Monday, March 14, 2011

Au Revoir, Les Big 12

Wow, 4 times in 5 years we've beaten UT in the conference final -- what a fitting way to close out the Big 12.

(Was there a Big 12 representative on the committee? Was Colorado being punished for defecting?)

That was unquestionably our best game of the season -- nice to see us gelling at the right moment. If Tyshawn can play anywhere near this level throughout the tourney, we become a title favorite, I think. Our two sets of twins -- Morrii and Reedstar -- have been money for us pretty much all year and we won 30 games even without good point guard play. But the new-model Tyshawn and E.J. combo could really put us over the top if everything else remains equal.

(And Tyrel finally dunked! We've been hearing for years that he could do it.)

At first glance, I like our bracket. Sure, Louisville and Notre Dame could be tough, but they don't scare me like other 2-4 seeds. I'm glad we're not playing Carolina, for instance. Illinois could be tough in the 2nd round considering they'll be inspired to beat Self (Illinois people hate Self maybe even more than KU fans hate Roy), but having seen Illinois play a number of times, I just can't work up much concern about them -- wouldn't be surprised to see UNLV knock them out.

5 comments:

  1. Per the Star, there was indeed a Big 12 representative on the committee, but he had to recuse himself from all discussion involving his conference -- and I guess it's also unlikely he would have wanted to snub Colorado since another bid would have meant more $$$ for the conference.

    As that article points out, it wasn't only Colorado -- the conference got generally screwed in the seedings, other than Kansas.

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  2. A little bit on our first round opponent, the Boston Terriers:

    "Holland, a senior guard, is one of the country's top 50 scorers at 19.2 points per game. All-conference guard Darryl Partin averages double figures (14.5 points per game), and D.J. Irving is a solid point guard and one of the team's seven freshman.

    Holland told Boston reporters that his team has no reason to fear Kansas, even if the Jayhawks are national title contenders who will be playing in front of what is expected to be a KU-crazed crowd.

    The Terriers faced a pair of other powerhouses on the road in the regular season - then-No. 7 Villanova and SEC champion Kentucky.

    But neither game was close. Boston lost both games by a combined 50 points."

    Wofford are also Terriers. The only Terriers I want to see more of has unfortunately been cancelled.

    Time for the Jayhawks to make like FX and cancel the Boston Terriers!

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  3. Ha, that's some damn fine sloganeering.

    Of course, if the show had been popular enough for a slogan like that to catch on, it wouldn't have been cancelled, and then the slogan doesn't work.

    Actually, I have Wofford bursting the overinflated BYU bubble. Time for more great white hopes to be dashed.

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  4. Paul Pierce weighs in:

    "I’m in a tough predicament. Well, no. It's not that tough a predicament. Everybody knows I’m a Kansas guy. BU’s season’s going to be over next week. I’m sorry, guys (Terriers). I still love you."

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  5. Well, we won the Big 12 season and tourney, we're 32-2, it's March Madness and no one is posting. It might be time to retire the blog and just shoot some emails around.

    Until then, let me note that I'm slightly concerned with our second round matchups. UNLV appears to be seeded way too low as an 8. Illinois has had an incredibly inconsistent season, but has tons of bigs. One would think that they could potentially neutralize us inside.

    So, while I'm happy not to see a lot of scrappy senior heavy mid majors in our bracket, these matchups concern me.

    So, is anyone gonna watch any of this? Fill out a bracket?

    Anything?

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