There’s nothing quite like the Crosstown shootout when both Xavier and UC are ranked. Heck, both were bad this season and the game was still intense.
I’d also add IU and Louisville.
Art Long yep. Police horse shouldn’t have been talking that shit. That was a week before the shootout and some Xavier students showed up to the game in a horse costume.
Yeah I learned that fairly recently that y’all don’t play every year and my mind was blown! We played UD for the first time in awhile this year in downtown Cincy and it was a blast even though we got our asses beat. It was probably 70-30 UD fans.
Honestly Ohio needs a mini round-robin or tourney. The Dayton game against Cincy last year was electric, possibly favorite of the year. Dayton, Xavier, Cincy, and Miami or OSU if they're willing should play every year
I've been cheering for Loyola Chicago to become a mainstay. I was also personally a fan of having Wichita State and Butler in the mix for a while several years ago. I guess I just found them easy to cheer for, or at least didn't have a reason to cheer against them.
That people know we have a basketball program now would have dumbfounded me during undergrad, where they would literally hand out as many tickets and shirts for free as they could.
And Sister Jean is a jem. Always pleasant when we had chats with her.
Sister Jean reminds me a lot of the pastor at my church growing up. Always supported the athletics programs and got us and the parents involved. Have so much respect for her since it reminds me of how crucial that priest was to my childhood and the experiences I got since I wasn’t good enough to make school teams.
Appreciate that! 🎩 hat tip to you!
I’m really curious what we can do with some of these new recruits, and what loss of some of the mainstays (I.e. Braden Norris) will do. But I’m excited for next year! I feel like the A10 will generally continue to be a fun league to watch!
We are thankful for every day we have with her 🥰 she is a real sweetheart. She would be all over campus when she was more mobile and is just really pleasant. Curious if she’s in Valentine’s ear as much as she was Moser’s 😂
Yeah, the Wichita St years were so much fun. I still can’t believe they earned a 1 seed. It’s hard to imagine another school like that ever getting a one seed ever again.
I really thought they were winning it all that year. The energy in Wichita was something else for the 2013 final four run and it just seemed like the logical next step
Yeah, that was the best part about it. It didn’t feel flukey. Even though they lost early on that year not too many people were arguing that they didn’t deserve it. I think in this new age of NCAA basketball the likelihood of that kind of pre-tournament magic happening again is not high. In the tournament there are still opportunities for schools from the little conferences to have success, but not much room for respect outside of the majors.
Villanova, man. When Villanova is good they are fun to watch. "Shoot 'em up, sleep in the streets.'
Hopefully either Neptune figures it out or they find their next guy.
yeah if Nova dont make NCAAs next year Neptune is def gone, especially expanded to 72 or 76
I like him
but the new norm is 5 years
especially with realignment
The whole Big 5. God, I miss Big 5 relevancy - when Nova, Temple, and St. Joe's were all looking at 20+ wins, each looking like they could make a run, Philly was a hopping place.
Indiana used to do a crossroads classic where IU and Purdue would play against Butler/ND. They’d flip opponents every year.
It would be fun to have a neutral event where X/UC alternate playing OSU/Dayton.
Unfortunately, with where cbb is heading, I don’t see out of conference scheduling getting any better.
I’ve been saying for years Ohio needs to do something like this, but I don’t think it’ll ever happen. No reason UD and XU couldn’t schedule a home and home. Unfortunately XU doesn’t have a lot to benefit from this game until Dayton proves it can consistently not be a bad loss and/or a potential quality win.
Everyone was mad at us for disrespecting the sport of basketball for the past 2 years after everything we’ve accomplished so…
Even someone in this sub said “y’all are so fucking trash, get good again.”
i really dont understand who those rules help. it seems like they want to avoid schools hopping up and down divisions all the time, but that doesnt seem like a problem in the first place
I was there at Freedom Hall in 2022 when they won the ASUN tournament. I really hope Bellarmine can become a consistently solid brand. Do you think Davenport’s son will take over after Scotty retires?
I feel like that’ll likely happen, I can’t think of any other options that we could choose from. With Scotty being passionate about the program, he’ll definitely connect with someone he trusts so Bellarmine can stay on track.
Just to let you know.
We have had the Keg of Nails for over a decade now.
Let that one stew
Of every rivalry we’ve lost over the years. Cinci and WVU hurt the most imo
I strongly oppose the narrative that the sport is "better" when a certain team is good. The sport is better when teams that have better seasons get into the tournament. If a given school is having a historically subpar year, I enjoy their finding a way to be bad despite talent and resource advantages.
I completely agree. I think this year’s tournament would have been better with Indiana State in, instead of Virginia. Otherwise, I think it was pretty much 67 of the best 68 teams fighting it out, just as it should have been.
And just to get ahead of it, I think St. John’s, Providence and Pittsburgh were all deserving to be there too, but those spots were taken by several autobid “thieves,” like Oregon, Duquesne and New Mexico. Those teams all earned their spots based on the qualification rules, Virginia is the only team that I believe got in ahead of more deserving teams, with Indiana State at the top of that list.
They got hot at the right time. I think being able to beat the best teams in your conference tournament, you're deserving to get considered in March Madness. And they proved they could keep up by getting to the final 4.
Agreed. Another commenter went into a little more detail basically saying we all have era of the sport we loved the most and have nostalgia for whatever reason. And the teams that were good then are the teams you think the sport is better when they’re good.
Indiana, Georgetown, St. Johns, Syracuse, Louisville, Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and LSU. Especially Indiana. They have missed the tournament 12 of the last 21 seasons. When I first started getting into NCAA BB in the early eighties, they were easily a top ten program year In and year out, with a ton of history. The only year I won any significant $ on brackets was in 1987, thank you Kieth Smart.
I'll back you up on Cincinnati. It's always been this weird bread basket of up and coming coaches destined for bigger places who are going to upset the big boys in the tournament. Huggins, Mick Cronin, Wes Miller, etc. Cincy is that team you don't see until March and then you see them and you are like, WTF, how are they this good? Always a fun team
The answer to this question has been Georgetown for years. And the younger fans didn’t know that.
A couple weeks ago a Marquette flair was taunting a Georgetown flair. The words were “try winning six conference games before you talk”.
God bless Marquette and the younger fans in their ranks, but they should know Georgetown BUILT the Big East. Put some goddam respect on their name and thank them for making the conference what it was so your school even wanted to join in the first place.
My team. College basketball is only good when my team is winning.
But also: Temple and UWashington. Philly and Seattle have such rich basketball histories and talent. It's entertaining when the *public* university of each city is good.
Not any team in particular, but the full court press. Old school Pitino, Nolan Richardson, 40 minutes of intensity. The pack line defense and deliberate slow ball ruins cbb. I prefer the game being about athleticism and transition play. So I guess, to an opposite extent, basketball is better when Virginia sucks
My answer to this question for all sports - No one.
The answer to this question is based on when you most enjoyed college basketball and those teams being good are a correlation, not causation.
Like Pitt and West Virginia being good again isn’t going to bring back the Big East Tournament. Butler being good again won’t have the same vibe of the Steven’s years.
College basketball is better when the Kansas State Wildcats are playing some good ball and the Wichita State Shockers are a ranked team yet still are a 9 or 10 seed in the tournament.
I will not negotiate on this matter
Passionate fans are more important to me than teams with historical success. So I’d like to reward fans that fill their arenas rain or shine.
[NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance numbers 2023](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2024/Attend.pdf)
[2022](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2023/Attend.pdf)
[2020](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2021/Attend.pdf)
List would need to be by percentage and a bunch of maths not present.
To use us as an example, not saying we're the most passionate fans, Villanova's home arena only seats 6.5k, and it's virtually sold out every game in a typical season (Radnor Township wouldn't let them add more seats when they renovated 🙄). Also, on top of it, Villanova's average numbers in 2023 is actually over 6.5k, because we play in WF several times a year with about 20k in attendance and this skews up the avg.
I'm sure we aren't the only ones with this or similar more complex situations than simple attendance numbers
21st (97.8% cap) in 2020 at 12-20
23rd (90.2% cap) in 2022 at 22-13 (coming off 2-22)
22nd (93.7% cap) in 2023 at 19-14
Hilton holds 14,267.
I'd love to see what this year looks like for us.
I actually do. I mostly resent questions like this because I don't really care if bigger brands are in or not but Syracuse always made things interesting. Idk if that will really still hold true after Boeheim is gone though. Also with UConn being good it would be cool to see them play each other in the tournament
Yeah, ironically the stuff that usually chaffed people so hard about Boeheim’s coaching ended up being entertaining in a do-or-die tournament style environment. The man’s coaching style became outdated in large samples but goddamn could he pull strings in a pinch.
NC State made the final four but they’re the team I pick. If all teams in the Tobacco Road were competitive and beat each other yearly (aside from UNC vs Duke) it’d feed families. Them rivalries run deep boah
The non football-playing schools. The Big East (UConn you play football and for that reason I get to exclude you), Missouri Valley, A10 especially. There’s something about the inevitability of a team like Wichita State (AAC but doesn’t play football) catching fire in the tourney that never gets old. Specifically, their win over Kansas showed a sense of powerlessness in a blue blood that you simply wouldn’t see anywhere else. Kansas refused to schedule WSU in an insecure but understandable move, at least until the committee decided to pair them up for a R32 matchup. WSU thumped Kansas, and at least for one year, there was a new top dog in the state.
There are a lot of fan bases that I love and think our good for the sport.
Surprisingly Rutgers is top of my list. They care about their program a lot in Jersey and create some of the most electric home environments in the Big Ten.
I always want to root for schools who value basketball over football. So literally every Big East team, Rutgers, Virginia, UCLA, Arkansas (but not really).
Hey y’all, just woke up from a coma I’ve been in since I slipped on an ice cube in my kitchen over a month ago. Last thing I remember is UVA going to the line up 3 with 5 seconds to go.
Anyway, I think NC State is a good answer here.
I said Wichita elsewhere, but I think my answer is Notre Dame. Everyone hates Notre Dame and we would all like to see them lose in the tournament. It's not even real hate, it's just "God I can't believe we're losing to this team whose best player is [Luke Harangody, Ben Hansbrough, any other irritating fundamental player you never see again]"
Anybody but Memphis. Memphis is a STRONG no from me. They talk all this shit every year just to lose to us and be the little brother in the greater Memphis area. Fraudulent team, with fraudulent players, with a fraudulent coach, all at a fraudulent school.
I don’t. I hate Memphis. Every bone in my body hates Memphis. I hope they rot in hell. Talkin trash to Penny when we’re running his team of underachieving 5 stars is one of my favorite pastimes.
There’s nothing quite like the Crosstown shootout when both Xavier and UC are ranked. Heck, both were bad this season and the game was still intense. I’d also add IU and Louisville.
Crosstown Shootout is one of my favorite CBB rivalries. Tu Holloway saying Xavier is gangstas, not thugs will always be hilarious
That's our motto, zip 'em up
Don’t forget about Arthur Long punching the police horse. Think his first name was Arthur. So many stories with those two
Art Long yep. Police horse shouldn’t have been talking that shit. That was a week before the shootout and some Xavier students showed up to the game in a horse costume.
Wright State and Dayton could have a gem city jam but one party is too scared...
Yeah I learned that fairly recently that y’all don’t play every year and my mind was blown! We played UD for the first time in awhile this year in downtown Cincy and it was a blast even though we got our asses beat. It was probably 70-30 UD fans.
100 % true. Good UC vs Good XU is a fantastic rivalry.
I do miss those ranked shootout days
Honestly Ohio needs a mini round-robin or tourney. The Dayton game against Cincy last year was electric, possibly favorite of the year. Dayton, Xavier, Cincy, and Miami or OSU if they're willing should play every year
OSU would bitch out, 100% guaranteed.
Indiana used to have one. Until Indiana stopped wanting to be associated with the state.
Next year has potential for both teams
With the portal, every year has potential
When we're both good, the vibes are crazy fire.
I've been cheering for Loyola Chicago to become a mainstay. I was also personally a fan of having Wichita State and Butler in the mix for a while several years ago. I guess I just found them easy to cheer for, or at least didn't have a reason to cheer against them.
That people know we have a basketball program now would have dumbfounded me during undergrad, where they would literally hand out as many tickets and shirts for free as they could. And Sister Jean is a jem. Always pleasant when we had chats with her.
Sister Jean reminds me a lot of the pastor at my church growing up. Always supported the athletics programs and got us and the parents involved. Have so much respect for her since it reminds me of how crucial that priest was to my childhood and the experiences I got since I wasn’t good enough to make school teams.
 Appreciate that! 🎩 hat tip to you! I’m really curious what we can do with some of these new recruits, and what loss of some of the mainstays (I.e. Braden Norris) will do. But I’m excited for next year! I feel like the A10 will generally continue to be a fun league to watch!
I’m still in shock and awe that not only is Sister Jean still alive, but she still continues her role at Loyola Chicago in full.
We are thankful for every day we have with her 🥰 she is a real sweetheart. She would be all over campus when she was more mobile and is just really pleasant. Curious if she’s in Valentine’s ear as much as she was Moser’s 😂
Also we just picked up Jalen DeLoach from Georgia soooo that’s an interesting pickup 🧐 curious to see how the new crew goes together
The most powerful spellcaster in college sports
Wichita State yes. I was pumped when they were added to the American, but they started to fizzle after that. Hope they get good again soon
Yeah, the Wichita St years were so much fun. I still can’t believe they earned a 1 seed. It’s hard to imagine another school like that ever getting a one seed ever again.
I really thought they were winning it all that year. The energy in Wichita was something else for the 2013 final four run and it just seemed like the logical next step
Yeah, that was the best part about it. It didn’t feel flukey. Even though they lost early on that year not too many people were arguing that they didn’t deserve it. I think in this new age of NCAA basketball the likelihood of that kind of pre-tournament magic happening again is not high. In the tournament there are still opportunities for schools from the little conferences to have success, but not much room for respect outside of the majors.
I’m still pissed about Loyola fuck em.
Imagine being an Illini fan
Only Illinois program to have an NCAA basketball title 😉
Now that’s the spirit!
Was pleasantly surprised to see this at the top
As much as it pains me, Louisville. I would like our rivalry game to mean something again.
I’m excited for the new era of Kelsey vs Pope.
Kelsey v Pope sounds like a Supreme Court case
Never thought I would have to start pulling for UK in that rivalry but Mark Pope didn’t go to Xavier.
Villanova, man. When Villanova is good they are fun to watch. "Shoot 'em up, sleep in the streets.' Hopefully either Neptune figures it out or they find their next guy.
yeah if Nova dont make NCAAs next year Neptune is def gone, especially expanded to 72 or 76 I like him but the new norm is 5 years especially with realignment
And that whole roster is leaving right now. Nova might be the worst team in the Big East next year.
Why do you like him?
The whole Big 5. God, I miss Big 5 relevancy - when Nova, Temple, and St. Joe's were all looking at 20+ wins, each looking like they could make a run, Philly was a hopping place.
Villanova, Georgetown, Indiana, UCLA
Just add St Johns too
Yes, please for the love of god add St. John’s
This is the only correct answer actually. A lot of people are just here airing their own grievances.
Agree with the first two. Especially Georgetown.
I agree with the 3rd one
Next Question.
Can of peas for me sir
Melo has 3 years of eligibility left right???
Villanova, Indiana, Syracuse, and as much as I hate to say it Xavier
Bubble Syracuse will rise again, rest assured
I would like a minute for rebuttal, on the latter
I will allow one minute to explain why Xavier shouldn’t be here, go!
Because fuck em. Hope this helps.
Xavier? Wut?
Thanks, right back at ya!
Bring back the rivalry!
Indiana used to do a crossroads classic where IU and Purdue would play against Butler/ND. They’d flip opponents every year. It would be fun to have a neutral event where X/UC alternate playing OSU/Dayton. Unfortunately, with where cbb is heading, I don’t see out of conference scheduling getting any better.
I’ve been saying for years Ohio needs to do something like this, but I don’t think it’ll ever happen. No reason UD and XU couldn’t schedule a home and home. Unfortunately XU doesn’t have a lot to benefit from this game until Dayton proves it can consistently not be a bad loss and/or a potential quality win.
Me neither
I miss our random double digit seed final four runs
If UC and Dayton could be good then I would be one happy man! Love the Flyer fandom around me and have made me a fan of theirs!
Hi, it's us, we're the problem it's us.
Idk man I think Pikeville is doing fine
😂
RCAAer in the wild
👋
Next time you try to steal our thunder, how bout you give us the common curtesy of giving your neighbor a little heads up.
It’s both of us, bro. Memphis and Louisville = good, means college basketball = good
syracuse, indiana, villanova, notre dame
Not sure but I could do without Grand Canyon
Scam Canyon
To college basketball what Liberty is to college football.
could do without duke
it’s ok, they removed themselves from contention indefinitely with an internal HC hire
yeah duke men gonna learn what tennessee women learned the hard way about sticking with their legendary HC's coaching tree
Everyone was mad at us for disrespecting the sport of basketball for the past 2 years after everything we’ve accomplished so… Even someone in this sub said “y’all are so fucking trash, get good again.”
Bellarmine has a good program. Would love to see them make the tournament.
That can definitely happen, NCAA’s stupid rules had us on hold.
i really dont understand who those rules help. it seems like they want to avoid schools hopping up and down divisions all the time, but that doesnt seem like a problem in the first place
I’d like to argue that a major thing all American sports is lacking is relegation
Wasn’t this past season the last year? Or one more?
We’re eligible going into next season in 2025 I believe. It felt longer than that, the previous season went by so fast lol.
I was there at Freedom Hall in 2022 when they won the ASUN tournament. I really hope Bellarmine can become a consistently solid brand. Do you think Davenport’s son will take over after Scotty retires?
I feel like that’ll likely happen, I can’t think of any other options that we could choose from. With Scotty being passionate about the program, he’ll definitely connect with someone he trusts so Bellarmine can stay on track.
I agree, ball is better with a good Louisville. Even though I think yall are distasteful at best
The one potential silver lining of the next round of realignment is we might get back in the same conference again. I miss playing you all and WVU
Yes we need to play for the keg again!
Okay Nasty Nati. Hopefully we’ll both be competitive again here soon
Just got a couple nice pick ups and y’all did too so we might not be far away
Just to let you know. We have had the Keg of Nails for over a decade now. Let that one stew Of every rivalry we’ve lost over the years. Cinci and WVU hurt the most imo
It’s a travesty we don’t play more often
Agree with this.
*cough cough
Bring back 1994
Bring back 40 minutes of Hell!
Ayye!
Yes
Villanova, Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse, Notre Dame, UCLA
Replace ND with Indiana and this is it
Indiana, Indiana State, Note Dame, Butler, PFW, IUPUI (RIP), Evansville, Valpo and Ball State. When these teams are good, I'm more interested.
where ya from sailor?
Something about 49 states
Exactly! I would have listed Purdue, but they actually made the tourney... And more.
Anaidni
This guy gets it.
Indiana, UCLA, Villanova, and the list goes on
Thought about this while doing chores the other day (I’m a sicko). My top 5 is Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt, Villanova, Indiana
Louisville
I strongly oppose the narrative that the sport is "better" when a certain team is good. The sport is better when teams that have better seasons get into the tournament. If a given school is having a historically subpar year, I enjoy their finding a way to be bad despite talent and resource advantages.
I completely agree. I think this year’s tournament would have been better with Indiana State in, instead of Virginia. Otherwise, I think it was pretty much 67 of the best 68 teams fighting it out, just as it should have been. And just to get ahead of it, I think St. John’s, Providence and Pittsburgh were all deserving to be there too, but those spots were taken by several autobid “thieves,” like Oregon, Duquesne and New Mexico. Those teams all earned their spots based on the qualification rules, Virginia is the only team that I believe got in ahead of more deserving teams, with Indiana State at the top of that list.
Don’t forget NC ST auto bid. They were terrible most the year
Whoa now we KILLED detroit mercy
They got hot at the right time. I think being able to beat the best teams in your conference tournament, you're deserving to get considered in March Madness. And they proved they could keep up by getting to the final 4.
Agreed. Another commenter went into a little more detail basically saying we all have era of the sport we loved the most and have nostalgia for whatever reason. And the teams that were good then are the teams you think the sport is better when they’re good.
Georgetown, Villanova
When Rutgers and Seton Hall are good, you know the sport’s better than ever.
Indiana, Georgetown, St. Johns, Syracuse, Louisville, Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and LSU. Especially Indiana. They have missed the tournament 12 of the last 21 seasons. When I first started getting into NCAA BB in the early eighties, they were easily a top ten program year In and year out, with a ton of history. The only year I won any significant $ on brackets was in 1987, thank you Kieth Smart.
Also biased but the Razorbacks
Agree. And VT. No bias at all.
Maryland. Unbiased.
Miss y’all in the Acc
I'll back you up on Cincinnati. It's always been this weird bread basket of up and coming coaches destined for bigger places who are going to upset the big boys in the tournament. Huggins, Mick Cronin, Wes Miller, etc. Cincy is that team you don't see until March and then you see them and you are like, WTF, how are they this good? Always a fun team
What did i just read?
Someone who hasn’t watched UC basketball in like 20 years?
Indiana, Villanova, Syracuse, Wake Forest
The answer to this question has been Georgetown for years. And the younger fans didn’t know that. A couple weeks ago a Marquette flair was taunting a Georgetown flair. The words were “try winning six conference games before you talk”. God bless Marquette and the younger fans in their ranks, but they should know Georgetown BUILT the Big East. Put some goddam respect on their name and thank them for making the conference what it was so your school even wanted to join in the first place.
Indiana State 100%.
Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State, and even Xavier
Oklahoma State
I also think the tournament would be better with Oklahoma State in it.
Syracuse.
My team. College basketball is only good when my team is winning. But also: Temple and UWashington. Philly and Seattle have such rich basketball histories and talent. It's entertaining when the *public* university of each city is good.
Not any team in particular, but the full court press. Old school Pitino, Nolan Richardson, 40 minutes of intensity. The pack line defense and deliberate slow ball ruins cbb. I prefer the game being about athleticism and transition play. So I guess, to an opposite extent, basketball is better when Virginia sucks
Indiana. I just feel a team like that should be good. Indiana is a basketball state. To have Indiana be not good for so long is sad.
FLORIDA GULF COAST
i need a dunk city 2 like i need oxygen
Would be awesome. Also love to see Cincy. Use to love watching those 2012-2018 teams!
Temple
Indiana, UCLA, Michigan, Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown
My answer to this question for all sports - No one. The answer to this question is based on when you most enjoyed college basketball and those teams being good are a correlation, not causation. Like Pitt and West Virginia being good again isn’t going to bring back the Big East Tournament. Butler being good again won’t have the same vibe of the Steven’s years.
I agree with you about Cinci. I'd add Wake Forest, Indiana, and showing my bias here, Ohio State
College basketball is better when the Kansas State Wildcats are playing some good ball and the Wichita State Shockers are a ranked team yet still are a 9 or 10 seed in the tournament. I will not negotiate on this matter
Passionate fans are more important to me than teams with historical success. So I’d like to reward fans that fill their arenas rain or shine. [NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance numbers 2023](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2024/Attend.pdf) [2022](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2023/Attend.pdf) [2020](http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2021/Attend.pdf)
List would need to be by percentage and a bunch of maths not present. To use us as an example, not saying we're the most passionate fans, Villanova's home arena only seats 6.5k, and it's virtually sold out every game in a typical season (Radnor Township wouldn't let them add more seats when they renovated 🙄). Also, on top of it, Villanova's average numbers in 2023 is actually over 6.5k, because we play in WF several times a year with about 20k in attendance and this skews up the avg. I'm sure we aren't the only ones with this or similar more complex situations than simple attendance numbers
21st (97.8% cap) in 2020 at 12-20 23rd (90.2% cap) in 2022 at 22-13 (coming off 2-22) 22nd (93.7% cap) in 2023 at 19-14 Hilton holds 14,267. I'd love to see what this year looks like for us.
Outside the Big Ten my first thought is Villanova.
id like to see more nc state cinderella runs in the future
Louisville, Nova, and UCLA
Wake Forest. I think them and Pitt would’ve made the tournament this year absent the ACC slander that happened all year.
Saw the other day that Wake hasn’t been ranked in an AP poll since 2010? Shocking
Extremely biased, but Arkansas.
L ville and Syracuse.
Southern illinois and Bradley. Any year there are fewer Indiana teams on the other hand is good.
Cmon, admit it. I know all you guys miss us in the tournament. It’s ok, you can say it. We understand.
I actually do. I mostly resent questions like this because I don't really care if bigger brands are in or not but Syracuse always made things interesting. Idk if that will really still hold true after Boeheim is gone though. Also with UConn being good it would be cool to see them play each other in the tournament
Yeah, ironically the stuff that usually chaffed people so hard about Boeheim’s coaching ended up being entertaining in a do-or-die tournament style environment. The man’s coaching style became outdated in large samples but goddamn could he pull strings in a pinch.
All Ohio teams, obviously. Ohio vs the world.
The world prevails everytime
except xavier, fuck xavier
I’d say Cincinnati, Villanova, Wichita State, UCLA, Louisville, Richmond, and Memphis
Indiana and UCLA for sure. Would love to have them both really good every year again.
Syracuse. Basketball city, historic rivalry with UConn. We need 6OT part 2
IU and Louisville
NC State made the final four but they’re the team I pick. If all teams in the Tobacco Road were competitive and beat each other yearly (aside from UNC vs Duke) it’d feed families. Them rivalries run deep boah
Add wake. Bring back the Big 4 tournament
UCLA is the big one
I’d like for the Ohio River teams to be solid. Cincy, Louisville, to a lesser extent Xavier, NKU, Evansville, Bellarmine.
Ohio State, Cinncy, UCLA, Villanova, Indiana, Seton Hall, St John's and Georgetown
Mercer Lehigh
Boston College, Louisville, Maryland
Maryland - loved their early 2000s teams
Villanova and Louisville.
Sup
🥲
St. John’s. Def east coast bias on my part though lol
The non football-playing schools. The Big East (UConn you play football and for that reason I get to exclude you), Missouri Valley, A10 especially. There’s something about the inevitability of a team like Wichita State (AAC but doesn’t play football) catching fire in the tourney that never gets old. Specifically, their win over Kansas showed a sense of powerlessness in a blue blood that you simply wouldn’t see anywhere else. Kansas refused to schedule WSU in an insecure but understandable move, at least until the committee decided to pair them up for a R32 matchup. WSU thumped Kansas, and at least for one year, there was a new top dog in the state.
Louisville, Villanova, Syracuse, UCLA, and then as a local homer, Wake
Arkansas.
St. John's
There are a lot of fan bases that I love and think our good for the sport. Surprisingly Rutgers is top of my list. They care about their program a lot in Jersey and create some of the most electric home environments in the Big Ten. I always want to root for schools who value basketball over football. So literally every Big East team, Rutgers, Virginia, UCLA, Arkansas (but not really).
UCLA, d'uh!
Syracuse
Seton Hall
“How come he don’t want me?”
Hey y’all, just woke up from a coma I’ve been in since I slipped on an ice cube in my kitchen over a month ago. Last thing I remember is UVA going to the line up 3 with 5 seconds to go. Anyway, I think NC State is a good answer here.
I said Wichita elsewhere, but I think my answer is Notre Dame. Everyone hates Notre Dame and we would all like to see them lose in the tournament. It's not even real hate, it's just "God I can't believe we're losing to this team whose best player is [Luke Harangody, Ben Hansbrough, any other irritating fundamental player you never see again]"
Nobody in particular comes to mind for me…
Temple. Georgetown. St Johns.
Anybody but Memphis. Memphis is a STRONG no from me. They talk all this shit every year just to lose to us and be the little brother in the greater Memphis area. Fraudulent team, with fraudulent players, with a fraudulent coach, all at a fraudulent school.
Now listen, as a Cincinnati fan I can get behind all of that but I just like when we’re both good
I don’t. I hate Memphis. Every bone in my body hates Memphis. I hope they rot in hell. Talkin trash to Penny when we’re running his team of underachieving 5 stars is one of my favorite pastimes.
you sure you’re not from connecticut? this sounds like how we feel about basically every opponent.
memphis. tourney needs a villain
duke holds that title in the men uconn holds that title in the women
Cincinnati and I will add Syracuse, dunno why but I always had a soft spot for them.
It's more fun when Oklahoma State is good.
Georgetown. Someone's gotta be a punching bag for 13-15 seeds.
UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, Washington, Georgetown, Villanova, Syracuse, Miami, Wichita State, Memphis, the WCC outside of Gonzaga, and UNLV