NCAAT: West Region Discussion Thread (The 'O' States)

[JBDuke]

This is the collector thread for the West Regional contests for the first two weekends of the NCAA Men's Tournament. Note that Duke games will have their own discussion thread; this one is for discussing the rest of the games in the West. It's also for picking who you think will win the region.

[Pghdukie]

I'm taking the opposite whom ever Gottlieb says to take.

[dukebluesincebirth]

When will we know the dates/times of games?

[gurufrisbee]

I'm obviously pulling for Duke and I think A&M is a very solid team, but Oklahoma for a solid chunk of the season looked like the best team in the nation.

[JBDuke]

When will we know the dates/times of games?

IIRC, they make those decisions tonight and post the times for all of the games before morning.

[fuse]

Of course I want Duke to win it all.
Beat UNC-W and the winner of Baylor/Yale and we are then playing with house money.

[DukieInKansas]

ESPN shows us as 12:15et on Thursday. Not seeing the network channel yet.

[Bob Green]

Not seeing the network channel yet.

CBS.

[tbyers11]

We play 12:15 TH on CBS

https://twitter.com/stevewisemanNC/s...61005989756928

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Baylor presents a REALLY tough second round match up. If we could get to the second weekend, I will be pleased and like our chances.

[jipops]

I like our bracket a lot. Obviously getting by UNCW is no given, especially with the way we have been playing as of late. Losing the first game would not be remotely shocking but I think we've got a good shot.

UNCW:
I know nothing about them.

Baylor:
They Are comparable to us in terms of off and def efficiencies on the season. And like us they have had issues scoring lately. This could potentially be an interesting matchup and a very ugly one.

Oregon:
If we somehow manage through that then I like our chances against Oregon more than any of the other #1's.

Oklahoma:
I think Matt Jones on a healthy, well rested ankle could be very effective in defending Buddy Hield. I think I'd rather play them than A&M.

I know it's unlikely any of this will play out this way. But I do think Duke got a favorable draw here. And it is all moot if we can't even get past the first game.

[Saratoga2]

While I would love Duke to go all the way, I don't think it is in the cards this year. Oregon is a very good team as is Oklahoma, however, I feel Texas A&M is most likely to come out of the region. I think St Joseph's is a surprise team and will give Oregon a tough game. Baylor is big physical and deep. Not the kind of team Duke has done well against of late so I have Duke going out in the second round. To avoid that, all three of our scorers would need to click together and we would need to keep turnovers low while avoiding foul trouble for our bigs. I hope so but think we need luck there.

I think Texas Tech and Oklahoma come out of the first week. I expect Texas Tech to take Oklahoma and Oregon to reach the final 4. No compelling argument to support these ideas but some higher seeds typically lose out.

[Dukehky]

While I would love Duke to go all the way, I don't think it is in the cards this year. Oregon is a very good team as is Oklahoma, however, I feel Texas A&M is most likely to come out of the region. I think St Joseph's is a surprise team and will give Oregon a tough game. Baylor is big physical and deep. Not the kind of team Duke has done well against of late so I have Duke going out in the second round. To avoid that, all three of our scorers would need to click together and we would need to keep turnovers low while avoiding foul trouble for our bigs. I hope so but think we need luck there.

I think Texas Tech and Oklahoma come out of the first week. I expect Texas Tech to take Oklahoma and Oregon to reach the final 4. No compelling argument to support these ideas but some higher seeds typically lose out.

Baylor is going to lose to Yale. Mark it zero, Dude.

[Henderson]

Baylor is going to lose to Yale. Mark it zero, Dude.

It's not a league game.

[GGLC]

You guys are really underrating Oregon.

[MaxAMillion]

I actually won't be surprised if Duke loses in round 1. The team looks to be out of gas. If Plumlee doesn't play any better with the mask next week, Duke will get beat. This feels like Lehigh/Mercer to me.

[CDu]

You guys are really underrating Oregon.

I don't know. Both Pomeroy and Sagarin have Oregon as easily the worst #1 seed. Sagarin's ratings suggest the Ducks are only slightly above Duke. I would suggest that Oklahoma is better than Oregon.

[moonpie23]

checking the roster...yep, coach K still on there...

I'm going with DUKE

[Newton_14]

Baylor presents a REALLY tough second round match up. If we could get to the second weekend, I will be pleased and like our chances.

Yale forfeited then?


One game at a time, one opponent at a time. I just hope our guys can get rested up and somewhat healed up. They can beat anyone in the Country on proper rest, and they can get beat by just about anyone. Small margin of error.

They don't necessarily have to hit an abnormal amount of 3's to win, as they showed in Battle Of The Blues Rd 1 when they only hit 7 I believe, but they have to get to the line a lot, and they have to shoot well from the line and overall. And play good defense of course, be it zone or m2m.

There's little to no pressure/expectations, so go out there, give it all you got and see what happens.

[Troublemaker]

Baylor is going to lose to Yale. Mark it zero, Dude.

I remember when Duke played Yale earlier in the season, I was impressed enough to make a mental note back then to pick Yale as a 1st-round upset winner if they ended up making the tournament.

That said, Baylor's zone could be a bad matchup for them. Duke's 1-3-1 certainly made the difference in that game in November.