bugatti

I think your average person would be shocked at how many kids are homeschooled. Estimates are around 3.5 million. That number accelerated during COVID, but other factors, such as school safety, religion, and quality, have kept the number steady.

I know what you say is (partly) in jest, but this is the proverbial circle of life of the educational system and, by extension, a productive society. I will hear arguments about the unfairness of those without kids in the system questioning why they have to contribute. The educational system is drained already, so if you believe it can be supported alone by those utilizing it, the math just doesn't math.

Also. Bye-bye, Cinderella. For the second consecutive year, only P5 schools have advanced to the Sweet 16.

Ha. Even as horrid as the defense was on that play, it was a clutch shot that you are not accustomed to seeing college players make. Vandy/Nebraska was awesome. Haymakers being thrown down the stretch.

Y'all know I am not the biggest college basketball fan. But I have to admit, the play and quality, especially down the stretch in some of these games, have been great to watch and on a higher level.

I didn't listen, just going by your post here. But assuming he said all this, what a bizarre thing for a head coach to say. He has had multiple odd encounters with the media.

A true PG would have tremendously helped matters this season. We can debate the merits of bringing in Lowe, but if he was who Pope and others thought he would/could be, then this is a different team. Not a contender, but maybe in that tier below.

The sad part about yesterday is that the final score should have been MUCH worse. Had Iowa State somewhat been on their game out of the gates and UK wasn't making some junk shots, this could have easily been a 35+ point beatdown.

If we are talking ONLY football and basketball, then that is fine if you want to make that case. And I'm fine entertaining that conference X is on top, but let's not be prisoners of the moment. This time last year, the SEC sent 14 teams to the NCAA tournament, which, by most metrics, was the most challenging conference in college basketball history, had two teams in the Final Four, and an eventual national champion, Florida. Even this year a quarter of the Sweet 16 are SEC teams (6 are from the B1G). I believe these things will continue to ebb and flow, with the power residing in these select few conferences.

They called several and assisted those coaches in getting pay raises. ?

I suppose Jasper somewhat has a handle, so it was a straw grasp. You knew 20 seconds in he didn’t belong on the court.

Correct. The final spread could have been 30 points.

They’re not that good and really shouldn’t be playing today. But, all credit to ISU for the defensive havoc they’re causing.

Not saying you’re right or wrong, but I’ve stopped trying to understand timeout logic at the college basketball level. I’m an NBA guy where timeouts are linked more to strategy. In college, they are about stopping momentum with a hopefulness of preserving only one timeout for the final minute. It drives me nuts.

Who is the better defender? Collin Chandler, or a cardboard cutout of Collin Chandler? Same with handling the ball. His inspiration must be those old Bob Cousy clips where he is dribbling the ball out in front of himself.

UK pulled a few shots out of their rears that they normally would not make. Iowa State left a lot of points on the board. Could easily be 40-25 at the half. Once the Cyclones ratcheted up the defense, it was a struggle to even dribble the ball.

I thought the missed travel by Oweh and the Santa Clara guy being called for a foul on Oweh’s layup attempt late in regulation (Oweh went 1-2 from the line) were bigger misses than failing to catch the timeout. Still, if I were a Santa Clara fan, I’d be miffed about the timeout miss. Still a fluke play and I’d rather take my chances how it unfolded rather than giving UK a chance to set up a play.

Some tough officiating down the stretch. I can't imagine the Santa Clara alumni group chat is a pleasant place at this time.

Never a doubt ?

I will never understand how UNC made that championship game. I could have never imagined Davis having the wherewithal to coach up a team to that level. Granted, he was an assistant at UNC before being elevated to the head coaching role, but he was one of the first examples of blue-blood college basketball programs having to take risks that they would not normally have taken (see UK and UL). In fairness, much of my bias comes from me watching Davis all of those years as an ESPN studio analyst. I always thought he was terrible in that role.

I assume SMU will win the play-in game, but this is much more compelling than Auburn or whatever other 10th-place power school team that would make it over them. And look, I totally get the metric argument. And fundamentally, I am with that sentiment. But it's college basketball. The first weekend of the tournament is built on storylines and entertainment, not threats to win it all. If I were the Sports Tsar, the play-in games would be strictly based on entertainment value. The "Last 4" wouldn't exist. It would be 8 teams competing for all 4 of the 11 seeds. And to be frank, if you were rooting for Auburn to make it in over Miami (OH), that means you were rooting for Steven Pearl, and by extension, Bruce Pearl. This was the karma Gods working their magic for how they shadily treated their transfer of power. Heck with those dudes.

Acuff Jr. is the type of dude that can drag a team to the Final Four by himself. Calipari got himself another future NBA baller.

Correct. Even when it became interesting, did anyone think they were going to win? It has been since 2019 that UK has advanced to the semi-finals of the SEC tournament. (2020 they would have been the #1 seed going into the SEC tournament but, COVID).

Yeah, I don't know if that is a talking point all these mid-majors use or what, but that seems odd.

Saw a stat last week, so forgive me if I do not have this 100% accurate. Since the expansion of the tournament to 64 teams (mid-80s), there has been one power conference team with a losing conference record to make the Final Four. There have been 10 mid-majors. This is not a statement that I believe Miami (OH) is anywhere near Final Four caliber... they're not. But neither is Auburn, nor whatever flailing power-school making their plea. I am a lot more concerned with appropriate seeding for the top seeds than with metrics like NET ratings, SOS, or whatever variables are being used to make the case for a 10th-place conference team getting in as team 68. The point being, it is silly discourse.