Season long pool is due tonight by midnight right Dylan?
I think tomorrow night (not tonight). I threw an entry in there, see you at the top of the leaderboards @Slyboogie
Yea I just went back and looked. I read it wrong. It’s not easy. I’d love to see the values attached to the teams from last year. Would help me gauge some things.
What is this pool you speak of
Elite Eight/Final Four picks?
Michigan State*
Florida*
Virginia*
Memphis*
Kentucky
Duke
UNC
Arizona
Florida over Virginia in the title
I also like UNC, but I’m a little surprised that’s your title pick. I’m curious to know more of your thoughts on them this year - beyond Cole Anthony I’m not sure I love the supporting pieces enough to make them a national favorite.
There’s no team I really love. I think Cole Anthony has the potential to be special. There’s probably a case that teams with 5-star PGs have never really won big but I’ll go wtih them anyway. I also think Christian Keeling was a really good addition late.
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I think i saw somewhere that the last 4 final 4s have had a team from outside the preseason top 25
Yep. I couldn’t come up with a team to pick though. I like Houston or Florida State as potential Elite Eight teams. Not sure if they are in the top 25.
I wonder if Zavier Simpson has a UMHoops subscription
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What am I missing on Virginia? They lost Hunter, Jerome and Guy. I guess Diakite is back, and they have two freshmen recruits who were ranked in the top 50-60. And Sam Hauser? That feels like a top 15-20 team to me, maybe, but nothing beyond that. I’d agree Bennett is an awesome coach.
Hauser not eligible this year.
You basically can lock in a top 10 defense from Virginia. A guy like Jay Huff will probably be a breakout star. Expect a jump from Key and Clark.
I don’t love their roster really, but college basketball is a coach’s game.
I see VA as a borderline top 25 team at best.
My belief in Virginia might be more of a commentary on my lack of belief in the rest of the top 10 teams than anything else. I don’t like Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky as much as normal. MSU would probably be my favorite if I was trusting my gut, but I’d rather believe they won’t win it all.
I do love Jay Huff as a breakout star. 7’1” 45% shooter from three last season fits great next to Diakite. I also expect major jumps from Key and Clark. Casey Morsell is a freshman combo guard I like who should play a major role early too. But with Bennett it’s mostly a bet that their floor is incredibly high and a top 5 defense awaits.
Final Four/Elite Eight
Michigan State*
Kentucky*
Gonzaga*
Villanova*
Oregon
UNC
Duke
Louisville
Michigan State over Gonzaga in the title game.
Not many Kansas elite 8 picks here. Do people think they will have too many distractions going on? Because on paper, I think their roster might be top 2 as far as combination of talent + experience goes. I like them more than Duke and Kentucky this year.
I agree, it’s a coach’s game.
With that said, for me Beilein was every bit as good as Bennett (not better, but just as good - both excellent coaches). And I think we have more coming back this year than UVA does (especially if JB had stayed, as our roster would have included Jalen Wilson). And I would have been surprised to see anyone picking us to make the title game.
I like UVA, but I’ll say they’ll finish behind all of UNC, Duke, and Louisville in the ACC, and be ranked in the 15-25 range at best when the season is done.
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I didn’t pick them in the finals (or even the elite eight), was just trying to explain a case for why people could be high on them. I think it is fairly easy to see them being very good again this year.
If John Beilein was back at Michigan, Jalen Wilson and Franz Wagner were healthy and on the roster and Michigan was coming off of a national title, I don’t disagree that people would probably be picking Michigan as a Final Four type of team. I don’t really understand the argument of trying to compare one team to a team that doesn’t exist, though.
Basically, Virginia is coming off of a national title and returns four rotation guys. Lost a lot, but kind of that floor team where you know they are going to win a lot of ACC games.
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