[ADPinWDC]

FIVE EASY PIECES IN MEN'S ACC TOURNEY

Tues 2pm ET, beat PITT (done that) on ACCN
Wed, subdue NCST again
Thurs., Beat 2-seed VIRG, tough
  and they are rested
Fri., knock off 3-seed MIAM in semi
  (MIAM will beat LOUV or SMU)
Sat night:  trash top seed DUKE

Five games, Five nights
Five easy pieces.
... a worse gauntlet than the NCAA Tourney!!

Then NIT on Tuesday...

[ADPinWDC]

FIVE EASY PIECES IN MEN'S ACC TOURNEY

Tues 2pm ET, beat PITT (done that) on ACCN
Wed, subdue NCST again
Thurs., Beat 2-seed VIRG, tough
  and they are rested
Fri., knock off 3-seed MIAM in semi
  (MIAM will beat LOUV or SMU)
Sat night:  trash top seed DUKE

Five games, Five nights
Five easy pieces.
... a worse gauntlet than the NCAA Tourney!!

Then NIT on Tuesday...

[Treebound]

I like your optimism, Bob!  So thrilled that this team has a reasonable shot to win and move on, perhaps to the Big Dance!  One game at a time, but the first two are gettable!  Continuous improvement over the last few games is leading the day and I'm thrilled to see our big men stepping up.  I'm glad the team is staying back east, which should also help them given an 11am start time.   5 quad one wins is a massive improvement over where we have been in the past few years.   I'm so grateful to Kyle, Rev and this team for fighting through the schedule, injuries and challenges of the travel schedule.  Let's Go Stanford!

[Treebound]

I like your optimism, Bob!  So thrilled that this team has a reasonable shot to win and move on, perhaps to the Big Dance!  One game at a time, but the first two are gettable!  Continuous improvement over the last few games is leading the day and I'm thrilled to see our big men stepping up.  I'm glad the team is staying back east, which should also help them given an 11am start time.   5 quad one wins is a massive improvement over where we have been in the past few years.   I'm so grateful to Kyle, Rev and this team for fighting through the schedule, injuries and challenges of the travel schedule.  Let's Go Stanford!

[old spanish trail]

Still enjoying the W. How many end-of-shot-clock rainbows went in for LSJU in the second half - 4 or 5? incredible.   

Rohosy had maybe his best two ACC games today and at ND. Thompson was lightning in a bottle.

And the unofficial final free throw totals in the 8 ACC road games: LSJU attempted just 97 FTs in the 8 games; meanwhile its opponents attempted 204. So the per game difference was nearly 13 extra FTs in favor of the host teams . . .

Repeat slowly: The ACC was the most respectable conference that would accept us. We should have expected discrimination in many non-monetary ways. Anybody looked at Kal’s stats?

Cal has attempted 202 FTs in their 8 ACC road games, to their opponents' 221.

Yep. Stop whining. We don't drive the paint, except Okorie, and he draws plenty of fouls.

---

FWIW (not much), some guy at CBS Sports has Stanford as the last at-large team in the NCAA tourney:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...h-madness/

Joe Lunardi, who certainly has been doing these projections a very long time, lists Stanford as the sixth team to be left out of the tourney (behind Kal, the fifth team to be left out):

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/...redictions

It's all kind of ridiculous, imo. But I think I will be watching the selection show a week from today.

Last eve, I think I heard someone say that we were in 2nd four out, and that we were the only winner among those teams yesterday.

---

FWIW (not much), some guy at CBS Sports has Stanford as the last at-large team in the NCAA tourney:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...h-madness/

Joe Lunardi, who certainly has been doing these projections a very long time, lists Stanford as the sixth team to be left out of the tourney (behind Kal, the fifth team to be left out):

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/...redictions

It's all kind of ridiculous, imo. But I think I will be watching the selection show a week from today.

Last eve, I think I heard someone say that we were in 2nd four out, and that we were the only winner among the first and second four out

[old spanish trail]

Still enjoying the W. How many end-of-shot-clock rainbows went in for LSJU in the second half - 4 or 5? incredible.   

Rohosy had maybe his best two ACC games today and at ND. Thompson was lightning in a bottle.

And the unofficial final free throw totals in the 8 ACC road games: LSJU attempted just 97 FTs in the 8 games; meanwhile its opponents attempted 204. So the per game difference was nearly 13 extra FTs in favor of the host teams . . .

Repeat slowly: The ACC was the most respectable conference that would accept us. We should have expected discrimination in many non-monetary ways. Anybody looked at Kal’s stats?

Cal has attempted 202 FTs in their 8 ACC road games, to their opponents' 221.

Yep. Stop whining. We don't drive the paint, except Okorie, and he draws plenty of fouls.

---

FWIW (not much), some guy at CBS Sports has Stanford as the last at-large team in the NCAA tourney:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...h-madness/

Joe Lunardi, who certainly has been doing these projections a very long time, lists Stanford as the sixth team to be left out of the tourney (behind Kal, the fifth team to be left out):

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/...redictions

It's all kind of ridiculous, imo. But I think I will be watching the selection show a week from today.

Last eve, I think I heard someone say that we were in 2nd four out, and that we were the only winner among those teams yesterday.

---

FWIW (not much), some guy at CBS Sports has Stanford as the last at-large team in the NCAA tourney:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...h-madness/

Joe Lunardi, who certainly has been doing these projections a very long time, lists Stanford as the sixth team to be left out of the tourney (behind Kal, the fifth team to be left out):

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/...redictions

It's all kind of ridiculous, imo. But I think I will be watching the selection show a week from today.

Last eve, I think I heard someone say that we were in 2nd four out, and that we were the only winner among the first and second four out

[burger]

Don't look now, but Lunardi at ESPN has us as the third team out.

The crowd sourced bracket at https://bracketmatrix.com/ has us as the second team out.

I want to believe--but I need to see two more wins first.

[burger]

Don't look now, but Lunardi at ESPN has us as the third team out.

The crowd sourced bracket at https://bracketmatrix.com/ has us as the second team out.

I want to believe--but I need to see two more wins first.

[Card10Fan]

Don't look now, but Lunardi at ESPN has us as the third team out.

The crowd sourced bracket at https://bracketmatrix.com/ has us as the second team out.

I want to believe--but I need to see two more wins first.

How the "F" is Auburn still in the field projected as Last 4 in with a record of 16-15? I think the case could be made we should be above Virginia Tech who is slotted one above us. In Okori and Coach Smith we trust.

[Card10Fan]

Don't look now, but Lunardi at ESPN has us as the third team out.

The crowd sourced bracket at https://bracketmatrix.com/ has us as the second team out.

I want to believe--but I need to see two more wins first.

How the "F" is Auburn still in the field projected as Last 4 in with a record of 16-15? I think the case could be made we should be above Virginia Tech who is slotted one above us. In Okori and Coach Smith we trust.

[TriangleTree]

Had a chance to catch this one live with my son, few experiences beat attending an away game and have your team win in hostile conditions.
I've had my share of these and grateful for every single one of them.

A few take aways I thought would be interesting to share:

• Rohosy and Thompson were the key difference makers IMO. Rohosy in particular was an absolute monster, his footwork in the paint is awesome, and the hook shot is as impressive as any I've seen. He plays way above the rim, in a way I couldn't appreciate watching games on TV. AJ can jump! 
  
• Thompson is playing the role I was hoping Donovin Young would this year, he's playing with a newly found confidence that I hope carries on for the rest of the year, however long that is. It's a revelation. Is he in play to come back? I know he has two more years of eligibility despite being a senior.   
  
• Most satisfying of all was that we did not have to rely on Okorie to get the win in the second half, it was really a team effort. Okorie was of course a key contributor, but he was actually fairly ineffective driving in the second half given that he wasn't getting the calls. You could see him getting frustrated and the team stepped up in his place. Bodes well for us in the future. 
  
• Cammann and Giltay were mostly ineffective throughout, Lubin was just having their way with them and neither one could establish an offensive presence. We're still susceptible to teams with strong inside talent. Thompson, Rohosy, and Young were much more effective in that role. I know this has been a focus for both Cammann and Giltay, particularly since Okpara went down, but good opportunity for them to grow there, both are really talented. 
  
• Most impactful possession of the game IMO was Gealer's 3 pointer from wolfpack halfcourt logo. You could literally feel the stadium getting deflated at that point, almost sensing this wouldn't be their day.
  
• Okorie is just awesome, even when he's having a "mediocre 33 point performance". I mentioned the 3 pointer from Gealer, but the 3 three straight 3 pointers in what seemed to be less than a minute in the first half were just ridiculous. They barely moved the net, he's just at a whole other level.
  

I don't take anything for granted, let's find a way to beat Pitt. This is a scrappy team that seems to love playing together, I hope that carries them through.

[TriangleTree]

Had a chance to catch this one live with my son, few experiences beat attending an away game and have your team win in hostile conditions.
I've had my share of these and grateful for every single one of them.

A few take aways I thought would be interesting to share:

• Rohosy and Thompson were the key difference makers IMO. Rohosy in particular was an absolute monster, his footwork in the paint is awesome, and the hook shot is as impressive as any I've seen. He plays way above the rim, in a way I couldn't appreciate watching games on TV. AJ can jump! 
  
• Thompson is playing the role I was hoping Donovin Young would this year, he's playing with a newly found confidence that I hope carries on for the rest of the year, however long that is. It's a revelation. Is he in play to come back? I know he has two more years of eligibility despite being a senior.   
  
• Most satisfying of all was that we did not have to rely on Okorie to get the win in the second half, it was really a team effort. Okorie was of course a key contributor, but he was actually fairly ineffective driving in the second half given that he wasn't getting the calls. You could see him getting frustrated and the team stepped up in his place. Bodes well for us in the future. 
  
• Cammann and Giltay were mostly ineffective throughout, Lubin was just having their way with them and neither one could establish an offensive presence. We're still susceptible to teams with strong inside talent. Thompson, Rohosy, and Young were much more effective in that role. I know this has been a focus for both Cammann and Giltay, particularly since Okpara went down, but good opportunity for them to grow there, both are really talented. 
  
• Most impactful possession of the game IMO was Gealer's 3 pointer from wolfpack halfcourt logo. You could literally feel the stadium getting deflated at that point, almost sensing this wouldn't be their day.
  
• Okorie is just awesome, even when he's having a "mediocre 33 point performance". I mentioned the 3 pointer from Gealer, but the 3 three straight 3 pointers in what seemed to be less than a minute in the first half were just ridiculous. They barely moved the net, he's just at a whole other level.
  

I don't take anything for granted, let's find a way to beat Pitt. This is a scrappy team that seems to love playing together, I hope that carries them through.

[Mick]

13 NCAA tourney bubble teams lost this past weekend. There's a lot of noise around bubble teams, and Stanford's chances will materially change with every additional win in the ACC tournament.

CBS has Stanford in the Midwest as one of the last four in:
Bracketology 2026 - NCAA Tournament Predictions - CBS Sports

The NCAA's NET rankings (primary determiner of seeding and disputed determiner of invitees) currently has Stanford ranked #59 and Cal at #65.
DI Men's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Lunardi has Stanford in the "first four out and Cal in the Next Four Out.
NCAA Bracketology: 2026 March Madness men's field predictions

Hoops HQ and Donchess lists Stanford as Next Four Out:
Bracketology 2026 - NCAA Tournament / NIT Projections
Bracketology: Men's 2026 NCAA Tournament Projections - Hoops HQ

[Mick]

13 NCAA tourney bubble teams lost this past weekend. There's a lot of noise around bubble teams, and Stanford's chances will materially change with every additional win in the ACC tournament.

CBS has Stanford in the Midwest as one of the last four in:
Bracketology 2026 - NCAA Tournament Predictions - CBS Sports

The NCAA's NET rankings (primary determiner of seeding and disputed determiner of invitees) currently has Stanford ranked #59 and Cal at #65.
DI Men's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Lunardi has Stanford in the "first four out and Cal in the Next Four Out.
NCAA Bracketology: 2026 March Madness men's field predictions

Hoops HQ and Donchess lists Stanford as Next Four Out:
Bracketology 2026 - NCAA Tournament / NIT Projections
Bracketology: Men's 2026 NCAA Tournament Projections - Hoops HQ

[burger]

Going off of Lundardi's last 8 teams in and first 8 out, here are your teams to root against this week:

NCSU
Missouri
Texas
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team)
Santa Clara
SMU (can't believe he has them in still)
VCU
Auburn
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana
VA Tech
UNM
Cinci
Cal
OU
SDSU

The only one playing today is Santa Clara.  We need them to lose to St. Mary's.

Otherwise, pray for no bid steals in the major and mid-major conferences.

[burger]

Going off of Lundardi's last 8 teams in and first 8 out, here are your teams to root against this week:

NCSU
Missouri
Texas
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team)
Santa Clara
SMU (can't believe he has them in still)
VCU
Auburn
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana
VA Tech
UNM
Cinci
Cal
OU
SDSU

The only one playing today is Santa Clara.  We need them to lose to St. Mary's.

Otherwise, pray for no bid steals in the major and mid-major conferences.

[Mick]

Going off of Lundardi's last 8 teams in and first 8 out, here are your teams to root against this week:

NCSU
Missouri
Texas
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team)
Santa Clara
SMU (can't believe he has them in still)
VCU
Auburn
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana
VA Tech
UNM
Cinci
Cal
OU
SDSU

The only one playing today is Santa Clara.  We need them to lose to St. Mary's.

Otherwise, pray for no bid steals in the major and mid-major conferences.

I don't think that will help Stanford much. SCU is 1-1 vs. #21 St. Mary's this year, and bracketologists appear to have baked an expected SCU loss into their prognostications (they lost to #21 St. Mary's last week). 

Here's the NET ratings of the teams you mention: 

NCSU, #35
Missouri, #60
Texas, #41
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team), #51
Santa Clara, #42
SMU (can't believe he has them in still), #39
VCU, #44
Auburn, #38
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana, #37
VA Tech, #53
UNM, #45
Cinci, #46
Cal, #65
OU, #54
SDSU, #47

DI Men's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

[Mick]

Going off of Lundardi's last 8 teams in and first 8 out, here are your teams to root against this week:

NCSU
Missouri
Texas
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team)
Santa Clara
SMU (can't believe he has them in still)
VCU
Auburn
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana
VA Tech
UNM
Cinci
Cal
OU
SDSU

The only one playing today is Santa Clara.  We need them to lose to St. Mary's.

Otherwise, pray for no bid steals in the major and mid-major conferences.

I don't think that will help Stanford much. SCU is 1-1 vs. #21 St. Mary's this year, and bracketologists appear to have baked an expected SCU loss into their prognostications (they lost to #21 St. Mary's last week). 

Here's the NET ratings of the teams you mention: 

NCSU, #35
Missouri, #60
Texas, #41
UCF (that's Johnny Dawkins' team), #51
Santa Clara, #42
SMU (can't believe he has them in still), #39
VCU, #44
Auburn, #38
----- (teams out below here)
Indiana, #37
VA Tech, #53
UNM, #45
Cinci, #46
Cal, #65
OU, #54
SDSU, #47

DI Men's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

[Nobadeer]

Santa Clara wins. Oof.

St. Marys looked like they were scrimmaging. They had little to gain and it showed. Better to lose and rest up, little to gain from playing Gonzaga again.

[Nobadeer]

Santa Clara wins. Oof.

St. Marys looked like they were scrimmaging. They had little to gain and it showed. Better to lose and rest up, little to gain from playing Gonzaga again.

[Mick]

Santa Clara wins. Oof.

St. Marys looked like they were scrimmaging. They had little to gain and it showed. Better to lose and rest up, little to gain from playing Gonzaga again.

76-71. SCU shot 44% from 3 pt. range and is 2-1 vs. St. Mary's on the season. Gonzaga next. Gonzaga squeaked by Oregon State in the other WCC semifinal. Great call on the rest...SCU has to play Gonzaga tonight...they're young, but late season back-to-back games are tough on the legs and everything else.

We live in strange times. SCU has a redshirt fresh named Graves who has started just five games, but played well in the second half of the season. He's talking about entering the NBA draft. Some think he's a late first round pick.

[Mick]

Santa Clara wins. Oof.

St. Marys looked like they were scrimmaging. They had little to gain and it showed. Better to lose and rest up, little to gain from playing Gonzaga again.

76-71. SCU shot 44% from 3 pt. range and is 2-1 vs. St. Mary's on the season. Gonzaga next. Gonzaga squeaked by Oregon State in the other WCC semifinal. Great call on the rest...SCU has to play Gonzaga tonight...they're young, but late season back-to-back games are tough on the legs and everything else.

We live in strange times. SCU has a redshirt fresh named Graves who has started just five games, but played well in the second half of the season. He's talking about entering the NBA draft. Some think he's a late first round pick.

[Papa John]

Congrats and good luck to the Broncos. Stanford and SCU had played in fall 2021, 2023 and 2024, but not this season. It seems like an obvious annual "rivalry" game to me, given that Stanford wants to travel as little as possible in November and December.

[Papa John]

Congrats and good luck to the Broncos. Stanford and SCU had played in fall 2021, 2023 and 2024, but not this season. It seems like an obvious annual "rivalry" game to me, given that Stanford wants to travel as little as possible in November and December.

[Mick]

Congrats and good luck to the Broncos. Stanford and SCU had played in fall 2021, 2023 and 2024, but not this season. It seems like an obvious annual "rivalry" game to me, given that Stanford wants to travel as little as possible in November and December.

Agreed. It makes zero sense for the teams not to play each other every year, especially given the ACC travel requirements. The Stanford v. SCU rivalry dates back to 1914, just one year less than the Cal rivalry. There was a very long stretch (2008/9 to 2019/20) when they didn't play. And Stanford has nearly a 2:1 W/L advantage over SCU over their history (52-28). Not a guaranteed win, but usually the odds were good. Even Montgomery's 7-23 team beat SCU by 31 points.

[Mick]

Congrats and good luck to the Broncos. Stanford and SCU had played in fall 2021, 2023 and 2024, but not this season. It seems like an obvious annual "rivalry" game to me, given that Stanford wants to travel as little as possible in November and December.

Agreed. It makes zero sense for the teams not to play each other every year, especially given the ACC travel requirements. The Stanford v. SCU rivalry dates back to 1914, just one year less than the Cal rivalry. There was a very long stretch (2008/9 to 2019/20) when they didn't play. And Stanford has nearly a 2:1 W/L advantage over SCU over their history (52-28). Not a guaranteed win, but usually the odds were good. Even Montgomery's 7-23 team beat SCU by 31 points.