Going to do 1 thread for both Monday/Tuesday with only 2 games each night-
Mon: Both on CBS
7:15 Midwest Final #12 Oregon St vs #2 Houston
9:57 South Final #3 Arkansas vs #1 Baylor
Tue: Both on TBS
7:15 West Final #6 USC vs #1 Gonzaga
9:57 East Final #11 UCLA vs #1 Michigan

Notwithstanding the upsets, there is still the possibility that this will be one of the "chalkiest" final fours ever.

2008 is the only year in which all four #1 seeds made the final four.

This year could have a 1-1-1-2 final four, which would tie 2021 for second in this category with 1993.

Beyond those two, there was a 1-1-2-2 final four in 2007, and 1-1-1-4 in both 1997 and 1999. 2001 had 1-1-2-3, a combination that is also possible this season. 2015's 1-1-1-7 also had three top seeds make it through.

On the other side of the coin: No #12 seed has ever made the final four, and there has never been a final four with more than one double-digit seed.

MGM betting lines for elite eight games -- the oddsmakers really like all of the favorites. Houston is -8, Baylor and Michigan -7.5, Gonzaga -9.

4 West Coast schools (3 PAC, 1 WCC), 3 Southwest schools (3 former SWC), and 1 Midwest school (B1G).

Elite 8 and better appearances (notated by final round for each year):

Arkansas: 1 Championship (94), 1 Runner-Up (95), 4 Final Four (41, 45, 78, 90), 4 Elite 8 (49, 58, 79, 91)

Baylor: 0 Championships, 1 Runner-Up (48), 1 Final Four (50), 2 Elite 8 (10, 12)

Gonzaga: 0 Championships, 1 Runner-Up (17), 0 Final Four, 3 Elite 8 (99, 17, 19)

Houston: 0 Championships, 2 Runners-Up (83, 84), 3 Final Four (67, 68, 82), 0 Elite 8

Michigan: 1 Championship (89), 6 Runners-Up (65, 76, 92, 93, 13, 18), 1 Final Four (64), 6 Elite 8 (48, 66, 74, 77, 94, 14)

Oregon St: 0 Championships, 0 Runners-Up, 2 Final Four (49, 63), 5 Elite 8 (47, 55, 62, 66, 82)

UCLA: 11 Championships (64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 95), 2 Runners-Up (80, 06), 5 Final Four (62, 74, 76, 07, 08), 4 Elite 8 (50, 79, 92, 97)

USC: 0 Championships, 0 Runners-Up, 2 Final Four (40, 54), 1 Elite 8 (01)

Overall: 13 Championships, 13 Runners-Up, 18 Final Four, 25 Elite 8

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We will for sure have 2 Final Four teams who have never won a national championship (Gonzaga/USC & Houston/Oregon St). We will for sure have 1 Final Four team who has won a national championship (Michigan/UCLA).

Any thoughts on Houston not facing a single digit seed to get to the final four? How fortuitous.
My prediction is that two of the favorites lose. Don't know which two, but if I had to guess I'll go all L.A. and say Zaga and Michigan.

I like all the 1 seeds to prevail. Gonzaga will have the stiffest test most likely, and that USC team is the one that has enough talent to play with the 1 seeds. If the Zags beat USC they are probably unstopable.

Houston vs Oregon State is going to be very close. Houston is good, nut there is a definite gap to the #1 seeds. Would not shock me if Oregon State upset them.

What's interesting to me is that, all the upsets aside, my two biggest pre-tournament questions are still unresolved:

1) Can Gonzaga complete a perfect season for the first time since the Ford administration?

To put this in perspective, the last time a team completed an unbeaten season, Jim Boeheim had yet to coach his first game as Syracuse head coach. He's coached 1492 of them since.

2) Can the B1G win a national title for the first time since the Clinton administration?

The B1G is consistently one of the three best hoops conferences, so this 20-year drought is astonishing.

Both are still in play. Like others, I expect them to be in play after this round. Gonzaga and Michigan should both roll in to the Final Four.

At least I can watch Paige Bueckers instead of the Pathetic 12.

(03-28-2021 11:13 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Going to do 1 thread for both Monday/Tuesday with only 2 games each night-
Mon: Both on CBS
7:15 Midwest Final #12 Oregon St vs #2 Houston
9:57 South Final #3 Arkansas vs #1 Baylor
Tue: Both on TBS
7:15 West Final #6 USC vs #1 Gonzaga
9:57 East Final #11 UCLA vs #1 Michigan

Just realized the schedule. Sure, just make the one ET team wait until almost 10pm on a weeknight to play while the #1 team in the country plays at 4:15 local time.

They deserve the lowest ratings in NCAA Tournament history. A USC-Gonzaga late game actually has a prayer of getting decent ratings. BYU-UCLA late got good ratings. I wonder why.

(03-29-2021 03:10 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  I like all the 1 seeds to prevail. Gonzaga will have the stiffest test most likely, and that USC team is the one that has enough talent to play with the 1 seeds. If the Zags beat USC they are probably unstopable.

Houston vs Oregon State is going to be very close. Houston is good, nut there is a definite gap to the #1 seeds. Would not shock me if Oregon State upset them.

not very close at half, 34 houston, 17 OSU...

OH OH!! Houston is running roughshod through the NCAA like Memphis ran through the NIT. Everyone disregarded the AAC but it appears that the only team that could give them a legit battle was Memphis. They play identically. Could the AAC win the NCAA & NIT this year? If so that would be 2 NCAA and NIT championships in 8 years. [/align]

(03-28-2021 11:13 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Going to do 1 thread for both Monday/Tuesday with only 2 games each night-
Mon: Both on CBS
7:15 Midwest Final #12 Oregon St vs #2 Houston
9:57 South Final #3 Arkansas vs #1 Baylor
Tue: Both on TBS
7:15 West Final #6 USC vs #1 Gonzaga
9:57 East Final #11 UCLA vs #1 Michigan

This is what you get when you schedule the Elite 8 on Wednesday and Tuesday nights. CBS wants to have no competition for either game, so one of them is going to get largely ignored on the east coast because it starts so late. Fortunately Michigan is the only ETZ team still playing. But it sure would have made more sense to have the two west coast teams play the late game tomorrow. Would it have been so hard to change the schedule once they knew which teams would be playing?

(03-29-2021 07:49 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(03-28-2021 11:13 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Going to do 1 thread for both Monday/Tuesday with only 2 games each night-
Mon: Both on CBS
7:15 Midwest Final #12 Oregon St vs #2 Houston
9:57 South Final #3 Arkansas vs #1 Baylor
Tue: Both on TBS
7:15 West Final #6 USC vs #1 Gonzaga
9:57 East Final #11 UCLA vs #1 Michigan

This is what you get when you schedule the Elite 8 on Wednesday and Tuesday nights. CBS wants to have no competition for either game, so one of them is going to get largely ignored on the east coast because it starts so late. Fortunately Michigan is the only ETZ team still playing. But it sure would have made more sense to have the two west coast teams play the late game tomorrow. Would it have been so hard to change the schedule once they knew which teams would be playing?

Ratings will suffer with tomorrow’s schedule

If that shot left his hand in time- that was remarkable.

This game headed towards an exciting end.

(03-29-2021 08:20 PM)Tigersmoke4 Wrote:  This game headed towards an exciting end.

not so much but Houston is advancing.

Oregon State deserves all the credit in the world. Excellent comeback that will fall just short.

(03-29-2021 08:27 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Oregon State deserves all the credit in the world. Excellent comeback that will fall just short.

yeah that 1-3-1 got them for a while but Houston just a bit too good- and also OSU had a few mistakes there at the end that killed them..

(03-29-2021 07:27 PM)Tigersmoke4 Wrote:  OH OH!! Houston is running roughshod through the NCAA like Memphis ran through the NIT. Everyone disregarded the AAC but it appears that the only team that could give them a legit battle was Memphis. They play identically. Could the AAC win the NCAA & NIT this year? If so that would be 2 NCAA and NIT championships in 8 years. [/align]

Houston has beaten a 15 seed, a 10 seed, an 11 seed, and a 12 seed. I'm not ready to crown them national champions yet. In the Final Four, they'll either get a #1 or a #3 seed.

Congrats to Houston! I really enjoy watching this team and I wouldn’t mind seeing them take it all home. Sampson seems like he’ll succeed in this new transfer portal world we’re entering.