Congrats*2 UConn!
Now, for the disrespect: Duke is #1 in the waaaaay too early rankings
Players are still teleporting, so all they have to do is band together to make a Superteam and find the right coach to shape them and guide them. cuz, it’s not about the school anymore. Anyone rooting for a school is fooling themselves and they don’t believe it.
There’s lots of speculation on who will get the Kentucky coaching job with the departure of Calipari.
On one list that I saw was Brad Underwood from Illinois.
As an Illini faithful, I think I’d like to see him go. He doesn’t recruit well. He chases talent away into the portal. The recent teams’ successes have come from mining the transfer portal for 4th and 5th year players. That 5th year option (the covid loophole) is now over. I blame him for the 30 point UConn run. He let his team fall into a bottomless pit for 7 minutes of gametime and there was no coming back from that.
Calipari signed a five-year contract starting at $7 million per season – less than the $8.5 million he was making at Kentucky. The deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and $500,000 retention bonuses each year of the contract, plus incentives for making the NCAA tournament and advancing deep into the tournament. There are also two automatic rollover years for NCAA tournament appearances that would extend the deal to 2031.
Imagine how sucky that job is to take a cut in pay.
Was he on the chopping block and decided to make the first move?
Is 42M going to change your lifestyle in a way that 36M won’t? At some point, the money isn’t as important as wanting the job and feeling good at work.
I think that KY and JC just got tired of each other. KY wasn’t going to fire him because they would have had to buy out his contract, but I think they were more than happy to grant permission for him to interview elsewhere.
Apparently there is a lot of potential NIL money to throw around at Arkansas. Tyson Chicken family, Jerry Jones, and the Walton family are boosters.
I have read that AJ Storr, a high shot-per-minute-played small forward (ie ball hog), is leaving Wisconsin to join what will be his 3rd team in 3 years. His ask is merely a 7 figure NIL deal. I am sure there are others, so it may be unfair to single out young AJ, but the transfer portal is crap, unlimited transfers is crap, the now-legitimized buying and selling of teenagers is crap, I’m out of order, you’re out of order, this whole court is out of order!
It’s why i dont watch anymore. I’d rather root for students at a school playing sports, not athletes barely connected to a school.
Do you suppose the seniors on the Uconn basketball team will still be going to class next week?
Um, I guess that’s why they call it the “Way Too Early Rankings.” And another reason not to bother doing it.
So I cannot see a situation where Illinois stays in the top half of the Big 10.
After an elite 8 run, they lose 4 starters to “graduation” or “running out of eligibility”.
Now, 4 of the 5 top returners have entered the portal. They have 4 incoming transfers, but none of them seem like impact players. They have 2 incoming freshmen, a 4* guy and a 3* guy, the latter of which got offers from no other power conference team.
I hate the transfer portal.
I also call for the dismissal of Brad Underwood for the continual chasing of talent out of Champaign and into the portal. His recruiting is below the top 25 and he chases away the talent that he does get. He finds some “diamonds in the rough” in the portal but he has lost more than he has found there. Cut loose Underwood and break out the checkbook for TJ Otzelberger.
That’s too bad. I see some honesty and exasperation in a decision like that.
I saw him play once when he was at WI-GB (his dad was the coach) and they got blown out by a significantly more athletic Flying Illini team. I remember thinking that the slow down, slow play style would never measure up to teams with better athletes, but he eventually won an NCAA championship with that style and Illinois never has.
Just ran into Hunter Dickinson at Chipotle. Felt like I should post that somewhere.
I cannot decide if I hate him more for playing for Kansas, or hate him more for playing for Michigan.
I guess I’ll just have to hope he succumbs to Chipotle’s e-coli lettuce.
As a Michigan fan, hate him WAY more playing for Kansas! Feels like he’s been around for a long time.
Kind of surprised ESPN didn’t offer a place to bet on the outcome of this - but if you want to bet on any other college basketball games, ESPN Bet is available 24/7 for you to bet the over, the under, the money line, make parlays, … anything you want, it’s your one-stop shop for all things gambling on sports. Easy to do from your phone, wherever you go and wherever you are. Check now for specials available with your first bet and first deposit, and make sure to stay tuned for March Madness specials!
I’m making an argument that the St Francis Red Flash making the NCAA men’s tourney this year is the worst to ever do so. Change my mind.
Searching through Kempom data, I found the 2011 Alabama State team, winners of the SWAC tourney, are seemingly a tad bit worse.
2008 Coppin State might be the worst ever
1995 FIU
1996 UCF
1997 Fairfield
1999 Florida A&M
You 2 have suggested some worthy contenders. I’ll try to summarize this week.
My school was in playin during 2002 with a losing record and won. They then gave MD about the best game in run to title. They were among the worst.
The Fairfield team that came out a few years before that was likely the worst ever. If I remember correctly, they were last place in conference and very bad. It was like 1988 when Siena lost to UNH no sock team in first round.