Tournament Impact Slate (Feb. 12-14): ESPN Saturday Offerings Are Da' Bomb

[SelectionSunday]

Don't know if I've ever seen a better slate of consecutive games on ESPN than what Big Brother offers us Saturday:

11 -- Kentucky @ South Carolina
1:30 -- Kansas @ Oklahoma
3:30 -- Virginia @ Duke
5:30 -- Wisconsin @ Maryland
7:30 -- Texas @ Iowa State

Not a stinker in the bunch.

All games listed below include teams either leading their conference, a lock for the NCAA Tournament field, or teams at least marginally in contention for an at-large bid. RPI is noted for those teams.

Friday, February 12
#12 Dayton @ Rhode Island, 6 (ESPN2)
#63 Yale @ Dartmouth, 6
#17 USC @ Arizona State, 7 (Pac12N)
#72 UCLA @ #31 Arizona, 8 (ESPN)
#32 Monmouth @ Rider, 8 (ESPNU)

Saturday, February 13
TCU @ #9 West Virginia, 11 (ESPNU)
#16 Kentucky @ #22 South Carolina, 11 (ESPN)
Northern Iowa @ #34 Wichita State, 11 (ESPN2)
Georgetown @ #38 Providence, 11 (FOX)
#91 Belmont @ Morehead State, 11 (CBSSN)
#24 Texas A&M @ #77 LSU, noon (CBS)
#60 Kansas State @ Oklahoma State, noon (ESPNW)
#20 Purdue @ #61 Michigan, 1 (ESPN2)
#55 Washington @ #28 Colorado, 1 (Pac12N)
Georgia Tech @ #89 Clemson, 1
#101 UAB @ Louisiana Tech, 1
#193 Bucknell @ Colgate, 1
#4 Kansas @ #1 Oklahoma, 1:30 (ESPN)
#8 Xavier @ #57 Butler, 1:30 (FOX)
James Madison @ #74 NC Wilmington, 2 (NBCSN)
#124 New Mexico State @ Chicago State, 2:05
#3 Oregon @ Stanford, 3 (Pac12N)
Louisville @ #23 Notre Dame, 3 (ESPN2)
#50 George Washington @ #36 Saint Bonaventure, 3
#40 Chattanooga @ East Tennessee State, 3
East Carolina @ #67 Cincinnati, 3 (ESPNU)
#71 BYU @ Santa Clara, 3
#6 Virginia @ #19 Duke, 3:30 (ESPN)
#41 Akron @ Northern Illinois, 3:30
Robert Morris @ #200 Fairleigh Dickinson, 3:30
#159 North Florida @ Lipscomb, 4
#66 UALR @ Louisiana, 4:15
#47 Alabama @ #25 Florida, 4:30 (SECN)
South Dakota @ #49 South Dakota State, 4:30
Saint Louis @ #53 VCU, 5 (CBSSN)
#64 Vanderbilt @ Auburn, 5 (ESPN2)
#58 Wisconsin @ #5 Maryland, 5:30 (ESPN)
#33 Oregon State @ #30 Cal, 5:30 (Pac12N)
#63 Yale @ Harvard, 6
Texas A&M Corpus Christi @ #134 Stephen F. Austin, 6
Saint John’s @ #2 Villanova, 7 (CBSSN)
#43 Texas Tech @ #26 Baylor, 7 (ESPNU)
La Salle @ #27 Saint Joseph’s, 7
#42 Tulsa @ #48 UConn, 7 (ESPN2)
Wright State @ #46 Valparaiso, 7
#73 Georgia @ Mississippi State, 7 (SECN)
#86 Creighton @ Marquette, 7 (FSN)
#21 Texas @ #15 Iowa State, 7:30 (ESPN)
Jackson State @ #235 Texas Southern, 7:30
Northern Arizona @ #145 Montana, 8
Air Force @ #45 San Diego State, 9 (CBSSN)
#62 Gonzaga @ SMU, 9 (ESPN2)
Loyola Marymount @ #70 Saint Mary’s, 10
Cal State Fullerton @ #83 Hawaii, 11

Sunday, February 14
#39 Pitt @ #10 North Carolina, noon (CW23)
#35 Indiana @ #18 Michigan State, noon (CBS)
#37 Syracuse @ Boston College, noon
New Hampshire @ #65 Stony Brook, 1
USF @ #59 Temple, 2 (CBSSN)
Washington State @ #14 Utah, 4 (Pac12N)
#11 Miami @ #44 Florida State, 5:30 (ESPN)
GOPHERS @ #7 Iowa, 6:30 (BTN)
#17 USC @ #31 Arizona, 7 (FS1)
#72 UCLA @ Arizona State, 7:30 (ESPNU)

 

[GophersInIowa]

Oklahoma-Kansas looks to be another good one to the end.

Didn't see it but I guess Calipari got ejected less than 3 minutes into their game today against South Carolina.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Also, anyone know what has happened to Stanford this year? Thought they would be pretty good. Looks like Travis has been hurt again this season.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Duke beats Virginia at the buzzer. I know Dick Vitale loves college basketball but I just can't listen to him when he does a Duke or UNC game (he is hard to listen to at any point). He doesn't even hide his bias anymore.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Duke beats Virginia at the buzzer. I know Dick Vitale loves college basketball but I just can't listen to him when he does a Duke or UNC game (he is hard to listen to at any point). He doesn't even hide his bias anymore.

But it looks like it should have been a travel. His foot hit the ground before the shot got off. They'll never call that against K in Cameron though.

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[dtrain19]

Thought he took too many steps even without foot hitting the ground.

 

[GibsonSG]

Barry Alvarez would be an absolute idiot to not hire Gard as the Badger coach. And Tony Bennett would be a fool to leave Virginia for Wisconsin (if there is even a remote chance of that happening.)

For coming into the season as a predicted national championship contender, I really haven't been that overly impressed with Maryland. They win but rarely dominate anyone. Have I just not watched them enough?

 

[EG#9]

Wisconsin beating Maryland would be the absolute worst thing that could happen this weekend in college basketball this week. It puts Wisconsin in shape to make the tournament and freaking IOWA free and clear to winning the B1G. Come on Terps, we've suffered enough!

 

[GophersInIowa]

If Hayes keeps playing well, does he declare for the draft? I've seen mock drafts that have him going in the 2nd round.

 

[Grant]

I thought this was going to be the year wisconsin had their ncaa streak busted. ****!

 

[ethomasp31]

I noticed that Texas Tech beat Iowa State and also is blowing out Baylor at Baylor tonight....looks like Tubby has a good chance to make the tournament...even though he came into a very bad situation...plus he has a very good sophomore class. It's funny a lot of those people who couldn't wait to rid of Tubby...and were saying a lot more offensive things than calling Pitino Lil Ricky (I don't call him that by the way)...are so willing to give Pitino another year or two after the worst year in the history of Gopher Basketball. They made it a toxic situation for a team that made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and beat the number 1 team in the country. Now we can't even beat South Dakota, South Dakota State or Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I noticed that Texas Tech beat Iowa State and also is blowing out Baylor at Baylor tonight....looks like Tubby has a good chance to make the tournament...even though he came into a very bad situation...plus he has a very good sophomore class. It's funny a lot of those people who couldn't wait to rid of Tubby...and were saying a lot more offensive things than calling Pitino Lil Ricky (I don't call him that by the way)...are so willing to give Pitino another year or two after the worst year in the history of Gopher Basketball. They made it a toxic situation for a team that made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and beat the number 1 team in the country. Now we can't even beat South Dakota, South Dakota State or Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

I think they still have some work to do but they certainly are giving themselves a shot.

So it was the fans and people of gopherhole that made it a "toxic situation"? It had nothing to do with going a combined 20-34 in the Big Ten in his last three years? I defended Tubby just as much as anyone but even I thought it was time to move one. I don't think we were going to get much better as a program and the recruiting was really falling off.

Do you have any specific examples of people that were saying offensive things about Tubby and are now wanting to give Pitino another year or two?

 

[ethomasp31]

I think they still have some work to do but they certainly are giving themselves a shot.

So it was the fans and people of gopherhole that made it a "toxic situation"? It had nothing to do with going a combined 20-34 in the Big Ten in his last three years? I defended Tubby just as much as anyone but even I thought it was time to move one. I don't think we were going to get much better as a program and the recruiting was really falling off.

Do you have any specific examples of people that were saying offensive things about Tubby and are now wanting to give Pitino another year or two?

It was three years ago....so no...I don't have specific examples....but he was treated a lot worse on here than Pitino ever has been. The 20-34 record....which were his worst three years...is a lot better than the last three years...I think even you would have to admit that. But on top of that, that record is pretty deceiving. In the two years Tubby went 6-12 in the B1G, we had major injuries. In 2012 we lost Mbakwe to a blown out knee before the B1G started. In 2011 it was worse...we were 5-3 in the B1G and then we lost Al Nolen to an injury for the rest of the year and lost 10 of the last 11 games. My guess is that both of those years we would have finished with at least 9 wins...and probably more. I won't even get into Royce White situation....where if we would have been able to keep him, Tubby Smith would still be coaching here.

 

[ethomasp31]

I think they still have some work to do but they certainly are giving themselves a shot.

So it was the fans and people of gopherhole that made it a "toxic situation"? It had nothing to do with going a combined 20-34 in the Big Ten in his last three years? I defended Tubby just as much as anyone but even I thought it was time to move one. I don't think we were going to get much better as a program and the recruiting was really falling off.

Do you have any specific examples of people that were saying offensive things about Tubby and are now wanting to give Pitino another year or two?

BTW, Smith went into a situation that was a lot worse than the one that Pitino took over at the U. Tubby might not have gotten any of the Big Three either...but I think there would have been a decent chance he would have gotten at least two of Macura, Ellenson, Illikainen or Travis.

 

[KyGopherfan]

For some reason, Pitino has been given a lot looooonger leash than Tubby, both with the fans and the administration. Tubby didn't do great during conference, but they did make the tourney routinely, while Pitino is head of the worst basketball season in history and there's not groundswell to get rid of him. It's really amazing actually.

 

[GibsonSG]

For some reason, Pitino has been given a lot looooonger leash than Tubby, both with the fans and the administration. Tubby didn't do great during conference, but they did make the tourney routinely, while Pitino is head of the worst basketball season in history and there's not groundswell to get rid of him. It's really amazing actually.

Because Minnesotans are all a bunch of racists! (Just in case anyone here couldn’t get what KyTubbyfan was implying. )

Doesn’t the AD usually fire the coaches? The U can’t even figure that situation out yet. And where’s the money for Pitino’s buyout going to come from? The money they already have going towards the new sports complex/practice facility? Pitino’s #20 recruiting class (per 247sports) is also probably saving his job. Tubby’s last recruiting class was, in contrast, Alvin Ellis & Alex Foster.

The Gophers are so bad that I think apathy has long replaced anger after the losses. The "get angry" crowd has shut their TV's off. Hardly anyone seems to be posting after the games like previous years.

What’s so hard to understand?

 

[ethomasp31]

Because Minnesotans are all a bunch of racists! (Just in case anyone here couldn’t get what KyTubbyfan was implying. )

Doesn’t the AD usually fire the coaches? The U can’t even figure that situation out yet. And where’s the money for Pitino’s buyout going to come from? The money they already have going towards the new sports complex/practice facility? Pitino’s top 20 recruiting class is also probably saving his job. Tubby’s last recruiting class was, in contrast, Alvin Ellis & Alex Foster.

The Gophers are so bad that I think apathy has long replaced anger after the losses. The "get angry" crowd has shut their TV's off. Hardly anyone seems to be posting after the games like previous years.

What’s so hard to understand?

Oh I forgot about our top 20 recruiting class....which ESPN actually has rated 34th....and the only reason it's in the top 50 is because we signed a local kid whose dad played for the Gophers back in the late 80's. I think any coach with a pulse would have been able to put in the effort to sign him. We will see about the recruiting class....I remember reading on this board two years ago about how Martin was going to be getting 28 minutes also. Last years seems to be pretty decent so hopefully we can build on something.

You know....I definitely think Pitino can turn this around. He has a nice group of freshmen along with Mason....and a what looks to be a nice group coming in along with a couple of transfers who should be able to contribute. A couple of years ago I heard some stories about Pitino that turned me off towards him....nothing illegal or unethical....but more his east coast attitude. Maybe the people caught him on a bad day....that happens to everyone...and maybe he's been humbled a little bit by the last two seasons we have had. To me it seems like his players like him and when listening to his radio show, it seems like he is not a bad guy. But with the season we've had...and how we severely underachieved last year I would be ready to say, let's move on. Except for one thing...the fact we don't have a permanent AD and the last moronic AD gave Pitino a contract with buyout of what I've heard is $7 million. I can't quite figure how that ever happened....maybe Pitino had some compromising pictures of Norwood or something.

Ive always have liked the underdog...and Pitino has put himself in that position now. It's had to have been a tough 14 months for him....and I think he probably has learned a lot over that time. I hope Coffey can come in and take us further than his dad's teams went. I hope Pitino can land Trent.....but I'm not expecting it and won't judge him harshly if he doesn't. Actually if we can land Trent....it would be a huge get for Pitino and I would give him a ton of credit.

As bad as this year has been...I've resigned myself to the fact we aren't going to switch coaches after this season. Even though it is hard for me....it doesn't do any good looking back at what happened....because I think Tubby was pretty classy guy and he was treated unfairly by many fans. Sometimes it's hard not to vent though, and yes I cheer for him and hope he is successful. Hopefully, we can see some excitement come back to the Barn next year, with the promise of better years to come. I definitely think it's possible. If Pitino is the coach who brings it back...I'll support him and cheer for him. Like I said....it's easy to cheer for the underdog.

 

[GophersInIowa]

It was three years ago....so no...I don't have specific examples....but he was treated a lot worse on here than Pitino ever has been.

So then why would you assume it is all the same people? For all we know the same people who wanted Tubby gone are also screaming for Pitino to be fired as well. "It's funny a lot of those people who couldn't wait to rid of Tubby...and were saying a lot more offensive things than calling Pitino Lil Ricky (I don't call him that by the way)...are so willing to give Pitino another year or two after the worst year in the history of Gopher Basketball."

Also, I don't remember him being treated a lot worse or people saying offensive things about him. I think you are exaggerating a bit but maybe I am wrong. I do think people had higher expectations because of Tubby being a big name coach. He won a National Championship and was just a very popular guy, so people may have been more upset/disappointed in the job he was doing.

The 20-34 record....which were his worst three years...is a lot better than the last three years...I think even you would have to admit that.

I agree. The difference though is that was years 4-6. This is year 3. When years 1-3 are better than years 4-6, that isn't a good sign in my opinion. I don't think how bad Pitino has been changes what Tubby did at MN. Because Pitino may have been a bad hire doesn't mean we shouldn't have moved on from Tubby either IMO.

But on top of that, that record is pretty deceiving. In the two years Tubby went 6-12 in the B1G, we had major injuries. In 2012 we lost Mbakwe to a blown out knee before the B1G started. In 2011 it was worse...we were 5-3 in the B1G and then we lost Al Nolen to an injury for the rest of the year and lost 10 of the last 11 games. My guess is that both of those years we would have finished with at least 9 wins...and probably more. I won't even get into Royce White situation....where if we would have been able to keep him, Tubby Smith would still be coaching here.

I was saying a lot of these things as well. But they still underachieved significantly, even with the injuries. Players transferred and almost instantly became better. Who knows what would have happened if Mbakwe and Nolen didn't get hurt and White was able to play. But it did happen and I think Tubby lost a lot of his momentum in recruiting after that.

I just didn't see us being any better than a fringe tourney team at best under him. I know MN has never been any better than that, but I think we can be better.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Oh I forgot about our top 20 recruiting class....which ESPN actually has rated 34th....and the only reason it's in the top 50 is because we signed a local kid whose dad played for the Gophers back in the late 80's. I think any coach with a pulse would have been able to put in the effort to sign him. We will see about the recruiting class....I remember reading on this board two years ago about how Martin was going to be getting 28 minutes also. Last years seems to be pretty decent so hopefully we can build on something.

You're acting like 34th is some horrible ranking or something. It's a good class no matter what ranking you use.

It's funny how people argue about the local recruits. People did the same thing when Tubby was coaching too. When a good local recruit goes somewhere else, the coach gets ripped to shreds. But when they land the good local kid, they get no credit for signing him. You can downplay it all you want, but kids go out of state all the time and don't always follow in their dad's footsteps. It was a good get for the program.

 

[RickDornsby]

Carter Coughlin and Coffey are the types of recruit where I say "he's doing his job" and he's not a BAD recruiter in terms of sealing the deal on a good local recruit that had us in his top 3 all along.

I would give Pitino 3 more years if he secures Jones, Trent, or in theory got part of the big 3.

If he did that, I'd feel confident of always getting top 25 classes. This is a nice blip on the radar of a program that will generally get the 40th-60th ranked class. The football team is the same way and I don't mind it. Kill and likely Claeys coach up the lesser-regarded recruits. Pitino so far isn't doing that.

I don't think Theo John is of the level of Coffey but he's another guy that I wouldn't be shocked to get. If Pitino can generally go above and beyond that, then he's the level of recruiter that I can look past the warts of his coaching so far. Any decent recruiter can keep these types of recruits around.

 

[Mr. Gopher]

For some reason, Pitino has been given a lot looooonger leash than Tubby, both with the fans and the administration. Tubby didn't do great during conference, but they did make the tourney routinely, while Pitino is head of the worst basketball season in history and there's not groundswell to get rid of him. It's really amazing actually.

Well, I'm certainly afraid to say it: Could the fact that he was a black coach have anything to do with it? Some will furiously argue not for fear of some kind of racist association, others may consider it.

I tend to think black coaches tend to face subliminal criticism more than white coaches.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Well, I'm certainly afraid to say it: Could the fact that he was a black coach have anything to do with it? Some will furiously argue not for fear of some kind of racist association, others may consider it.

I tend to think black coaches tend to face subliminal criticism more than white coaches.

Well I think he is exaggerating the "looooonger leash" comment. It's college athletics, and many people realize you need about 3-4 years to really get a sense of where the program is heading under a coach. Tubby got 6 years, we're not even through season 3 with Pitino.

Race probably plays into it for some but my guess is the expectations with the two coaches is a lot more of a factor. Tubby is a Hall of Fame coach, has won a National Championship and is very popular. My guess is most Gopher fans were way more excited when Tubby was hired than when Pitino was. People were hoping for a lot out of Tubby and it just never happened.

 

[ethomasp31]

You're acting like 34th is some horrible ranking or something. It's a good class no matter what ranking you use.

It's funny how people argue about the local recruits. People did the same thing when Tubby was coaching too. When a good local recruit goes somewhere else, the coach gets ripped to shreds. But when they land the good local kid, they get no credit for signing him. You can downplay it all you want, but kids go out of state all the time and don't always follow in their dad's footsteps. It was a good get for the program.

Tubby came in and Royce White and Rodney Williams were both seniors in high school. Just like when Pitino came in with the Big 3. Tubby got both of those guys. I remember talking to a friend who is an assistant college basketball coach in the MIAC and he told me he felt Tubby's success at the U would depend on getting those guys. Regardless what you say...the situation that Tubby came into was worse than the one he left at the U.

Hopefully Coffey is the beginning of closing the boarders for Pitino. To be successful....he is going to have to get more guys to stay in state.

 

[GibsonSG]

Tubby came in and Royce White and Rodney Williams were both seniors in high school. Just like when Pitino came in with the Big 3.

Nope. Your memory is fuzzy. The Big 3 all committed in the fall right after Pitino took over. Tubby was hired in the spring of 2007. White & Williams signed on to play for the Gophers in the fall of 2008. Tubby had 18 months to build a relationship. You can't fault Pitino for not landing the Big 3 in such a short time span. But the current roster is completely his own mess.

 

[Dr.Don]

And the bi-polarity of GH strikes again.

 

[ethomasp31]

Nope. Your memory is fuzzy. The Big 3 all committed in the fall right after Pitino took over. Tubby was hired in the spring of 2007. White & Williams signed on to play for the Gophers in the fall of 2008. Tubby had 18 months to build a relationship. You can't fault Pitino for not landing the Big 3 in such a short time span. But the current roster is completely his own mess.

I've never blamed him for not getting any of the Jones, Travis or Vaughn. I think he could have done a better job of recruiting Macura...but the point is Tubby came into a situation that was worse than the one he left for Pitino. Tubby also went into a situation at Texas Tech that was worse than the one Pitino took over at the U. How do those programs look right now? I think most Gopher fans would have been counting Texas Tech as a win if they would have known we were going to get to play them in the pre season tournament...and we got smoked.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Tubby came in and Royce White and Rodney Williams were both seniors in high school. Just like when Pitino came in with the Big 3. Tubby got both of those guys. I remember talking to a friend who is an assistant college basketball coach in the MIAC and he told me he felt Tubby's success at the U would depend on getting those guys. Regardless what you say...the situation that Tubby came into was worse than the one he left at the U.

Hopefully Coffey is the beginning of closing the boarders for Pitino. To be successful....he is going to have to get more guys to stay in state.

Nope, both guys were juniors. The seniors that year would have been guys like Berggren and Tucker. So not a fair comparison. Since year 1, Pitino has done a good job with the in-state guys signing 3 of 4 targets. Only miss was Illikainen.

And I never argued that Tubby didn't come into a worse situation. Neither was ideal, but yes his was worse.

 

[ethomasp31]

Nope, both guys were juniors. The seniors that year would have been guys like Berggren and Tucker. So not a fair comparison. Since year 1, Pitino has done a good job with the in-state guys signing 3 of 4 targets. Only miss was Illikainen.

And I never argued that Tubby didn't come into a worse situation. Neither was ideal, but yes his was worse.

Again...I never said Pitino should have gotten any of the Big Three...or complained that he didn't. Where have I said that?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Again...I never said Pitino should have gotten any of the Big Three...or complained that he didn't. Where have I said that?

"Tubby came in and Royce White and Rodney Williams were both seniors in high school. Just like when Pitino came in with the Big 3. Tubby got both of those guys."

This statement is incorrect. So bringing up the White and Williams situation to compare it to the Big 3 is not fair because they weren't the same situation. Tubby had a lot more time to recruit White and Williams. That is all I was saying.