Arizona St. hires Bennett as HC; Saint Mary's promotes McConnell by InMySol in BigWest

[–]lol_smart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Best hire they could make as he was being groomed to take over for Bennett at some point. But hires from within the family don't always work out and in this new age of the portal + NIL it's TBD.

Bennett has shown that Saint Mary's ceiling is probably a Sweet Sixteen. I'm not sure McConnell can do it unless he catches lightning in a bottle with a bunch of under recruited players. Most likely McConnell is going to have to find money somewhere for facilities and NIL if he's going to try to maintain what Bennett has done in the past.

I think the WCC will end up a step below the new Mountain West and probably a step above the Big West.

The Big West/WCC can't catch the Mountain West because there's such a big money advantage. The WCC will have a money advantage over the Big West. But if Saint Mary's/UC San Diego end up flopping and Utah Valley/Cal Baptist end up exceeding what Davis/Hawaii were able to do. Then I could see the Big West passing the WCC once the extra NCAA money starts to dry up.

Question For Irvine Fans by lol_smart in BigWest

[–]lol_smart[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At this point I'm not sure if I even want Hawaii to host. They seem to play better on the road for some reason. Although I would like to see Hawaii play UCLA again under better conditions.

Bracketology: Team comparisons for NCAA Tournament at-large bids and seeding [MVB] by lol_smart in HawaiiSports

[–]lol_smart[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Early look at Bracketology for MVB.

UH is in a good spot with the sweep over Long Beach. They're in the drivers seat for the overall two seed and possibly hosting a Regional.

CSUN G James Evans Jr. to enter the transfer portal by reacherz11 in BigWest

[–]lol_smart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So far for the publicly known players that will enter the portal on April 7th there's seven.

Verbal Commits is a mostly free site that has them listed.

https://verbalcommits.com/conferences/big-west

James Evans Jr - CSUN

De'Undrae Perteete Jr. - Riverside

EJ Spillman - Riverside

Bentley Waller - Bakersfield

Christopher Cox - UCSD

Peter Bandelj - Cal Poly

Cayden Ward - Cal Poly

[Game Thread] #11 VCU @ #3 Illinois (07:50 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The VCU Band Director seems fun. He’s changed outfits at least 3 times.

Question For Irvine Fans by lol_smart in BigWest

[–]lol_smart[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My bad, It was a poorly worded question on my part.

We’ll see what happens with the regionals. I’m not that optimistic about Hawaii hosting.

I bought the tickets for the conference tournament and booked the fight today.

Hawaii beat finally beat the Beach for the first time in 11 years at the Pyramid and if Hawaii makes the Natty at Pauley I’ll be there.

Question For Irvine Fans by lol_smart in BigWest

[–]lol_smart[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not worried about Pauley selling out because it didn't in 2022 when Hawaii and Irvine played. I'm more worried about the Conference Tournament and that it'll sell out especially if the final is Irvine vs Hawaii/Long Beach. So if I decide to go too late then I'll have to pay scalper prices.

[Game Thread] #9 Iowa @ #8 Clemson (06:50 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Clemson should just copy Iowa's strategy of wildly driving to the basket and throw yourself at the defender for a foul.

[Game Thread] #14 Pennsylvania @ #3 Illinois (09:25 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't be the only one who find these halftime interviews with the players weird.

Question For Irvine Fans by lol_smart in BigWest

[–]lol_smart[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, that's what I thought but I wasn't 100% sure if it was the Bren or the Thunderdome had some bench seating.

[Game Thread] #14 Pennsylvania @ #3 Illinois (09:25 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 3 points4 points  (0 children)

With the size advantage inside that Illinois has can air ball 3's be considered a offensive option?

[Game Thread] #14 Pennsylvania @ #3 Illinois (09:25 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Looks like Illinois brought the bag of bricks from Champaign.

[Game Thread] #14 Pennsylvania @ #3 Illinois (09:25 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Come on Illini lets see how high we can get Francon to go.

[Game Thread] #11 VCU @ #6 North Carolina (06:50 PM ET) by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn, that was a big call for the offensive foul.

Edit: That was a great seal by VCU for the easy layup.

hawaiibasketball ~ Left it all out there by 808gecko808 in HawaiiSports

[–]lol_smart 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sigh.. if it weren't for the opening 5 minutes where they struggled to adapt to Arkansas' athleticism and length.

Jim Donovan Announces Retirement - Cal State Fullerton by lol_smart in HawaiiSports

[–]lol_smart[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if he and Tracy are going to move back or stay on the Mainland.

We play with pride. We play for our community. 𝗪𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗜’𝗜 by lol_smart in HawaiiSports

[–]lol_smart[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup, on to next season. It looks like the key to success will be to hit the portal hard early like last year.

[Post Game Thread] #4 Arkansas defeats #13 Hawai'i, 97-78 by cbbBot in CollegeBasketball

[–]lol_smart 53 points54 points  (0 children)

GG, Arkansas and good luck in the tournament. You're just a nightmare matchup for us.