**OFFICIAL** pyonir-endorsed ATOT NCAA Tourney Pick'em!!

[dbk]

wtf, oliver purnell (clemson) going to depaul WTF

Good

 

[CallMeJoe]

I'm worried about Brad Stevens. I hope Butler can hang on to him.

My initial impression is of an intelligent young coach who might realize the advantages of building a solid program at Butler over the pressures of moving to a major conference school with the attendant pressures and expectations.

 

[CallMeJoe]

wtf, oliver purnell (clemson) going to depaul WTF

Bad for Clemson, bad for Coach Purnell. If he thinks life is tough in the middle rungs of the ACC, good luck starting from the basement of the Big East.

 

[fustercluck]

Women's championship on soon - Uconn vs Stanford. Stanford is going to need a great game and Uconn is going to need to have a bad shooting night for Stanford to have a chance. Uconn has won 75+ straight games, all by double digits. Stanford is a very good team, saw them in person a month or so ago. Uconn is obviously the big favorite though.

Uconn 70 Stanford 58 be my prediction.

 

[amish]

My wife is a Butler graduate.

what year? fellow dawg here.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

My initial impression is of an intelligent young coach who might realize the advantages of building a solid program at Butler over the pressures of moving to a major conference school with the attendant pressures and expectations.

That is what I hope -- Butler has been a very good program for 10 to 15 years and now that they have had major national exposure, there is no reason to think that he can't build them into a major power. I've never really followed them too closely until this year other than rooting for them in past tournaments, but after watching them, I have to say that I really enjoy the team.

If they can keep Stevens and Hayward, they will make another run next year. Maybe not to the Final Four, but the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 for sure. My wife wants me to get tickets for the Final Four in Houston next year "just in case."

 

[IndyColtsFan]

what year? fellow dawg here.

My wife graduated in 2003 with an econ/poly sci degree.

Even though I did not go to Butler (Purdue here), I can tell you that I probably feel as bad as any of their fans right now. The stadium was unreal last night and when Hayward launched the three pointer at the end, you could hear a gasp and then the entire crowd screamed "Ooooooohhhhh!" when it bounced out. When I looked at the clip of the shot on the One Shining Moment video (from the rear), he hit the backboard in a PERFECT spot for it to bank in. He just had a little too much juice on it.

I really like that Hayward kid (reminds me a lot of my little brother) a lot and feel really bad for him, as he had two chances to win it and missed both. If you're him, you just have to know that you gave it your best shot and in reality, Butler made a ton of mistakes and had they been able to hit layups or if Veasley cans even one of his three pointers, they win. So he shouldn't feel too guilty, as it was a team loss, not an individual one.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Women's championship on soon - Uconn vs Stanford. Stanford is going to need a great game and Uconn is going to need to have a bad shooting night for Stanford to have a chance. Uconn has won 75+ straight games, all by double digits. Stanford is a very good team, saw them in person a month or so ago. Uconn is obviously the big favorite though.

Uconn 70 Stanford 58 be my prediction.

I've attended the last two Women's Championships, and I would be completely and totally shocked if Stanford pulls it off. In 2008, Tennessee was lucky that Stanford upset Connecticut in the Final Four or else, Candace Parker and Co. may not have won the final. Last year, Connecticut rolled Louisville big time. Connecticut is a machine and does have an aura of invincibility. They whipped Stanford in the Final Four last year and got some revenge and I don't think Stanford can match up with Maya Moore or Tina Charles.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Our local news interviewed a number of Clemson fans, asking who they wanted to replace Oliver Purnell. They all want "that guy from Butler", although not one of them knew his name...

 

[CallMeJoe]

Women's championship on soon - Uconn vs Stanford. Stanford is going to need a great game and Uconn is going to need to have a bad shooting night for Stanford to have a chance. Uconn has won 75+ straight games, all by double digits. Stanford is a very good team, saw them in person a month or so ago. Uconn is obviously the big favorite though.

Uconn 70 Stanford 58 be my prediction.

When Stanford held Connecticut to 12 points in the first half but only led by eight, you knew they were in trouble.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Our local news interviewed a number of Clemson fans, asking who they wanted to replace Oliver Purnell. They all want "that guy from Butler", although not one of them knew his name...

Well, I think Clemson would be better than Oregon, that's for sure. The local news here is having an interview with the president of Butler tonight to see what he will do to keep Stevens. Should be interesting.

I think Stevens should stick around at Butler and if things don't improve at Indiana in the next 2 or 3 years, that would probably be his job for the taking. It would be his dream job.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Well, I think Clemson would be better than Oregon, that's for sure. The local news here is having an interview with the president of Butler tonight to see what he will do to keep Stevens. Should be interesting.
I think Stevens should stick around at Butler and if things don't improve at Indiana in the next 2 or 3 years, that would probably be his job for the taking. It would be his dream job.

I also would like to see him stay at Butler to continue building their program into a more consistent contender. There are a lot of "ifs" around a possible future Indiana job, and neither Oregon nor Clemson can offer him a significantly more solid basketball tradition than what he's working on now.
They can, however, offer him a boatload of money.

 

[CallMeJoe]

blanghorst:
FWIW, Coach Krzyzewski agrees with us.

 

[fustercluck]

20-12 halftime score doesn't bode well for Women's basketball - Ah well, it definitely picked up in the second half. Standford needed to put their foot on the neck of Uconn but they just let the lead disappear.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

blanghorst:
FWIW, Coach Krzyzewski agrees with us.

Yeah, that was reported in the Indy Star the other day. I hope he listens.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I also would like to see him stay at Butler to continue building their program into a more consistent contender. There are a lot of "ifs" around a possible future Indiana job, and neither Oregon nor Clemson can offer him a significantly more solid basketball tradition than what he's working on now.
They can, however, offer him a boatload of money.

Money and a higher profile for recruiting are the only things they can offer him. Butler is an ideal setting for him and he has the opportunity to make the program "his own." Also, keep in mind that Stevens' old boss (Lickliter) left for the big bucks and power conference (at Iowa) and was just fired this year.

On the other hand, Stevens has a family to think about and going from $400K per year to $2 or $3 million per year can set them up for life.

Here is an article from today that sums up the pros/cons nicely: http://www.indystar.com/article/20100407/SPORTS15/4070337/

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Butler signs Brad Stevens to a new 12-year contract:

http://www.indystar.com/article/201...08026/Butler-coach-signs-new-12-year-contract

Tough luck Oregon, Clemson, and Wake Forest!

 

[CallMeJoe]

Butler signs Brad Stevens to a new 12-year contract:
http://www.indystar.com/article/201...08026/Butler-coach-signs-new-12-year-contract
Tough luck Oregon, Clemson, and Wake Forest!

Good news for a promising young coach, Butler University, and for the state of Indiana.
Let's hope we're seeing the birth of another perennial basketball power; we can use more good teams.

 

[Miramonti]

Butler signs Brad Stevens to a new 12-year contract:

http://www.indystar.com/article/201...08026/Butler-coach-signs-new-12-year-contract

Tough luck Oregon, Clemson, and Wake Forest!

Good to see, hopefully he cashed in very nicely. That's another great thing about this tournament, stars are born out of coaches as well...freaking 33-year old takes no-name butler within 2 points of a nat'l title.

 

[KLin]

We doing an ATOT pick'em for March Madness this year?

 

[pyonir]

I was being lazy. Here's this year's thread - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2307231

 

[KLin]

Just joined the CBS one w00t

 

[ultimatebob]

It seems a bit early to start a tournament bracket now. The field of 64 isn't announced for another 2 weeks, right?