College Hoops

[olbriar]

I no longer follow the NBA but I am a fan of college basketball. I follow my local university, Wichita State Shockers, as well as Kansas Jayhawks. Both are division 1 teams. The Shox play in the American Atlantic Conference and the Jayhawks in the Big 12. WSU are small fries compared to KU who are often national contenders. Both are fun to watch and I'm on the edge of my seat watching every game.

Who is your favorite college team? Are they a regular competitor in the NCAA tourney or is it always a nail biter season?

I hope that we all meet next spring in the big dance.

 

[ocnbrze]

UCLA....been a Bruin fan, since the O'Bannon brothers played there.

we are looking pretty good this year so far. i think we are ranked #2 behind gonzaga.

 

[olbriar]

UCLA....been a Bruin fan, since the O'Bannon brothers played there.

we are looking pretty good this year so far. i think we are ranked #2 behind gonzaga.

KU is ranked #3 and we are right on your heels my friend. This should be a fun season!

 

[ocnbrze]

KU is ranked #3 and we are right on your heels my friend. This should be a fun season!

i guess we will see you in the Final Four or maybe even the championship.

 

[olbriar]

i guess we will see you in the Final Four or maybe even the championship.

Would that be fun or what?? I never take a lot of stock in early rankings but it's impossible to not be excited to ranked that high. There is a lot of season ahead of us and we both have to live up to the ranking's expectations. I haven't seen UCLA play but KU has some great talent and deep bench. They are definitely fun to watch. I'm not up on UCLA bball.... who is your coach?

My local U's team, WSU, has some talent but nobody like the big schools. Their season goal is to make the tournament. There is never a thought or even dream of winning the thing. They played out of the Missouri Valley conference for years. They jumped ship a couple of years ago to join the AAC, a conference that is more competitive and produced more than one tournament bid. Now there is more than idle talk of that competition leaving the conference. That will put the Shockers back in the same ol' scenario of having to win the conference and often the conference tournament to get the one bid allotment. It saddens me deeply for we paid big bucks to swap conferences... and now for nothing. It's impossible to build a teams RPI without better opponents to play. Something UCLA and KU doesn't have to deal with. I guess the cream rises to the top no matter the conference.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Well I do not play basket ball, or even got too much into sports, but lightly I have to say my back yard team, Fighting Illini.. Like I said I do not follow them or anything, just on and off throughout whatever I can make time on watching the games.

 

[ocnbrze]

it sucks here in LA because in order for me to watch UCLA basketball i have to have the Pac 12 channel which i do not with my Direct TV service plan. it is on the next tier and i refuse to pay for it when it came free with just the basic sports offerings in the past. its ridiculous......so i only get to read about them or i can listen to them on AM radio. and tbh honest i do not pay attention until March Madness. it is most definitely one of my favorite sporting events to watch.

 

[olbriar]

That does bite and I understand your refusal to pay the gouge. I was forced to subscribe to ESPN+ to get the Shockers and some of the early KU games. I think it runs 5 or 6 bucks a month. There is a lot of sports to view there but it is a gouge all the same. Being retired now I watch a lot more sports. Especially across the winter months when my mowing is over. It's my prime entertainment so I pay the price. I don't buy the NBA package but subscribe to the MLB and NFL packages each year and now ESPN+. I wish I could drop all of the other channels. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't like sports but enjoys all of the other stuff.

 

[olbriar]

#1 Zags vs #2 UCLA on ESPN. Who wins this thing?

 

[ocnbrze]

#1 Zags vs #2 UCLA on ESPN. Who wins this thing?

the way ucla is playing.....no doubt zaga. if only ucla could hit their shots.

 

[olbriar]

I expected a tight game. I suspect it will be a better game in the second.

 

[ocnbrze]

I expected a tight game. I suspect it will be a better game in the second.

well they better.....if they want to keep their #2 status.

 

[olbriar]

The Zags looked very good. Don't know if some better D would help.
Not sure who is going to hang with them.

 

[ocnbrze]

The Zags looked very good. Don't know if some better D would help.
Not sure who is going to hang with them.

they just need to hit their shots and defend better. zaga will need to go into a shooting slump if ucla is to win.

edit: its good to hear and see Dick Vitale though.

 

[olbriar]

UCLA would have been in the game if they hadn't spotted them 20 in the first half. It was still a fun game to watch. Lots of great athletes on both teams.