U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[Deuce]

st. mary's got screwed.

No they didn't. I don't care about the small schools excuses. Their resume is not impressive.

[Masspartan]

bullshit Deuce ..... rpi's in the 30's vs Arizona at 19-13 and a 63 rip got in? Two years in a row that streak should have ended.

[Deuce]

bullshit Deuce ..... rpi's in the 30's vs Arizona at 19-13 and a 63 rip got in? Two years in a row that streak should have ended.

I think their RPI is 48, and the only decent win they had was a so-so victory over Providence. They lose to the only good team in their conference Gonzaga 3 times. If you are a small school, you have to schedule some good competetion. If you are a small school you have to do what Gonzaga didand work your way up, get some legit talent, and then schedule the big boys in your non conference. If you don't then the NIT is where you go.

I don't understand the fanboys for small schools. It is an untenable argument


Edit: BTW, Arizona beat Gonzaga. Along with UCLA,Washington and Kansas. They beat more quality opponents than Saint Mary's even faced.

[Masspartan]

I think their RPI is 48, and the only decent win they had was a so-so victory over Providence. They lose to the only good team in their conference Gonzaga 3 times. If you are a small school, you have to schedule some good competetion. If you are a small school you have to do what Gonzaga didand work your way up, get some legit talent, and then schedule the big boys in your non conference. If you don't then the NIT is where you go.

I don't understand the fanboys for small schools. It is an untenable argument


Edit: BTW, Arizona beat Gonzaga. Along with UCLA,Washington and Kansas. They beat more quality opponents than Saint Mary's even faced.

my fanboy take is that you should play your way into the tourney by winning a LOT of games. Not finishing 19-13 and losing 5 of your last 6 in a weak conference that the Pac 10 was. Arizona should have won more games ... period. Making the tourney should be a reward for a really good season ... Creighton, Mt. St. Mary's and San Diego State all did that. Arizona and a few quality wins did not .. in my opionion.

Plus ... there is NO better story than watching some of these smaller schools make a run. Arizona has NO chance to win the tourney and doesn't provide a story line to the tourney.

Also, teams like can hardly get the big conference teams to play them.

I love college sports .. love the tourney ... but professional sports has the playoff aspect right. You don't see a team make the playoffs because of how the team looked on paper ...

[SeattleLionsFan]

No. Nor do any AAA teams make the MLB playoffs...

[Masspartan]

They are all Division I ... to illustrate that point consider that there is also Div II, Div III and NAIA ... and none of those teams will ever make the big dance.

What is more interesting ... George Mason making the final four or the 6th best team in the Pac 10?

And matter of factly .. which is more likely? The reason that those teams finished so poorly in their own conference is because they aren't any fucking good.

[SeattleLionsFan]

And let's not pretend that the teams in the WCC are any fucking good either. Just because you beat a bunch of shitty teams doesn't mean you are good, just like losing to a bunch of good teams doesn't mean you are bad.

ftr, I love the NCAA tourney, and support the "cinderella" teams (Davidson last year made the NCAA tourney 10% more magical). However, let's not pretend they are somehow better than big conference teams, just because they play in a small/shitty conference.

[Masspartan]

SLF ... I don't think I ever said they were better. In fact they probably aren't. I guess I'm different in that the tourney shouldn't be about putting the 64 best teams out there ... In fact it would suck, because then there would be no Cinderellas at all. All the excitement of having a Stephen F. Austin make it for the first time ever would be sucked out of the tourney so we could watch Penn State or the like lose again to the cream of the conference.

Arizona imo has NO business being in the field. They were 9-10 within their own conference. They don't deserve a chance to play for the National Championship because they play well enough during the year.

Personally, I don't care if they'd beat all three of those other teams (St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State) straight up if they played ... it doesn't matter to me that they are better or not. By being part of the big conference ... which they do of there own free will, they have to be held to a higher standard to get in.

9-10. That was their record within the conference. It should automatically disqualify them from consideration. And yes, I would say the same thing if it was State.

[Deuce]

my fanboy take is that you should play your way into the tourney by winning a LOT of games. Not finishing 19-13 and losing 5 of your last 6 in a weak conference that the Pac 10 was. Arizona should have won more games ... period. Making the tourney should be a reward for a really good season ... Creighton, Mt. St. Mary's and San Diego State all did that. Arizona and a few quality wins did not .. in my opionion.

Plus ... there is NO better story than watching some of these smaller schools make a run. Arizona has NO chance to win the tourney and doesn't provide a story line to the tourney.

Also, teams like can hardly get the big conference teams to play them.

I love college sports .. love the tourney ... but professional sports has the playoff aspect right. You don't see a team make the playoffs because of how the team looked on paper ...

Small schools and big schools are apples and oranges. I think the NCAA Tourney caters enough, more than any other college sport, to the little man. Too much even. Gonzaga and Davidson are currently doing things the way the mid-majors have to do to deserve respect. They are getting some improved talent, and taking on the big boys, without the excuses the St. Mary's pf the world are making. As soon as they build a decent program, the bigger conferences will play them in their home building.

[Deuce]

SLF ... I don't think I ever said they were better. In fact they probably aren't. I guess I'm different in that the tourney shouldn't be about putting the 64 best teams out there ... In fact it would suck, because then there would be no Cinderellas at all. All the excitement of having a Stephen F. Austin make it for the first time ever would be sucked out of the tourney so we could watch Penn State or the like lose again to the cream of the conference.

Arizona imo has NO business being in the field. They were 9-10 within their own conference. They don't deserve a chance to play for the National Championship because they play well enough during the year.

Personally, I don't care if they'd beat all three of those other teams (St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State) straight up if they played ... it doesn't matter to me that they are better or not. By being part of the big conference ... which they do of there own free will, they have to be held to a higher standard to get in.

9-10. That was their record within the conference. It should automatically disqualify them from consideration. And yes, I would say the same thing if it was State.

I think the point that peole who profess my side of the argument are making is, would St. Mary's finish with a .500 conference record in the Pac-10? If they lose to Gonzaga 3 times and Arizona beats Gonzaga, it makes it look bad for St. Marys.

You can't properly compare records between the power schools and the mid-majors, and that is not Arizona's problem, it is St.Mary. The onus is on them to make it comparable. The auto-bids give us a lot of cinderalla's.

[froot loops]

The Arizona bid was gift, plain and simple.

[Masspartan]

Hey it's just my opinion ... but I don't give a shit if Arizona would dominate St. Mary's, SDSU, or Creighton ... nor do I care if those teams would have finished .500 in the PAC-10 ... this isn't about the little three vs Arizona it's only about Arizona and the fact that they don't deserve a bid. They did not do enough in the regular season to be given the opportunity to play for the National Championship.

Those other schools did. Simple as that. If you choose to be part of a power conference and accept the extra recruiting opportunity that grants you then you should be held to a higher standard. You should do enough within your conference and regular season to be considered.

Like I said ... if the tourney truly wants the best 64 teams then the likes of Robert Morris, Binghamton, Stephen F. Austin, Middle Tennessee, etc shouldn't be there and those schools end up being exactly what the first weekend of the tourney are all about. Richmond beating Syracuse ... Vermont beating Syracuse ... Princeton just missing against Georgetown ... Valparaiso knocking out Ole Miss with that great shot by the coaches son ... Holy Cross taking Kansas to the brink ... Northwestern State beating Iowa as a 3 seed ... Bradley over Kansas .. Davidson last year ... George Mason a few years ago ... Bucknell beating Kansas ... Steve Nash leading Santa Clara over Arizon about 1 am ... Weber State beating MSU ... Murray State almost beating State as a 1 seed with popey jones when that fat chubby guard Kirk Manns hit that late three to save there ass ... Coppin State over 2 seed South Carolina ... Eastern Michigan in those silver uni's beating Duke ... tiny Hampton over Iowa Sate ... and I'm sure there are a lot more that I've forgotten. Those games are what make the tourny great ... not some 8/9 Arizon vs Wisconsin matchup ... all those games pitting to power conference middling teams are completely and I mean completely forgettable.

If you are in a power conference .. then have a good year if you want in. Arizona did NOT have a good year.

[jaadam4]

MICHIGAN?S JOHNSON PUTS ON A SHOW

Posted by Aaron Wilson on March 15, 2009, 9:25 a.m.
University of Michigan strongman defensive tackle Will Johnson flexed his muscles at his campus Pro Day in a performance reminiscent of weightlifters Hans and Franz of old Saturday Night Live fame.
Johnson bench pressed 225 pounds a staggering 47 times, according to Gil Brandt of NFL.com. It?s believed to be a record for an incoming NFL draft prospect, according to NFL Draft Scout.
The 6-foot-4, 281-pound defensive lineman ran the 40-yard dash in 5.07 and 5.1 seconds, had a 9-4 broad jump, a 4.61 time in the short shuttle and a 7.5 in the three-cone drill.
Meanwhile, defensive end Tim Jamison ran a 4.95 and a 4.99 in the 40-yard dash with a 4.60 in the short shuttle and a 7.40 in the three-cone drill.


I don't get all giddy about workout numbers....but 47 reps? That impressive

Wow!!! 47.. Thats unreal

Glad to see Big Blue in the dance.

[Fraquar]

And Michigan's run defense was a sieve this season - those guys must have been too tired preparing for their Pro Day........

[Laimbeer Returns]

Michigan's rush d was actually 6th in the conference