Official: NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD (THAT'S NOT GOALTENDING)

[skyscraper]

Go create a panic thread if you want to go panic. This is one of the best possible first round match ups we could have gotten. A blue blood who is beatable.

[Pony ^]

I'm starting to panic.

Talk me down, talk me down.

Need our fans to be LOUD - our guys will really need the love. I expect us to out number UCLA fans.

What are you panicking about?

That we lose to UCLA. They are big and have all these McD AAs and are peaking - very underrated.

An underrated team doesn't lose to anyone by 40 points (Kentucky) or 32 points (Utah). I don't care who you are playing, that is just pathetic. Relax.

[Harry0569]

Ojai - here you go.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015- ... s-bracket/

[Fresno Mustang]

I'm starting to panic.

Talk me down, talk me down.

Need our fans to be LOUD - our guys will really need the love. I expect us to out number UCLA fans.

What are you panicking about?

That we lose to UCLA. They are big and have all these McD AAs and are peaking - very underrated.

They beat Washington without their best player. Wazzu. And sc twice. I hardly call that peaking. And we have a McD AA on our roster and look how much that has helped us lately.

[ericdickerson4life]

Ojai - here you go.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015- ... s-bracket/

It's pretty sound logic. And I could handle the results he's predicting.

[PonyFan32]

Man, it's great to be relevant. And a Grantland writer talking about us going to the South Regional finals before falling to Duke sounds like the right kind of relevance.

[smupony94]

@PatDoneyNBC5 10m10 minutes ago
Larry Brown's first words to his @smu team at practice: "If you're not nervous, there's something wrong with you."

[ojaipony]

@PatDoneyNBC5 10m10 minutes ago
Larry Brown's first words to his @smu team at practice: "If you're not nervous, there's something wrong with you."

Exactly. I'm freaking out now, but by tip I'll be ready.

[PonyFan32]

Ojai... you've been very upbeat on this team for weeks and it has panned out quite well. Don't flip on us now

[smusportspage]

@PatDoneyNBC5 10m10 minutes ago
Larry Brown's first words to his @smu team at practice: "If you're not nervous, there's something wrong with you."

Nothing wrong with me then. I am nervous. Beat UCLA! #LEAVENODOUBT!

[LA_Mustang]

Coach is making jokes.

“@MattASanders: Larry Brown when asked about the 5 guys who score the most points for UCLA: "That's a good hamburger place." #PonyUp http://twitter.com/MattASanders/status/ ... 88/photo/1”

[ojaipony]

Ojai... you've been very upbeat on this team for weeks and it has panned out quite well. Don't flip on us now

I know. I'm just concerned about too must euphoria about beating UConn and getting in and not understanding that the REAL season now starts. But, I trust my godfather.

I'm sure he's saying "we didn't do all that work and go through all that adversity to just be happy to be included in the field."

[skyscraper]

http://www.wlky.com/sports/final-four/P ... r/31850038

Louisville TV station says free open practice Wednesday for all teams. SMU at 2 pm for the early arrivers.

[Harry0569]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college ... n-utah-ncb

Worth a Long Look

No. 6 SMU Mustangs (72.9) vs. No. 11 UCLA Bruins (12.4)
Upset chance: 24.0 percent

Our model isn't a bracketologist. It isn't here to tell you that UCLA deserved its controversial bid. But it can alert you to the fact that, as long as the Bruins are here, they have a pretty good chance to stick around a bit longer.

As its rating suggests, UCLA is a decent Killer, but nothing special. The Bruins rebound well at both ends, ranking in the top 100 in the nation on the offensive and defensive boards. They're an average defensive team (48.7 effective field goal percentage allowed, 160th in the country) and don't force many turnovers, but do hold some chameleon-like potential, in that they don't shoot many 3-pointers (29.3 percent of their attempts), but are accurate enough (36.3 percent) to increase that frequency.

The solid upset odds in this matchup say more about SMU. Credit Larry Brown for leading his team to a conference championship in a season in which he hoped to have Emmanuel Mudiay running the point and he lost guard Keith Frazier after 16 games. But our model thinks the Mustangs are slightly overseeded, as they rank 28th in the power rankings section of the formula. They do generate extra possessions through offensive boards (37 percent of missed shots) and turnovers (20 percent of opponents' possessions). But while the model doesn't identify this as a significant indicator of a vulnerable Giant, pay attention to SMU's dramatic splits beyond the arc. The Mustangs take the third-fewest 3s in Division I (22.9 percent of their shots), and allow the most at the other end (45.7 percent of attempts). That strategy practically begs for an upset: All it takes is for a lesser team to get hot from deep, and SMU will be trading three-for-two all night. Fans in Dallas should be concerned.

[Harry0569]

No. 6 SMU Mustangs vs. No. 11 UCLA Bruins

Westgate line: SMU -2
PickCenter consensus pick: 67 percent picked SMU

Tuley: UCLA's inclusion by the selection committee was the most vilified decision on Selection Sunday (especially when the Bruins were given a No. 11 seed and pretty far removed from the bubble). The public has mostly bet against UCLA, as this line opened SMU minus-2 at several books and is up to 3.5 at most books and even 4 at a few as of late Monday night. However, I've seen this before where a team sneaks into the tournament and vindicates the selection committee (most notably VCU in 2011). All that stuff aside, we can only handicap the games in front of us, and while SMU is a solid team, I am convinced that if UCLA plays like it did against Arizona in the Pac-12 semifinals, the Bruins will be able to pull the upset here.

ATS pick: UCLA +2*

http://insider.espn.go.com/chalk/story/ ... ball#AWest