What a game. Abilene Christian beats Texas

[Tnphil]

14 seed beats a 3 seed.....Worst FT shooter for AC at 58% goes to the line and makes 2 down 1 to win it.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Even more upsets than usual so far this year. Which is the opposite of what I expected. Usually the unaffiliated fans in a full NCAAT crowd will cheer for the underdog, giving them a defacto homecourt advantage. But that’s largely missing this year, and somehow the underdogs are winning anyway. Weird.

[droner]

Even more upsets than usual so far this year. Which is the opposite of what I expected. Usually the unaffiliated fans in a full NCAAT crowd will cheer for the underdog, giving them a defacto homecourt advantage. But that’s largely missing this year, and somehow the underdogs are winning anyway. Weird.

I think the underdogs are winning because this has been a FU'ed season. It's what I expected but wasn't brave enough to follow through on my pickem. Maybe it's because there is more parity, but I think it's because there was a disturbance in the force.

[VinnieVOL]

Great game!

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Great win for that school.

Defensively, Abilene Christian played an amazing game. They stifled the Longhorns and frustrated them for 40 minutes. Offensively, they threw up a lot of shots that miraculously found the bucket (the opposite of Tennessee). The free throws shooting at the end by those kids was clutch.

For the most part, except for the fact that Tennessee wet the bed, this has been a very entertaining tournament to watch.

[BanditVol]

Down goes the ugly fake orange, derivative UT copy cat.  Good riddance!

Also doesn't hurt that Abilene Christian is run by my church.   

Unfortunately they got schooled yesterday, but did get their first tourney win in their history, so that's great.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

I think the underdogs are winning because this has been a FU'ed season. It's what I expected but wasn't brave enough to follow through on my pickem. Maybe it's because there is more parity, but I think it's because there was a disturbance in the force.

I believe that there are multiple factors at work in the upsets.  Here are just a few factors that I think maybe have contributed to the underdogs being more successful than normal.

I definitely believe that the lack of OOC play affected seedings, which led to the BIG 10 being crowned the best conference and the BIG 12 being crowned the runner-up.  These two conferences ultimately showed that those crownings were errors.

I think that there is more parity in basketball across the country.  Parity is much easier to create in basketball because of the smaller sample size per team.  There is still dominating teams but much less so than in the past - the talent pool is growing larger and larger I think.

Lastly, I think that the game has changed to a point where some coaches are going to have to adapt or depart.  You can't compete with these 3-point juggernaut teams with an old style game plan.  They are simply too explosive.  Unless you catch them on a down shooting night, you better be able to put up some points.

Finally, we will likely never know the extent to which COVID played a role in the tournament.  The mid- to long-term effects of the virus are just not known at this point.  Athletes who contracted the virus may have been at a severe disadvantage to players who didn't.

I will say that until yesterday I was enjoying this tournament more than any in quite a few years.  Almost all games before yesterday were close and the underdogs were winning more than their share.  Its been exciting to watch.

[Tnphil]

Basketball like football today is not play defense and hold the team to few points and you'll win....Pruitt didn't get that memo and neither has Rick Barns. It's a different game in both sports and you'll either adjust or you'll be left in the other teams dust.

I heard a interview with Bama coach Nate Oast 3 weeks ago.....He said you have to let athletes be athletes and you have to let racehorses run....Said you won't see us dribble...dribble...dribble and put a shot late in the shot clock. We are going to shot and make it or we'll go get a rebound and shoot it again. We'll play strong defense because that will give us more chances to shoot it on the offensive end.

Oat puts tape about 3 feet beyond the 3 point line in practice and gives his players extra points if they make it beyond the tape....He does that because in the college game he says it's harder to defend at that length....Bama led the nation in 3 point production this season and last night against Maryland they broke the NCAA tournament record for made 3 pointers at 15 made. And it's not like they just have one good/great shooter where if that player has a bad shooting night they are in trouble....Hell...they have a full team of shooters. They got 39 points off their bench against Maryland.

Another thing about the this season....Teams with one and done players didn't get the practice time in during the off season and preseason and that hurt the Dukes...KY's....and more. You see more teams with upperclassmen and experience playing better.......Also with the transfer you can turnover your roster much better now....There is over 700 players in the portal right now....Barnes needs use it and earn his 5 million. He has too much dead weight on his team right now.

[BanditVol]

Basketball like football today is not play defense and hold the team to few points and you'll win....Pruitt didn't get that memo and neither has Rick Barns. It's a different game in both sports and you'll either adjust or you'll be left in the other teams dust.

I heard a interview with Bama coach Nate Oast 3 weeks ago.....He said you have to let athletes be athletes and you have to let racehorses run....Said you won't see us dribble...dribble...dribble and put a shot late in the shot clock. We are going to shot and make it or we'll go get a rebound and shoot it again. We'll play strong defense because that will give us more chances to shoot it on the offensive end.

Oat puts tape about 3 feet beyond the 3 point line in practice and gives his players extra points if they make it beyond the tape....He does that because in the college game he says it's harder to defend at that length....Bama led the nation in 3 point production this season and last night against Maryland they broke the NCAA tournament record for made 3 pointers at 15 made. And it's not like they just have one good/great shooter where if that player has a bad shooting night they are in trouble....Hell...they have a full team of shooters. They got 39 points off their bench against Maryland.

Another thing about the this season....Teams with one and done players didn't get the practice time in during the off season and preseason and that hurt the Dukes...KY's....and more. You see more teams with upperclassmen and experience playing better.......Also with the transfer you can turnover your roster much better now....There is over 700 players in the portal right now....Barnes needs use it and earn his 5 million. He has too much dead weight on his team right now.

slight correction, it was 16 made threes 

Agree that whatever one thinks about Barnes offense, we definitely need more three point shooters.  Can't make it in this day and age without them.

Oast's philosophy no doubt appeals to the players way more.  Defense is still important, but it can't be all you do, for sure.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Basketball like football today is not play defense and hold the team to few points and you'll win....Pruitt didn't get that memo and neither has Rick Barns. It's a different game in both sports and you'll either adjust or you'll be left in the other teams dust.

I heard a interview with Bama coach Nate Oast 3 weeks ago.....He said you have to let athletes be athletes and you have to let racehorses run....Said you won't see us dribble...dribble...dribble and put a shot late in the shot clock. We are going to shot and make it or we'll go get a rebound and shoot it again. We'll play strong defense because that will give us more chances to shoot it on the offensive end.

Oat puts tape about 3 feet beyond the 3 point line in practice and gives his players extra points if they make it beyond the tape....He does that because in the college game he says it's harder to defend at that length....Bama led the nation in 3 point production this season and last night against Maryland they broke the NCAA tournament record for made 3 pointers at 15 made. And it's not like they just have one good/great shooter where if that player has a bad shooting night they are in trouble....Hell...they have a full team of shooters. They got 39 points off their bench against Maryland.

Another thing about the this season....Teams with one and done players didn't get the practice time in during the off season and preseason and that hurt the Dukes...KY's....and more. You see more teams with upperclassmen and experience playing better.......Also with the transfer you can turnover your roster much better now....There is over 700 players in the portal right now....Barnes needs use it and earn his 5 million. He has too much dead weight on his team right now.

Well said.

I think that one of the problems with our team is that players are, at least at times, afraid to shoot. The Bama players have no fear of shooting, from anywhere it seems. Players cannot be afraid to miss shots. Oats seems to have definitely instilled this lack of fear in his players.

As to the one-and-done kids: I’ll only believe that this method can consistently deliver championships when it’s proven to do so. Nobody has yet to do that, at least nobody that I know of. I think that Cal’s experience shows that it doesn’t normally work (although I think his game day coaching ineptness also contributes to UK’s failure to succeed with 5* players who are looking to bolt).

[volsboy]

The way teams want to take 3's in today's game, how do you recruit a team that can't shoot? Barnes is stuck in an outdated type of basketball.

[BanditVol]

The way teams want to take 3's in today's game, how do you recruit a team that can't shoot? Barnes is stuck in an outdated type of basketball.

well played BP!  Nice way to subtly inject things others are saying. Makes you seem part of the crowd. 

How is your boyfriend with the hair dryer doing BTW?  Hope you didn't let that one get away!

[volsboy]

I great that the lower seeded underdogs win. But how many win a 2nd or 3rd game in the tourney. History has shown not many.

[volsboy]

well played BP!  Nice way to subtly inject things others are saying. Makes you seem part of the crowd.  

How is your boyfriend with the hair dryer doing BTW?  Hope you didn't let that one get away!

Are you still trying to convince yourself Barnes is a great coach instead of just a good one?
Barnes is a good coach. I think coaches  all get mulligan's for this year just because it was so effed up.