A few thoughts from BTO

[Stoerner Fumbles]

What's the obsession with avoiding great teams after getting to a potential Sweet 16? We are not getting to our first Final Four without beating at least one great team. This is the NIL/portal era. Teams like that are not getting bounced in the second round. You get better and be great yourself so you can beat a team like Michigan or forget it.

Greatness isn’t a binary metric. Teams aren’t great or not. If your single goal is advancing, you want your team to play the weakest possible opponent with the most favorable individual matchups.

 

[sami]

That second half against Kansas was a jolt to this team's confidence that lasted for over a month. We looked like a top 5 team in the first half against them. Thank goodness for the marathon of a basketball season. We might end up being better as a result of those growing pains

Agree, and their growth as a group is perfectly exemplified by how quickly they bounced back after what was as brutal a loss to UK as you can take. A great road win at Alabama starting a four-game win streak after that mess, and with a week to think about it? Pretty damn impressive.

 

[ColinS]

Greatness isn’t a binary metric. Teams aren’t great or not. If your single goal is advancing, you want your team to play the weakest possible opponent with the most favorable individual matchups.

I think it's more matchup than anything. Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Houston, and Duke are all at similar levels but who do you matchup with best? Personally I wouldn't want any part of a Houston rematch despite us beating them and they are currently on the two line.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Greatness isn’t a binary metric. Teams aren’t great or not. If your single goal is advancing, you want your team to play the weakest possible opponent with the most favorable individual matchups.

Exactly. Plenty of Final 4 teams have gotten easier roads because a high seed in their bracket were upset by a lesser seed who just happened to have a good night, then didn’t repeat it. Basketball is a flukey sport. And a matchup sport.

It would be great if Tennessee could get one of those paths. Having to play Purdue and Houston in the E8 the last 2 years was not ideal. When Kansas won its last national championship in 2022, they faced a 16, 9, 4, and 10 seed to reach the F4. That’s good fortune. Then they played a 2 and 8 in the F4.

So yeah, I’d like to see Tennessee avoid the best of the best…whether that means someone else knocks them out or we avoid having them in our bracket.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]