Hoops HD

2018-19 Championship Week Video Notebook – Day 4

Posted on March 8, 2019 by John Stalica

Tonight, we focus on the Atlantic Sun conference who was the first conference to reach the semifinal stage. We preview the long-awaited Liberty-Lipscomb matchup. We also review the conference tournaments that were at the quarterfinal stage – the Big South, Ohio Valley and Patriot League tournaments. Also getting underway were the Metro Atlantic, Missouri Valley and West Coast Conference tournaments.

We also preview two conferences that will be reaching the semifinal stage on Friday night – the Big South and the Ohio Valley Conference tournaments. The Metro Atlantic begins its first day of quarterfinal games and the Missouri Valley has their full slate of quarterfinal games. The West Coast Conference reaches the second round of its five-step ladder tournament, and the long-awaited Southern Conference tournament begins, albeit with a couple of appetizers before the main course begins Saturday in Asheville.

We finish by updating our Survival Board and once again calling on a person who can get things done to help solve one of college basketball’s biggest problems!

And for all of you who are radio/MP3 lovers and/or on the go, here is the audio-only link:

And here are the games on tap for Friday, March 8:

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Hoops HD Bracket Rundown: Thursday, March 7th

Posted on March 7, 2019 by John Stalica

Note: This was recorded on Thursday, March 7th at 10 PM EST. Since ballots were submitted before 7 PM EST, games like Iowa-Wisconsin and Central Florida-Cincinnati were NOT reflected in the voting. None of the games that went final after that time are reflected in the show, the seedlist, or the bracket.

Tonight, everyone on the Hoops HD Panel submitted a seed list of teams rated 1 through 55 to Chad Sherwood; Chad cross-country scored the teams and made a seedlist of the top 49 teams into the tournament bracket. The way the scoring was reflected, NC State ended up being the last at-large team voted into the field, for example. The panel also made it clear on the podcast that the Wolfpack would likely be motioned out of our field if they were anywhere among the last four teams in.

And without further ado, here is the video link to the podcast:

With the exception of the NC State spoiler, here is the completed bracket – do not look at it in full until watching the show!

And finally, for those of you who are radio/MP3 lovers and/or like to listen to Hoops HD on the go, here is the audio link:

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, March 7th

Posted on March 7, 2019 by David Griggs

For yesterday’s Championship Week video notebook (including the Survival Board and conference tournament brackets) – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES

-The Big East continues to show why they may be the most balanced league top-to-bottom in the country. Seton Hall got a much-needed win at home to increase their odds of getting an NCAA at-large bid against Marquette where the Pirates ended the game on an 18-0 run. Georgetown got sand-blasted on the road at DePaul to hurt their chances, and coupled with Creighton’s OT win at home against Providence, there is suddenly a five-way tie for 3rd place between Seton Hall, Xavier, St. John’s, Creighton and Georgetown.

-While Washington and Clemson walked the tightrope successfully with an overtime win at home against Oregon State to stay on the right side of the fence, NC State might have completely fallen off the fence with a home loss to Georgia Tech. That is a bad, bad loss for a team that, like Washington, doesn’t have many wins against potential NCAA Tournament teams. Worse yet, their #352nd ranked nonconference strength of schedule is now sticking out like a sore thumb.

-Ohio State also lost on the road at Northwestern – this is the second straight game they have lost by double digits without Kaleb Wesson (suspension) in the lineup. The Buckeyes are now sweating bullets as to whether or not they make the field, and if Wesson doesn’t return, they’re dead on arrival barring a couple of quality wins between their regular season finale at home against Wisconsin and the Big 10 Tournament next week.

-The Big 12 also is looking like a conference where West Virginia and Oklahoma State, who are not contenders for any postseason play, could be potential noisemakers. West Virginia beat Iowa State at home to knock the Cyclones down to 9-8 in conference play, and Oklahoma State went into Baylor and handed the Bears a Quad 3 loss. The Bears now share the same dubious distinction that Arizona State has – wins AND losses against all four quadrants on their team sheet!

SURVIVAL BOARD NOTES

-Troy would be eliminated with a loss against Appalachian State tonight.

-Little Rock would be eliminated with a loss against Louisiana AND wins by Appalachian State (against Troy) and Arkansas State (against UL-Monroe).

-Mississippi Valley State would be eliminated if Southern wins at Prairie View.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-CINCINNATI AT UCF (American). Both teams are (probably) just playing for seeding at this point, but this is still a huge game for both teams. Neither one of them got the dozens of chances at Quad-1 wins that some of the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 teams got, so this is a rare opportunity for both of them to really sweeten up their resumes.

-IOWA AT WISCONSIN (Big 12). Iowa is in a bit of a tailspin, but I still think they’re on pace to at least land in the top half of the bracket if they come out of it. Wisky still has a path to a protected seed, but they need to finish strong.

-TEMPLE AT UCONN (American). Temple is straddling the bubble’s fence right now, and basically every game the rest of the way is hugely important. Losing to a non-NCAA Tournament caliber team would be damaging.

-INDIANA AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Indiana is one of the harder teams to figure this year. Are they in because of their good wins, or are they out because of the sheer volume of their losses? One thing we can all agree on is that winning this game would be good, and losing it would be bad.

-SMU AT HOUSTON (American). Houston is coming off a somewhat surprising loss, but will still in all likelihood end up as a protected seed if they’re able to hold serve the rest of the way.

-UC IRVINE AT CAL POLY (Big West). UC Irvine has already wrapped up first place.

-MONTANA AT PORTLAND STATE (Big Sky). Montana can clinch at least a share of first place with a win tonight.

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Championship Week Video Notebook: Day 3

Posted on March 7, 2019 by John Stalica

CLICK HERE for the updated Hoops HD Survival Board

CLICK HERE for all the conference tournament brackets

We begin tonight’s podcast by reviewing results of games by teams on the bubble – for Seton Hall, for example, they helped themselves tremendously with a win at home against a Marquette team that is suddenly fading. For Washington and Clemson, they survived potentially devastating losses. For NC State, Ohio State and Georgetown, those teams had devastating losses against Georgia Tech, Northwestern and DePaul, respectively.

The Northeast Conference and Ohio Valley conferences began their tournaments and the Horizon League completed their quarterfinal games that were played on campus sites. We also looked ahead to other conference tournaments resuming tomorrow – the Atlantic Sun will have their semifinal games tomorrow while the Big South, OVC and Patriot will all have their quarterfinal games tomorrow.

Finally, we also previewed three conferences that will begin their tournaments tomorrow – the Metro Atlantic, the Missouri Valley and the West Coast Conferences.

And for all of you who are radio lovers and/or on the go, here is the audio-only link:

ATLANTIC SUN SEMIFINALS:

BIG SOUTH QUARTERFINALS:

OHIO VALLEY QUARTERFINALS:

PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS:

METRO ATLANTIC OPENING ROUND:

MISSOURI VALLEY OPENING ROUND:

WEST COAST CONFERENCE OPENING ROUND:

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, March 6th

Posted on March 6, 2019 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our Championship Week Video Notebook: Day 2

NEWS AND NOTES

-Last night started off with some good news for bubble teams – Xavier lost at Butler and may have struck out at least as far as at-large seeding goes. They would still clinch at least a bye into the Big East quarterfinals with a home win against St. John’s on Saturday – it would also be the 37th consecutive season of at least a .500 conference record.

-The biggest game came from a completely unexpected source. Duke had to sweat out Wake Forest at home and got a really fortuitous bounce at the end when a potential game-winner from Wake rimmed out. The fact that Duke is a #1 seed with Zion Williamson, and sweating out Wake Forest at home without Zion Williamson is….shocking. I know he’s good, but they’ve got other players who are also good. You’d think they’d at least be good enough to not have to sweat out a team that’s outside the top 100 at home.

-It is official. Kansas will not win the Big 12 regular season title thanks to their loss at Oklahoma. They are looking like they will not be a protected seed either unless they make a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament next week.

-Minnesota was another bubble team that helped itself immensely with a win at home against Purdue. The loss drops the Boilers into a three-way tie with Michigan and Michigan State in the Big 10 standings.

-The basketball Iron Bowl went to Auburn last night – they got a decent road win at Alabama and puts the Tide squarely on the fence going into their regular season finale at Arkansas.

-Florida State also won a crucial game at home against Virginia Tech – the Noles are now the best team below the Big 3 of Virginia, Duke and North Carolina in the ACC. Their odds of getting a protected seed got better.

-Kentucky and Buffalo both had to sweat out games on the road, but ended up winning nonetheless.

-MARQUETTE AT SETON HALL (Big East). This is suddenly a very pivotal and rather crucial game for Seton Hall. They have some big wins, but with a schizophrenic profile that has an equal share of questionable losses, an overall record of just 16-12, and already being two games under .500 in Big East play, they need some stability on their resume. This one is huge. It’s a big game for Marquette as well if they want to end up as a protected seed.

-LSU AT FLORIDA (SEC). LSU has a chance to finish first in the SEC, and some feel has an outside chance of playing their way all the way up to the #1 line. The Gators are squarely on the bubble. Strangely enough, their biggest win of the season was against LSU, but they’ve got a little more work to do if they want to make the field and beating them for a second time would certainly help.

-IOWA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). This is a winnable road game for an Iowa State team that still has a shot at a protected seed if they can finish strong. They’re a respectable 5-5 in true road games, so picking the low hanging fruit here would certainly help.

-GEORGETOWN AT DEPAUL (Big East). Some feel that Georgetown still has a path to the NCAA Tournament, and perhaps they do, but that path does not involve them losing to DePaul. Whatever small chance they have will be gone (without the auto-bid, that is) if they don’t win this one.

-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Ohio State could REALLY do without a loss in this one. They’re in the field for now, but this is the kind of game that could have them really sweating on Selection Sunday if they end up losing it.

-CLEMSON AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Clemson is squarely on the bubble, so every game has a pivotal feel to it. This is a winnable road game and they need to take advantage of it.

-GEORGIA TECH AT NC STATE (ACC). NC State doesn’t have the strongest of resumes either. It is important that they hold serve at home.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor should be able to hold serve in this one. They’re pretty much a virtual lock for the tournament minus a massive meltdown and are just playing for seeding now.

-OREGON STATE AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). The loss to Cal last week may have burned up all of Washington’s remaining strikes. They need to take care of business at home tonight, and win their final regular season game this weekend as well.

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Championship Week Video Notebook: Day 2

Posted on March 5, 2019 by David Griggs

Welcome Selection Committee Members!! We are here to help you!! Watch the show and we will tell you what to do!!

CLICK HERE to view the Survival Board and see the status of all the teams that are still playing

CLICK HERE to view all of the conference tournament brackets with the dates, times, and viewing information for all games

We begin by reviewing some of the notable regular season games from Tuesday night, and then look at the action from the opening rounds of the Patriot League, and Big South, and the quarterfinals of the Horizon League. We also take a look at the opening round of the Ohio Valley and the quarterfinals of the NEC that get underway tomorrow.