2013 NCAA Tournament Draw

[WuDrWu]

1/2 the bracket released, no Shocks yet.

Illinois hosts @ 16-14 and the 13 seed.....and they host the regional final. Seems a bit much to me for a team that lost 14 times. I don't care who you lost to or who you beat....16-14.

[WuDrWu]

KU in Lawrence, round 1. Arkansas v CU winner. Bring it.

[The Mad Hatter]

We are the 4 seed against KU. Creighton and Arkansas in the same pod.

[bunck]

I'll take it!

[The Mad Hatter]

Crazy to be the 4 seed, but it is actually a huge favor to us in terms of likelihood of returning to the Sweet Sixteen compared to being a 2 or 3 seed in say the Texas region.

[bunck]

Crazy to be the 4 seed, but it is actually a huge favor to us in terms of likelihood of returning to the Sweet Sixteen compared to being a 2 or 3 seed in say the Texas region.

Yeah, I was really hopeful when I saw that we weren't @ Texas or Nebraska.

[WuDrWu]

Crazy to be the 4 seed, but it is actually a huge favor to us in terms of likelihood of returning to the Sweet Sixteen compared to being a 2 or 3 seed in say the Texas region.

No doubt. I certainly won't predict a regional win again, but KU is about the only seed that has to at least scout their first match.

Our girls have no doubt they can beat all 3 teams, having done so recently (not so recently with CU but when you lose in 5, you know you're there).

If our littles play like they did over this weekend, we're extraordinarily dangerous.

[ShockerFever]

That's some good stuff right there.

Let's make it 2 in a row.

[WuDrWu]

I often lament (mostly jokingly) that things "never go my way" for a group of events...for instance, if men's basketball wins, then volleyball loses or my NFL team loses etc etc.

Are things going well enough around here to beat KU in Lawrence 2 years in a row?

I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to find out.

[The Mad Hatter]

If I were KU, I would not be too happy about this regional. By RPI and experience level, there is no scenario where WSU should be a 4 seed, and not only do they not get a true 4 seed, it is the team that knocked them out of the NCAAs last year. On top of that, even if they get past us, they have already lost to both Creighton and Arkansas this year.

[boyshocker]

Think this a good draw, saw KU play recently and a good team but beatable..just like last year.

[WstateU]

If I were KU, I would not be too happy about this regional. By RPI and experience level, there is no scenario where WSU should be a 4 seed, and not only do they not get a true 4 seed, it is the team that knocked them out of the NCAAs last year. On top of that, even if they get past us, they have already lost to both Creighton and Arkansas this year.

FWIW (very little)...

Matt Tait (@mctait)
12/1/13, 9:00 PM

"Pretty cool to watch KU vball explode when they found out. Girls seem PUMPED to draw Wichita State, the team that knocked em out last season"

[The Mad Hatter]

FWIW (very little)...

Matt Tait (@mctait)
12/1/13, 9:00 PM

"Pretty cool to watch KU vball explode when they found out. Girls seem PUMPED to draw Wichita State, the team that knocked em out last season"

Clearly the emotion of a revenge game is very strong, but by any objective standard 14-seed KU is worse off facing WSU, a team that is regularly in the NCAAs and just beat them on their home floor to go the the Sweet 16 last year, than 15-seed Kentucky is facing Duquesne, a team that is going to its very first NCAA tournament.

Let's be clear, for all the revenge factor that would have gone into facing UNI in the finals of the MVC tournament for the losses they've handed us on our home floor, I was plenty happy to see SIU come through that side of the bracket. No matter how much you want revenge, the very nature of a revenge game involves the following:

1. An opponent who has matched up well against you in the past.
2. An opponent who believes they can beat you.
3. An opportunity for anything that goes wrong to trigger self doubt based on prior experience.

[flyingMoose]

There is some discussion of the NCAA Post-season Tournament over on the MVC Post-season Tournament thread, but I will put the RPIs of our pod in Lawrence here.

13 Kansas
15 Creighton
35 Shockers
36 Arkansas

I am not going to bother to research it, but this has to be the tightest grouping among all the pods.

[1972Shocker]

No question this is a sub-regional where all 4 teams have a legitimate shot of winning it.