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2022 NCAAB: MADNESS~!

Dolfan in NYC

By Dolfan in NYC
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Greggulator

Greggulator

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Here is a North Jersey native perspective on St. Peter's:

I grew up about 15 miles from St. Peter's. Jersey City was labelled as a "hardscrabble suburb" today by the Washington Post. But I've never seen a dumber description. JC is a city on its own with its own history and unique culture. It's become a bit of an "it" town in recent years. But JC is all over the map. Literally. The city is shaped like some bizarre jigsaw puzzle.

St. Peter's is on Kennedy Boulevard, which is the main road throughout the maze that is JC. It's in a rough part of the city. You know how college campuses are leafy and green? I'm not that familiar with the SPU campus aside from driving past, but I think it's like six or seven buildings on one street. 

My hometown is really diverse. I had friends who went to schools like Cornell and Georgetown and friends who went to community college. The big Catholic school in my part of the state is of course Seton Hall, which is a lot of middle class kids with a fair amount of kids whose parents went there. It's not that selective and big-ish. I thought I was going to go to The Hall my entire life before I wisely decided to go away for school.

St. Peter's had a reputation of not being a "real" school. I hate that term so much, even though I probably said it. North Jersey is filled with a lot of schools that aren't "real" schools. There are the cheap two-year community college, and a few state commuter colleges that have 10,000 students or so.  And there are also a few small private/Catholic schools that accept anyone and are struggling financially. 

My friends whose parents had some degree of money all went to "real" schools. If you were a kid whose parents maybe didn't have as much money, Rutgers is a "real" school for you. 

The state commuter colleges aren't elite level selective obviously, but they aren't guaranteed locks to get into. The smaller private schools need the tuition money and will essentially accept anyone, but they also are generous with financial aid. A lot of kids who didn't have parents who went to college went to those schools. 

I was an underachiever in high school. I had the aptitude to get into a "real" school but my grades were crap. I was "doomed" into one of the schools described above if I stayed local, and I got made to feel like crap because of that by some guidance counselor type people, because I'd have to go slumming with kids who were considered to be barely college material.

Like I said before - I went away to college. And I went to a small Catholic college in Philly that accepts pretty much anyone and is struggling financially. La Salle is D1 and in the A-10, but we're bottom feeders. A lot of my friends were city kids who came from nothing. A lot of my friends had to work actual jobs while also in college, too. 

But what I learned about not going to a " real" school was that the faculty were there because they actually liked teaching and they had small classes. We didn't have TAs they could hand things off to while they chased clout at some stupid academic conference. And then I grew up and found my way and actually did well in college. And a lot of my friends were the first in their families to go to college, too.

St. Peter's is THAT school. When they show the kids partying back at campus -- it's an actual diverse college. Those are kids who have to take buses to get to English class on time. Or they have a used car that barely works and they have to hope there's enough parking. Or they have to figure out how to take a mid-term because their manager is making them work that shift. And the Jesuits who run that school have a chip on their shoulder because they aren't at Boston College or somewhere like that and a decent amount of the faculty went there when they grew up in Jersey City and now they may live in Verona but they want to give back. 

Kids from SPU or Caldwell College or St. Whatever all have to send out resumes when they graduate. They compete for jobs with the kids who went to the "real" schools. It's not like there are huge active alumni associations where they can help you cut the line. Their student loan debt is a lot harder to deal with than someone who has parents they can fall back on (like me.)

This is such an awesome awesome awesome ride. Kids who go to the SPUs of the world get overlooked but work harder than someone who was able to go to a "real" school. They really deserve this win for once. I hope they bury Duke.

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cwoy2j

cwoy2j

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First ever Elite 8 for my Miami Hurricanes! If you watched the game on Friday and saw the guy in the 67 football jersey, that's actually a buddy of mine from college. His name is Cory Fishman and he was a walkon offensive lineman from 94-98. We lived on the same floor my freshman year of college and we're pretty good friends. 

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Brian Fowler

Brian Fowler

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1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said:

UNC spent most of the first half thrashing cinderella

And the second half just holding them at bay.

Welp, UNC has a chance to ruin Coach K's farewell for the second time. Somehow, this is the first ever tourny meeting between the two.

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Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander

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lemme do too much work and see how close we came to Duke/UNC in the tournament before it finally happened.

Starting with 1978, the first time that Duke and UNC were in the same tournament (before 1975, only one team per conference could go). Note that the tournament didn't expand to 64 until 1985.

Either Duke or UNC wasn't in the tourney in 1981/82/83 (Duke), 1995 (Duke), 2002/03 (UNC), 2010 (UNC), and 2021 (Duke)

Duke and UNC couldn't have met before the title game in

Spoiler

1978 (Duke lost the title game, UNC lost in the first round), 1980 (the last pre-Coach K Duke year, Duke lost in the regional finals to Purdue and UNC lost in the first round), 1984 (UNC lost in regional semifinals and Duke lost their first game), 1986 (Duke lost to Louisville in the title game, UNC lost to Louisville in the Sweet 16), 1987 (UNC lost in the Elite 8 to Syracuse, Duke lost in the Sweet 16 to Indiana and Indiana beat Syracuse for the title), 1988 (Duke lost to Kansas in the Final Four and UNC lost to Arizona in the Elite 8), 1989 (Duke lost to Seton Hall in the Final Four, UNC lost to Michigan in the Sweet 16, Michigan beat Seton Hall for the title), 1992 (Duke won the National title, UNC lost to Ohio State), 1996 (UNC lost in the 2nd round and Duke lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan), 1998 (UNC lost to Utah in the Final Four and Duke lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8), 1999 (Duke lost to UConn for the title, UNC lost to Weber State in the first round), 2001 (Duke won the National Title, UNC lost to Penn State in the second round), 2006 (Duke lost to LSU in the Sweet 16, UNC lost to George Mason in the second round), 2007 (UNC lost to Georgetown in the Elite 8 and Duke lost to VCU in the first round), 2008 (UNC lost to Kansas in the Final Four, Duke lost to West Virginia in the second round), 2012 (Duke lost to Lehigh in the first round, UNC lost to Kansas in the Elite 8), 2013 (UNC lost to Kansas in the second round and Duke lost to Creighton in the second round), 2014 (UNC lost to Iowa State in the second round and Duke lost to Mercer in the first round), 2015 (Duke won the National Title over Wisconsin and UNC lost to Wisconsin in the Sweet 16), 2016 (UNC lost the National Title Game to Villanova and Duke lost to Oregon in the Sweet 16), 2017 (UNC won the National Title over Gonzaga and Duke lost in the 2nd round to South Carolina), 2018 (UNC lost to Texas A&M in the second round and Duke lost to Kansas in the Elite 8), 2019 (Duke lost to Michigan State in the Elite 8 and UNC lost to Auburn in the Sweet 16)

Duke and UNC could have met in the Final Four in

Spoiler

1985 (Duke lost in the 2nd round and UNC lost in the Elite 8), 1990 (Duke lost to UNLV for the title and UNC lost to Arkansas in the Sweet 16), 1993 (UNC won the National Title, Duke lost to Cal in the 2nd round), 1994 (Duke won the National Title, UNC lost in the 2nd round to Boston College), 1997 (UNC lost to Arizona in the final four and Duke lost to Providence in the 2nd round), 2000 (UNC lost to Florida in the Final Four, Duke lost to Florida in the Sweet 16), 2005 (UNC won the National Title and Duke lost to Michigan State in the Sweet 16), 2009 (UNC on the National Title and Duke lost to Villanova in the Sweet 16), 2011 (Duke lost to Arizona in the Sweet 16 and UNC lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8.)

In 1979, UNC was the first seed in the East region and Duke was the second seed in the East. Duke lost their first game to St. John's, UNC lost their first game to Penn. Penn beat St. John's in the regional finals and lost to Magic Johnson's Spartans team.

Duke and UNC were both in the Atlanta region in 2004, Duke won the region and UNC lost to Texas in the second round.

Before this year the closest we came to Duke/UNC in the tournament was 1991. When UNC lost to Kansas in the Final Four, and Duke beat Kansas to win Coach K's first National Title 2 days later.

Edited by Cobra Commander
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The Comedian

The Comedian

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On 3/26/2022 at 8:05 PM, Greggulator said:

North Jersey is filled with a lot of schools that aren't "real" schools. 

You'll never get people to stop calling Fairleigh Dickinson "Fairly Ridiculous" no matter how hard you try...

 

As far as the NCAA, typical tourney...

Through the Great Eight: UPSETS! CINDERELLAS! EXCITEMENT! 

Final Four: Every school has won at least 3 titles.

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Zimbra

Zimbra

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While it's not in my nature to ever trust a Kansas team in the tournament, this one does have all the hallmarks of a successful Bill Self team: two experienced point guards, a wing who can make plays and a bruiser down low.  And I certainly wouldn't mind beating Villanova and either of Duke/UNC on the way to the title.

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Brian Fowler

Brian Fowler

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19 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Again Hubert Davis never has to worry about shit in Chapel Hill after beating Duke twice.  Talk about being a made man

This year feels like the rare year that gives one side of a rivalry bragging rights forever, not just until the next time they play. "Remember when UNC ruined Coach K's last home game, and then a few weeks later ended his career in the Final Four?" doesn't go away if Duke sweeps the season series next year or whatever.

Duke blowing out UNC in the Dean Dome earlier this year is already a distant memory. These two wins are going to last forever for the Heels.

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