Kansas' path to the Final Four

[soonerbms]

First Round: 16 seed
Second Round: 9 seed
Sweet 16: 12 seed
Elite Eight: 10/11 seed

I know it's not Kansas' fault that the top seeds in their region fell early, but what a bunch of lucky bull****!

 

[Sooner04]

I guarantee you that's a record, and I say that because I don't believe a 14 or 15 has ever made the Elite 8. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure a 14 or 15 has ever made the Sweet 16. I might be wrong on the 14, but I'm pretty sure a 15 never has.

We had pretty much the same path in 2003 until the Elite 8, where we ran into the Syracuse buzzsaw. Before that it was 16/8/12.

 

[soonerbms]

I guarantee you that's a record, and I say that because I don't believe a 14 or 15 has ever made the Elite 8. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure a 14 or 15 has ever made the Sweet 16. I might be wrong on the 14, but I'm pretty sure a 15 never has.

We had pretty much the same path in 2003 until the Elite 8, where we ran into the Syracuse buzzsaw. Before that it was 16/8/12.

What sucks about that is that Syracuse beat 10th seeded Auburn by just a point in the Sweet 16. If we had played Auburn, I'm sure we'd have advanced to the Final Four. That was the most disappointed I've ever been after an OU basketball game. 2003 was supposed to be the year that we made up for letting one slip through our fingers in 2002. Plus, Hollis Price and Quannas White were going to get to play in their hometown of New Orleans in the Final Four. All that **** was derailed by Carmelo Anthony and company.

 

[WaymansFadeaway]

What sucks about that is that Syracuse beat 10th seeded Auburn by just a point in the Sweet 16. If we had played Auburn, I'm sure we'd have advanced to the Final Four. That was the most disappointed I've ever been after an OU basketball game. 2003 was supposed to be the year that we made up for letting one slip through our fingers in 2002. Plus, Hollis Price and Quannas White were going to get to play in their hometown of New Orleans in the Final Four. All that **** was derailed by Carmelo Anthony and company.

We were missing the key piece.. Ace McGhee.

 

[scrybe]

What sucks about that is that Syracuse beat 10th seeded Auburn by just a point in the Sweet 16. If we had played Auburn, I'm sure we'd have advanced to the Final Four. That was the most disappointed I've ever been after an OU basketball game. 2003 was supposed to be the year that we made up for letting one slip through our fingers in 2002. Plus, Hollis Price and Quannas White were going to get to play in their hometown of New Orleans in the Final Four. All that **** was derailed by Carmelo Anthony and company.

It's funny (ironic funny, not haha funny) how things turned out for OU in 2002 and 2003. The Sooners absolutely should have been a 1-seed in '02, but were screwed and given a 2-seed instead. Then in '03, the committee basically did a make-up call and gave us a top seed when (in my opinion) we really didn't deserve it.

I haven't gone back and studied the brackets, but isn't it possible that things could have played out differently (better) for us both years if we had been seeded correctly?

 

[Big Old Booger]

What sucks about that is that Syracuse beat 10th seeded Auburn by just a point in the Sweet 16. If we had played Auburn, I'm sure we'd have advanced to the Final Four. That was the most disappointed I've ever been after an OU basketball game. 2003 was supposed to be the year that we made up for letting one slip through our fingers in 2002. Plus, Hollis Price and Quannas White were going to get to play in their hometown of New Orleans in the Final Four. All that **** was derailed by Carmelo Anthony and company.

That game took as much wind out of the basketball program as the loss to USC in the orange bowl did to the football program.

We had no answer for Syracuse defense that day and truthfully, they peaked at the right time. OSU should have beaten them in the 1st or 2nd round.

 

[Big Old Booger]

It's funny (ironic funny, not haha funny) how things turned out for OU in 2002 and 2003. The Sooners absolutely should have been a 1-seed in '02, but were screwed and given a 2-seed instead. Then in '03, the committee basically did a make-up call and gave us a top seed when (in my opinion) we really didn't deserve it.

I haven't gone back and studied the brackets, but isn't it possible that things could have played out differently (better) for us both years if we had been seeded correctly?

I don't think it would have made much difference in 02. Everybody knew the 4th 1 seed was either us or Cincy, so they were basically interchangeable.

Losing to Texas in the home finale cost us the #1 seed that played in San Antonio. Had we won that game, Texas was headed to Buffalo and we are in San Antonio, and we probably advance to the final 4.

 

[oSuJeff97]

Didn't the bracket open up like this for someone else just a few years ago?

Seems like maybe one of UConn's recent runs to the Final Four was similar in that they didn't play a single-digit seed until they got to the Final Four.

I want to say it was the year that UAB made the Sweet Sixteen as an 11-seed or something?

Memory failing and too lazy to look it up...

We had no answer for Syracuse defense that day and truthfully, they peaked at the right time. OSU should have beaten them in the 1st or 2nd round.

Yes we should have. It was the second round and I believe we had a double-digit lead at halftime, as we were just dissecting their zone in the first half. But then in the second half, we missed a few layups, started missing open shots and let them back in the game.

EDIT: Went back and looked it up. We were up 31-25 at halftime, so they got back into the game a little bit earlier than the second half; but I know we were up big in the first half. One thing of note - Melvin Sanders pretty much held Carmello in check - he only had 13 points on 5-16 shooting. Billy Edelen killed us with 20 pts.

 

[scrybe]

But wouldn't our chances of reaching the Final 4 in 2003 have been much better had we not had to face Mello and the red hot Orange in the Elite 8?

 

[thebigabd]

Thats what can happen when you are a 1 seed. Thats the bonus you get from being awesome all year.

 

[Big Old Booger]

But wouldn't our chances of reaching the Final4 on 2003 have been much better had we not had to face Mello and the red hot Orange in the Elite 8?

Oh yes, most definitely. That's what I said, if we had played in the San Antonio region, then Texas gets to play the Cuse in Buffalo and we get Michigan State or whoever in San Antonio.

 

[scrybe]

Oh yes, most definitely. That's what I said, if we had played in the San Antonio region, then Texas gets to play the Cuse in Buffalo and we get Michigan State or whoever in San Antonio.

Yeah, I finally realized what you were saying, BOB. If it had played out that way, who would we have likely played in the Final 4?

Well, I guess it's a good thing the weekend's almost here. My reading comprehension level seems to have dipped to an all-time low. So you're saying we would have probably played Michigan State in the national semifinals if we had been a 2-seed instead of a 1-seed in 2003?

 

[stoops4pres]

Didn't the bracket open up like this for someone else just a few years ago?

Seems like maybe one of UConn's recent runs to the Final Four was similar in that they didn't play a single-digit seed until they got to the Final Four.

I want to say it was the year that UAB made the Sweet Sixteen as an 11-seed or something?

Memory failing and too lazy to look it up...

Yeah, was just about to comment that this is the easiest road to the Final Four I can remember since UConn back in '04... Think the best seed they played was Bama as an 8/9 (can't remember which exactly, I just know Bama upset 1 seed Stanford in the 2nd round).

As the OP said, its not KU's fault, but I can't remember an easier road to the Final 4 than what is in front of them.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Yeah, I finally realized what you were saying, BOB. If it had played out that way, who would we have likely played in the Final 4?

Texas played Syracuse in the first game of the Final 4 while KU played Marquette. So, we would have played the Cuse in the final 4, but you never know. Maybe we could have beaten them in NOLA, but considering how well they were playing I would say the Cuse wins that game.

 

[stoops4pres]

It's funny (ironic funny, not haha funny) how things turned out for OU in 2002 and 2003. The Sooners absolutely should have been a 1-seed in '02, but were screwed and given a 2-seed instead. Then in '03, the committee basically did a make-up call and gave us a top seed when (in my opinion) we really didn't deserve it.

I haven't gone back and studied the brackets, but isn't it possible that things could have played out differently (better) for us both years if we had been seeded correctly?

I agree with the point that the committee may have given OU the 1 seed to perhaps placate them since they didn't give it to them the year before...

The only thing is, I think you could make a closer argument for OU deserving the 1 seed in 2003, as opposed to them not deserving it in 2002. After all, they did convincingly beat KU in 2003, which was the 5th team vying for that 1 seed.

If you look at the schedule OU faced in 2002, the list of opponents they beat was quite impressive:

-National Champ Maryland
-Final Four participant Kansas
-Elite 8 participant Mizzou (twice)
-Elite 8 participant UConn (at UConn)
-Went 3-0 vs. Texas (Sweet 16)

That's a pretty salty resume. I still get irked thinking how OU lost to Indiana in the Final 4, because that team clearly could beat anyone in the country that season.

 

[scrybe]

I agree with the point that the committee may have given OU the 1 seed to perhaps placate them since they didn't give it to them the year before...

The only thing is, I think you could make a closer argument for OU deserving the 1 seed in 2003, as opposed to them not deserving it in 2002. After all, they did convincingly beat KU in 2003, which was the 5th team vying for that 1 seed.

If you look at the schedule OU faced in 2002, the list of opponents they beat was quite impressive:

-National Champ Maryland
-Final Four participant Kansas
-Elite 8 participant Mizzou (twice)
-Elite 8 participant UConn (at UConn)
-Went 3-0 vs. Texas (Sweet 16)

That's a pretty salty resume. I still get irked thinking how OU lost to Indiana in the Final 4, because that team clearly could beat anyone in the country that season.

Yes, it's still pretty hard for me when I start thinking about that Indiana game. I still believe OU was the best team in the country that season. Even Sampson said so, and he wasn't given to tooting OU's horn, at least without good reason.

But for my money, stoopsforpres, that 2003 Sooner team just wasn't quite as good as the '02 squad. And like someone else posted, it was mainly because of Aaron McGhee's departure.

 

[campbest]

As the OP said, its not KU's fault, but I can't remember an easier road to the Final 4 than what is in front of them.

They'll choke it off, just watch.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Yes, it's still pretty hard for me when I start thinking about that Indiana game. I still believe OU was the best team in the country that season. Even Sampson said so, and he wasn't given to tooting OU's horn, at least without good reason.

But for my money, stoopsforpres, that 2003 Sooner team just wasn't quite as good as the '02 squad. And like someone else posted, it was mainly because of Aaron McGhee's departure.

I would agree. McGhee's inside-out game was as good as any big man OU has ever had. He was a matchup nightmare for teams because he could take it to the hoop and hit the 15 foot jumper smooth as silk.

 

[scrybe]

I would agree. McGhee's inside-out game was as good as any big man OU has ever had. He was a matchup nightmare for teams because he could take it to the hoop and hit the 15 foot jumper smooth as silk.

And even though it's been explained to me many times, I still find it hard to understand why Ace wasn't given more of opportunity to put that sweet game on display in the NBA!

 

[soonerbms]

They'll choke it off, just watch.

One can only hope.