5wide

And, it's certainly not broke. There is no sports tournament, IMO, that is as good as the KHSAA basketball system beginning with the districts and ending at Rupp. If they start tinkering with it, they will ruin it. You can bet on that.

:thumb: I think that's pretty much what LMB was doing. Just pointing out that several teams in the state tournament featured transfers. Just a fact.

Is that a riddle?

Cantrall's ratings are fine. Look at the actual numbers behind the ratings and not just the position they're in. There is a grand total of 3.3 points difference between #1 (Shelby Valley) and #8 (Christian County). Basically, that means it's a toss-up and the order of teams could change signficantly in one game. I suspect Holmes ranking was affected by their low scoring games and low margin of victory. His rankings aren't much different than anyone else's. He basically shows that all of those teams have legitimate title hopes and I'm not sure anyone would argue that. I do think Holmes should be higher and Mason County lower, but it is what it is. As for Shelby Valley, they have as good of an argument to be #1 as anybody. I don't understand the disdain for Cantrall's ratings. Personally, I like them and find them to be pretty solid for the most part. No rating system is perfect. If you find one, be sure to let me know, because that might be worth a lot of money.

:thumb:

All he said was that it looks like they benefitted in regards to making it to Rupp. The proof is that these teams did, in fact, make it to Rupp, and these players are, in fact, transfers. LMB simply made an observation. And, an accurate one at that. You guys are the ones reading too much into it.

There were five District Championship rematches... Region 6 Central beat Shawnee after losing to them in the District. Region 7 Eastern beat J'town after losing to them in the District. Region 8 Anderson Co. beat Shelby Co. both times. Region 13 Corbin beat South Laurel both times. Region 14 Hazard beat PCC in the rematch. So, in District Final rematches, the initial winner was 2-3 in rematches. IMO, when you have two teams that are even, its hard to beat them twice in roughly one week. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with adding the District Finals into the Regional tournament. That way, you eliminate giving a team a mulligan. Now, that's a change I could support.

Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Are there teams in the 42nd district that don't get to compete in the tournament? Apples and oranges. In reality, the high school "tournament" begins with the District. If you're going to compare college to high school, you can't just compare the whole tournament to the Sweet 16. It would be more comparable if the NCAA divided the nation into 64 districts and 16 regions and played it out like the KHSAA does and then hyped the last 16 teams. There's no comparison to a tournament that selects its participants through a combination of automatic bids (win conference tournament) and at-large selections based on subjectivity and a tournament that, in reality, begins around February 20th and culminates in Lexington during March. Every team in the state gets to participate in the tournament. If they don't make it to the Sweet 16 it is because they simply weren't good enough. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

:confused: Do some regions not let everyone play in the postseason?

I disagree. There are a lot of quality teams not in the Sweet 16 this year and every other. That's the beauty of the high school postseason, IMO. You can't sacrifice the excitement and drama of the regional tournaments in attempt to get all the contenders in the Sweet 16. They have their chance. They have no complaint. They missed the Sweet 16 because they lost on the court. Period. Nothing needs to be fixed here. Also, classifying would also be a disaster. The KHSAA Sweet 16 is awesome the way it is. Any changes would only make it worse.

I'm with you...0-2 on the day. Picked Hazard as homer. I didn't expect them to win. I picked Adair because I thought they would win. But, nobody, including me, knew anything about Grayson.

The tournament is perfect just the way it is. If you do this, you ruin the regional tournaments, IMO, because the only fair way to do it would be to do what Wireman suggested and let the runner-ups in as well. Look at the districts right now...they're basically meaningless. Granted, the regions wouldn't be as bad because there would still be drama, but not nearly as much. No offense, but this is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard. But, others may not feel that way. As it is, I'm with DragonFire. Every team has their chance during the district and regional tournaments. If you just picked the "top" 8 teams...that would be a nightmare. And, we likely would end up with a bunch of extra Louisville teams. That wouldn't generate extra interest. In fact, that would ruin the Sweet 16 because it would make a small-school, cinderella run to a title almost impossible. It would turn the Sweet 16 into the LIT.

Well...there goes my longshot picks in the BGP Sweet 16 contest. I think I had Adair County winning the whole thing. :lol: And, before you ask, the answer is no. I didn't really believe they would win the tournament.

2009 West Jessamine 51, Hazard 40 2008 Hazard 50, South Laurel 47 Shelby County 53, Hazard 50 2007 Warren Central 71, June Buchanan 53 2006 Madison Central 81, Hazard 44 2005 E'town 70, Perry Central 60 2004 Perry Central 66, Morgan County 45 Warren Central 55, Perry Central 31 2003 Oldham County 69, Powell County 46 2002 Whitesburgh 52, Wayne County 51 North Hardin 92, Whitesburg 43 2001 Ashland 47, Hazard 35 2000 Iroquois 69, Perry Central 54 1999 PRP 76, Perry Central 59 1998 Boyd County 58, Hazard 53 That's 3-12 over the past 12 years with nobody advancing past the quarters. Additionally, I know Breathitt County got blasted by Lexington Catholic in 1996 and I'm pretty sure the region lost in '97, so if you go back a couple more years... 3-14 since 1996 with nobody making it past Friday. And, it's noteworthy, IMO, that all the wins are against regions 12-16. One more note, the 1999 game where PCC lost by 17? They lead that game 59-58 with about three minutes to play if I remember correctly. That's the game I was referencing above when I mistakenly said it was Iroquois.

Frustrating. Because they're not always the worst team. It seems like when they're a huge underdog, they play over their head and lost it at the end. If they're the favorite, they lay an egg. And, if they're even, you get something like today. :irked: But, don't get me wrong...they have suffered through a few blowouts as a big underdog as well.

:thumb: I think WJ did a great job during the timeout between the third and fourth. That was right after the second big got his fourth foul. They were still trailing, but it seemed obvious that their plan coming back out in the last quarter was to attack the basket and get inside. And, it worked.

Hey...the bar has been set pretty high by previous 14th region winners. They had to come up with something good. :lol: No, seriously. Give WJ some credit. Going in, I figured these two teams were pretty much even and they finished strong while Hazard completely fell apart. The game turned when Hazard's two big guys, Warren and Jones, picked up their 4th fouls. At that point, WJ started attacking the basket with great success. Once the momentum started rolling, they fed off of it and Hazard couldn't regroup and turn the tide. The key to the game was Polson's ability to penetrate and get the Bulldogs bigs in foul trouble. That's my take anyway.

:thumb: Of course, Hazard was the team that didn't really belong in that group. They just got included because they're a mountain team. Corbin, SV and Elliott (if you call them a mountain team) have far better resumes.

Wireman, I can't tell you how many times I've witnessed the 14th region rep blow a chance at a win. I've watched MC Napier play PRP to the wire as a huge underdog. I've watched Perry Central, as a huge underdog, lead Iroquois the entire game until the 3 minute mark only to lose by 17 points! I've watched a Hazard team loaded with talent, a Hazard team that beat the Paintsville teams with Tackett and VanHoose, a Hazard team with a 6-9 guy who could play inside and out, a 6-5 athlete who made it in the NFL briefly, and others, lose to a Boyd County team with basically one good player. Today's game just adds another notch in the belt...get outscored 23-1 over the last 12:54 of the game. That's a new one.

The 14th region losing a Sweet 16 game is never an upset.

It's not an upset. This game was a toss-up.

Hazard's last made FG was at the 4:54 mark of the third quarter. Terrible. No excuse for that.

PCC would have done the same thing today...if they'd have even built a double digit lead to start with. It's nothing against Hazard. It's the region. This happens almost every time regardless of who represents.

Two for WJ. 48-40 This game is over. Another typical collapse by the 14th region. No surprise to those of us familiar with it.