Reality Check

Topping the list of things I did not expect to see when the season began: Cincinnati (-2.5) vs. Kansas in an 11 v. 6 game of the Big XII tournament.

Oregon State is no longer in a Power 4 conference, so it's not a fair comparison now. But prior to the demise of the Pac-12, Fresno State wouldn't have half the resources that Oregon State has in terms of television appearances, expenditure on travel, student-athlete amenities, etc. Most kids are going to want to go where the quality of life is double at School X what it is at School Y. Consider the Beavers' basketball budget is $7,494,512, while Fresno State's is $3,663,045. https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/oregon-state-university/student-life/sports/#basketball https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/california-state-university-fresno/student-life/sports/

Sooners are 4-6 in their last 10. First game of their last 10 was a win over BYU. The other three wins are a sweep of Oklahoma State and a home win over Cincinnati. With a NET of 43 (before today's loss) I'd say they're out.

If you're in Kansas City and a T-Mobile customer, the first 100 fans get in 15 minutes before doors open and can hang out in the "Magenta Club" with two free drinks from the bar and a not-quite-dinner but more-than-h'ors douvres buffet.

If we’re the 2 in USC’s region (I think we would have to be) there’s not much difference. 1 = 16, 8/9, probably a 4 or 5 2 = 15, 7/10, probably a 3 but maybe a 6 It’d also help ensure we go to Portland instead of Albany… MUCH better travel destination.

She's recovering/recuperating from stress fractures that resulted from running with a broken toe. Talked to her dad before the game and she's chomping at the bit to get into the lineup next season. With a 7-foot-3 wingspan, it's amazing how she could go eliminate 25-point a night threats from players like Lee and Cooks.

Interesting that Trump wasn't targeted in any of these four jurisdictions criminally and two jurisdictions civilly until he announced his run for president, isn't it?

That’s what happens with mob justice/partisan lawfare in a rush to convict a political candidate. The thirst for blood supplants any consideration of the victim’s Constitutional rights, let alone whether he/she is guilty, let alone if any crime was actually committed. If Nathan Wade and Fani Willis’ conduct and lies in affidavits and interrogatories (civil and criminal), abuse of IOLTAs, and undisclosed trips to the White House as revealed in the past three weeks should have resonated quite loudly, these ignorant and arrogant oafs are political pawns of Biden’s White House and Jeff DeSantis. The White House puppet masters are well aware this case is doomed on appeal as a violation of the defendant’s right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The goal is simply to get media coverage from the indictments, a six-week show trial during the campaign, a conviction by a partisan jury, and the opportunity for pundits to ask out loud if Trump will be watching election returns from jail.

Local paper examines Ole Miss’ collapse. https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/ole-miss/2024/03/12/ole-miss-basketball-chris-beard-contract-year-one-collapse-sec-tournament/72922613007/

You mean people who have thoroughly studied the Constitution can protect a defendant’s rights? Then why do we have prosecutors?

There’s a 90-percent chance that would involve beating a 1 or 2 seed. Unless we manage two wins in K.C., prepare to be disappointed.

I was in my teens when I was in Fresno. I was also in my teens when I went to visit the U. of Arizona and decided I didn't want to live there, though in retrospect it probably would have been OK. Arizona State is also a school I look back on and think would have been a good choice. But nobody -- regardless of age or ethnicity -- is going to choose living in Fresno over any other viable alternative that's NOT in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Take a look for yourself -- what about this seems appealing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno,_California

You're kidding, right? Living in a vibrant, large city like Houston vs. living in deserted and dying shithole in the middle of nowhere like Fresno? It seems like some people have no understanding of what California is outside of San Diego, Long Beach, Hollywood and San Francisco.

Exactly. Fresno is essentially in the middle of a desert and hours away from anything of interest. I was there for a week once and was absolutely miserable.

We knew in 2000-whatever it was that driving after drinking was an irresponsible and potentially deadly choice.

There's really something wrong with you.

You keep saying that, even though it's total bullshit. ***Brad Underwood cheated at SFA. All three of his NCAA appearances were vacated because they used academically ineligible athletes. ***Grant McCasland made the NCAA Tournament once in six years at UNT, never making it to the Sweet 16. ***Nate Oats was in Buffalo for four years and made the NCAA Tournament twice, never making it to the Sweet 16. ***You can't compare Chris Beard's success at Texas Tech (a Power 5 conference school) to Terry's time at Fresno and UTEP. He had one year at a mid-level D I school (UALR) but didn't make the Sweet 16 there. ***Bill Self was 55-54 in four years at Oral Roberts and 42-22 in his first two years at Tulsa (a one-and-done in the NCAAs) before making his Elite Eight appearance in his final season.

Yet somehow, after not being astute enough to resign the minute he was released from jail, he's now 20-11 and 7-11 in a league weaker than the Big XII. So I guess "very very quickly" is at least one "very" too many. Also, not sure back-to-back 18-win seasons after an NCAA Championship Game appearance is a directly upward trajectory. So I guess "directly" is another adverb that needs to be edited out of your post.

Dude, Chris Beard didn't persuade the UT Regents to build a med school where the Erwin Center was. The "world-class environment" could have existed under Lemons or Penders if they weren't relegated to working in The Worst Arena Ever (Not) Designed For Basketball.

So Augie Garrido wasn't good enough for you?

Isn't Audi Crooks basically Lee 2.0?

I’ll gladly take a 2 if USC is the one.

Talk about "using numerous convenient qualifiers." Is it Rodney Terry's fault that Louisville tanked this year? You do realize Connecticut is poised for a No. 1 seed in the tournament, right? You do realize Marquette is poised for a No. 2 seed in the tournament, right? LSU is a 17-14 SEC team; not great, but again, not an "absolutely nobody." Again, the overall result of the Texas basketball team's regular season is a 20-11 record and a No. 25 ranking in the NET. Saying Top 25 is "average" is ridiculous. And Shadow Operative started the Bill Self comparisons. So take that up with him.

Convenient qualifiers like "After leading Texas to the Elite Eight, his second-year squad is ranked No. 25 in the NET rankings that the NCAA uses to select the tournament field"? That kind of bending over backwards?

Well, first of all you don’t selectively look at a coach’s overall success based on a single factor like “conference record” unless you want to argue that Bill Self is an average coach because he has a 10-8 Big 12 record. The holistic regular season record (20-11) and, more importantly, the NET ranking (25) show he did not have an “average” year. it would have been nice to have a healthy Shedrick at West Virginia and vs. UCF. It would have been nice to have a healthy Disu at Baylor. But shit happens. But we’re positioned right now to be able to make more noise in the Big 12 Tournament than we were a week ago — having gone from an 9 seed to a seven seed — and hopefully can play our way into a 6 in the NCAAs to make a Sweet 16 run a possibility.