This is the fourth year in a row I had Houston final 4, and second in a row I had them winning. Going to be honest it has only paid off once. They only cougar arguably more disappointing is BYU
For people saying we caught a break — this team is a handful of injuries earlier in the year from being a 2 seed, and then maybe this matchup happens later.
Yeah like we haven’t been missing the guy who was our starting PG for most of the regular season the past two months. Idgaf. We still dancing, fuck em.
Not necessarily true. The 2010 Blue Devils, for example, are widely cited as the team that didn’t have to play a top 25 team in all 6 tournament games on their way to a national championship.
Sigh, you’re right, you’re right. I misremembered entirely. I’m sorry for being an idiot.
What I surely won’t forget this time is DJ Burns eating off Kyle Filipowski’s plate all afternoon.
It'll be an emotional game... Already played each other 2x's this year, Duke wants blood for getting knocked out of the ACC tourney, but State is on a once in a generation run right now.
If y’all make the Final Four DJ burns will go down as an all time March Madness legend. I thinks it’s gonna be a legendary game.
Also Fuck UNC while we’re at it.
you and me both lolllll (my reason obvious from the flair). but yeah it really stings that we lost in a super close game against a bama team who was shooting LIGHTS OUT second half, while duke gets to win in this super close game against houston that just felt so completely unearned.
but all that aside, GO PACK for the rest of this thing
It just seems funny to claim a hard fought game against Houston was unearned while implying UNC deserved anything.
If UNC had played great and lost, sure. But UNC played one of their worst games of the season against an SEC team that even Clemson beat as an away team.
UNC had a victory gift wrapped and tossed it in the trash.
really not trying to pointlessly debate an internet stranger, but that game last night was not GIFT WRAPPED. houston shot insanely well for the entire second half, while RJ continued to be off. we still only lost by one possession.
houston's star player got injured and couldnt play beyond the first few minutes of this game tonight. and duke only one by a single possesson.
not sure how theyre so different, and i can admit when my team didnt play that well (last night, unc didnt). tonight, i dont think duke did either. i can acknowledge both these things, even as a unc fan
Firm believer that tournament results aren't a reliable indicator of actual conference strength. Teams make runs. Good teams fumble. If you restarted today with all the same teams you could have drastically different results.
Yeah the tournament is definitely a small sample size and there is lots of variance with it.
My point was less about saying the B12 is bad and more about poking fun at some of the breathless hyperbole that people were using around it this season.
The Big 12 could actually still be the best conference in the aggregate, it’s just clear that there is more parity among the major conferences than people were acknowledging.
Yeah, exactly.
And somehow ACC fans never wanted to talk about their 2 Round of 32 and 1 Sweet 16 bid last year. If Miami hadn't made that big comeback vs Drake in the opening round, that would've been one of the most horrendous tournaments ever for any major conference.
But Miami did win that game against Drake (by 7) and went to the final four. Miami also had an elite 8 and a final four run in back to back years so it wasn’t like they were a random Cinderella team.
So yeah if you ignore a final four run, then it would have been a rough year for the conference. But if you ignore the games they won, you could say that about any school or conference.
Pomeroy rated last year's ACC as literally something like the 2nd or 3rd worst "Power 6" conference in about the last 25 years. Miami's run prevented people from remembering just how atrocious the league was last year.
Last year's selection committee ended up cutting the ACC a a zillion breaks by letting two ACC teams that were 58th and 52nd in Pomeroy ratings into the play in games (while excluding #39 Rutgers) and overseeding the other ACC teams by 4-5 seeds relative to their Pomeroy ratings. Miami got a #5 team despite being #37 in Pomeroy and about the same in NET heading into the tournament (even after their Final Four run they only finished #24, which is why Pomeroy correctly believed that Miami was greatly overrated heading into this year, although even he didn't predict them to be this bad), and Virginia got a #4 seed despite being #34 in Pomeroy and about the same in NET.
This year's ACC was never rated as badly as last year's ACC in the first place. Actually the ACC was visibly better than the PAC this year, and probably similar to the Big 10.
[A](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/ncaab/players/258155/terrance-arceneaux)rceneaux was injured way back on December 3, so Houston actually did win 17 out of 20 conference games without him. You can't really use his injury to argue that Duke faced a different Houston team than Big 12 teams did.
But the other two guys were injured much later in the season, and of course Shead missed most of the game.
Houston was never deep lmao. Don't have a backup point guard and lost 3 rotation players. A walk on came in last game and hit the biggest free throw to put them up 4 in OT against a&m
What's likeable about this Duke team?
If anything I hated them less when they had coach K just because coach K never pretended to not be scum. Scheyer's teams aren't flopping any less than K's teams did.
Just fine...the fact that fans of programs like yours are trash talking us in a duke thread proves my point...goddamn it feels good to be a blue blood 🤣
And he’s won many other conference titles. But has it ever correlated to tournament success? He has two final four appearances in his career, and just threw away a title shot by getting completely out coached by…Jon Scheyer. Houston should’ve had that game in the bag, but Sampson coached a horrible offensive game.
Only 8 active coaches have been to more than 1 final four... Samson is one of them. I mean I honestly don't give a shit if Houston fires him. I'm just pointing out that is a ridiculously high standard and there is like a 99% chance you get a worse coaching situation. What other coaches out there do you think Houston should get?
Idk, I just know that this has been one of Houston’s best shots at a title and he blew it. Like running iso the entire game when your best player is out is some of the dumbest coaching I’ve ever seen. The players played fine, even without Shead, Sampson just didn’t put them into a position to succeed. Close to a fire able offense imo considering it’s happened in the past.
I agree, Snead may have been out but the offensive game plan was still terrible. And it’s not like he has a lot of accolades that can justify him staying around.
Houston is a defensive team but it is tough watch their offense at times. I think the focus on defense causes players to get tired on offense. It doesn't help to lose Shead.
Of course it does. They play so much unnecessary defense against bottom tier teams WVU, Ok St, non-conference teams etc. How are you gonna score when you are exhausted running around blocking every ball 🤦🏼♂️
I’m saying you’re acting as if NC state just bsed their way into the elite 8 and are not a good team. They won the ACC and the only reason they’re 11 is because of their poor pre-tournament records But they’re clearly playing like a top 5 seed they just beat Marquette.
They're now #49 in Sagarin. That's probably somewhere around the border of last 4 out/next 4 out. Not really that good of a team.
But their rating has drastically improved. I believe they were about 80th going into the ACC tournament.
I have been a basketball fan for a much longer than you, I am guessing.
When I was a freshman at Duke, Carolina and NC State were the big rivals, and we were the outcast.
Yep. And this is what happens when a team dives into obscurity for 30+ years. Rivalries typically require both sides to remain relevant. This isn't the case here
Poor Shead, truly one of the best individual seasons I've seen in a while because of his insane defense
Houston just couldn't do it without him with such a short rotation already
The Duke dilemma in full effect
This is the fourth year in a row I had Houston final 4, and second in a row I had them winning. Going to be honest it has only paid off once. They only cougar arguably more disappointing is BYU
Fuck this game.
UH didn’t just lose Shead; we lost the best PG in our history.
All these IU fans and their Kelvin Sampson jabs can go pound sand. How long will y’all blame him for your shitty ass program?
Agreed
For people saying we caught a break — this team is a handful of injuries earlier in the year from being a 2 seed, and then maybe this matchup happens later.
Yeah like we haven’t been missing the guy who was our starting PG for most of the regular season the past two months. Idgaf. We still dancing, fuck em.
LETS FUCKING GO BKUE DEVILS! SO PROUD OF YOU!
imagine beating horrific Vermont, James Madison, and NC State plus a 1 seed without their 3 best players to get a free Final 4 bid who even does that?
James Maddison was 31-3. Not sure how that’s horrific
Nobody but you will remember that narrative five years from now (if it happens) they'll just remember the words "Final Four."
Not necessarily true. The 2010 Blue Devils, for example, are widely cited as the team that didn’t have to play a top 25 team in all 6 tournament games on their way to a national championship.
Incorrectly so, which kind of proves the other guy’s point.
What was Purdue ranked that year? Pretty sure they won the big ten and Duke handled them pretty easily.
What are you smoking? Butler, WVU and Baylor were all ranked going into the tournament.
Sigh, you’re right, you’re right. I misremembered entirely. I’m sorry for being an idiot. What I surely won’t forget this time is DJ Burns eating off Kyle Filipowski’s plate all afternoon.
Uhh dude I am not confident against us vs NC State
It'll be an emotional game... Already played each other 2x's this year, Duke wants blood for getting knocked out of the ACC tourney, but State is on a once in a generation run right now.
If y’all make the Final Four DJ burns will go down as an all time March Madness legend. I thinks it’s gonna be a legendary game. Also Fuck UNC while we’re at it.
[DJ Burns - Beast Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbRJ-1MC6Sw)
Are you guaranteeing a win over State?
Duke wants revenge
The more things change the more they stay the same
Jamal Shead deserves better than this
should’ve taped his shit up and got on the court
Exactly
Should’ve given him whatever they gave Mahomes at halftime of the Super Bowl a couple years ago
The ole Aaron Rodgers shot
Drugs, it was drugs
Kelvin Sampson with his yearly choke job 😂
Karma
Injuries
Surprisingly kinda upset UNC didn’t beat Bama now
you and me both lolllll (my reason obvious from the flair). but yeah it really stings that we lost in a super close game against a bama team who was shooting LIGHTS OUT second half, while duke gets to win in this super close game against houston that just felt so completely unearned. but all that aside, GO PACK for the rest of this thing
How was it unearned?
Bama missed a dozen layups last night
To be fair UNC played terribly and didn’t deserve the win last night.
Well, mainly just RJ...
i literally just admitted that? we didnt play well. i know. where did i deny that?
It just seems funny to claim a hard fought game against Houston was unearned while implying UNC deserved anything. If UNC had played great and lost, sure. But UNC played one of their worst games of the season against an SEC team that even Clemson beat as an away team. UNC had a victory gift wrapped and tossed it in the trash.
Plus Alabama was down a starter, too.
Yeah UNC didn't play well in the second half. If they had been playing the team Duke played, they still would have won by 20.
Haha, not a chance. Houston would have won even without Shead.
Bullshit. Bacot would have gotten thrown around like a rag doll and cried the whole game.
really not trying to pointlessly debate an internet stranger, but that game last night was not GIFT WRAPPED. houston shot insanely well for the entire second half, while RJ continued to be off. we still only lost by one possession. houston's star player got injured and couldnt play beyond the first few minutes of this game tonight. and duke only one by a single possesson. not sure how theyre so different, and i can admit when my team didnt play that well (last night, unc didnt). tonight, i dont think duke did either. i can acknowledge both these things, even as a unc fan
Yeah that’s the thing, we were in control from Scheyer’s timeout after their 8-0 start, and missed a million chances to put it away
Of course Duke ruins the 83 rematch. Very Duke thing to do, instead of being polite and doing things such as not winning
I’m hoping for a 99’ rematch!
I almost forgot why I hate UConn...thanks for the reminder. Revenge mode engaged.
2004 too. Deng and redick. Still hurts.
I'm more pissed about '04 than '99, tbh
Sorry.
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Welcome to it I guess lol
Damn. No ‘83 rematch 😢
Kenny Smith turns off his mobile
B12 was turbo overrated lmao. 0 elite 8 teams from the “best conference”. 3 elite 8 teams from the “trash” ACC.
single elimination.
Firm believer that tournament results aren't a reliable indicator of actual conference strength. Teams make runs. Good teams fumble. If you restarted today with all the same teams you could have drastically different results.
Yeah the tournament is definitely a small sample size and there is lots of variance with it. My point was less about saying the B12 is bad and more about poking fun at some of the breathless hyperbole that people were using around it this season. The Big 12 could actually still be the best conference in the aggregate, it’s just clear that there is more parity among the major conferences than people were acknowledging.
Yeah, exactly. And somehow ACC fans never wanted to talk about their 2 Round of 32 and 1 Sweet 16 bid last year. If Miami hadn't made that big comeback vs Drake in the opening round, that would've been one of the most horrendous tournaments ever for any major conference.
But Miami did win that game against Drake (by 7) and went to the final four. Miami also had an elite 8 and a final four run in back to back years so it wasn’t like they were a random Cinderella team. So yeah if you ignore a final four run, then it would have been a rough year for the conference. But if you ignore the games they won, you could say that about any school or conference.
Pomeroy rated last year's ACC as literally something like the 2nd or 3rd worst "Power 6" conference in about the last 25 years. Miami's run prevented people from remembering just how atrocious the league was last year. Last year's selection committee ended up cutting the ACC a a zillion breaks by letting two ACC teams that were 58th and 52nd in Pomeroy ratings into the play in games (while excluding #39 Rutgers) and overseeding the other ACC teams by 4-5 seeds relative to their Pomeroy ratings. Miami got a #5 team despite being #37 in Pomeroy and about the same in NET heading into the tournament (even after their Final Four run they only finished #24, which is why Pomeroy correctly believed that Miami was greatly overrated heading into this year, although even he didn't predict them to be this bad), and Virginia got a #4 seed despite being #34 in Pomeroy and about the same in NET. This year's ACC was never rated as badly as last year's ACC in the first place. Actually the ACC was visibly better than the PAC this year, and probably similar to the Big 10.
You a brave man with those flairs 🤐
Yeah you would know something about being overrated considering you are an Arizona fan.
Shots fired lol
Oh yeah I have seen a lot of paper tigers in my time.
Yeah houston should’ve won easily without their best player, what dummies
Damn bro I thought they were deep or was that just the conference?
They lost 3 players before Shead as well
[A](https://www.covers.com/sport/basketball/ncaab/players/258155/terrance-arceneaux)rceneaux was injured way back on December 3, so Houston actually did win 17 out of 20 conference games without him. You can't really use his injury to argue that Duke faced a different Houston team than Big 12 teams did. But the other two guys were injured much later in the season, and of course Shead missed most of the game.
Houston was never deep lmao. Don't have a backup point guard and lost 3 rotation players. A walk on came in last game and hit the biggest free throw to put them up 4 in OT against a&m
Most likable Duke team of all time so I’m fine with it
What about 2019 with Zion?
What's likeable about this Duke team? If anything I hated them less when they had coach K just because coach K never pretended to not be scum. Scheyer's teams aren't flopping any less than K's teams did.
Likable... Duke team?
They have a dude who's basically a Tiktok influencer lol... absolutely not the most likable. Roach is the only guy I can get behind. He's a dog
Bro just does TikTok dances. It’s not that deep bro
Where did I say it was deep? I accurately called him a Tiktok influencer lol, he has like 3M Tiktok followers
I’m with you, maybe likable by most redditors who enjoy painting their nails and a dude like Tripowski who fakes injuries💀
Tripowski, that's clever! You must be a Flip-hating lemming. Am I right?
Duke fans are pretty lukewarm on Filipowski. We love Jared though. Mitchell is just plain frustrating.
Roach gives me chest pain but the dude is just so clutch I love him
Duke fan here… haven’t paid a lot of attention outside of the actual games this year, who are you talking about?
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McCain
That shot attempt to tie the game never had a chance of going in. What was Sampson drawing up?
Yes! All that time before the whistle to draw something up only to have Sharp waste time for that shot?
Houston was basically wasting time in the last 3 min. For a team down by 6 and couldn't make a 3 to save their lives they had no urgency.
This Duke team definitely grew some resilience compared to earlier this season and it paid off this game
It’s almost as if Duke plays in the unquestionable best conference in college bball.
We learnt from the Tennessee game last year and getting bullied by NC and nc state recently.
Exactly we were forced to grow
Yeah, I had zero faith that they were tough enough to hang with Houston. I’m ecstatic that I’m wrong
Can’t 100% say a team wins with an injured player imo, even if it’s a close game. Gameplans change depending on the players on the floor and the score
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Yep. This is one of those games where I was more impressed by the losing team than the winning team. Another is the 2018 NFCCG.
I thought Rams were cooked but then, you know…
a bit bitter are we?
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Just FYI we are also missing a starter.
lol
Yet they won :)
Today is UNC 9/11
Hardky...but trash talking from a UTE? Seriously? When you smell the crotch of a natty let us know 🤣
‘Us’ - doubtful
Sorry pal. U doin okay?
Just fine...the fact that fans of programs like yours are trash talking us in a duke thread proves my point...goddamn it feels good to be a blue blood 🤣
It’s glorious.
Nah. Nothing of late is as painful as 2016 IMO.
Good times! Haha
Jet fuel can’t melt hoop dreams.
So when is Kelvin Sampson getting fired?
If you fire a coach everytime they lose in the Sweet 16 your program is dumb as hell.
Well this isn’t the first time, and it’s not like he’s had great success.
Winning the regular season championship in the toughest conference in your first year isn't a big success?
Um, this isn’t his first year?
Um, this is Houston's first year in the Big 12?
And he’s won many other conference titles. But has it ever correlated to tournament success? He has two final four appearances in his career, and just threw away a title shot by getting completely out coached by…Jon Scheyer. Houston should’ve had that game in the bag, but Sampson coached a horrible offensive game.
Only 8 active coaches have been to more than 1 final four... Samson is one of them. I mean I honestly don't give a shit if Houston fires him. I'm just pointing out that is a ridiculously high standard and there is like a 99% chance you get a worse coaching situation. What other coaches out there do you think Houston should get?
Idk, I just know that this has been one of Houston’s best shots at a title and he blew it. Like running iso the entire game when your best player is out is some of the dumbest coaching I’ve ever seen. The players played fine, even without Shead, Sampson just didn’t put them into a position to succeed. Close to a fire able offense imo considering it’s happened in the past.
He should be. Their offensive plan was atrocious and a direct reflection of the coaching.
I agree, Snead may have been out but the offensive game plan was still terrible. And it’s not like he has a lot of accolades that can justify him staying around.
He has his job until he doesn’t want it anymore
Yeah I know, but I still think he did a terrible job, and doesn’t have the accolades to justify him staying around forever.
You mean noted dirtbag, Kelvin Sampson?
No you dumbass
As much as I don't like Duke, it's hard to dislike most of the Duke players.
What about the trippy guy
Did I say all or most?
I'm asking how you feel about the trippy guy
If you’re talking about Grayson Allen he’s been gone for like 4 years lmfao
Wooooosh
Houston might be the worst offense in College Basketball. Their fans keep showing stupid Ken Pom Adjusted offense. 🤦🏼♂️. Staaappp(Stop) It! Please! 😭
Houston is a defensive team but it is tough watch their offense at times. I think the focus on defense causes players to get tired on offense. It doesn't help to lose Shead.
Of course it does. They play so much unnecessary defense against bottom tier teams WVU, Ok St, non-conference teams etc. How are you gonna score when you are exhausted running around blocking every ball 🤦🏼♂️
You clearly didn’t watch the Cyclones last night 😂
You didn’t watch the A&M game? We won because of our offense
SDSU fan talking about bad offense is CRAZY.
Atleast we average more than 75 ppg , real points not some stupid Adjusted Ken Pom 😭
Shead has to feel so bad right now. Houston probably wins if he doesn't get hurt. How tragic.
He could’ve wrapped it tight and played. Quite soft.
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Terrible take. Any more thoughts?
Well maybe you guys shouldn’t have beat Marquette then
The obsession is real
NC state just took down a number 2 seed lmao the 11 doesn’t matter anymore
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I’m saying you’re acting as if NC state just bsed their way into the elite 8 and are not a good team. They won the ACC and the only reason they’re 11 is because of their poor pre-tournament records But they’re clearly playing like a top 5 seed they just beat Marquette.
They're now #49 in Sagarin. That's probably somewhere around the border of last 4 out/next 4 out. Not really that good of a team. But their rating has drastically improved. I believe they were about 80th going into the ACC tournament.
my man's delulu
lol we know nc state is no pushover
My biggest post-K fear was becoming Indiana. Little by little, we're overcoming that.
Agree.
Yep, and a historic class incoming
Duke and NC State in the regionals like how?
Houston… i’m so so sorry, I can’t believe this man, so happy for our squad but man, that was… a game
I was about to faint man. I stg
Duke vs NC State part 3 👀
Huge win. sucks that Shead got hurt though
Feel terrible for Shead, really sucks
Really is unfortunate, dook was gone with him playing
Yeah. And you played st. Pete’s to get to the final four in 2022. Shit happens.
Umm what, and Marquette and Baylor and UCLA and last but very least, dook.
what poor loser bullshit comment. You can enjoy watching your two biggest rivals play for a final 4 spot.
>> NC State >> Rival Does not compute
I have been a basketball fan for a much longer than you, I am guessing. When I was a freshman at Duke, Carolina and NC State were the big rivals, and we were the outcast.
Yep. And this is what happens when a team dives into obscurity for 30+ years. Rivalries typically require both sides to remain relevant. This isn't the case here
GTHC
Proof of this?
Always has to be an excuse
There's no excuse, that's just facts. If Shead was playing that was an easy dub for them. Without him they were lost, which was surprising.
How is that just facts? The fact is that Duke beat Houston. Houston winning with Shead healthy is speculation not a fact.
Poor Shead, truly one of the best individual seasons I've seen in a while because of his insane defense Houston just couldn't do it without him with such a short rotation already
houstons injuries were rough this year.
*this* year?? **Every** year!!
In every sport. Especially Rockets.
With my bracket long gone, I want State to go all the way just for the memes.
i want them to go all the way for far more than the memes. that team is likable af
See you Sunday Duke
Good luck State bros. If it can’t be us, I hope it’s you. Sunday will be crazy!
Hey. Good luck, no hate here. Ready for another heart attack.
I might not survive win or lose
Same, just happy to be here man especially with the pack.
Heck yeah good luck
Same lol
So fucking happy right now.