Game Thread: UCLA vs. Gonzaga...

[teamplayer]

I was going over their season earlier and they had a few tough close losses and 2 were right at the end or everyone would have had a way more favorable impression of them.

Three of the losses were in OT and Three of the losses were by 1 point.

L to tOSU by 7 in OT on 12/19/20
L to Stanford by 1 in OT on 1/23/21
L to USC by 1 on 3/6/21
L by Ore St by 1 in OT on 3/11/21 (Pac-12 Tour)

They were 17-9 after the Pac-12 Tourney but could have easily been 21-6 or better with a few breaks.

Their four losses in a row were also to 4 other Pac-12 teams who were all varying levels of hot themselves going into the tournament.

Colorado (Round of 32)
Oregon (Sweet Sixteen)
USC (Elite 8)
Oregon St (Elite 8) (Pac-12 Tour Champs)

UCLA was obviously severely under seeded not only as an 11-Seed but a play in 11-Seed.

They were probably a 3-Seed in reality based on how they have played the last few weeks.

A 3-Seed is supposed to make the Sweet 16 and then finds itself in a coin flip 2 vs 3 matchup there against a 2-seed (ALA).

They won that to basically create a 1 vs 3 Elite 8 matchup with Michigan, and then another 1 vs 3 matchup in the Final 4 vs Gonzaga.

I have no idea what the AP and Coaches Poll will do with them but if they aren't ranked at least 10th to 12th in the final polls after this NCAA Tournament run then the voters need their eyes checked and their heads examined.

The problem with all of that is that the seeding isn't done after the tournament. A team that is 17-9 and lost their last four games coming into the tournament would be pretty lucky to make it, and they were. I think they were seeded based upon how they had played up to that point. Now, once they were in the tournament, they played like a top seed and looked fantastic most of the time. They have some real play makers and were fun to watch, except against us.

 

[CraigD]

A 1-point game at the half yet it has failed to grab and hold my attention. Maybe the second half will be more intriguing/exciting, or something.

Foreshadowing

 

[CraigD]

Because the ncaa basketball tournament committee is the biggest clown show in sports, followed closely by the football playoff committee.

I’m just not so sure about this comment. I think the football selection process has worked pretty well for Bama

 

[DogPatch]

I’m just not so sure about this comment. I think the football selection process has worked pretty well for Bama

I'm not complaining, but don't confuse "works correctly" with "works for us."

 

[TideEngineer08]

I’m just not so sure about this comment. I think the football selection process has worked pretty well for Bama

I do not disagree. That is, however, because we have been so good that you could not keep us out. Yet, the one season where we fell obviously short, 2019, they still screwed us by shutting us out of the NY6 bowls. It worked out alright because we got to play a more interesting opponent in Michigan, and we won. But we were more deserving of the bigger payout of a NY6 bowl than most of the other selections.

Make no mistake, any committee picking playoff teams is a joke. It is political by default. Football is ok because they are only picking four teams and rarely more than three ever deserve it. It will become worse when the CFP expands to 6 or 8. Pray it doesn't expand further.