How do we feel about this bracket matchup?

[Bull94]

5 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

As far as the original poster's question, that would be a very nice draw. The only thing that could make it nicer would be being in with Houston or Arizona/Tennessee/UNC (whomever the 4th #1 ends up being). Purdue and UCONN will present nightmare matchups for us in the paint with Edey and Clingan. We saw what can happen when Goldin finally got going for FAU. Goldin is 7'1'' 240 lbs. Corey Walker, Jr. and even Pryor could body up against him and cause some problems or at least slow him down. Clingan is 7'2'' 280 lbs and Edey is 7'4'' 300 lbs....talk about 2 giants that are in a class of their own.

I wonder if CAAR would give any thought to trying Tobiloba out there to neutralize bigs of their size. If not, the margin for error for USF shooting wise becomes very small. 

Purdue has been eliminated in  their last three ncaa tourneys by #16 Farleigh Dickinson #15 St Peter's and #13 North Texas.

Edey can't defend the perimeter at all. Pryor would be a nightmare matchup for him.

Three point shooting teams that get hot are why upsets happen. You absolutely don't take a shooter off the floor for a slug defender.

[BullyPulpit]

2 minutes ago, Bull94 said:

Purdue has been eliminated in  their last three ncaa tourneys by #16 Farleigh Dickinson #15 St Peter's and #13 North Texas.

Edey can't defend the perimeter at all. Pryor would be a nightmare matchup for him.

Three point shooting teams that get hot are why upsets happen. You absolutely don't take a shooter off the floor for a slug defender.

If you're Purdue you run a zone and never require Edey to leave the paint to defend make sure USF doesn't get any offensive rebounds. 

Walker and company are likely to get into foul trouble against a big like Edey or Clingan. I was just throwing it out there as a thought to eat up some minutes. We saw how quickly and easily Goldin was able to score when FAU adjusted their offense. With that being said, Clingan definitely is a matchup nightmare for everyone. UCONN is by far the scariest team in the NCAA. 

[Bull94]

2 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

If you're Purdue you run a zone and never require Edey to leave the paint to defend make sure USF doesn't get any offensive rebounds. 

Walker and company are likely to get into foul trouble against a big like Edey or Clingan. I was just throwing it out there as a thought to eat up some minutes. We saw how quickly and easily Goldin was able to score when FAU adjusted their offense. With that being said, Clingan definitely is a matchup nightmare for everyone. UCONN is by far the scariest team in the NCAA. 

we would eat their zone alive. shooters break zone defenses.

I saw them run a 1 man zone against wisconsin earlier this year. Edey just stood under the basket.

Goldin had 15 in the 2nd half. all of those in the last 12 minutes. Our defense completely broke down and we played way too conservative on offense. I believe I heard that they scored 41 points in the last 8 minutes. That's a 205 points per game pace. That's terrible all around defense. not just on goldin.

UConn is legit.

Sometimes you just have to pick your poison

[BullyPulpit]

13 minutes ago, Bull94 said:

Purdue has been eliminated in  their last three ncaa tourneys by #16 Farleigh Dickinson #15 St Peter's and #13 North Texas.

Edey can't defend the perimeter at all. Pryor would be a nightmare matchup for him.

Three point shooting teams that get hot are why upsets happen. You absolutely don't take a shooter off the floor for a slug defender.

Purdue does have quite the reputation for choking. FDU couldn't stop Edey, but they neutralized everyone else. Surprisingly, they didn't shoot especially well at all, but Purdue didn't either, aside from Edey who had a great game overall. Against St. Peter's Edey was only averaging half the minutes that season that he is now.  His game has definitely evolved over his 4 years in college. He is a much more complete player with much greater endurance than he had his first 3 seasons. Of the 3 upsets, North Texas is the only one that shot lights out from 3 point range and Edey was a role player on that team. 

USF definitely has the shooting ability to spring an upset against a team like Purdue and, as we know, defense travels. Let's hope we get to see the matchup.  

[BullyPulpit]

3 minutes ago, Bull94 said:

we would eat their zone alive. shooters break zone defenses.

I saw them run a 1 man zone against wisconsin earlier this year. Edey just stood under the basket.

Goldin had 15 in the 2nd half. all of those in the last 12 minutes. Our defense completely broke down and we played way too conservative on offense. I believe I heard that they scored 41 points in the last 8 minutes. That's a 205 points per game pace. That's terrible all around defense. not just on goldin.

UConn is legit.

Sometimes you just have to pick your poison

I agree that what FAU did was not sustainable, but they certainly figured something out with Goldin down the stretch. First time in a long time I saw our team rattled. Definitely have to pick you poison. This year's Purdue team is much better shooting than year's past but UCONN with Dan Hurley as their coach is one scary team. 

[hm101]

we need to focus on the next game / next play

as fans we can speculate but I hope the players are locked in because if they lose to the 8/9 in the conference tourney... not good. they almost got it handed to them by UTSA, it can totally happen. need to be locked in. 

[Rocky Style]

On 3/6/2024 at 2:06 PM, BullyPulpit said:

but they certainly figured something out with Goldin down the stretch.

His game was great.  He had the footwork and made all his FTs so you can't hack him.

[bcgruber]

Bubble Watch 2024: Brace yourself for NCAA tournament drama - ESPN

WWW.ESPN.COM

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What if the NCAA were to add 12 more teams to the tournament? Here's what the bubble might look like with a larger bracket.

 

[flsportsfan83]

32 minutes ago, bcgruber said:

Bubble Watch 2024: Brace yourself for NCAA tournament drama - ESPN

WWW.ESPN.COM

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What if the NCAA were to add 12 more teams to the tournament? Here's what the bubble might look like with a larger bracket.

 

AMERICAN

Should be in

Florida Atlantic Owls
A four-point road win against North Texas is just what the Owls needed heading into the regular-season finale at home against Memphis. Before beating the Mean Green, Dusty May's team had dropped three of its previous four away games (with the win coming in overtime at Wichita State). Projected No. 10 seed FAU turned this trend around at UNT thanks to 29 timely points from Johnell Davis. The junior made his name during the Owls' 2023 Final Four run, but if anything, Davis is underrated. His performance has reached another level in 2024. (updated March 6)

Work to do

South Florida Bulls
Because 23-5 South Florida has run away with the regular-season American title, mock brackets show the Bulls as an automatic qualifier. But can USF earn an at-large bid if it loses in the conference tournament? This is where the talk customarily turns to South Florida's low NET ranking. Who knows, maybe the committee members will look past that ranking as they did with Rutgers and its quite similar look in the NET in 2022. The committee is sovereign in such matters and the rest of us aren't in that room. What we do know, however, is that Amir Abdur-Rahim's group is finishing up the season with a date at Tulsa. (updated March 6)

Memphis Tigers
The Tigers are back in Bubble Watch after a wild 106-87 win at home over UAB. Penny Hardaway's team trailed by as many as 22 before outscoring the Blazers 60-26 in the second half. David Jones, Nae'Qwan Tomlin and Jahvon Quinerly combined for 85 points all by themselves. Memphis is 22-8 and about to visit Florida Atlantic in pursuit of a season sweep of the Owls. (updated March 3)

[Triple B]

Quote

Who knows, maybe the committee members will look past that ranking as they did with Rutgers and its quite similar look in the NET in 2022. The committee is sovereign in such matters and the rest of us aren't in that room.

What we have to bank on .....