2010 NCAA Tourney: what's your rooting interest?
by ucla139 on Mar 16, 2010 9:19 AM PDT
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PrintBumped. GO BRUINS. -N
Here is link to the official 2010 NCAA Tournament bracket on ESPN:
Now, yes, I know; watching the NCAA Tournament without our Bruins is going to be tough. But, really..."I'm not even going to watch because UCLA's not in"? Yeah I know, we're all UCLA fans first, but we're also sports fans in general, and not watching the NCAA Tournament means depriving ourselves of one of the great sports fan rituals of the year. Personally, here's how I'm going to make the tournament exciting for myself:
- Root like hell for Montana (#14 seed) in Round 1; sister graduated from there last June.
- Either root for Florida to get completely decimated (we're talking like a 45-point blowout) or come up on the short end of an all-time miracle finish (75-foot buzzer-beater for a one-point BYU win, maybe?).
- Root for Notre Dame to reach the Final Four. Even if you hate the Irish, I mean, come on; almost no school has as rich of a sports tradition as ND, and have they had ANY moments of happiness sports-wise in the last 10 years?
- Root for Cal to upset Duke and reach the Sweet Sixteen. I know a lot of people here don't like Cal, but after this Pac-10 season don't we need SOME conference pride? And it's not like we'd be rooting for Cal to beat 1990 Loyola Marymount here; we're talking about 2010 Duke. So yeah, go Bears at least for the time being.
- Root for any and all teams against Kentucky and the cheating ways of John Cal.
- Enjoy all the usual things about March Madness: gluing my eyes to the TV when a 16 seed comes within 4 points of a 1 seed, jumping on a 15 seed's bandwagon in the final two minutes even if it would destroy my bracket, hardly breathing in the final 10 seconds of a one-point game, etc etc etc. There's nothing quite like the NCAA Tourney experience, and I love it.
For the final time: yes, it sucks that UCLA will not be participating this year. But you know what? We'll be back, and very soon; I still trust Howland, and believe that the Jerime/Lee/Honeycutt/Nelson/Smith quintet has enough talent to bring us back to the postseason next year. For now, though, it's just time to enjoy one of the simple pleasures of being a sports fan, for me anyway.
So who are you guys rooting for? Let's discuss!
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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My strategy when the Bruins aren't in...
pick a team and ride them all the way. Haha. And this year I’ve decided that team is Baylor. I love how they play and in the weakest bracket, they have a legit shot at the final 4. So let’s go Bears!!
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
Being in Big 12 country
I’ve watched Baylor play a number of times this year. They’re impressive. I think Baylor and Kansas State. I wouldn’t be surprised if both reached the Final Four in addition to Kansas.
being in Big 12 country
you wouldn’t be surprised if 3 big 12 teams made the final four…?
Baylor have an ok shot – Villanova is a weak 2 seed – but K-State have tough games from game 2 onwards and would have only one off-day to prepare for Syracuse…
by britishbruin on Mar 16, 2010 8:11 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm not saying I'm guaranteeing three in
and I’ve admitted elsewhere that I’ve not followed the national scene a lot this year. However, I do know I’ve seen K-State play a number of times. I think it’s fair to say KU is a strong team this year, as they’ve been #1 most of the year and were pretty much a consensus overall #1 seed. I’ve seen nearly all of KU’s games, and I think three of their toughest five games this year were the three against K-State – and the other two were their two losses.
So yeah, not promising it, but I’m just saying it wouldn’t surprise me.
sure
sitting in DC, I wouldn’t be surprised if Georgetown makes a run… :-)
It’s interesting trying to work it out – most of the top teams haven’t played out of conference since December, so perceptions of the top teams are mostly based on how they have done in their conference, and the perception of that overall conference.
According to the Ken Pom ratings here, K-State has played a really legit schedule overall and done pretty well. Things that stand out to me from the rankings (if they are taken as relatively unbiased with human element removed):
Duke, Wisconsin, Ohio State, BYU, Maryland and Cal are all greatly downgraded in people’s perceptions due to the overall weakness of their conference, regardless of their own performances in the non-conference and their manner of success in conference.
Kentucky is way up in people’s perceptions due to hype around star players, TV coverage, flashy coach. Villanova is way up in people’s perceptions due to playing in the Big East, some TV hype (ESPN loves Scottie Reynolds), and perhaps due to previous tourney performance.
by britishbruin on Mar 16, 2010 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
my rooting interest = UCLA spring ball
I just can’t get excited about the tourney when we’re not a factor in it. Maybe root for Duke to lose early
Anyone but Calipari
And his band of mercenaries.
by Alanamaslama on Mar 15, 2010 11:31 PM PDT up reply actions
Root for Pac 10
For the Aztecs. against Calipari, Duke, Florida…..But most of all I’ll be watching the 8th seeded Bruins in the Women’s tourney:
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/tournament/bracket
Go Bruins!
Go Bruins!
I think you have to clarify "rooting"
Normally, I hae a rooting hierarchy. As follows:
1. UCLA
2. Win $
3. Teams/Coaches/Players I like
I usually don’t worry much about the third level because the first two tend to dominate. So without UCLA in the mix, the others get bumped up a notch. Since I haven’t finished my bracket research, I’ll go with the third level preferences:
UCSB, SDSU, and for Kentucky to lose
So, I did some number crunching
to see which teams appeared to be favored a lot more by KenPom’s pythagorean calculations than by Las Vegas (not for gambling purposes – I would never mean to encourage that).
Running a simulation based on his numbers, the model predicted that the Duke Blue Devils would have a nearly 30% probability of winning the whole thing, despite Vegas odds of 8-1.
But I cannot in good conscience root for Duke at any time.
So, who else looked like good value for a bet they were unduly lowly thought of by the betting public compared with model predictions? I was delighted to find that the second most underrated team (by my judgment) is the Big 10 school whose mascot features heavily at this site.
(Some of you have been there in the football season, I think, but my sense is that it has been updated recently. You’re welcome.)
by britishbruin on Mar 15, 2010 7:07 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I'm more of a root against fan
I root against all the cheaters, so that means Calipari stands out as a guy I root against.
I root against home teams (other than UCLA of course), so that means any team playing on or near their home floor will be a team I want to see get beat. I want other teams fans to have to sit through an excruciating home loss.
I root against all favorites. Let’s have four number 16’s beat four number one’s.
I root against anyone Dickie V roots for (i.e., anyone from east of the Mississippi). I root against anyone any blowhard on TV touts as a real sleeper. I especially root against anyone who CHP says anything good about.
I root against any team with an obvious one-and-done-er.
I pretty much don’t want any team to win. I know that sets me up for a disappointment, but my disappointment started when we got beat by Cal State Disneyland.
I have to pretty much agree with every single one of these
I also root that the Sam Adams in my kegerator makes it to the second weekend, and that my wife won’t ask me how long I’m gonna sit in front of the TV until mid-afternoon of the first Thursday.
But if pressed for a favorite…Go Gauchos!
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Little interest
This is the first time in many years that I didn’t even care about “Selection Sunday”, and didn’t even check the brackets until Monday night, even then just to see how many Pac 10 teams got in and then closed it. No printouts, no office pool, just focusing on track and field season now.
But one thing is for sure, I will be rooting for all teams that play Kentucky and slimy coach calip.
If I had a gun to my head and told I had to root for some team it’d probably be U-dub, just because of the Pac 10 and Bruin connections.
Easy money and faithless women, red-eye whiskey for the pain...
I think I even have you beat.
I have been so busy watching the Bruin baseball and woman’s basketball teams, that I didn’t even know it was Selection Sunday. I still haven’t seen the brackets and I don’t think I want to look. As with you , I am not sure I even care.
This season was so disappointing that it seems to have sucked the basketball life right out of me. If I don’t see a basketball game until next season, I am pretty sure that I will be quite happy(other than to see how the woman are doing). I will follow the baseball team and thoroughly enjoy discussing the upcoming football season and all the euphoria that it will bring come September.
I think this is the first time that I didn’t pick some underdog team and follow them until their demise. A truly sad state of affairs.
by LongtimeBru on Mar 15, 2010 10:03 PM PDT up reply actions
I will pull against Duke
If I’m going to pull for anybody it would be Kansas. I like their history and program. And, I always felt bad that they got stuck with Roy Williams. I always said they would not win an NC with Williams at the helm and I was right. I made no such predictions for his hire at UNC.
I usually pull for underdogs because I love to see upsets. Ordinarily I pull for all Pac 10 teams not known for paying players or owning police forces. But I just don’t see Cal beating Louisville much less Duke.
I’ll probably pull for Tennessee for sentimental reasons than anything else.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
True on Tennessee
They were very good to us. I’d be happy to see them do well.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Me too!
Definitely pulling for TN. They got a tough road and should have been a slightly higher seed. Otherwise, I root for upsets, buzzer beaters, anyone to beat calimari, and other Pac-10 teams outside of the trogans and arizona. Don’t have to worry about them this year! :)
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Nope - Pearl is another root-against for me.
Pearl is as big a weasel as Lame. I couldnt’ tell my Volunteer friends here in Geezerville that they had just married a hooker until Lame got run out of town. I also can’t tell them about what a douchebag Pearl is until he gets the heave-ho.
But I can’t root for him despite our kinship to the Vols.
Awww really?
I have some things I think he could change that might help them win more games (being more disciplined being one) but as a person he doesn’t seem douchy to me. He seems like a great motivator for the guys and someone who just loves the game. I don’t know anything about him at all off the court so I’m not saying you are wrong – I just haven’t seen it myself.
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
For some strange reason
I’ve found it really hard to get into college basketball this year. I really enjoy watching KU, but there wasn’t much suspense in their seeding. Here’s my ‘rooting hierarchy’ (to steal the great idea from Nars):
1. if you have to ask you don’t belong here
2. any of the eight other amateur Pac-10 teams
3. Kansas (now that I live and work here)
4. whoever plays Florida, Duke, or whatever school Calipari is coaching this week
5. Kansas State and Baylor, at least this year
6. any underdog and/or non-Pac-10 school (go Gauchos!)
Since #1 won’t happen, and #2 won’t because I think Cal and UW are both going to get destroyed, I think it would be fun to see the top Big 12 teams do well. I know I’ve been talking a lot about the Big 12 lately, but it’s because they have three really strong teams that are actually fun to watch. I just want to emphasize that they fall no higher than 3 on my list.
Stealing form you and Nars: my ‘rooting hierarchy’
1. if you have to ask you don’t belong here
2. Michigan (not in the tourney either)
So with that … if I games are on background when I am at a bar or at friends in next two weeks:
3. whoever is playing Kentucky/Kansas/Duke
Looks like we'll be rooting against each other for 5 or 6 games
when Kansas plays. Interesting – the Final Four is set up so a potential Kansas/Kansas State game would be in the national semis. It’s usually hard enough to beat a top-5/top-10 team twice. KU beat K-State twice in the regular season (including a 2-point win) and then again in the conference final, so in this scenario it would take beating them four times to get to the title game.
Hell No to ND
I just can’t disassociate ND basketball from Digger Phelps.10 years of no happiness is not enough, poor bastards.
Here's my approach to this year's tourney:
Spend some quality time with family and build up some good will with them to carry with me to football season!
I’ll spare everyone a lot of wasted time and tell you the ultimate outcome: Kansas will win the tourney.
"I don't forget very much" Rick Neuheisel, 11/28/09
Keep the wife happy
My wife is a K-State alum so all year I have watch the Wild Cats play. Since the Bruins aren’t in this year to keep domestic tranquility, I’m rooting for Frank Martin’s team. Luckily UCLA hasn’t had to play them in BB.
When it was announced a few years ago that the Bruin Football team was playing KSU the smack began at once. Last year’s beat down of the Cats at the Rose Bowl didn’t sit well with the wifey and the smack began anew right after the game. We’ll be in Manhattan come Labor Day weekend for the second beat down of the Wildcats.
Hopefully we won’t ever have to play the Wildcats ever again in any sport. I hate sleeping on the couch, even if its for the sake of my beloved Bruins.
Going to be a short tourney for my 'interests'
With UCLA out, my interests are falling to some of the teams that my family and good friends are connected to, barring the obvious teams to root against – ie. Duke. Even these schools are a bit smaller in number this year: Cal, Marquette, and St. Marys.
Otherwise, I’ll probably wait to see what underdogs make it out of the 1st weekend, pull for Syracuse in terms of the 1-seeds, and root for whoever is playing against Duke and Kentucky/Calipari.
formerly bruinhoo
Gotta root for UCSB!!!
"We should have a banner up there: the only team to make the tournament without a coach." -- Baron Davis, remembering his "coach" at UCLA
by inhowlandwetrust on Mar 16, 2010 9:58 AM PDT reply actions
Agree with most above
If I had to pick a team to root for it would be Syracuse. I like the program CJB runs. A close second is Pittsburgh.
I will root against Sleazipari all day, every day, every game. Never liked Kentucky either.
I will root against Dook but only from the Sweet Sixteen on.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
No to the Cals
Both Calipari and the University of.
Pac-10, Shmac-10, I’ve never cared about conference pride.
Like Fox71, I’m more of a root against guy. No Duke, just to shut up Dookie V. No FLA, because they shouldn’t have been picked.
I’m strictly rooting the brackets: Siena and Xavier to go far as my dark horse picks, and KS to win it all (and it’s a classy program).
And I’ve always had a soft spot for Marquette, because Al McGuire was such a great person, and always gave the Bruins a lot of love when he was an announcer. Other than our banners and triumphs, his 1977 NC is my favorite college BB moment..
Eh, I'm not really a conference pride guy either
I refuse to root for Cal, even though family members of mine are alumni. I will however be rooting for Cornell to make a run to bolster the prestige of the Ivy League, because unlike the Pac-10, even in a down year, we really need the exposure and its always fun to see an Ivy do well in the tourney. That’s really really hard this year considering Princeton suffered two consecutive gut-wrenching 3 point losses to them this season but in the end it makes our season a lot better if Cornell proves to be the team that almost upset Kansas. I don’t really hate Cornell the way I hate Harvard or laugh at Penn so I can do stomach rooting for them this year.
All that said, Georgetown is the team I’m riding all the way. I’m the product of a Jesuit high school and Georgetown is the big boss of Jesuit schools and always brings it in the tourney. I always have them in every tourney unless they play the Bruins.
"Beating USC isn't a matter of life and death, it's more important than that" -Red Sanders-
by PrincetonBruin on Mar 16, 2010 11:50 AM PDT reply actions
None
UCLA and Illinois were both so dreadful this year that it’s made me actively dislike college basketball until next November.
But my dad went to Michigan State, so if I had to choose one school….
Just got done filling out my bracket and boy . . .
I’m really not feeling it this year. Nobody jumped out to me as good horses to pick. I picked a lot of favorites to win. Plus I picked Duke to lose early, something I’m sure will cost my bracket dearly. But, I can’t do it. I just can’t pick ‘em even when I know they’ll so well.
Also found my rooting interest in Pittsburgh and Jamie Dixon.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Living in Big 12 Land...
Realistically, I must acknowledge that Kansas is absolutely deadly, especially in the 2nd half of games where they have started a little “off.” Collins is simply not going to let his team lose, not to anybody. I believe this team gets in opposing teams’ heads, and they lose their ability to hold onto the lead they have, or to close the gap, however small. Kansas wins the mental part of this game, nearly every single time. I also like and respect Bill Self very much.
That being said, I have to hope for one of those heartwarming Cinderellas to grab my interest this year…can’t really root for Duke, everything about Kentucky is deeply abhorrent and always has been, and then they hired “Sleazipari,” (thanks for that one, tasser), I, like so many others, will always hold the Digger factor against ND…
…go smart guys! (Cornell), go Robert Morris Colonials! (who we beat in ’92), go Siena! (who beat the smart guys last year), go Woffard Terriers!
Love My Bruins
"Sleazipari" is good
I was always more partial to “Calimari.” Have you seen anything much yuckier than a squid? Although fried calimari tastes pretty good, so maybe “Calimari” won’t work.
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