2024-2025 College Basketball General Discussion

[leeraymond]

Did anyone see the Houston and BYU game last night; BIG XII Tournament? Roberts is hurt, so he did not play in the game. Houston decided to play with a four (4) guard lineup. Houston dominated BYU. Houston is pesky, disruptive, and takes a team out of what it wants to do offensively. Houston played a great game without Roberts. Houston really attacks you with its defense. Active hands, playing the passing lanes, and keeping somebody in the middle of the floor, around the free-throw line to get those long rebounds. Have you noticed that Houston seems to always get those long offensive rebounds right around the free-throw line? Houston never takes a defensive possession off. Always on the attack. They like to strip the ball in the paint. They double-team a lot. Houston keeps a team off balance on offense.

UC could learn a lot from watching Houston's videos.

[Rufus]

That's a very good point Leeraymond. Sampson modeled his Houston teams after the UC bearthugs that Huggins and Cronin built so Miller would do well to study Houston extensively

[Geaux Juan]

The Erik Martin led South Carolina State Bulldogs (20-12, 11-3) play Norfolk State (23-10, 11-3) today for the MEAC Championship. The game is on Espn2 at 1 PM.

[leeraymond]

The Erik Martin led South Carolina State Bulldogs (20-12, 11-3) play Norfolk State (23-10, 11-3) today for the MEAC Championship. The game is on Espn2 at 1 PM.

Yeah, good for Martin. I am rooting for him. Besides, I live about an hour from the South Carolina State's Orangeburg campus. SCST is 20-12. SCST is an HBCU. It is extremely difficult to win at HBCU's because those guys are basically on the road for November and December. By the way, these schools do not have the chartered jets and travel resources of bigger schools. It is good to see that Martin is doing well in a tough coaching environment.

[bearcatbret]

The Erik Martin led South Carolina State Bulldogs (20-12, 11-3) play Norfolk State (23-10, 11-3) today for the MEAC Championship. The game is on Espn2 at 1 PM.

Not to rain on the parade but they have had some bad losses even a loss to NKU. 2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule - South Carolina State University Athletics
They are currently up against Norfolk State.

[swilsonsp4]

Not to rain on the parade but they have had some bad losses even a loss to NKU. 2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule - South Carolina State University Athletics
They are currently up against Norfolk State.

MEAC schools have a very hard time attracting the level of coaches and talent that most other conferences can. They have very little financial support from any source. If you ever get to Tallahassee, take a drive around the FSU campus, then trek over a few miles to FAMU. Both are state universities. The facilities are light-years apart. The reasons are obvious, but I don't want to derail this thread.

If a MEAC coach has success enough that he attracts attention, some higher-level program will steal him. His replacement usually turns out to be some inexperienced young guy who has to cobble together a team with virtually (or completely) no NIL. Fortunately for SC State, they were able to attract Erik Martin, who is older. He can't solve the financial disparity, though.

A school such as SC State or Coppin State must play "buy games" to fund their department of athletics. Their athletes get beaten down in November and December, while their P4 opponents work out the kinks at their expense.

Only three MEAC schools ever have won an NCAA Tourney game that wasn't played in the First 4. Coppin State in 1997, Hampton (no longer a member) in 2001, and Norfolk State in 2012. All were #15 seeds who took down #2.

So, losing to NKU (or most any other team from a non-low major conference) shouldn't be much of a surprise.

[swilsonsp4]

Yeah, good for Martin. I am rooting for him. Besides, I live about an hour from the South Carolina State's Orangeburg campus. SCST is 20-12. SCST is an HBCU. It is extremely difficult to win at HBCU's because those guys are basically on the road for November and December. By the way, these schools do not have the chartered jets and travel resources of bigger schools. It is good to see that Martin is doing well in a tough coaching environment.

Are you in Columbia? I was stationed at Fort Jackson for two years in the 1970's. The city certainly has changed since then.

[swilsonsp4]

What a finish in the SCSU-NSU game. SC State rallied late, forcing turnovers in the final :30, and tied it with a stick-back. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, one of their players apparently didn't understand that it was tied and fouled with :08. Norfolk State hit one free throw, with SC State missing a contested trey just before the horn. Tough way for Martin's team to go down.

[Lobot]

Here's some fun things:

UNC loses to Duke on a lane violation of all things. X might sneak into the NCAAs because of this play.

Thursday night, Louisville beats Stanford after a Stanford secured what should have been a game ending rebound in the paint . Player got nervous and passed the ball out to the 3 pt but right to a UL player who hit touch shot three with no time left for the win.

Last night, Creighton defeats UConn on a game ending whirlwind dunk in garbage time with a massive rim hang that cleared the benches. Surprisingly Dan Hurley was civil about it or at least as civil as he can get under the circumstances.

[leeraymond]

Not to rain on the parade but they have had some bad losses even a loss to NKU. 2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule - South Carolina State University Athletics
They are currently up against Norfolk State.

Yeah, SCST eventually lost that game. It was a one-point loss. A bone-headed foul by a SCST player led to the foul shot that lost them the game. It was a good defensive game.

[leeraymond]

Are you in Columbia? I was stationed at Fort Jackson for two years in the 1970's. The city certainly has changed since then.

On the outskirts of Columbia.

[Carthage World]

The NIT bracket was announced last night and only features 4 power conference teams of its 32 participants. 3 of those teams are from the ACC (SMU, Georgia Tech, and Stanford) while the last one is Oklahoma St, who finished 15-17.

https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/publ...03_16_2025.pdf

Based on that development, it seems like many of the top power conference teams will either be participating in the Crown or not participating in the postseason at all.

Here are the NET rankings of the top 16 remaining eligible teams:

#41 Ohio State (potential automatic qualifier)
#44 Boise State
#50 Cincinnati (potential automatic qualifier)
#51 West Virginia (potential automatic qualifier)
#53 Northwestern (potential automatic qualifier)
#54 Indiana
#55 Villanova (potential automatic qualifier)
#59 Nebraska
#61 Pittsburgh
#63 Iowa
#66 Penn State
#69 Wake Forest
#70 USC
#71 UCF
#73 Utah
#88 Georgetown (potential automatic qualifier)