Baylor has the super early No. 1 overall seed, but what about everyone else?
If Selection Sunday for the 2020 men’s NCAA tournament were today, Baylor, unsurprisingly, would be the No. 1 overall seed.
The selection committee revealed Saturday what would be its top-16 seeds if the tournament started today, and the Bears would lead the way in the South Region.
They’re 15-1 going into Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State, and they’ve been the AP Poll’s top-ranked team for the last three weeks after being No. 16 in the preseason. Their only loss this season was back in November by three points to Washington
Kansas in the Midwest Region, Gonzaga in the West Region and San Diego State in the East Region would join Baylor as the other No. 1 tournament seeds. Duke would be the highest-ranked No. 2 seed, Maryland would be the highest No. 3 seed and Auburn would be the highest No. 4.
Here’s what the top-16 seeds would be if the NCAA tournament started today:
1. Baylor
2. Kansas
3. Gonzaga
4. San Diego State
5. Duke
6. Dayton
7. Louisville
8. West Virginia
9. Maryland
10. Florida State
11. Seton Hall
12. Villanova
13. Auburn
14. Oregon
15. Butler
16. Michigan State
If you’re not happy with where your team landed on here — or if it’s not in the top 16 at all — the good news is Selection Sunday isn’t until March 15. So teams still have a little more than a month to build on their tournament resumes.
The men’s 2020 NCAA tournament begins March 17 with the First Four, while the official first round starts March 19.
Sabrina Ionescu is unquestionably the best player in college basketball right now.
The No. 3 Oregon Ducks guard looks unstoppable as she leads one of the best teams in women’s basketball, averaging 17.2 points, 8.7 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game. And with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in her team’s 85-52 win over No. 12 Arizona on Friday, she recorded her 24th (!!!) career triple-double. It was also her 51st career double-double.
Last season, Ionescu set the NCAA record for most career triple-doubles in men’s and women’s basketball with 13, and the 5-foot-11 senior hasn’t slowed down in her final season with the Ducks, as she tries to lead them to their first national championship.
Ridiculous.
Sabrina Ionescu goes for 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for her 24th career triple-double, twice as many as any other player in NCAA history.#GoDucks | @sabrina_i20pic.twitter.com/jIiq2re60F
BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth has the next most NCAA career triple-doubles with 12 between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Continuing to break her own NCAA record, Friday’s win over the Wildcats marked Ionescu’s sixth triple-double this season. She had eight as a junior last season, and six and four in her sophomore and freshman seasons, respectively.
Sabrina Ionescu at the buzzer … ridiculous 🔥 #SCtop10
As ESPN noted, Ionescu scored 20 or more points in eight triple-double performances and notched 29 points twice. In her career, she is now just eight assists and 41 rebounds from being the first men’s or women’s Division I player with 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She hit the 2,000-point mark in November.
On Monday, Oregon dealt No. 4 UConn its worst home loss since 2005 with a 74-56 win. Ionescu finished with 10 points, nine assists and nine boards.
Coach K went off on Duke students over a chant about Jeff Capel.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.
Krzyzewski crossed the court from Duke’s (17-3, 7-2 ACC) bench and yelling at the young fans to “Shut up.” The crazies were cheering at Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, who played at Duke and was an assistant on Krzyzewski’s staff for seven seasons before leaving Durham for the Panthers’ head job in 2018. It’s routine for the Duke student section to invite former players (or even committed high school players) to their side of the court to “sit with us.” But, it turns out Coach K couldn’t quite hear anything other than Capel’s name.
“I don’t know if I made a mistake on that, but I’ve never heard another coach’s name yelled out in the middle of the first half when we’re in a war with the team,” Krzyzewski said postgame. “I don’t know if they were saying, ‘Come sit with me.’ We got a different look at what the hell was going on. I thought it was something personal…. I apologize to the students for that.”
Krzyzewski emphasized that more than anything, he wanted the students to understand Capel is one of Duke’s own and added that once he heard the name in the middle of the game, he didn’t exactly waltz over and ask what exactly was being said.
The Duke coach offered up a solution that included cheering for the Blue Devils, saying “Leave the other guy alone.”
The Crazies without taunting? Feels like that goes a bit against their reputation.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “Sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “Sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.
He was beloved a player and was a Blue Devils assistant starting in 2011 until he was hired by Pittsburgh to be the Panthers’ head coach in 2018.
So you could understand why Duke’s die-hard fan section, the Cameron Crazies, would target Capel with a cheer during Tuesday’s game, a chant — “Jeff Capel, sit with us” — that was all in good fun.
You could also understand why Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski might misinterpret that chant as taking a shot at a Duke legend, which is why Coach K went off, screaming at the Crazies to “shut up!!!”
After Cameron Crazies started yelling "Jeff Capel, sit with us," Coach K could be seen yelling "Shut up" and "He's one of us."
Krzyzewski apologized, thinking the chant was personal and suggested other chants:
Here was Coach K’s response when asked about erupting on his own fans just before half. Said he didn’t like Capel being taunted, suggested Duke fans instead turn to chants of “DEFENSE!” or “LET’S GO!” or “COME ON, DUKE!”
Capel later tweeted he took “no offense” and retweeted a note a Duke fan had snapped from the “dirt sheet” that the student section gets to taunt opponents, which said “nothing bad to say here, love you Capel”:
Love you guys back!!! No offense taken from me! Keep SHOWING UP AND CHEERING FOR YOUR TEAM! They DESERVE IT! https://t.co/19BC707KjR
Everyone agrees Silvio De Sousa should be suspended, but for how long?
Depending on who you ask, Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa should be suspended for a few games or for the rest of the college basketball season for one very specific moment in an all-out brawl at the end of the Kansas-Kansas State game Tuesday night.
With only a few seconds left in Kansas’ 81-60 win in Lawrence, Kansas State guard DaJuan Gordon stole the ball from De Sousa, who was dribbling out the clock. Gordon went in for a meaningless layup, De Sousa blocked the shot and Gordon landed on the court, where De Sousa taunted him.
Seconds later, dozens of people surrounded them for a scuffle that spilled into the stands.
But at one point amid all the chaos, De Sousa picked up a stool and had it over his head as if he was ready to swing it at someone. Before he could, what appeared to be an assistant coach standing behind him pulled the stool out of his hands.
Kansas coach Bill Self said he saw that moment in person and called it a “terrible image” and guaranteed consequences. But what should those be?
ESPN analysts Jay Williams and Richard Jefferson were among those who weighed in.
“This is not acceptable,” Williams said Wednesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “This is wrong. There shouldn’t be fights. But I also want to put this in perspective: This is a rivalry game. This is a rivalry game. And look, the kid made a play at the end. He stole the ball and got his shot blocked. This is a bigger issue with Silvio De Sousa. I think he will be suspended — and should be suspended.”
Tuesday night after the brawl, ESPN’s Dick Vitale called for a much harsher punishment for De Sousa for picking up the stool and raising it over his head, ready to hit someone with it.
Calling the brawl “absolutely sickening and unbelievable,” Vitale said:
“In 40 years I’m on TV, I haven’t seen anything like that, unless you go to the NBA and look at the Pistons brawl that took place in the Palace. I think there’s no doubt in my mind that De Sousa never, ever should put a uniform on again in college basketball. None. As Seth [Greenberg] said — and I couldn’t agree more — he’s holding a chair! I mean, that’s criminal. He’s going to hurt somebody.
“I don’t want to hear any excuse that they stole the ball with time running out, should have never done such. Give me a break. That was ugly! Where were the coaches, the assistants keeping their team on the bench? That’s the first rule: One assistant should take charge and make sure that no one gets there. It is sickening. There’s no place in the game. That was almost criminal what De Sousa has done. I’ll be shocked if he ever wears a [Kansas] uniform again.”
However, when discussing Vitale’s comments Wednesday on Get Up, Williams and Jefferson agreed that suspending De Sousa — who also did not play during the 2018-19 season because of a possible NCAA violation — for the remainder of the season is too severe of a punishment.
Williams called Vitale’s suggestion “a little bit extreme,” while Jefferson said, “That’s a little much,” and emphasized De Sousa should be reprimanded for his intent by picking up the stool in the first place.
Jefferson suggested up to 20 games with 13 regular-season matchups remaining on the Jayhawks’ schedule. He said:
“Even though he didn’t get a chance to use the chair, it wasn’t because he individually decided to put it down. It’s because someone took the chair out of his hand. He actually turned over his shoulder [as if to say,] ‘Who took my weapon?’ Right? He should be suspended for 15 to 20 games.”
Williams said “maybe 10 games” is a better suspension length:
“You know what’s really funny? We’re not allowed to be very harsh and critical on kids because they’re in college, and then also we are. The thing about being a kid is you’re going to make mistakes in the heat of the moment. There’s a learning opportunity there for Silvio De Sousa, and I don’t want to take away the whole season. Maybe, 10 games.”
No word yet on whether Kansas and Kansas State, the Big 12 or the NCAA — or a combination of all of the above — will deal out the suspensions or other penalties to De Sousa and others involved in Tuesday night’s brawl.
Some eagle-eyed viewers noticed the Jayhawk hiding its eyes as the melee, which is the exact right reaction, especially if you’re a mascot. Here’s the footage:
There's so much to unpack in the Kansas K-State brawl but we should take a moment to appreciate the Jayhawk staying in character to solemnly cover his mascot eyes and look away because he can't bear to watch pic.twitter.com/1Z4RFDI7KH
The end of the Kansas win over Kansas State on Tuesday night devolved into a huge brawl after a humongous block and some taunting that led to benches clearing and sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa holding a stool over his head.
It was that image that went viral that night, and one that Kansas coach Bill Self addressed after the game: “Regardless of what happened, it’s a terrible image and there certainly will be consequences for that.”
The other photos from the melee — taken from what looks like practically right in the middle of it — are similarly shocking. Here’s a look at them:
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
The end of the Kansas-Kansas State game quickly turned UGLY.
The aftermath of the Kansas-Kansas State game Tuesday night in Lawrence quickly turned ugly and embarrassing for both programs. Just as time ran out on the Jayhawks’ 81-60 victory, a brawl broke out with both benches jumping in and escalating the situation, moving from the court and into the stands underneath one of the baskets.
With Kansas clearly winning this one, sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa was dribbling out the clock around midcourt when Kansas State freshman guard DaJuan Gordon stole the ball with about four seconds left. He tried to go for a literal last-second layup, but De Sousa caught up to him, blocked the shot and sent Gordon to the ground.
De Sousa then stood over Gordon, who was still on the ground, for a few seconds, and suddenly, they were surrounded by their teams for an all-out brawl.
Dozens of people were in the mix with some assistant coaches failing to break things up, and at one point, De Sousa had a stool over his head like this was WWE before ultimately putting it down.
Kansas coach Bill Self had hoped to talk about freshman guard Christian Braun, who scored 20 points off the bench in the rivalry win. But that changed with the scrum at the end.
When asked about how he reacts to brawls or fights in college basketball and what the general public should think of it, Self didn’t hold back, saying after the game:
“Obviously, it’s an embarrassment. It’s not something that you’d be proud of. What happened is absolutely zero signs of toughness. It’s a sign of immaturity and selfishness more so than it is toughness. So if I was a fan watching, obviously, depending on what your perspective is, there would be nothing about that that would intrigue me to want to watch more.
“At least from what happened tonight, I don’t see anything positive. We’ve seen things like this happen [at] other places, and certainly it gets some attention. And you it’s the exception and not the rule, but still, it’s inexcusable. These things can’t happen. This doesn’t have anything to do with competition. Those were selfish motives on why it took place at the end.”
Self explained to reporters that he had seen some video replays of the fight before his press conference, adding he needed to see more before to get a full picture of what went down. However, he said he was there when De Sousa had a stool over his head:
“Regardless of what happened, it’s a terrible image and there certainly will be consequences for that.”
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Self also didn’t like how the brawl spilled into the stands. He said he hadn’t heard of any fans being injured in the incident — though he acknowledged he’s the wrong person to ask.
“It happened in handicapped seating. So at least if you’re going to do something, at least take it on the court or whatever. It’s ridiculous that they would go into the stands.”
De Sousa blocking Gordon’s shot was “fair game,” Self said, but he added that “regardless of how it got started, that’s no way for mature men to act.”
He also said once he figures out who did what, his players will be reprimanded:
“That was an embarrassment on our part for the role that we played in it, and there will be consequences that I’m sure I’ll announce [Wednesday] for that role as soon as I’m able to study it and come to grips with all of it.”
After things calmed down, officials determined there was actually still one second left on the clock, Self said, and gave De Sousa a taunting technical and ejected everyone on both teams’ benches.
