Houston vs Baylor, and the winner vs Gonzaga are going to be epic games. Those are much watch TV games. This may be one of the best tournaments ever.
Utep only team in Texas
- Thread starter FiliUTEP
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Houston hasn't played their best yet. Honestly I don't think they've played anywhere near their best during the tourney. An old SWC conference rival might bring the best out of them. It's going to be a very interesting game.
I’d agree, especially if you’re talking offense. UH is gonna have to find their stroke from 3 to win this thing. I think the teams are pretty even, but Baylor has the big time edge from behind the arc. I do think Grimes and Jarreau can hang with Mitchell and Teague. Sasser is gonna have to be on fire for UH, along with Mark. The guy I think UH is really gonna have trouble with is Meyer. He is like an uber athletic Larry Bird. Can dribble, penetrate and go to the hoop, shoot the 3, dish it off, rebound... Not sure who is going to be able to contain him. Looking forward to the showdown.
Houston is what it is (haha). Yes they could have a tremendous day from 3 and win, but its not gonna happen against Baylor.
I think Baylor wins 4 of 5 times against UH, but they did lose to Kansas and OK ST. They’re bearable. UH will look to make this an ugly game, and that is probably their only chance. I hope you’re wrong!😝
You have to remember, Baylor had not played in a month when they came back and lost to Kansas, so throw that out. The Oklahoma State game was really their only loss. But, I would not put too much stock into it. Houston is a poor man's Baylor. Baylor is a 5 point favorite, but as you say, is it that 1 out of 5 nights?
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David Lattin says UH has what it takes to become second NCAA title team from Texas
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No. 1 seed Baylor -5 vs. No. 2 seed Houston, over/under: 134.5. Houston has reached the Final Four without having played anywhere near its best. That probably deserves more praise than it’s received. Yes, Houston has played a historically easy set of opponents — not a single team without a double-digit seed — but it’s pretty much shut them all down, at least defensively. Baylor, on the other hand, has played close to its peak. Namely, the Bears have played close to their peak for the last three halves where they’ve bombarded Arkansas and Villanova with their shooting ability. Baylor isn’t going to shoot 8-for-15 from the 3-point line against Houston, though. No chance. The Cougars have the best defensive efficiency numbers in the nation and their ability to guard the perimeter isn’t far off from the top either. There’s rightfully a lot of talk about Baylor’s Big Three guards —Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague — but in Houston, the trio is finally finding a complement. Quentin Grimes, DeJon Jarreau and Marcus Sasser are just as efficient. With the dearth of non-conference play, it’s been a strange college basketball season to quantify but no set of analytical ratings would suggest there are this many points separating these two teams. Houston was going to have a real chance in this prospective matchup all along, but with the way the tournament has played out and the ensuing perception it’s caused, the Cougars now have a much better chance than the odds suggest. Play: Houston +5.
No. 1 seed Gonzaga -14 vs. No. 11 seed UCLA, over/under: 145. This number fell right in line with my projection. In cases like that, I’m often guilty of being contrarian just for the sake of being contrarian and taking the side no one else is betting. That would be UCLA here, obviously. No one is interested in backing the Bruins against the Bulldogs, but it’s for good reason. Gonzaga is a wrecking unit laying waste to everything in its path. Gonzaga has legitimized claims of its potential to be one of the best college basketball teams of all time with four straight covers and wins by an average of 24 points per game in the tournament. The market hasn’t come close to pricing the Zags efficiently, and it’s possible that it’s also not doing so here. UCLA has covered five games in its own right, and with more ease than Gonzaga — beating the spread by a stunning 12.5 points per game as opposed to the Bulldogs’ mere mortal 4 points per game. But it’s the way the Bruins have won that leaves a little to be desired. They’ve had to escape overtime twice, benefit from a historically poor free-throw shooting performance and get plenty of other open shots to miss. That’s not guaranteed to regress immediately, of course, but if there’s any team it seems likely to do so against, it’s Gonzaga. The overall No. 1 seed is just too good to pick against. Guess: Gonzaga -14.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
https://lasvegassun.com/blogs/talki...ournament-odds-vegas-picks-final-four-cbbzag/
No. 1 seed Gonzaga -14 vs. No. 11 seed UCLA, over/under: 145. This number fell right in line with my projection. In cases like that, I’m often guilty of being contrarian just for the sake of being contrarian and taking the side no one else is betting. That would be UCLA here, obviously. No one is interested in backing the Bruins against the Bulldogs, but it’s for good reason. Gonzaga is a wrecking unit laying waste to everything in its path. Gonzaga has legitimized claims of its potential to be one of the best college basketball teams of all time with four straight covers and wins by an average of 24 points per game in the tournament. The market hasn’t come close to pricing the Zags efficiently, and it’s possible that it’s also not doing so here. UCLA has covered five games in its own right, and with more ease than Gonzaga — beating the spread by a stunning 12.5 points per game as opposed to the Bulldogs’ mere mortal 4 points per game. But it’s the way the Bruins have won that leaves a little to be desired. They’ve had to escape overtime twice, benefit from a historically poor free-throw shooting performance and get plenty of other open shots to miss. That’s not guaranteed to regress immediately, of course, but if there’s any team it seems likely to do so against, it’s Gonzaga. The overall No. 1 seed is just too good to pick against. Guess: Gonzaga -14.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
https://lasvegassun.com/blogs/talki...ournament-odds-vegas-picks-final-four-cbbzag/
Baylor has to be one of the most athletic squads I have seen since Cal & Rose at Memphis.
Gawd I hate Baylor, cheaters.
Baylor and Gonzaga are on a different level. Could be a great championship game
I have a friend that keeps betting me against the Gonzaga spread. He just can't fathom how they are a -14.5 favorite in the final 4. I have nothing to lose at this point.
It looks like Baylor vs the winner of Gonzaga/UCLA game. Most likely it will be Baylor vs Gonzaga. I’m rooting for the team playing against Baylor.
Flagler, Mayer and Tchahtchoua have to be the top bench in the country.
Impressive game by Baylor. They are peaking at the perfect time. Monday should be a classic. Gonzaga looking to validate their program. Scott Drew looking to complete the most improbable re-build in history.
They’ve made 6 straight Sweet 16s and have made every NCAA tournament since 1999. But yeah, still looking for that validation....
Who was the miner fan on here that would always say on here "you take dem points"?
They’ve made 6 straight Sweet 16s and have made every NCAA tournament since 1999. But yeah, still looking for that validation....
They ain't UTEP. They considered a top five basketball program. A national championship will validate that. Huge for Mark Few.
Damn I think that was way back, almost 20 years ago. If im not mistaken he popped up the year we played there and there was weather delay. A huge storm blew in and Norman was under a tornado warning. I was at that game its been a minute.
I bet Drew will leave for UNC. They have candidates available and no decision yet.
It was Gary Nord's bowl season. Oklahoma blew us out, but they also won the national championship, so it wasn't exactly shameful. It was just annoying to see him spamming the score while UTEP continued to win games that season.
I don't know. Doesn't seem like a great fit. He's built Baylor. He is legend. The media coverage isn't intense in Waco. At UNC you're under a microscope. There will be no honeymoon period.
The book on Drew has always been He's kind of a jerk. He rubs a lot of people the wrong way. It's worked in Waco. I don't think it's works in Chapel Hill. He's kind of like Dan Mullen. Alot of people hate Dan Mullen. He stayed at Miss State a long time because bigger schools didn't want to deal with him. He's at Florida now, but he had been there before as a OC he knew what to expect. Before Baylor Drew was at Valpo. He has no experience with a five ring circus like North Carolina hoops. He's a legend a Baylor. They can match anybodys money. A natty makes him a God. I don't know why he would leave that for UNC.
Gonzaga has their hands full with UCLA!
Seeing them play, which of these teams matches up better with Baylor?
Seeing them play, which of these teams matches up better with Baylor?
I'll be rooting for Gonzaga for the Natty buuuuuut I would rather see Baylor win it before the Longhorns. Longhorns winning one seems inevitable now that they have Beard. Go Zags
Both teams shot better than Baylor and that includes an overtime. UCLA is a tough matchup for anyone and my argument is that if they played like that against Gonzaga, more than likely they would have beaten Baylor.
Baylor is a better matchup for Gonzaga. Remember Gonzaga is a 4 1/2 point favorite, so the question should be who matches up better with Gonzaga not Baylor. Baylor better shoot lights out to be in this one. A bad shooting night and they may get buried. You know what you get out of Gonzaga.
In saying that Baylor does not have to play a perfect game to beat Gonzaga like UCLA did. They have room for error. And yet, I have yet to see a really poor game from Gonzaga all season. UCLA played near perfect and shot close to 60%, and still lost. That tells you something,
I didn't think UCLA had a 90 point performance in them. Thought if they did score 90, the way they play Defense, they win. UCLA was great last night.
Heck of a game last night between UCLA and the Zags. That 3 point shot by the Zags from almost mid court, as time expired, was incredible. One of the best tournament games I’ve seen in a long time . I’m hoping the game between the Zags and Baylor is close and not a blow out. That will be a great match between two great basketball teams. The Zags play smart, fundamental basketball, while Baylor has great athletes. Hoping the Zags win it all on Monday!
Who has said drew is a jerk?
where have you heard drew is a jerk? Have not seen anything but good things from him down here
where have you heard drew is a jerk? Have not seen anything but good things from him down here
