The Official 2025 March Madness Discussion Thread

[omghulkhands]

For the second straight season we get knocked out in the elite eight by a team going to the championship game.

It’s gonna be either we lost to the champ in the E8 or we beat the champ by 20

 

[SGMVols]

All you Houston haters need to come back and swallow this crow. They were an elite team all season and they belong in this final.

Btw, I bet Houston with the over which I missed by 0.5 point. Ooof.

Houston is about 5 plays away from playing for a 40-0 season tomorrow. Of their 4 losses, 3 were in OT and the one regulation loss was a game they led until late.

 

[n_huffhines]

Houston winning was about the only thing that went right today in the sports world.

Hope they win it all.

Nah. It sucks. Now Florida's gonna win. Can't believe everybody here is so happy.

Cooper Flagg winning it all was the best thing for CBB, the NBA, and team USA. Too bad. And it sucks that it came down to a bad foul call on a rebound being the final points. Just insane.

 

[volsarelife1]

Nah. It sucks. Now Florida's gonna win. Can't believe everybody here is so happy.

Cooper Flagg winning it all was the best thing for CBB, the NBA, and team USA. Too bad. And it sucks that it came down to a bad foul call on a rebound being the final points. Just insane.

I would say it came down to a massive choke job from Duke of only scoring 9 points in 10.5 minutes

 

[VolCalls]

All you Houston haters need to come back and swallow this crow. They were an elite team all season and they belong in this final.

Btw, I bet Houston with the over which I missed by 0.5 point. Ooof.

I hit a 3-leg with Houston ML, the under, and Roberts with 20+ points/rebs/assists.

 

[VolCalls]

Nah. It sucks. Now Florida's gonna win. Can't believe everybody here is so happy.

Cooper Flagg winning it all was the best thing for CBB, the NBA, and team USA. Too bad. And it sucks that it came down to a bad foul call on a rebound being the final points. Just insane.

I've been saying since early March that Houston will win it. They are tougher than Florida and Sampson will coach circles around Golden.

 

[n_huffhines]

I would say it came down to a massive choke job from Duke of only scoring 9 points in 10.5 minutes

Well, actually every play mattered.

My point isn't to assign value to events. My point is that no true hoops fan wants to see the game winning points come from a bad foul call 80 feet from the bucket. I feel robbed

 

[FortSanders]

Khamenei Maluach, Duke's multi-millionaire freshman from South Sudan, started in the final four loss against Houston. The problem is Maluach and everyone from South Sudan had their visas revoked as of yesterday afternoon. He was not supposed to play in that game.

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thehill.com

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Well, actually every play mattered

Every play matters, but that one matters a whole, whole lot less if Duke doesn’t completely fall apart offensively over the final 10 minutes. It’s just not accurate to say the game came down to an over the back call as if that is the primary reason Duke lost.

I’d be inclined to agree with you if it was a neck and neck game the whole way, but Duke had every opportunity to put its foot on Houston’s throat and blow the game wide open. Duke failed to do it. Duke has Duke to blame for that loss.

As for Cooper Flagg winning it being the best thing for college basketball and the NBA, that’s an incredibly bizarre take.

 

[n_huffhines]

Khamenei Maluach, Duke's multi-millionaire freshman from South Sudan, started in the final four loss against Houston. The problem is Maluach and everyone from South Sudan had their visas revoked as of yesterday afternoon. He was not supposed to play in that game.

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thehill.com

Man, we're living in a ****ed reality rn

 

[n_huffhines]

Every play matters, but that one matters a whole, whole lot less if Duke doesn’t completely fall apart offensively over the final 10 minutes. It’s just not accurate to say the game came down to an over the back call as if that is the primary reason Duke lost.

I’d be inclined to agree with you if it was a neck and neck game the whole way, but Duke had every opportunity to put its foot on Houston’s throat and blow the game wide open. Duke failed to do it. Duke has Duke to blame for that loss.

As for Cooper Flagg winning it being the best thing for college basketball and the NBA, that’s an incredibly bizarre take.

What's bizarre about it? Are you not aware that basketball is a star-driven sport? Are you not aware that the NBA suffers from a college-to-pro disconnect? Are you not aware that the sport is looking for the next great American player?

 

[Volprofch05]

Nah. It sucks. Now Florida's gonna win. Can't believe everybody here is so happy.

Cooper Flagg winning it all was the best thing for CBB, the NBA, and team USA. Too bad. And it sucks that it came down to a bad foul call on a rebound being the final points. Just insane.

Cooper Flagg winning it all is the best thing for CBB? On a team of 3 frosh playing for an inexperienced coach who was anointed just because he played for K? The best roster that money can buy? Rather than a battle tested and resilient Houston squad that has been knocking at the door for years and paid their dues? Yeah, I don't agree with that. And that was the only foul called on Flagg all night...

 

[Delmar]

I would say it came down to a massive choke job from Duke of only scoring 9 points in 10.5 minutes

One FG in 10 minutes tells you all you need to know about the collapse. Houston’s defense is elite and they clamped down when it mattered.

 

[n_huffhines]

Cooper Flagg winning it all is the best thing for CBB? On a team of 3 frosh playing for an inexperienced coach who was anointed just because he played for K? The best roster that money can buy? Rather than a battle tested and resilient Houston squad that has been knocking at the door for years and paid their dues? Yeah, I don't agree with that. And that was the only foul called on Flagg all night...

Like ot or not, $ and eyeballs is the best measure of interest that we have, and America just got a whole lot less interested.

You could bring everybody from Houston back next year, and the public wouldn't care as much about them as they do this Flagg team

 

[Volprofch05]

 

[Namorto1]

Sampson’s coaching during the last part of the game was masterful. He was mature and exercised a lot of patience. He didn’t panic and start fouling early nor did his players start jacking up contested 3’s.

 

[LittleCat]

Sampson’s coaching during the last part of the game was masterful. He was mature and exercised a lot of patience. He didn’t panic and start fouling early nor did his players start jacking up contested 3’s.

He also was smart at the end and didn't call a timeout. Duke had to scramble after the free throw to get down court and attempt a last second shot. No time to draw something up or talk about it.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Well, actually every play mattered.

My point isn't to assign value to events. My point is that no true hoops fan wants to see the game winning points come from a bad foul call 80 feet from the bucket. I feel robbed

Lol, Houston was getting the rebound anyway and Duke still had a chance to win and missed.

"no true hoops fan", how that gatekeeping going?

 

[knoxvol52]

Since Cooper Flagg is a so called "choker" for missing the shot to take the lead, I guess every player that has missed a shot to take lead or game winner is a "choker".

 

[Matt_Netherlands]

Khamenei Maluach, Duke's multi-millionaire freshman from South Sudan, started in the final four loss against Houston. The problem is Maluach and everyone from South Sudan had their visas revoked as of yesterday afternoon. He was not supposed to play in that game.

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thehill.com

They would have been better off if he didn’t play. Dude flat out sucked.

 

[omghulkhands]

Clayton has probably played himself into being a 1st round draft lock IMO

 

[TrippieRedd]

Clayton has probably played himself into being a 1st round draft lock IMO

As he should. Murray clone

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Like ot or not, $ and eyeballs is the best measure of interest that we have, and America just got a whole lot less interested.

You could bring everybody from Houston back next year, and the public wouldn't care as much about them as they do this Flagg team

Nah, man. What's good for college basketball is good college basketball. We saw excellent college basketball yesterday from 4 teams.

Fans will watch next year because this tournament was "saved" by a great Final Four after being a reasonably predictable (4 top seeds, few upsets) March Madness.

Great basketball is far, far, far bigger than any one player like Bird, Kareem, Shaq, etc who were extremely large college stars.

What makes college ball great is THE NEXT big star, not the last one. If you're a Flagg fanatic, fine, he'll be in the NBA to watch.

 

[JohnnyD1024]

 

[Cosmo Kramer]