There's no D in BYU, and Gonzaga fakes injury to whine about being poked with a finger

Pope got schooled by Cronin and UCLA. I could make a very obvious statement about BYU’s team, but I’ll just say Dave Rose figured out a long time ago that if any BYU team was going to beat good teams, they would have to score a ton of points, because they weren’t going to stop them. I feel like if SCU ever gets to play them again, especially at home, they could match up well with them.

Gonzaga played a zone team and predictably hammered them. Mismatch, sure, but we saw a lot better games in the high seeds. With UVa gone, they should stroll to the Elite 8 in the joke of a bracket they were given.

One thing noticed across the board: not a ton of fouls being called. Gonzaga whined about a flagrant for a guy literally being touched with a finger. Then got a flagrant by whining again about a hard but normal foul. They really aren’t used to physical play, and they don’t like it. Unfortunately, no one in their region is equipped to take advantage like someone like West Virginia or Texas Tech or Florida State or Colorado.

Who peed in your cereal?

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And another weak overseed gone in the Gonzaga invitational. Iowa gets run by Oregon, albeit with Oregon getting a walkover and two extra days of rest.

Still, Iowa was not a good defensive team and them getting put out early was predictable.

There might as well be a Gonzaga branded snowplow clearing their path to the Final Four.

Just curious… who IS a good team/matchup for Gonzaga?

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Like I said, teams that can take advantage of their lack of size and distaste for physical play. And will stay in front of their guards and make them shoot over the top.

But there aren’t really any in the west. Definitely not teams that are below 50 in adjusted defense efficiency.

USC could be if they make it that far and if they can defend Kispert, which is to say they probably can’t. Virginia would have been but for the situation they found themselves in. Colorado is a physical team that can defend. Florida State. Loyola of course is just good despite being an 8 seed. North Carolina would have been a tough 8/9 for them to draw if they did. Maryland defends well inside the arc and doesn’t give up a lot of easy points.

That’s avoiding top 3 seeds, though Iowa and Ohio State were pretty weak defensively for 2 seeds, and are now out as a result.

Oklahoma was definitely not. Don’t rebound well, not defend well. Creighton shot defends decently but doesn’t rebound well. Ohio would probably be a tougher matchup just bc no one knows what to make of them – what they are on paper isn’t reflective of what they are now.

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Think you’re spot on. I think USC would be interesting but I don’t think they are deep enough to seriously push them.

I was hoping for the following path for the Zags…

No. 8 UNC → No. 4 Florida State → No. 2 Alabama (simply for the 3 point variance)

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FSU and alabama are both pretty good. Colorado was unlucky to get that matchup.

I think this year really exposed the flaws in the way the field is selected. Could put Massey, pomeroy, torvik, and a couple other eggheads together and do better.