March Madness 2019

A football school just beat a #1 seed blueblood basketball school. Auburn 97, North Carolina 80.

DoubleDipper wrote:GU is into the Sweet 16 against Florida State on Thursday, and LMU also plays on Thursday, at South Florida in the CBI.

Tonight in LA, LMU beat Brown on the strength of James Batemon's 21 points, 81-63.

We know GU made it through to the Elite Eight to play Texas Tech, but LMU was not so fortunate, ending their season with a loss to South Florida, 56-47, with no LMU player scoring in double figures.

And another #1 seed falls. GU fell short today, undone by the tenacious defense of Texas Tech and the refs letting them play physical. Looking at the box score, I note a few things:
- Zags had 16 turnovers, several were fumbles by Hachimura assessed to the passer. Others were due to Tech's defenders reaching in and knocking the ball away.
- Norvell was 2-9 from 3Pt, the team was 7-26 for 27%. Tech made 9 of 23, and won by 6 points.
- Kispert played 25 minutes, scored zero points. Tillie only played 11 minutes.
- Tillie's 3 points were the only GU bench points. TTech had 14 bench points.

Final Four is set. The best team in KenPom, Virginia; the best team from the Big Ten, Michigan St.; the best team from the Big 12, Texas Tech; and the hottest team from the SEC, Auburn. That's a #1, a #2, a #3 and a #5 seed. Who ya got?

UVA is favored by 1.5 over TT; it opened at 1. I took the under sight unseen. It is set at 117.5 or 118 . That is a defensive battle.

Using a bucket of beer as an excuse to get Mrs. Woodless to allow me to go to Vegas for 24 hours in March. What are the odds she lets me go?

Speaking of Vegas and the bucket of beer, what are the procedures for getting tickets to the WCC Tournament? This is something that I might want to attend in the future. It's been on my bucket list for quite some time.

You can order a ticket package through UP's ticket office. Not sure when the deadline is for that, and they may have changed procedures to only sell them to season ticket holders. Some GU fans who are unable to buy season tickets in Spokane thus do not have access to GU's allotment try to buy them through other schools. So UP's procedure for getting tickets changed this year. Contact Dave Taylor at the school for accurate information.

For all sessions except the men's semifinals and final, I think tickets are available at the box office. And there are always scalpers with tickets.

Woodless 2.0 wrote:Using a bucket of beer as an excuse to get Mrs. Woodless to allow me to go to Vegas for 24 hours in March. What are the odds she lets me go?

Similar to the odds the Pilots are playing on Tuesday night in Vegas?

1: number of conference wins required for Pilot Nation to start nailing down Vegas travel arrangements!

Woodless 2.0 wrote:Using a bucket of beer as an excuse to get Mrs. Woodless to allow me to go to Vegas for 24 hours in March. What are the odds she lets me go?

And you thought I was optimistic?

up7587 wrote:A football school just beat a #1 seed blueblood basketball school.  Auburn 97, North Carolina 80.

Unc isn’t a 1 seed this year. When is the last time a 1 seed got beat by Wofford ?

Dean Murdoch wrote:1: number of conference wins required for Pilot Nation to start nailing down Vegas travel arrangements!

One more. Just be sure you can cancel.

up7587 wrote:You can order a ticket package through UP's ticket office.  Not sure when the deadline is for that, and they may have changed procedures to only sell them to season ticket holders.  Some GU fans who are unable to buy season tickets in Spokane thus do not have access to GU's allotment try to buy them through other schools.  So UP's procedure for getting tickets changed this year.  Contact Dave Taylor at the school for accurate information.

For all sessions except the men's semifinals and final, I think tickets are available at the box office.  And there are always scalpers with tickets.

Thank you! Hope to see you all at a future WCC Tournament!

And, yes. One win was all I needed!

Me and a buddy (Gaels fan) are thinking about attending this year. We were planning to drive down to South Dakota for their opener against Wisconsin in November but couldn't make it happen in the end.

I don't mind the tournament format if you're just watching on TV or whatever, but man it is a loooong event when you're actually looking at logistics to get there in person. We'd either have to fly out Wednesday or risk a Thursday flight which doesn't get in until late afternoon (and the Pilots could very well be in that 8/9 game that starts at 6:00). So could very well be looking at leaving Wednesday and coming back the next Wednesday if we actually do this.

I'm not entirely sure if my wife would let me get away with this, and I don't blame her!

We have done a Thursday - Wednesday trip several times, and it does get too long, IMO. This year I scheduled my trip for Thursday - Monday. I would of departed Sunday but I expect a lot of family (GU fans) to show up Sunday, so I am staying one more night to visit with them.

up7587 wrote:This year I scheduled my trip for Thursday - Monday.

You're going to be sorry if the Pilots come up with three wins in Vegas!

Where do you stay when you're in town? Looks like the Orleans is already full those dates.

I have always stayed at the Orleans. Call them and ask for the WCCFan discount, they sometimes have blocks of room set aside. Otherwise, family members have stayed at the Gold Coast. It's a sister property of the Orleans that is nearby with a shuttle service between the casinos.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

up7587 wrote:This year I scheduled my trip for Thursday - Monday.

You're going to be sorry if the Pilots come up with three wins in Vegas!

Where do you stay when you're in town? Looks like the Orleans is already full those dates.

If you stay at Gold Coast, make sure you get a premium room as they have been more recently remodeled. I've also stayed at the Palms, which is walkable if you don't want to take a cab or uber.

A quick look on the interwebs says the Excalibur would be an inexpensive and close option. It's probably also walkable (plus you have to walk right past the In and Out!).

I've booked my flight for the whole tournament, but usually change it to leave early if we are out.

I'd also keep checking the Orleans website for rooms. Sometimes rooms become available as booked rooms are released.

up7587 wrote:For all sessions except the men's semifinals and final, I think tickets are available at the box office.  And there are always scalpers with tickets.

Thanks for this. Sounds like UP has sold out of its allotment.

What would a ballpark figure for tickets be for the early sessions? I’d have to think we’d go that route rather than shell out $750 minimum for the all-session pass.

Dean Murdoch wrote:What would a ballpark figure for tickets be for the early sessions? I’d have to think we’d go that route rather than shell out $750 minimum for the all-session pass.

Not sure, maybe $40? Those early games have lots of empty seats.

Blacksheep, as you know she generally encourages me to hang out with the greater pilot nation.

But Vegas seems to be a bridge to far these days...

Woodless 2.0 wrote:
But Vegas seems to be a bridge to far these days...

Did she somehow find out the details of your last trip?

Dean Murdoch wrote:I'm not entirely sure if my wife would let me get away with this, and I don't blame her!

I can just imagine you and your buddies elbowing your way in to buy tickets and then sitting with the BYU crowd...hilarious!

“EVERYONE FROM PROVO LISTEN UP. I’M GONNA SHOTGUN ONE BEER FOR EVERY 3 BOBBY SHARP EVER RAINED DOWN ON BYU!”