(03-31-2021 01:36 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 01:12 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 01:01 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 11:21 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(03-30-2021 11:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Yes, the national title drought extends to 21 years.

All those high seeds.

I hope this performance stays in the minds of the committee for years to come. Completely overrated!

Agree that the BIG was over-rated this year, but I’m not sure that there is agreement on the lesson for the Selection Committee.

To me, the BIG should have never received two #1s and two #2s. There were not enough OOC games and the traditional metrics (NET, RPI, KenPom efficiency, etc) were warped by the unique COVID scheduling. The selection committee should have done a better job recognizing the implications of COVID and then made seeding and selection adjustments.

Normally, the metrics make sense. This COVID year, the Selection Committee didn’t use common sense to compensate for the unusual pandemic. In 2021, the Selection Committee took the safe, lazy approach and pretended that this was a normal year.

I’m not sure that I want the Selection Committee to change their long-term approach (incorrectly assuming that COVID ramifications will necessarily impact next year’s metrics).

I'll give you credit for acknowledging this is a one year problem unlike other people on this board. But if you didn't "use the metrics" and you were to compensate for the COVID year, how would you have done that? And "make UCLA a #1 seed" is the lazy answer, they had lost their last four games coming into the tournament.

The Selection Committee should have seen the flaws with the extreme metrics imbalance towards the BIG and B12. Alabama, Florida State, Villanova and Loyola should have had higher seeds. Even though the ACC had a horrible year, several ACC teams were also surprisingly under seeded in the Tournament.

In addition, the bubble teams should have leaned away from the power conferences. Maryland and Michigan State having losing in-conference records should have been huge red flags.

This should be true for ANY Year, ANY Conference.

well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

(03-31-2021 02:31 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 01:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than the other two.

Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than UCLA and Houston in terms of offensive production. And they offer more future NBA players. They are clearly "better" in the areas that are "seeable."

But UCLA and Houston offer so many intangibles: toughness, fearlessness, the ability to stay focused in crunch time, the accepting of roles and staying within one's role, selflessness, chemistry.

I tend to think Baylor will overwhelm Houston with its high-octane offense. But I doubt the Bears have faced a defensive and offensive rebounding team like the Cougars. Houston gets in your face and plays ugly and nasty. And that type team can be very dangerous in a presssure-packed, high-stakes game like the semifinals.

As to UCLA ... the Bruins could get steamrolled by the Zags. But UCLA might just have that one intangible that you can't underestimate: fate. UCLA lost four in a row at the end of the season, gets an 11 seed against Michigan State. The situation seemed dire. And then ... boom. Five straight wins in the tourney, which is tough to do under any circumstance. And Hep in the stands sending good karma.

The "fun final" would be Gonzaga vs. Baylor.

But the "compelling final" would be UCLA vs. Houston.

Yes, UCLA has Hep C.

Wonder if Gonzaga knows how to treat that?

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

How much of this decline is due to the different time of the week, how much due to which teams were playing, and how much because the games were aired on TBS instead of CBS? I don't think we can read anything into these ratings.

(03-31-2021 05:17 PM)esayem Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 02:31 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 01:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than the other two.

Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than UCLA and Houston in terms of offensive production. And they offer more future NBA players. They are clearly "better" in the areas that are "seeable."

But UCLA and Houston offer so many intangibles: toughness, fearlessness, the ability to stay focused in crunch time, the accepting of roles and staying within one's role, selflessness, chemistry.

I tend to think Baylor will overwhelm Houston with its high-octane offense. But I doubt the Bears have faced a defensive and offensive rebounding team like the Cougars. Houston gets in your face and plays ugly and nasty. And that type team can be very dangerous in a presssure-packed, high-stakes game like the semifinals.

As to UCLA ... the Bruins could get steamrolled by the Zags. But UCLA might just have that one intangible that you can't underestimate: fate. UCLA lost four in a row at the end of the season, gets an 11 seed against Michigan State. The situation seemed dire. And then ... boom. Five straight wins in the tourney, which is tough to do under any circumstance. And Hep in the stands sending good karma.

The "fun final" would be Gonzaga vs. Baylor.

But the "compelling final" would be UCLA vs. Houston.

Yes, UCLA has Hep C.

Wonder if Gonzaga knows how to treat that?

This ranks among the most clever posts this board has ever seen.

Stupendous.

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

Yeah, that probably means they revert to the old schedule. The two elite 8 games on CBS were the two least-watched elite 8 games ever on CBS, and the two elite 8 games on TBS were two of the three least-watched elite 8 games ever on TBS.

(03-31-2021 05:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

How much of this decline is due to the different time of the week, how much due to which teams were playing, and how much because the games were aired on TBS instead of CBS? I don't think we can read anything into these ratings.

Really? There's not much else on to watch. COVID killed new programming. Even streaming services have little new. The ratings should have been up. And the games have been good. Occam's razor.

(03-31-2021 05:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

How much of this decline is due to the different time of the week, how much due to which teams were playing, and how much because the games were aired on TBS instead of CBS? I don't think we can read anything into these ratings.

Recently TBS airs two regional finals and CBS airs two regional finals each year so the network is not a factor. It's the days of the week.

(03-31-2021 05:34 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 05:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

How much of this decline is due to the different time of the week, how much due to which teams were playing, and how much because the games were aired on TBS instead of CBS? I don't think we can read anything into these ratings.

Really? There's not much else on to watch. COVID killed new programming. Even streaming services have little new. The ratings should have been up. And the games have been good. Occam's razor.

Yeah, but for whatever reason, sports ratings have been down pretty much across the board since covid. You would think it would be the opposite but that hasn’t been the case.

(03-31-2021 05:43 PM)MKPitt Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 05:34 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 05:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 04:55 PM)stever20 Wrote:  well, think this quiets the talk on changing the schedule...

do think some was teams related but still....

How much of this decline is due to the different time of the week, how much due to which teams were playing, and how much because the games were aired on TBS instead of CBS? I don't think we can read anything into these ratings.

Really? There's not much else on to watch. COVID killed new programming. Even streaming services have little new. The ratings should have been up. And the games have been good. Occam's razor.

Yeah, but for whatever reason, sports ratings have been down pretty much across the board since covid. You would think it would be the opposite but that hasn’t been the case.

Yes, that is a big mystery. As you say, with people being stuck inside more, and even unable to attend games, you'd think viewership would be up but it's way down.

A theory, purely speculative: Maybe the fractured politics is to blame. Sports is a unifying force, something we identify with. Usually it cuts across all political boundaries because it's usually not political. If we're in LA, I may love Trump, you may hate Trump, but we both can love the Dodgers because the Dodgers have nothing to do with Trump one way or the other.

But with the politicization of sports, especially since George Floyd and the virus, people of all political stripes are not feeling unified with their teams as much, or with sports generally. Once something is politicized, everyone looks at it with a colder eye, not the warm fuzzy feeling of fandom. Conservatives now recoil at the BLM messages from sports, while liberals may feel they aren't doing enough in a social justice direction. A team owner announces that masks have to be worn at the ballpark, that creates a split, etc.

How do they calculate (or do they at all) viewership in bars, restaurants, etc.

For me, March Madness was usually kicked off by going to a place that showed it on big screens, and watching multiple games at once on various TV's.

(03-31-2021 02:31 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(03-31-2021 01:02 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than the other two.

Baylor and Gonzaga are much better than UCLA and Houston in terms of offensive production. And they offer more future NBA players. They are clearly "better" in the areas that are "seeable."

As to UCLA ... the Bruins could get steamrolled by the Zags. But UCLA might just have that one intangible that you can't underestimate: fate. UCLA lost four in a row at the end of the season, gets an 11 seed against Michigan State. The situation seemed dire. And then ... boom. Five straight wins in the tourney, which is tough to do under any circumstance. And Hep in the stands sending good karma.

The "fun final" would be Gonzaga vs. Baylor.

But the "compelling final" would be UCLA vs. Houston.

UCLA plays tough, physical defense under Cronin and they have been able to limit their turnovers, control the pace and turn the games into ugly defensive slugfests. On offense the UCLA coaching staff has been able to find matchups that they like and can exploit. But Gonzaga is a different animal. I think Gonzaga is the best college team in America. They do not appear to have any offensive weaknesses, they play tough defense and they have a great coach. This will be an interesting challenge for the Bruins. They have gone 5-0 in the tourney with no player having any previous tournament experience, so they have met the challenge to this point.

No matter what the results of this game are, I believe these two schools will be squaring off for the next decade. UCLA has the No.1 player in California coming in the fall. They have the No.1 player in California committed to UCLA in 2023. The No.2 ranked player in the nation is deciding between the G League and UCLA. Chris Smith, their best player who was lost to an ACL injury, could return as a medical redshirt next fall. There are no seniors on the current team, so it is possible that most or all of the roster returns. They are going to be loaded with talent.

Gonzaga is also loading up with talent. They have the No.6 ranked player in the nation coming in and they are favored to land the No.1 ranked player in the nation. The roster is already loaded. UCLA and Gonzaga look like they will be the two best teams on the west coast for the next decade. I expect them to schedule regular season games with each other in the future and meet again in the NCAA Tournament.