NCAA West region collector thread (Xavier #1 seed, UNC #2)

[JasonEvans]

Post your thoughts about the West region here. And don't forget to vote in the poll for who will win the region.

-Jason

[weezie]

I can't! I just can't mark that little circle. I cannot do it.

But, it's going to happen whether I vote or not

[brevity]

I can't! I just can't mark that little circle. I cannot do it.

But, it's going to happen whether I vote or not

Then don't. Just click on "UNC-Greensboro" instead. Then, if necessary, argue that they probably moved the whole campus to get away from the stench in Chapel Hill.

[richardjackson199]

I voted for the cheats hoping that my sports betting prowess seen in the ACC Degenerate gambler contest holds true.

[lotusland]

Cheaters never advance to the Sweet 16 on my brackets and I sleep well. No mental gymnastics required to pick Michigan tho. They’re playing great. Intestine that so far no one has voted for the #1 seed.

[Chard]

Providence has wins over Villanova, Creighton and Xavier twice. Not going to count them out! They should get past an undisciplined TAMU.

[SCMatt33]

The only thing I like about UNC's draw here is that they have to have that dreaded Sunday-Thursday turnaround with a cross country trip in between. I would not have wanted that for us

[uh_no]

The only thing I like about UNC's draw here is that they have to have that dreaded Sunday-Thursday turnaround with a cross country trip in between. I would not have wanted that for us

eh. we trump that up, but i'm skeptical. these guys play midweek games with travel in between all ACC season.

I'm guessing there's little correlation between which dates you play on in the first weekend and how you do in the regionals.

[4Gen]

I can't believe there is a college called Lipscomb. Sounds like a barber school specializing in mustaches. Well anyway, go barbers!

[jv001]

Voted cheats, hoping for jinx factor. Hate em. GoDuke!

[wavedukefan70s]

I believe providence can beat UNC if they meet.

[ice-9]

Xavier has a good record but nobody thinks they’re that good. If Las Vegas did the brackets, Xavier would just be a 3-seed. I had personally hoped that if we were a 2-seed to be paired with Xavier, even if in the West.

Sadly I think UNC is the easy pick for this region.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I can't believe there is a college called Lipscomb. Sounds like a barber school specializing in mustaches. Well anyway, go barbers!

Joey Brackets had us playing Lipscomb - yesterday I think.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Cheaters never advance to the Sweet 16 on my brackets and I sleep well. No mental gymnastics required to pick Michigan tho. They’re playing great. Intestine that so far no one has voted for the #1 seed.

Will be interesting to see how Big Ten teams do with the entire week off - making it almost two weeks off when they tip in the NCAA. That seems like too much time off to me.

[FerryFor50]

Xavier has a good record but nobody thinks they’re that good. If Las Vegas did the brackets, Xavier would just be a 3-seed. I had personally hoped that if we were a 2-seed to be paired with Xavier, even if in the West.

Sadly I think UNC is the easy pick for this region.

I was really hoping Duke was going to get Xavier as their 1 seed. But if Duke had beaten UNC, they might have gotten the final #1 over Xavier and gotten the strongest #2.

Oh well.

[Troublemaker]

Will be interesting to see how Big Ten teams do with the entire week off - making it almost two weeks off when they tip in the NCAA. That seems like too much time off to me.

That's a really good point. From our perspective, hopefully Bucknell can knock off a rusty MSU but Michigan weathers the rustiness to beat Montana.

[SCMatt33]

eh. we trump that up, but i'm skeptical. these guys play midweek games with travel in between all ACC season.

I'm guessing there's little correlation between which dates you play on in the first weekend and how you do in the regionals.

True teams travel a lot, but rarely cross country and rarely have to travel for back to back games like this. Most of the times it's a one way trip with a home game on either end. Having to travel for a weekend, come home, have one rest day, travel again across the country, have a practice day with media obligations, then play three time zones away from normal is not what they do all the time. I can only find two instances of back to back road games for UNC all year (I'm not counting Stanford into PK80 as they stayed out west the entire time). They had FSU then UVA, losing both. And they had Louisville followed by Syracuse. They looked really good in the first one, but really shaky before hanging on in the second. Do I think "oh man, there's no way anyone can handle this" of course not, but even a very small effect from the travel schedule can have a huge impact when you look up at the scoreboard. It will be mitigated a bit by the fact that they won't be playing a west coast team, so they all have to travel, but their opponent will have an extra day rest. It's not a death sentence or anything, but it's definitely much easier not to have to go that far that fast.

[ice-9]

I was really hoping Duke was going to get Xavier as their 1 seed. But if Duke had beaten UNC, they might have gotten the final #1 over Xavier and gotten the strongest #2.

Oh well.

Would've probably been Xavier at #2? I would still be OK with that, though Gonzaga at the #4 scares me.

I have the Zags beating the X-men in my bracket.

[elvis14]

I voted Michigan. If this was UNCheat and all the other 15 and 16 seeds from the tournament, I wouldn't vote for UNCheat.

[FerryFor50]

I voted Michigan. If this was UNCheat and all the other 15 and 16 seeds from the tournament, I wouldn't vote for UNCheat.

Hopefully Michigan has improved since losing to UNC by 15.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...meId=400986105