs. LA Clippers

Memphis used to have 3 Jayhawks in Darrell Arthur, Selby and X. That is down to 1 now as Darrell is the only one left. Memphis easily wins and DA shuts Blake Griffin down with some highlight reel blocks.

Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers

A dorky rookie center will manhandle Tyler Hansbrough giving the ATL the W.

LA Lakers vs. San Antonio

In a shocking move RC Buford puts his son, former bench great Chase Buford on the roster. Lead by his cheering on the sideline and holding the team back after big dunks, the Spurs destroy the Lakers.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat

Another great matchup with 2 legendary Jayhawks. Drew Gooden and Mario Chalmers both have their jerseys retired at KU but Mario earned one more ring than Drew during their times at Kansas. Slight edge: Miami

Houston vs Oklahoma City

In the best matchup of the first round we have the Trob led Rockets going up against the Nick Collison led Thunder. Both were impressive big men at Kansas, both lost in the championship in their last games at KU and both will have lengthy NBA careers when it is all said and done. Houston gets a narrow edge here for having Cole and Marcus on the team earlier in the season.

Finals: Houston over Miami

Boston Celtics vs New York Knicks

Paul Pierce vs. a member of the 2003 Syracuse team. Massive edge: Boston

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets

Brooklyn Nets vs. Chicago Bulls

This will be an evenly matched game featuring 2 KU greats. Kirk Hinrich against Tyshawn Taylor. I have to give a slight edge to Kirk as he will be seeing more minutes than T2.

Memphis Grizzlies vs. LA Clippers

Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers

A dorky rookie center will manhandle Tyler Hansbrough giving the ATL the W.

LA Lakers vs. San Antonio

In a shocking move RC Buford puts his son, former bench great Chase Buford on the roster. Lead by his cheering on the sideline and holding the team back after big dunks, the Spurs destroy the Lakers.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat

Houston vs Oklahoma City

Finals: Houston over Miami

Got a Kirk Hinrich Question, Could Use Some Help

2013-04-11T22:33:51Z

Hi all, I'm here visiting from Blue vs Blue, a Duke-UNC rivalry site here where the Tar Heel contingent is looking at Carolina's team next year, and I was struck while thinking about Roy Williams PGs by how similar Marcus Paige's game is to what I remember from Kirk Hinrich while at Kansas, and after looking into it statistically, the comparison was even more striking.

Here's the article: UNC 2013-14 Position Previews: Point Guard

Could anyone who remembers Hinrich, especially early in his career, maybe give us an answer on whether that might be a fair comp or not? And would you say Hinrich's biggest jump was Freshman to Sophomore, or beyond?

Here's the article: UNC 2013-14 Position Previews: Point Guard

Warden's Bracket Challenge NITRO Final Standings

2013-04-09T19:36:28Z

The tallies have been scored and the scores have been tallied, and Hendrix has emerged to win the Warden's Bracket Challenge thanks to his robust score plus correct pick of Louisville.

Final Scores

Hendrix, to claim your prize, email me (cheepicus at hotmail dot com) so I can send the kustore.com gift cards to your email address.

Post-mortem on the NITRO scoring bonus: well, I liked it. Jonathan Hake might disagree. The way I see it, the quality of your 7-9 non-championship picks, plus some luck, would determine if you placed in the top 5-10, and from there it was basically luck with the championship pick, versus being determined solely by the raw score from the other lucky picks. That said, it still would have be interesting into the Final Four games if the bonus was 25, and so next year I think the challenge should keep the bonus, but make it 25 as play4'ships suggested. It's interesting that even with such a huge 50 point bonus, only 10 people picked the overall #1 seed.

Rio Adams not transferring?

2013-04-05T03:57:16Z

via cdn2-b.examiner.com

Rio is a roller coaster of emotion. After announcing a few days ago that he will be transferring, he has now stated he is not leaving. I'm not sure this kid will ever see much of the floor here at KU. We shall see.

I can't go I love my team too much #KUCMB....
— AnrioAdams (@AnrioAdams) April 5, 2013

I'm not going anywhere I'm a Jayhawk for life....
— AnrioAdams (@AnrioAdams) April 5, 2013

NCAA Tournament 2013: One Night of Basketball in Texas

2013-04-01T16:49:50Z

I haven't been to a Kansas game since I finished school there. In fact, one of my great regrets, looking back in my time in Lawrence and Kansas City is that I never went to the Big XII tournament. So I was thrilled that I had a chance to head up to Arlington to see the game on Friday night, despite the outcome.

I had some vague hope when the bracket was announced as I said to myself "well, Houston to Arlington isn't that far away". But if it had been Thursday, there's no way I could have gone. And if Kansas had lost the opening weekend, well, you know this team and we all admitted there was a chance of that. Really, the second weekend is also ideal. The first weekend is just wall to wall basketball so I wouldn't want to limit myself to the games in just one location.

So, once the Jayhawks had dispatched with the Tar Heels last weekend, a friend and I, both KU graduates, finalized plans to go see the games on Friday night.

Here's a nice intro shot to Jerry's football pleasure palace. Yes, the screen is bigger than the court. I kindof wish I had grabbed a picture of the exterior to start but this will work. I got there a few minutes before the gates opened at 5 and wandered around. They didn't open up the Cowboys pro shops but just set up makeshift souvenir stands so the lines were long. I think they only had about a third of the staff they had there for Cowboys games.

I thought the juxtaposition of the different "motivational squads" for each team made a good picture. I'm not sure what I expected but there wasn't much pageantry for being an NCAA tournament game. There were the standard bands and cheerleading squad, standard player introductions, and the game was pretty much the same. Considering how many Big Monday or other nationally televised tv games we have, I'm used to the slow pace with all the tv timeouts. They even had some commercials shown on the giant screen tho they also had the standard stadium fare like trivia. As an aside, "Hail to the Victors" is a great fight song.

Speaking of time outs, I didn't really get many game shots for the first game and most didn't turn out. We were up in the 300 level so I was maxing out my zoom to get a lot of these pictures, which can make for shaky action shots. Frankly, I was more interested in what was going on down on the court. I hate to say it, but it's a lot easier to take pictures at a baseball game.

This was the tipoff for overtime. Obviously a lot happened before that. I hate to say I called this one, but I leaned over to my friend when we had a 14 point lead with 7 to play and said "you know how this goes: it's going to be a 4 point lead with 4 minutes left after we try to milk the clock and bog down the offense". The prediction was right but the timing slightly off: it took about 2 minutes longer than that but it came true. It's just how the game was flowing: we were in foul trouble so we were going to dial back on defense and the refs tend to let a team down by 10+ get away with more on defense and under the hoop. The Kansas crowd could sense it and it was more cautiously optimistic than excited about the 14 point lead. We've talked about this before: you don't really get to celebrate the wins all that much with high expectations. There is relief when you win and apprehension about losing but there is rarely joy as that typically requires unexpectedly winning.

The crowd noise on the shot by Trey Burke was amazing. There was this collective gasp by the Jayhawk faithful and whoosh-cheer from the Wolverine fans. Kansas fans outnumbered Michigan fans but, to their credit, the Michigan fans were louder all throughout overtime, even tho it was close to the final buzzer. It stunk to blow that lead but it took a crazy shot from one of the best players in college basketball to tie the game. Some nights, you're just not meant to win.

There's the last shot of a lot of our guys. Our whole starting 5 for this year are gone and that leaves only Perry Ellis, Naadir Tharpe, and Jamari Traylor from the rotation for next year. But I guess you already know that. It would have been special to win something this year with a senior team that isn't super-NBA talented. McLemore is a certain lottery pick and he played like it on Friday, even with the foul trouble. Hard for me to guess his ceiling as he has holes in his game but is so fast and skilled and still very young. Withey looks like he might have an Ostertag-like career: bouncing around as a backup center in the NBA who starts for a couple of his best years. But I don't see the NBA in the future for any of other guys leaving. Ellis will probably be there in 2 or 3 years but that's about it from our rotation.

It was disappointing to lose as we did. First to lose a game with that kind of lead is worse than just getting blown out to start. Secondly, to lose on that shot in OT. Well, as I explained to the vendor who asked why KU didn't just go for the tie, I had to sadly say "that's just EJ being EJ". That said, I'll miss this class. So, godspeed Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, Kevin Young, Jeff Withey, and Ben McLemore.

And there's your final score. Frankly, the Michigan fans were a little more obnoxious than I expected but, oh well. I would chat with anyone around me in a friendly "non-partisan way" as that's just who I am but most of the game, but many of them just sat there sullenly. Then, after they made the comeback and won, there was just a lot of "we hate Kansas" and "you guys suck". Not like the Florida fans (a little more on that later) but I was just a little disappointed in them. Oh well.

After that, we went to go grab dinner, which was pricey but good. There was standard stadium food like hot dogs and pretzels but a majority of the seats that were perpendicular to the court were in club sections so they had fancier fare, too. I had BBQ brisket nachos for dinner but for more refined palettes, they had a vegetarian spicy black bean burger or sushi sampler or a roast turkey deli sandwich. Like a couple of NCAA events I had been to previously, most notably the Big Ten tournament last year, they served no alcohol.

This is easily my favorite action shot of the night. Fieler got called for the offensive foul on this but that should take nothing away from this ballerina pose. The Florida defender is already well on his way to the ground. The rest of the players are all looking at or running for the potential rebound, including Sherwood Brown's hair. Meanwhile, on the sideline, Donovan, a ref, and a sub all watch the play unfold.

We were kindof making good-natured Florida Gulf Coast jokes throughout the game: "And here's so-and-so; he's a tv-vcr repair major who joined the school three weeks ago". I think I laughed more than I cheered, especially early on when FGCU had built a pretty good lead. At that point, the crowd was very much a partisan FGCU crowd, probably 90% in their corner. Speaking of the crowd, it was probably 40% Kansas, 30% Michigan, 5% Florida (maybe), 5% FGCU student body, and about 20% locals who had Cowboys season tickets or friends who did, many of whom donned FGCU shirts.

They were new to this whole thing: "Five weeks ago, we were in our beach studies class and now we're a cheerleading squad". It really felt like a true underdog story where they had no business being there but they had legitimately won their way there and it was great to watch them. In this picture, I think the mascot was supposed to be doing something but was watching the cheerleader pyramid pensively. In short, Go Florida Gulf Coast!

This FGCU Cinderella got on screen quite a few times: it was a good costume. I was trying to get a picture of her as she was leaving after the game but she was steamed and saying something about classless Florida fans so I didn't trouble her. Shocking?!? Wait, no sarcasm font on the Fanposts? She seemed genuinely surprised by this and all I can say is "Sorry, guys: welcome to big time sports where there are a lot of jerks".

Another shot to remind you just how ridiculous the screen was. The total attendance was just over 40K. They had closed off large sections of the stadium which I presume will be open next year. This was their dress rehearsal for Final Four and I think they were a bit shortstaffed. It made it feel like, in some ways, they had never hosted a large even before as there were a lot of long lines even though you know a lot of this runs a lot more smoothly for an average Cowboys game when everyone is working.

I had mentioned before that all the club sections were open. Actually, a really large number of the seats were club seats as they kept open all the club seats, left some more "corner" standard sections, and then only a couple of levels of seats behind the backboards. And, on the whole, they were pretty comfy with nice foam cushions and reasonable width. I asked the frequent flying friend I was with if these were more or less comfortable than standard coach class airline seats and after about 5 hours in them (with some walking around mixed in), we both agreed that we'd rather be in these seats.

With about 2 minutes to go, after Brown clocked someone on Florida and they were doing the classic "was it a technical 1" review, we decided to head down to the lower level. We snuck past a busy staff member and got to the lower level and once we were down on the floor level with a minute to play, they let us take some pictures from down there. We were thinking of getting some tickets down here as they were the same price as up where we sat in the 300 level at midcourt. But, I decided I'd rather be higher up and at a perpendicular angle than lower down with a worse viewing angle.

All would probably have been much better in my mind if not for some "fun" with the secondary ticket market. I had originally ordered tickets in the 200 level on Razorgator on Sunday afternoon, after we had won against North Carolina. I received an email from them on Tuesday saying there was an issue with an order and to call in. Once I called, I found out the tickets I had selected and paid for were gone and I had a conversation for over a half hour, trying to get "equivalent" tickets. Unfortunately, by then, prices had already gone up more than $50 for equivalent seats and they could only offer me a discount of "what they paid for the seats" with fees waived. However, what they paid was still more than was listed and I would have had to pay another $50 per seat for tickets that weren't as good as I had picked out Sunday. They even tried a couple of replacement seats I thought would have been ok and called the dealer while I was on hold only to find out they had been sold. Ultimately, after exploring a few more options, I opted for a refund, in disgust, which, for the record, I still have not been credited.

I went with Razorgator instead of my usually reliable Stubhub because on Sunday, tickets were about $30 cheaper there and with some discount codes, I was saving $100 between two tickets. On Tuesday, I picked up some tickets in the 300 level for a few bucks less than the 200 level tickets were on Sunday as prices continued to rise. I got an email from Stubhub saying to call them on Wednesday and I was thinking "here I go again". However, it was just that the guy who was selling the tickets had ordered electronic tickets instead of paper ones and wanted to verify that was acceptable. And that just typifies the two experiences: with Stubhub, I feel that it's a lot of season ticket holders dumping tickets while Razorgator is more of a clearinghouse for ticket brokers with no real penalty for failing to deliver. Suffice to say, I won't use them again without a really good reason.

(To Editors: If we've gotta edit the above portion out, go for it. However, it was a significant portion of my weekend so I thought it important to be left in)

And here is the table at courtside where they figure out newer and more technologically advanced ways to fix games. Sorry, I thought FGCU got the short end of a lot of calls but that's not shocking. We reached a point in the second half where it felt like the 1/16 or 2/15 games in the first round where the high seed gets some serious home cooking and the refs just wanted to go home since it was getting towards midnight. We've seen Kansas be the beneficiary before so you all know what I'm talking about. Also, you can see Craig Sager giving a postgame interview to Billy Donovan and a Florida player in the background of the shot.

Speaking of Sager, I give him a lot of credit for this. After the interview was done, he came over to the table and then posed with some kids and even some college students, so they could get pictures that looked like him interviewing them. The crowd had really thinned out by then as it was getting late but he posed for pictures for at least 5 minutes until everyone had their picture. He looked tired and could have just gone to the "I have to pack up and get ready for Sunday" card but he was generous with his time.

And that's all folks. Would have really liked to see Kansas with a chance to cut those down on Sunday but it was not to be. Only about 6 months until Late Night.

So, once the Jayhawks had dispatched with the Tar Heels last weekend, a friend and I, both KU graduates, finalized plans to go see the games on Friday night.

(To Editors: If we've gotta edit the above portion out, go for it. However, it was a significant portion of my weekend so I thought it important to be left in)

And that's all folks. Would have really liked to see Kansas with a chance to cut those down on Sunday but it was not to be. Only about 6 months until Late Night.

Kansas vs Notre Dame: Women's Open Game Thread

2013-03-31T16:01:29Z

Not a long lead-in, but the Women's tourney has already had one 1 seed go down. Hopefully the women can make it another.

This will definitely be a much tougher test than the first two games, but it seems like the women play their best ball in the tourney.

Unfortunately, I don't usually watch the women, so I can't offer any more insight into this game, but hopefully they give us more chances to watch them in the near future.

Not a long lead-in, but the Women's tourney has already had one 1 seed go down. Hopefully the women can make it another. This will definitely be a much tougher test than the first two games, but it seems like the women play their best ball in the tourney. Unfortunately, I don't usually watch the women, so I can't offer any more insight into this game, but hopefully they give us more chances to watch them in the near future.

Postmortem

2013-03-31T06:24:39Z

KU's season came to an end late Friday night in a heart retching lose to Michigan. It was the kind of lose that makes one scratch their head and wonder "what happened?". With a 14 point lead in the second half the Hawks seemed like a shoe in for the elite 8 where they'd play the winner of Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast(aka Americas darling). Sooooo what happened why & how did it all go wrong? Trey Burke. A simple answer but one far more complex. In the first half McGray looked great. But was it McGray making plays or Withey respecting Burke? A lot and I mean A LOT of McGray's baskets were easy layups given up by Withey coming in to help after Burke drove into the paint. KU gave a lot of respect to Burke and for good reason. 23 points in the 2nd half and OT. That's more than impressive. 3 times late in the game he took big time 3's well past NBA range and nailed them. He's a superstar, no question about it. We helped the comeback by doing something that's been our main weakness all season.... coughing up the ball. But that doesn't diminish what Burke did; HE MADE PLAYS. Something none of our guys wanted to do down the stretch. So did the best team win? No! But the best player on the floor did. He was big time. This KU team still accomplished a lot this season. 9 straight Big 12 championships; a Big 12 Tourny title, and honestly one of the best Senior classes KU has ever had. It hurts knowing Releford, Withey, Young, Johnson, and most likely Ben will go out with a L; BUT they still have a lot to be proud of. The streak continues, and this group did their part in keeping it alive. Cant wait until next October, oh and ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!

Class of 2013 | Kansas Jayhawks

2013-03-30T14:10:32Z

Incoming Class - March 29th 2013, the night that Elijah Johnson ended our tournament run against Michigan in the sweet 16. These are the kind of losses that leave a die hard fan like myself, up all night trying to figure out what just happened. The good news is, it's last time I ever have to worry about Elijah Johnson being a Jayhawk. If I'm being honest, I never expected this team to get this far. Our biggest downfall this year has been our lack of ball handlers and playmakers. That's all about to change Jayhawk fans. What better way to cure the pain than to talk about our incoming class. As of right now KU has the second best recruiting class of 2013, behind Kentucky.

2013 commits
SF Brannen Greene
SG Wayne Selden
PG Conner Frankamp
PG Frank Mason
C Joel Embiid

Wayne Selden (SG)

Wayne Selden, a 6'5 shooting guard from New Hampshire, also had offers from Florida, Missouri, Ohio St., Syracuse and UCLA. Kansas' staff believes he can contribute as a point guard, shooting guard, or small forward.

Scout.com’s No. 13 overall prospect, gave Bill Self and his staff the official word just a day after returning home from his visit to Lawrence.

A five-star talent, Selden is a skilled guard that can play a handful of positions on the perimeter. Selden is a terrific passer, has developed into an impressive scorer from all three levels and is a very good all around athlete. He is going to be a lot of fun to watch develop over the next 3-4 years. KU hasn't had a player like this (Slasher) since Keith Langford. This kid is a monster with the ball in his hands, built like a tight end at 6'5 230lbs he will be tough to stop in the lane.

Conner Frankamp (PG)

Conner Francamp is a 6'0 point guard out of Wichita, KS. committed to KU back in 2011. Rivals has him ranked as 7th best PG and 31st overall.
Frankamp is a lot like Kirk Hinrich, a guy who can handle the ball, get others involved, and a 3 point threat.

All the guards and wings Self has been adding seem to have well-rounded games and they all can knock down open shots.

Brannen Greene (SG,SF)

Brannen Greene, a 6'7 shooting guard/small forward from Monroe, Georgia. Like Francamp he commited early in 2011. He is ranked as the 5th best SF, and 25th overall.

Greene brings an ideal 6'7 frame to the position and can score in bunches. He is a dynamic shooter. He possesses a classic jump shot and a solid well rounded offensive package. He is a good athlete that is effective attacking seams in transition. Greene has a solid mid range game and uses his size to get his shot off easily against smaller players. He is a big-body that can play multiple positions much like Selden. Good ball handler for his size.
ARE YOU GETTING EXCITED YET? Michigan who? Elijah who?

Frank Mason(PG)

Frank Mason is a 5'11" point guard from Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, VA. Mason committed to KU in October of 2012. He is ranked at 29th at his position and 134th overall.

During his senior season at Petersburg High in Petersburg, Va., Mason originally committed to play at Towson, But academic issues came up and Mason enrolled in a post-grad year at Massanutten to work on his test scores and focus on academics. This is where Bill Self found Mason.

Mason is a disciplined Guard with outstanding ball handling ability. He will be a role player that will need some time to grow. He will most likely be the 3rd option at PG behind Tharpe and Francamp.

Joel Embiid (C)

Joel Embiid is a 7'0 Center out of Gainsville, FL. Embiid, a 4 star recruit ranked number 37 overall picked Kansas over Texas and Florida late last year (2012)

He is a native of Cameroon, and amazingly has only been playing basketball for a little over a year. Embiid's offensive game is not quite there yet, as you can imagine, but his defensive skills certainly are and his potential is through the roof.

I was starting to get a little worried about our inside presence for next year up until Embiid committed. He will fill a major hole that will be left by Jeff Withey graduating. Embiid will be a force on the defensive side much like Withey. He weighs only about 200 pounds despite being a 7 footer but he will most certainly put on some weight with our great strength and conditioning staff.

Mix these guys in with the likes of Perry Ellis, Landen Lucas, and Andrew White III...Wow! This team is going to be stacked! Not to mention we are still in the running for the number 1 overall recruit Andrew Wiggins, who has been compared to a Lebron James type talent.

Next year will be fun, with a lot of new faces and a ton of talented, versatile players. This class has a chance to be one of Bill Self's best. The great part of the incoming class is they are all 3-4 year guys, they will have time to grow together. This team will be scary good in 2 or 3 years. I predict Bill Self gets his second title in the near future.

Thanks for reading. Rock Chalk.

Follow @J_Ames07

Another random rant.

2013-03-29T00:58:26Z

I love March Madness. I really, really do. I’m also happy the long week is over, and the Heat lost, so maybe we can get some better coverage on ESPN. Awww shucks…who am I kidding? Sportscenter has made it perfectly clear that they plan to cover the NFL year round, NBA whenever something happens (so they can beat that to death too), and SEC football. Honestly, I’m a patient man, but ESPN has lost me, probably for good. And they’ll lose you too, once they start having “fantasy combines” before the combines, and “fantasy pro-days” to get all those people that can’t live without NFL football every day to watch. I’m a prognosticator, and in 2 years, ESPN will run a fantasy league about fantasy leagues. It’s coming, just you watch.

And, all this fascination with pro-football has really shown in the national media with the absolute horrible coverage of college basketball. Even when you can find an article that’s semi-relevant, it’s just gibberish these days. Go ahead, pick a site…ESPN, CBSsports, Yahoo Sports, you find it, and look up what they’ll say about the upcoming KU/Mich game…and this is how in-depth their coverage is:

“KU won’t win unless BMac is the second coming of Danny Manning, Michigan has the best player in the country, and is too hot to lose the game against a slumping KU.” (summarized)

Fill that out into 3 more paragraphs about Michigan’s backcourt, and you just wrote yourself an article about this game for the national news.

Then again, I exclude Grantland from this, because I do like a lot of what they have…except college BB. Maybe that’s because Titus is a homer (and should be), but come on….really?

Now, these are the same guys that all seem to be picking Michigan to win. Here’s why I think they’re wrong:

-They’re discounting Withey, or treating him like one of BMac’s Miracles. You’ll hear people talk about how good he is defensively, but then they act like a good offense can just overcome that by chucking up 3’s. Yes, it can, but for that to work, the 3’s had better all go in, and Michigan had better be sharp from beyond the arc for this to work. I mean, REALLY sharp. Because if not, they’re gonna get punished.

And, on top of that, am I the only one around that’s noticed that for 2 years in a row now, Withey has consistently gone insane during the Tournament? He might have, you know, set a record last year during it, and it was his play that turned the UNC game completely around. Without him, KU would be sitting at home. And yes, he’s picking up a few more fouls a game lately, but man…I honestly think he’s playing out of his mind right now.

-Our perimeter defense isn’t half bad, too. During the UNC game, after the first two possessions in the second half, I felt like it was over (and in our favor). KU was going to win, because KU can play some D. The points will come on offense, but that anchor of the D is what this team does.

-Releford would be either be Jordan or Pippen on any team in the NCAA right now, except KU. For us, he’s “just” a “glue guy”. He plays lockdown D, and in transition, honestly, you find me a better finisher. Give him the ball and space to run, and he just seems to put it in the hoop. Oh, and he can hit a few 3’s here and there too. Did I mention he’s an elite-level defender too? Yeah, if he didn’t try and game the refs on every ball that goes out of bounds, he might be my favorite player on this team.

-KU’s “X-Factor” isn’t something you can gameplan for. Who’s it gonna be? Is Releford gonna go and score 25 on 8-10 shooting? Is EJ going to light up and drop 30 on you since you decided to shut down BMac? Oh, he’s on the bench, you say? Maybe Tharpe will drain consecutive 3’s because no one is open. Man, forgot about Young…he’s just going to shoot 3 times in one possession at the rim, miss all of them (including a dunk), and then still score. Of course, then Perry Ellis can always step in when Young is struggling and have another night where he can’t miss. KU is a team with…options. BMac doesn’t have to shoot 14-20 every night for them to win…he just has to play D, take good shots, and if he gets hot, he can beat you on his own.

-Did I mention KU’s recent (2 year) history in the Tournament? This is a team that has been okay to average for long stretches, and fantastic at times. Those times being just enough to beat everyone they’ve played in the Tournament for the last two years except Kentucky.

-And the last thing I gotta say for KU is…if they’re playing well, you can’t beat them. When they are hot, they are scorching. They took a team on a roll, UNC, and took all the punches in the first half. Then…it was over. Pancake time. I’ve seen roadkill less flattened than that UNC team in the second half. You HAVE to beat KU down, and keep them down the entire game…or else risk them catching fire and just destroying you.

For Michigan, all they have to do is have fantastic games from their backcourt to force turnovers. That’s how they win. If KU doesn’t turn the ball over 14 times or more, I will take them in Vegas anytime.

“KU won’t win unless BMac is the second coming of Danny Manning, Michigan has the best player in the country, and is too hot to lose the game against a slumping KU.” (summarized)

Fill that out into 3 more paragraphs about Michigan’s backcourt, and you just wrote yourself an article about this game for the national news.

Then again, I exclude Grantland from this, because I do like a lot of what they have…except college BB. Maybe that’s because Titus is a homer (and should be), but come on….really?

Now, these are the same guys that all seem to be picking Michigan to win. Here’s why I think they’re wrong:

Coming to North Texas for the game? Here's a 'native' guide (Part 2)

2013-03-27T01:47:11Z

OK, here's the follow-up to Monday's post on North Texas info. Part 2 will focus on where to go and what to do. I'll break it down by neighborhood - and mostly focus on Dallas and Fort Worth, keeping close to the city cores.

Of course, there's plenty to do in other parts of the cities and the suburbs, but since Interstate 30 (Tom Landry Freeway) connects downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth (with Arlington and Cowboys Stadium in between), it's easier to stick to the centers.

Dallas

Downtown Dallas offers a variety of activities, food, and drink. The most notable attraction is the Sixth Floor Museum, which is a must see for everyone. Also nearby is the Old Red Courthouse Museum and JFK Memorial.

The Arts District, on the north side of downtown, is home to the Dallas Art Museum, Nasher Sculpture Center, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Meyerson Symphony Center and Klyde Warren Park, among others. Food trucks often park in the Arts District and around Klyde Warren Park. Bring cash and enjoy the variety of offerings.

Nearby is the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, which is a must-see but requires some planning. All tickets must be purchased in advance. Visit the website to get that done.

The Perot sits on one end of Victory Park, which is also home to the House of Blues and American Airlines Center. The Mavericks have home games Thursday and Saturday and the Stars on Friday, but hockey won't be an option on this trip.

To the east of downtown is Deep Ellum, which historically was home to jazz and other music venues but recently has become a prime destination for restaurants, including Pepe's & Mito's, Allgood Cafe, Cafe Brazil, Cane Rosso, Deep Sushi and Twisted Root. Also, Deep Ellum Brewing Company offers Saturday tours.

The center of downtown offers Main Street, with a variety of restaurants and bars, and Main Street Garden, with nearby Rusty Taco serving good eats.

Southwest of downtown is the Bishop Arts District, part of the Oak Cliff neighborhood. Grab breakfast at Norma's Cafe, browse a number of specialty shops, or dine at Hattie's, Gloria's, Tillman's Roadhouse, Eno's Pizza or Lockhart Smokehouse.

A quick drive up U.S. 75 (North Central Expressway) or DART rail ride on the red line (day passes work on trains and buses) is the mecca of shopping and Dallas cliches, NorthPark Center. Across the freeway is the more reasonable Shops at Park Lane, including Park Tavern, an official KU Alumni Association gathering and watch site.

Finally, the Uptown area boasts more watering holes and restaurants, mostly along McKinney Avenue. Bar locations of note there are McKinney Avenue Tavern (another KU watch site) and Katy Trail Ice House.

Fort Worth

Admittedly, I know far less about the Fort, and memories of the TCU loss still sting. But that doesn't mean you can't check out Sundance Square downtown, including the Flying Saucer, Frankie's Sports Bar, Riscky's Barbecue and Reata.

North of downtown is the Fort Worth Stockyards, home of daily cattle drives, hat and boot shops, and Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky tonk. More great dining there, but nothing beat's Joe T. Garcia's, which is cash only but well worth the hassle.

West of downtown, 7th Street also has great places to eat and drink, including another Tillman's Roadhouse location.

Finally, check out Cowtown arts in the Fort Worth Cultural District. Also nearby are the Will Rogers Memorial Center and related cowboy museums.

Arlington

I bagged on Arlington the other day, but there are some items of note there, including the pregame pep rallies at the Convention Center, Six Flags (now open on weekends) and the Rangers have an exhibition game on Thursday night against a team from Mexico. Should be a great chance to check out the other stadium in Jerryworld.

Downtown Arlington has recently seen several new restaurants, including Flying Fish, Fuzzy's Tacos, Babe's and Mellow Mushroom. They joined old standby J. Gilligan's Bar.

Again, that's just a start. We've got more than 6 million people and lots to do all the time. Hope you enjoy your visit and Rock Chalk!

Dallas

Nearby is the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, which is a must-see but requires some planning. All tickets must be purchased in advance. Visit the website to get that done.

The center of downtown offers Main Street, with a variety of restaurants and bars, and Main Street Garden, with nearby Rusty Taco serving good eats.

Fort Worth

West of downtown, 7th Street also has great places to eat and drink, including another Tillman's Roadhouse location.

Finally, check out Cowtown arts in the Fort Worth Cultural District. Also nearby are the Will Rogers Memorial Center and related cowboy museums.

Arlington

Downtown Arlington has recently seen several new restaurants, including Flying Fish, Fuzzy's Tacos, Babe's and Mellow Mushroom. They joined old standby J. Gilligan's Bar.

Again, that's just a start. We've got more than 6 million people and lots to do all the time. Hope you enjoy your visit and Rock Chalk!

Coming to North Texas for the game? Here's a 'native' guide (Part 1)

2013-03-25T13:47:38Z

"Native" is used loosely, but I've lived in Dallas since 1999 and my parents have been in the Fort Worth area since 1995, so that's close enough, right? And my office is across the freeway from Cowboys Stadium, or what's often called Jerryworld.

Anyway, here's a quick look at tickets, parking and lodging. I'll come up with a post on what to do and where to hang out later in the week. Feel free to leave questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

Tickets and Parking

Obviously, if you want the best seats, go with StubHub, another online broker, or the NCAA's VIP program. But to just get in the house, go to Ticketmaster.com. The Cowboys said last week they would open up more sections (including the upper deck) if Kansas won its first two games.

Now, a ticket in the upper reaches (300 and 400 levels) isn't going to be great, so just enjoy the majesty that is the Death Star. Jerry's big screen will have all the action and you can enjoy the works of art collected and displayed by his wife, Gene.

The sideline seats will be better than end zone, as many fans learned last year in New Orleans. But like I said, if you're in the 400 level, you're gonna be a long way away.

One important note on tickets: Selling and reselling tickets on the streets or around the stadiums in Arlington is illegal and heavily enforced. So keep it on the down low if you make an exchange in public. Best to stick to online brokers and Ticketmaster.

Parking for each session is also available through Ticketmaster for $35 plus fees. There are other lots, but many will charge more than that or require you to walk from the Rangers Ballpark and Six Flags, which are both to the east of Jerryworld.

Many area bars and restaurants offer shuttle service (more on that later this week), and you can take a cab, but Arlington is the largest city in the U.S. without public transit, so a car is necessary, either your own or a rental.

Lodging

There are many hotels and motels in Arlington, some even close enough to walk to Cowboys Stadium. But there's nothing else to do in Arlington besides go to the stadiums or Six Flags, so unless you are really into roller coasters, stay in Dallas or Fort Worth.

Interstate 30 (aka the Tom Landry Highway) connects the two downtowns and runs right by Jerryworld. My suggestion would be to stay in either downtown Dallas or Fort Worth. Another good option is the Las Colinas area of Irving. It's close to D/FW Airport and about halfway between Dallas and Arlington.

You can go cheap or stay in luxury in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington or Irving. My suggestion would be to hit up hotels.com and see what's available.

So that's a start - hope this helps. Hope you all enjoy North Texas and our giant stadium. Rock Chalk!

Tickets and Parking

The sideline seats will be better than end zone, as many fans learned last year in New Orleans. But like I said, if you're in the 400 level, you're gonna be a long way away.

Lodging

You can go cheap or stay in luxury in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington or Irving. My suggestion would be to hit up hotels.com and see what's available.

So that's a start - hope this helps. Hope you all enjoy North Texas and our giant stadium. Rock Chalk!

Kansas makes it back to Final Four of Academic Bracket

2013-03-22T06:15:40Z

Every year, InsideHigherEd.com creates its "Academic Bracket," in which teams are compared with their APR scores, a measure of the eligibility and retention of their student-athletes.

This year, Kansas makes it to the Final Four, only to lose to Belmont, the eventual Academic Bracket Champion. Last year, Kansas won the Academic Bracket championship AND made it to the actual national championship. In this era of big-time college sports, it's a pretty remarkable achievement by Coach Self and his staff to be able to achieve sustained excellence in both of these areas.

This year's bracket can be found here:

Sure, this bracket is kind of silly, and the APR system has its flaws. However, our continued success in the Academic Bracket deserves to be a point of pride for everyone in Jayhawk Nation. Because the fact is, for years now, every single player under Bill Self has either left with a degree, or in good academic standing while they pursue better opportunities for themselves at either other schools or as professionals.

Plus, we get to look down at pretty much every other school for not "doing things the right way." And that's always fun.

Rock Chalk!

Every year, InsideHigherEd.com creates its "Academic Bracket," in which teams are compared with their APR scores, a measure of the eligibility and retention of their student-athletes.

This year's bracket can be found here:

Plus, we get to look down at pretty much every other school for not "doing things the right way." And that's always fun.

Rock Chalk!

Jeff Withey and 2 pt Defense

2013-03-21T14:54:09Z

Started looking through some numbers this morning to check on a half-baked theory about how teams are attacking the Kansas defense. The thought behind this was that teams who scout and game plan for the Jayhawks would alter their approach a little bit when Jeff Withey is on the bench compared to in the game. This would mean more feeding the post and more attacking the rim. It's not a huge secret that Kevin Young, Perry Ellis, and Jamari Traylor are all pretty raw on the defensive end. Compared to attacking Withey, teams can have success against those guys.

In order to check the theory, I went through the play-by-play logs of every Big 12 conference game and tracked the 2pt attempts (makes and misses) for when Withey was on the bench and when he was on the court. Looking at the numbers, I can't see much of a trend. This may be because Withey plays a lot and teams just don't get the opportunity to alter what they're doing for the short time he's on the bench or teams simply don't worry whether he's on the court or not. It's also very possible that just looking at 2 pt attempts isn't a good way about checking on the theory.

First up, I tried to figure out the number of 2 pt shots a team would be expected to take based on the amount of time Withey is on the court and the number of 2's a team took in the game. For example, Withey plays 90% of the minutes and a team took 10 two pt shots in a game, the team would be expected to take nine 2s with Withey on the floor.

	Min%	Exp. shots
ISU	0.84	29.4
TT	0.78	28.86
BU	0.83	34.86
UT	0.8	30.4
KSU	0.78	21.06
OU	0.85	39.95
WVU	0.78	30.42
OkSt	0.75	32.25
TCU	0.83	27.39
OU	0.88	33.44
KSU	0.75	23.25
UT	0.73	24.82
OkSt	0.78	33.54
TCU	0.65	21.45
ISU	0.8	23.2
WVU	0.8	36.8
TTU	0.63	23.94
BU	0.85	34

With the expected shots figured, I compared it to the actual number of shots taken with Withey on the court. This is where I was hoping to see a bit of a difference but came away with nothing really.

So my theory's not holding up so far. The second thing I wanted to look at was a quick glance to see if teams are more successful in their attempts with Withey on the court compared to him on the bench.

Average FG% with Withey on the court is 39% compared to 41% with him off the court. The average may be misleading due to OU going 0-4 from 2 pt land with Withey out of the game, we know zeroes will skew averages. Ignoring that game changes the averages to 38% for Withey on the court and 43% off the court. Might be a little more what we expect.

The number of shots teams take with Withey on the bench probably aren't enough to draw meaning one way or the other. The other issue is that all 2 pt attempts are included, so easy layups following turnovers are counted and Withey has very little impact in that area of the game. Free throw attempts and the number of rebounds also weren't counted because the play by play doesn't give the information on where a foul occurred.

	Min%	Exp. shots
ISU	0.84	29.4
TT	0.78	28.86
BU	0.83	34.86
UT	0.8	30.4
KSU	0.78	21.06
OU	0.85	39.95
WVU	0.78	30.42
OkSt	0.75	32.25
TCU	0.83	27.39
OU	0.88	33.44
KSU	0.75	23.25
UT	0.73	24.82
OkSt	0.78	33.54
TCU	0.65	21.45
ISU	0.8	23.2
WVU	0.8	36.8
TTU	0.63	23.94
BU	0.85	34

With the expected shots figured, I compared it to the actual number of shots taken with Withey on the court. This is where I was hoping to see a bit of a difference but came away with nothing really.

Comparing Efficiency with Tournament Seeding (Pt. 2)

2013-03-21T14:37:00Z

Thank you all for the positive feedback, it is much appreciated and I'm glad that someone is reading all this. Today I will go through the teams that were overseeded by the committee and may be vulnerable to early upsets. Most of these teams are likely ones that you could point out already if you are an avid college basketball fan, but there might be some surprises, so take a gander and let me know what you think in the comments!

The introduction to what I'm doing can be found in the previous post on underseeded teams, at this URL: http://www.rockchalktalk.com/2013/3/18/4120404/comparing-efficiency-with-tournament-seeding

On to the comparisons!

Overseeded:

Marquette (KP Rank: 25, Seed: 3)

The Golden Eagles are pretty much your classic "gritty" team that wins a lot of close games, gets a lot of press for being tough and doing the little things, and is mistrusted by the advanced stats community. Although Mark Cuban would tell you otherwise, a team that is consistently "clutch" in crunch time is a pretty rare commodity. I’m not here to get into a debate over statistics and the definition of "clutch" etc, but I generally try to avoid attributing the reasons a team wins to intangibles. I have to admit that last year’s Kansas team made me question that philosophy, but in general I don’t believe in "clutchness." So I would tell you to mistrust Marquette – this is a team that won a ton of close games (and also lost their fair share, as well) and was blown out by the two elite teams they played (Louisville and Florida). They are a worthy NCAA tournament team, but not the quality of your usual team that wins the Big East. So be wary of the fact that their pod seems easy – they can win both of their first two games, but I would bet that they are knocked out in either their first or second game before I would bet on them making it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Kansas State (KP Rank: 30, Seed: 4)

Ah Kansas State. We’ve been over this before (at least at BotC), but here they are. Why does Kenpom hate K-State so much? Well, as you can probably already guess, it is for many of the same reasons that apply to Marquette. K-State played a bad non-conference schedule, and did themselves no favors in the eyes of the computers by losing their only significant tests (other than Florida, obviously) and not consistently blowing out teams like Delaware, UMKC, and Texas Southern. However, unlike Marquette, K-State has an excuse. Those early season games were played while trying to incorporate Bruce Weber’s new motion offense, so it’s possible that could have had an effect on their ability to stretch out leads against overmatched opponents. There is some credence to this, as K-State was able to post a similar offensive efficiency in-conference compared to how they performed in the non-conference (to me, this heralds actual improvement, since a cakey non-conference artificially inflates those numbers and you would expect scoring to be significantly harder in conference play). However, K-State’s defense in conference play has been decently porous – 5th best in the conference, and significantly worse than the three teams that actually played good defense this season (KU, OSU, and Baylor). That’s been hidden by the slow pace that K-State plays at, but it is a big problem moving forward. I fully expect this team’s offense to be lethal in the NCAA tournament, but their defense (and in particular, their defensive rebounding) is going to have to improve if they want to be able to beat a team like, say, Gonzaga later on. Luckily, Wisconsin isn’t a great offensive rebounding team – the last thing you want to do is give a Bo Ryan team even more possessions on offense – but the fact that the Wiscy game is going to be played at a glacial pace on both ends makes it unlikely that the Cats will ever break that game open. It’s going to be a close one.

UNLV (KP Rank: 36, Seed: 5)

I’m not really sure how this team got a 5 seed. They played in a very good (if overrated) conference, and acquitted themselves decently. However, they have beaten exactly one good team on the road (San Diego State), and exactly one great team (or none, depending on how you feel about New Mexico). They also have somewhat puzzling losses to Fresno State (twice) and Air Force. That said, they beat some decent teams in conference, and are completely deserving of an 8 or 7 seed. Just not a 5. I don’t really like them against Cal, and I really don’t like them against Syracuse. A young team that doesn’t shoot the ball well (especially from three) and has problems holding onto the ball is not going to do well against Syracuse’s 2-3. Terrible matchup for them, in my mind.

Memphis (KP Rank: 39, Seed: 6)

It is somewhat ironic that Memphis sits in this spot this year, given that last year a much stronger Memphis team (8th in the country according to Kenpom) was absolutely shafted with an 8 seed…and then absolutely shafted again by being matched up against a woefully underseeded St. Louis team (14th in the country last year). That St. Louis team ended up losing by 4 to Michigan State…after one days rest, a position Tom Izzo’s teams traditionally thrive in. As such, due to two pretty ridiculous seeding errors, the country was cheated out of seeing Will Barton more than once in the NCAA tournament, and (more egregiously) cheated out of a potentially longer last ride for Rick Majerus. /rant over. This year, Memphis isn’t near as good as last year, yet got a much better seed. Unfortunately, they still are running up against a potentially underseeded team in St. Mary’s that plays a disciplined offense that could give Memphis problems. In their favor is the fact that St. Mary’s is not good at forcing turnovers, which have been the Achilles heel of Memphis’ offense. If you take that out of the equation, then Memphis’ offense is comparable to St. Mary’s, and their defense is much better. If Memphis is able to make it past St. Mary’s, then I actually like the way they matchup with the other favorites up until the Elite Eight.

Illinois (KP Rank: 42, Seed: 7)

This is a team that got a lot of mileage out of their non-conference performance in the eyes of both the committee and the computers. However, it is very apparent that the hot shooting that drove them up the rankings in November and early December was a flash in the pan – this is not a good shooting team. This team is entirely guard driven, and really struggles to create shots in the half court. This led to problems in the B1G, as Illinois was blown out repeatedly when Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson were not hitting. I wouldn’t trust Illinois at all (I’m also pretty sure I don’t have to tell you this), they are likely going to either a) win big in the first round and lose big in the second or b) skip straight to losing big in the first round. For what it’s worth, Colorado has a good enough backcourt that there is no sizable advantage there for Illinois, making it all the more likely that they head back to Champaign early.

UCLA (KP Rank: 44, Seed: 6)

I’ve heard a lot of people saying that UCLA was underseeded by the committee, but I’m having a hard time seeing it. They needed a ton of help to win a conference that no one seemed interested in winning, and still haven’t ditched the habit of putting in brain dead performances – losing by 12 to a WSU team missing 2 of their three leading scorers down the stretch of a conference title race comes to mind. Additionally, this team is just good on offense, not great. As I stated in my other post in the segment on Minnesota, they have a terrible first round matchup for them, and now they have to play without their second leading scorer, who is also their best perimeter defender (Jordan Adams). Toss in that by all accounts they are playing for a lame duck coach that is gone unless they make it to at least the Sweet Sixteen (and I’ve even heard that he will be fired unless he makes it to the Final Four), and I have a tough time believing this team is going to win a game, much less enough games to let Howland keep his job. Kind of ridiculous.

Butler (KP Rank: 52, Seed: 6)

Butler might be the first program to make it all the way from "criminally underrated" to "criminally overrated" in less than 4 years. Like many teams each year, Butler got a lot of mileage out of beating teams that were overrated early in the year, in addition to the added cachet they’ve gotten from making to back-to-back title games. The truth is, though, that this year’s Butler squad is not a great team. They are good on offense, and good on defense. Early on it looked like they might have a lethal offense, but the lack of a point guard on the roster has led to them putting the ball in Rotnei Clarke’s hands more than they should, and their offense (in particular their turnover rate) has suffered as a result. You will hear that this is a great defensive team. They are not. What they are is a great rebounding team, especially on the defensive glass. The Bucknell matchup is interesting for them. Although Bucknell has the 4th best eFG% defense in the country, their defense isn’t elite because it is terrible at forcing turnovers. I tend to believe that turnovers that are the result of not having a point guard are likely going to continue to occur whether your opponents are inherently good at forcing turnovers or not, so I feel like this is a very good matchup for Bucknell, and I think they will win it.

Temple (KP Rank: 68, Seed: 9)

This is the one case where I started collecting teams for this writeup and found something that gave me serious pause about one of my bracket picks. I though a veteran, slow-paced team that plays great defense like your traditional Fran Dunphy team would be a great pick against an impatient NC State squad that often just seems lazy on defense. So I picked Temple over NC State. Turns out, Temple isn’t great on defense. Like K-State (but in a worse way), the fact that they play at a glacial pace has masked the fact that they are in fact a pretty bad defense – 124th in the country, to be precise. What’s more, they are universally bad at defense – they rank between 125th and 176th in all four factors on defense. So….not so much D. On offense, this team is highly efficient, but primarily because they are excellent at holding onto the ball. You already know what I think about extreme turnover rates and Kenpom, so it won’t surprise you to know that I have a suspicion that Temple’s offense just isn’t that good unless Khalif Wyatt is knocking down shots and (more importantly) getting to the free throw line. Suffice to say that I’m rethinking picking this team to upset NC State.

Right but the committee is getting no credit:

Oregon (KP Rank: 43, Seed:12)

In actuality, KP has Oregon exactly where the committee seeded them, as they were originally slotted as an 11 before being moved to the 12 line to make the logistics work out. However, I still think Oregon is underseeded. Half of their eight losses occurred when their starting point guard was injured, including two losses to Cal and a loss to Colorado by a combined 7 points. I think they should have gotten more credit from the committee for how they performed when completely healthy, as their point guard has since come back into the rotation. However, Oregon played a pretty weak non-conference schedule and benefited a lot from an imbalanced PAC-12 schedule, so it is actually not that surprising that they ended up with a low seed. Definitely a bit surprising that they dropped all the way to 12. Still, I think Okie Lite will be able to handle them, before being dispatched by an awesome St. Louis team in the second round.