R you kidding me? UMBC!

But love the photo, so I rec'ed it.

Thank you. My nerves are on the edge tonight.
I think it has to do with college basketball.

Yes, all of us are a little on edge right now. Critter pix help.

Sid

I know, I likewise hate it when people post something with no context.

I happen to be paying just enough attention to know what happened, but the true fans don't get it that not everyone else cares.

But it is a huge bit deal that 16 seed UMBC, who just squeaked into the tournament, beat the top number 1 seed Virginia (there are actually 4 number ones because there are four divisions) because it's never happened before. And they didn't only beat them, they wiped the floor with them. Final score 74-54. I have watched the highlights of that game it is impressive.

The best thing is that this totally messes up everyone's brackets (picking how the teams will do in each round) big time. It would be quite nice if UMBC actually won the whole thing, although not very likely.

the initials.

To my knowledge this is the first time the school's sports teams have made a national splash so people not in the Baltimore/DC/Virginia area know about the school.

We all tend to forget that the initials or abbreviations we are totally familiar with might be completely foreign to others.

I actually had to look up those initials when I first heard about UMBC beating Virginia.

This is reminding me of when George Mason did very well in the tournament some years back. GMU is one of the several colleges/universities I've attended, so I rather enjoyed their run.

UMBC is next up against Kansas State, and I'm a bit conflicted, because while I love an underdog, I also have a fond place in my heart for K-State, as my older son attended that school. I guess I can be happy whichever one wins.

a total of 6 different universities and community colleges. I've lived in enough different parts of the country to have acquired affection for several different schools or even certain professional teams. While I don't pay a great deal of attention most of the time -- I won't have a clue who might be in the running for the World Series until mid September, for instance -- and I almost never watch a game, I try to have a clue about what's going on in general.

It's probably more fun for people who care a lot about one particular school (or pro team), it's also a lot more heartbreaking when their team (or school) loses. Plus, in my case, I can work up some enthusiasm for an underdog team I otherwise wouldn't care about or have heard of.

And the University of Arizona is one of my schools!

I actually saw UMBC play in the opener this year against my team SMU in Dallas. First time I had heard of the school.

Unbelievable!

as it went through.

Tony Benner just said “We got our butts kicked”

It's an interesting tournament already.

UMBC does a team on paper that usually does well in the tournament. Great guard play. Lots of seniors. Can obviously hit 3’s. Etc.

I'm an alumni. I never did sports there though.

Either Wednesday or Thursday.

The First Four started playing in Dayton on Tuesday. Brackets were filled out by then. Mine is now busted as I had Virginia winning the championship.

whose Dad, Dave Odom, was a major college head coach at Virginia, Wake Forest, and South Carolina. He recruited and coached Tim Duncan. He was an assistant coach at Virginia when, as the no. 1 ranked team in the '82-'83 season, they lost to an NAIA team from Hawaii called Chaminade. Until tonight, that was considered the biggest upset in college basketball history.

Now his son is the coach who beat Virginia which is now the greatest upset in college basketball history. BTW, the star player for UMBC, Jairus Lyles, has parents who both graduated from UVa. What a crazy set of coincidences.

I am a Canes season ticket holder so I see Virginia every year. It is a very tenacious defensive team but I've always believed if any type of team is vulnerable to a huge upset it is one that simply can't score. Last season Virginia collapsed late in the season due to the same problem. I think they were also upset in the first round. This year's team was not nearly as offensively challenged but it's not the type of issue you can completely overcome in one season.

Remember that Georgetown in 1989 nearly lost to Princeton for the same reason -- low scoring game and inability to score. It took a last second blocked shot to survive the upset.

Higher scoring top seeded teams have many more possessions, and therefore greater likelihood that the manpower advantage plays out.

Nate Silver had an article about this a year or so ago. Basically it was that the #16 seeds were overdue for a win, based on the mathematical odds. He was he wouldn't necessarily predict an upset within the next year or two but it definitely should happen within the next decade.

For reference purposes, Virginia was a 20.5 point favorite. I lived in Las Vegas and bet sports for 25 years. Normally the #1 seeds were favored between 28 and 36 points. I remember examples in the 40s, like Duke one season favored by 46 points in the opener.

Once the favoritism drops to 20 points, that is an entirely different realm of likelihood. It is not linear. The theoretical opportunity soars. It is more like a regular season game, which often feature spreads in the 20 range.

A 20 point favorite is more like the #2 seeds always used to be. Some of them have lost. In recent years there has been less imbalance and the #1 seeds are seldom favored by 30+ anymore.

BTW, I remember the women's game when Harvard upset Stanford as 16 seed. I watched it throughout. Stanford opened as 28.5 point favorite and was bet up to -31.

Last night was Virginia's biggest loss since half the state left during the Civil War!


What's the difference between Virginia and West Virginia? West Virginia still has two teams in the NCAA men's tournament!

From their home page.



Sid

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Completely different school. UMBC was a small school back in the day. Now they are the 4th largest school in Md. And they beat UVA. Go Retrievers!

I stole this fair and square from one of the TV guys last night but it works.