2025 March Madness

professor helps out those universities like Marquette and Creighton too that are small in comparison yet have big$ boosters. Creighton basically has a new team every year. I suspect there are quite a few universities with similar enrollment yet big$ boosters. SMU another one. It levels the playing field against the prior cheaters, but it still fucks those programs that like to develop players and have longevity.

ode Nobody keeps and develops players anymore. Every team is recruiting every season. This isn't all because of NIL; there used to be a rule that if you transferred schools you had to sit out an entire season. Now you can play right away.

There are now literally seniors who have played for four different schools in their four years.

rsvman2 Wisconsin does. Ironic however the guy they got, John Tonje, was a star, and without him they would have likely stunk. But then they lost two guys, Connor Essegian, he went to Nebraska; and Chucky Hepburn went to Louisville. I can't explain what happened to these guys in the 2023-24 season, but they were both dead weight, compared.to what they did in 2022-23, both showing tremendous upside. Chucky started and Essegian turned out.to be a key reserve. They both went on to have good seasons, Chucky making a pretty good splash in the ACC. Likely good for both of them that they left, but it definitely makes me wonder if they stay and pull their heads out of their asses, how good they would have been this year with Blackwell and Essegian coming off the bench. IMO with Gard's new approach to scoring those two staying put, would have been huge for depth and scoring. Wisconsin does not get blue chippers,literally EVERY in state blue chipper goes elsewhere. The list is mind numbing and makes me want to puke. But Bo Ryan came and changed the entire mindset with the program and they did it through development. In the Dekker/Kaminski era when they went to consecutive final 4s and to the final game the 2nd year. Those teams were amazing yet none.of those guys were highly sought after or MacD,s all Americans. NIL is making it.next to impossible to do that anymore because pieces would have been taken away. They would still have been good because of Dekker and Kaminski, but pieces would have been taken away, it's simply too tempting for some of these players. Where Kaminski started to where he ended was truly amazing. A note on Tonje, he didn't do much before coming to Wisconsin, but man he had a helluva year, so it's not as if we got a name, but he turned into that. I hope what this does is offer the in state phenoms a window into what they could do by staying home.

ode , but it still fucks those programs that like to develop players and have longevity.

Ah, and there’s the big rub for. I’m a Pitt alumni and I just loved the Jamie Dixon era. That guy would build teams - teams he’d keep together for squads of guys playing together for years. He’d only be able to secure 3 star recruits but, he’d mold them over time to become really solid and savvy players. Yeah…

ode
Oh such genuine passion and understanding in that post! Excellent!
However, now makes me wonder what level of understanding folks have from those kids’ perspective.
Do folks know how hard they work?! Know about AAU ball they’ve been playing since they were wee kids? Know about their own national social networks? All these guys cross paths, playing Club ball, going to Junior Nationals, play with and against each other, social internet network… Yeah, without that old year ineligibility, they have more agency now. No longer a one sided game. May be hard to adjust to the myth of “school loyalty” for we older fans. But they’re living it and no longer “meat on the hoof”.

professor Agree. The pros have free agency but there's still quite a bit of continuity with multi-year contracts. They don't reshuffle the entire roster every year, and players like star QBs often spend most of their careers with one team.

MidwayJ There is talk about this happening going forward. Major NIL policy changes are being pushed forward. Wisconsin led the charge in the Xavier Lucas NIL deal by not releasing him and living up to his signed NIL deal. Nothing is going to be gained here but at least Wisconsin put their foot down no other college entity would risk it.

Since, the is March this happened over the weekend. Wisconsin Women's Hockey took their 8th Nat'l NCAA Div. 1 Championship. 1980 Miracle on Ice player Mark Johnson is the head coach of Wisconsin women's team and a great coach.
Highlights vs. Ohio State. 3rd Period 18 secs. to go
OT winner.

Saw a headline yesterday that asked if the NCAA needs to advertise the women's March Madness more due to lack of interest. Then I watched two games yesterday where the higher seed basically annihilated the other team on their home floor and thought that no amount of advertising will attract viewers to that.

azgreg Purdue for the win!

MidwayJ They don't reshuffle the entire roster every year,

Correct! But then that is what becomes the new and very real challenge for both coaches and players! The ones who succeed in creating an actual "team" mentality that only has one season to sprout and then blossom is what garners success in the championship games.

ode I thought it was foolish to move on from him, but they did. Can't say I've followed/paid attention to their plight since

Their "plight" has been basically atrocious. Although, after a rough couple of years it did appear last year that head coach Jeff Capel had finally figured things out - and they were truly competitive in the ACC, only to get snubbed last year by that damn "committee". They sucked this year!
But, Jamie Dixon went down to Texas Christian and has had a great career there. Really dumb move by a long gone Pitt Athletic Director. Oh well...

The other noteworthy observation... is Cinderella....is it all but over, gone, finished....I think we will see less and less. The lowest ranked team left = BYU and I would hardly consider them Cinderella.....this needs to play out over some time but I think chalk will the status quo. That is OK IMO as long as the games are exciting!

I'm in a 17 player pool. I currently hold the top 3 spots. Still probably won't win. I saw on ESPN Seth Greenberg has picked every game right but two.

Fuck. Shon millor. That is all.