PDA

View Full Version : I just know it!! Second Round Match-up



DukeWarhead
02-27-2009, 10:20 AM
Do you ever see highlights from other teams playing throughout the season and just get that sneeky feeling that Duke is destined to meet them in the tournament? No real reason, just a hunch? This season, for weeks, I have been getting this gut feeling that Duke will meet UCLA in the second round, which will make headlines for two blue-blood programs playing in the first weekend. It's funny, because when you get that gut feeling about another team, you start paying more attention to how they are playing at the end of the year...

I think a matchup with UCLA will be possible, because I think Duke has a great shot to be a 2 seed, and at worst a 3. UCLA will hover in the 7 seed range (unless they win out, which would put them at a 5 or even a 4). But even if the numbers don't add up, I just feel it will happen.

I realize its a pointless exercise to try to predict where teams will be seeded before selection sunday, but this is more of a vision than a prediction.

I was almost right last year, when I had the same gut feeling about Arizona. Had they beaten WVU in the first round, things might have been different for Duke in the 2nd....

If Duke does end up with UCLA in the 2nd round, it will be tough, but I think the days of easy second round match-ups are gone. Parity reigns now, and we aren't likely to see the likes of Central Michigan or Mississippi State in Round 2 again - baring upsets of course, which can always happen.

Curious to know if anyboldy else gets those premonitions about meeting other teams in the tourney. Or maybe I'm just weird...

gw67
02-27-2009, 10:44 AM
I'll add to this exercise. The link below averages the bracket seed from 50 or so bracketologists (everyone has an opinion!). At this time, Duke would be a #2 seed (seems reasonable to me) but UCLA would be a #6 seed. #7 seeds are Syracuse, Texas, Utah and Butler. If that would turn out to be the case, I like the Devils chances of making it the the Sweet 16.

http://bracketproject.50webs.com/matrix.htm

gw67

Kedsy
02-27-2009, 10:54 AM
Curious to know if anyboldy else gets those premonitions about meeting other teams in the tourney. Or maybe I'm just weird...

Believe it or not, I had a premonition about West Virginia last year. I'm a little nervous about them again this year.

FerryFor50
02-27-2009, 10:58 AM
Believe it or not, I had a premonition about West Virginia last year. I'm a little nervous about them again this year.

I'm not. No Joe Alexanders to worry about.

mr. synellinden
02-27-2009, 11:43 AM
I've had a Villanova in the Sweet 16 premonition for a while. Perhaps because I fear them and their group of athletic guards.

mehmattski
02-27-2009, 12:00 PM
Believe it or not, I had a premonition about West Virginia last year. I'm a little nervous about them again this year.

Ken Pomeroy's site (http://kenpom.com/rate.php) has had West Virginia consistently ranked in the top ten all year (I think they were even #1 at one point back in January). By the stats they play some stifling defense against some of the top offenses (UConn, Pitt, Marquette) in the country, although they've lost a bunch of those games. When it comes to what we should expect in an individual game, sometimes how a team has played overall is more important than specific wins or losses.

With that in mind, it's possible that because of wins and losses, WV will get a low seed. Then they could perhaps surprise a top ranked team with their elite defense... for example their 3pt% against is number 2 in the country. On the offensive side, Da'Sean Butler and Alex Rouff have an offensive rating very similar to our own Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer. I think it would be a very close game.

jimsumner
02-27-2009, 12:05 PM
I could imagine a potential Krzyzewski-Boeheim matchup appealing to the powers-that-be.

Not that they pay any attention to that sort of thing.

fisheyes
02-27-2009, 12:07 PM
I could imagine a potential Krzyzewski-Boeheim matchup appealing to the powers-that-be.

Not that they pay any attention to that sort of thing.

I with you on this one...the Olympic coaches going up against one another.

Kedsy
02-27-2009, 12:41 PM
Ken Pomeroy's site (http://kenpom.com/rate.php) has had West Virginia consistently ranked in the top ten all year (I think they were even #1 at one point back in January). By the stats they play some stifling defense against some of the top offenses (UConn, Pitt, Marquette) in the country, although they've lost a bunch of those games. When it comes to what we should expect in an individual game, sometimes how a team has played overall is more important than specific wins or losses.

With that in mind, it's possible that because of wins and losses, WV will get a low seed. Then they could perhaps surprise a top ranked team with their elite defense... for example their 3pt% against is number 2 in the country. On the offensive side, Da'Sean Butler and Alex Rouff have an offensive rating very similar to our own Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer. I think it would be a very close game.

That's exactly what makes me nervous.