EastCoastFan

Ooooh. Good news from Omaha. The right team won.

All four of the Pac's bids received $2 million each. That's $8 million to start. Any winner received $2 million more for reaching the next game. CU vs Florida makes the total pot $10 million. Here’s where things stand for conferences this year, per Front Office Sports, based on how many teams they have in the field and the estimated amount of money they are already guaranteed: Big 12: 8 bids, $16 million. SEC: 8 bids, $16 million. Big Ten: 6 bids, $12 million. Mountain West: 6 bids, $12 million. ACC: 5 bids, $10 million. Pac-12: 4 bids, $8 million. Big East: 3 bids, $6 million. American: 2 bids, $4 million. Atlantic 10: 2 bids, $4 million. WCC: 2 bids, $4 million.

Pac is 1-0. OSU and WSU just earned $2 million. More to come.

Ducks impressive. Buffs on the edge at selection time tomorrow. A chance for four Pac schools in. The NCAA money earned (future credits) appears to be heading to the left-over Pac-2, not a bad going away gift.

The ads ara a hoax, a misdirection. Contact the website? It;s a major anti-LGBTQ+ group that is more involved in hate than love. https://www.them.us/story/super-bowls-jesus-centric-ads-have-insidious-anti-lgbtq-roots

Utes actually played up to their talent potential this year. The Bruins, Buffs, Ducks, Trojans all had superior talent. It is what some of us thought when the Smith hire was made, the serious worry. This game is built around athletic talent, overlayed with good coaching. But, from the start, there was no reason to believe that Smith would be able to assemble that talent, and it's proven true. Last night's contest relied on outside shooting for the Utes. Boyle learned a few things from earlier meetings, and particularly in dropping Hadley, an elite defender, on Madsen, it was the difference between a close game and the semi-blowout that occurred. Smith had no answers for that. Next year, it'll be worse unless something changes with the talent Craig can assemble. I'll cut to the chase -- two 2024 Ute commits, both home-state white boys, while Baylor, Kansas, TCU, Cincy, and others are stocking up on nasty city talent that can do more than shoot behind the arc. The test on Smith will be whether he can portal-in some serious dog-and-get-dirty talent. That, of course, relies not only on Smith's charm, but also on some serious NIL to compete with the Big-12 oil barons, farm conglomerates, hedge funds, and tech guys. I'm not arguing that Smith isn't a good coach. He proved that he is in Logan. But, as the season progressed, other Pac-coaches could figure out the Ute's well-coached system, and simpy out-talent it. It's just that when you step up in your league, the clearest differentiation is player athleticism. And, what's coming is worse. The talent in the Big-12 is on another level than what you find at WSU, Cal, Stanford, ASU, etc. Without the right guys in uniform, the best coaching around isn't going to get Utah to be upper tier.

Andy can recruit. Although, when you're in L.A. at the fashion school with the stars upon you, it isn't like getting somebody to Pullman or SLC. What he hasn't been able to do is to meld all of that talent this year into something that can beat a bunch of rather average Pac-12 schools, or UC Irvine or Long Beach St for that matter. Maybe the Bronny heart attack sent things into disarray, working on their heads. But there's plenty of talent outside of that. Possibly he can pull the big upset over Arizona for a second time; he's won five out his last six at the close of the season. But if he does pull the upset, he's lost twice to Wazoo, and is literally owned by Boyle (9 of the last 12), year in and year out.

Pac-12 Tournament championship odds for every team: Arizona: -175. Colorado: +500. Washington State: +600. Oregon: +1200. Utah: +1400. USC: +2000. Washington: +4000. UCLA: +4000.

I'm on at JFK waiting for a delayed Air France flight. Who won the NCAA ski championbship?

You make sense. However, watching Cronin, in person and on TV, makes one wonder if he has 'connectability' with his players. A few simply don't seem to like him. On the buyout $$'s, yes, they're steep, but those can be negotiated down if the losing school isn't that upset about the loss. As with Kelly, it's a lot cheaper to have your ambivalence about your coach rewarded by a voluntary departure. Could be a negotiated gift.

How does he feel about the Disloyal-10?

It would be sad to see Smith take that route. Think of is, let's say that money isn't all that important when you're already making $1.5+ million, living in low cost Pullman, and likely to have a nice salary boost if you stay. Here he is, in the land of low pressure, with kids who aren't entitled, seemingly enjoying every minute. Now, let's picture a move to Westwood, where you can never meet the threshold standards, every key athlete is a case to be 'handled,' the fan-base is brutal and the donors, parents, and press are even worse. Along with a week-to-week schedule that takes you to such convenient spots as Piscataway, Bloomington, State College, College Park, East Lansing, etc., is it worth all the money? Is the thin shot at fame and success at Pauley all that important? Or can one be happy being a loved millionaire smiling on the Palouse?

Why would Cronin leave?

The Committee is cold-hearted to Pac-12 teams, and presumably, even more cold-hearted to Pac-2 teams. Cougs will make it, for sure, but don't expect gifts on the seeding.

Current NET ratings through February 29th for conference NCAA Tourney contenders: Arizona 3rd Colorado 29th Washington State 36th Utah 53rd Oregon 63rd Washington 71st (makes winning there a Quad One win) Nobody else in the top 100

There's an argument that conferences should have something in common, some deep connection. Perhaps a better combination would be Florida, Texas, the remaining parts of the old Soviet Union, MAGA counties in Oregon, and the Federal and New York prison systems. Applications for membership also will be taken from the psychiatric control centers in Palm Beach, FL and Bedminster, NJ.

Current ratings through February 24th for conference NCAA Tourney contenders (looks like a max of three for the NCAAs, unless there is an upset in the Pac-12 tourney): NET: Arizona 3rd Colorado 35th Washington State 36th Utah 53rd Oregon 64th Washington 69th (makes winning there a Quad One win) USC 103rd, UCLA 112th, Cal 115th, Stanford 116th KenPom: Arizona 4th Colorado 30th Washington State 35th Utah 52nd Washington 59th Oregon 60th UCLA 94th, USC 101st, Cal 104th, Stanford 106th

Watching Cronin wave his iindex finger at whatever player he's upset with during each time-out isn't exactly a team cohesion-play.

Bruins are oddly incompetent looking, at least for a team that routinely comes together at the end of Cronin's seasons.

Out of twelve losses (with more to come) this is the loss that will continue to hurt? Not the one to Northridge? Or the one to Cal? When it's likley the Bruins will never play Utah again?

Let's just say that there's nothing neutral about these comments. If the Bruins were as defensive as these two paragraphs, they would have won by 20.

Bruins used to = class. This is a different era.

Andy knows how to lose a game. Will he be there next year in the B1G?

The eye-opening part is that next year's conference will make this year's look like the Big Sky. Will the Utes win in Lawrence, Morgantown, Cincy, Houston, Ames, Lubbock, Manhattan, and Stillwater?

Curious -- How much would it have cost to fire him? How much was saved by him resigning?