Kentucky Sweet Sixteen Pick 'Em

[rube]

The best boys basketball tournament in the country, now that Indiana and Illinois have classified themselves to death.

Although I do have a problem with a team losing in the postseason and not being eliminated from the tournament.

Eight teams make it to the region tourney.

No one has complained in the 90709709 or so years the KHSAA has been doing it, and no one will start. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

It is broke ... there is absolutely no reason for a random draw in that region tournament. Half the time you have what should be the "real" championship game in the first round, while in some regions you'll have some terrible team from the hills get a free pass to the finals.
It's not as flawless as you're presenting it.

Then what would you suggest doing? Seeding the damn thing? Classifying the state?

Seed the region tourneys. That's not classifying anything. You seed the region tourney's by record ... it wouldn't be perfect, but it'd be a hell of a lot better than randomly drawing and having two 20 plus win teams going at it in the 1st round and a .500 team advancing in another game.
Kentucky is far too small of a state to be classified ... it's actually one of the only states where this one-tourney format still can work ... and don't get me wrong, I like it. But some changes need to be made.

 

[Bob Slydell]

The KHSAA Sweet Sixteen begins Wednesday at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

The matchups:
University Heights Academy (30-4) vs. Lexington Catholic (30-3)
--UHA hasn't lost since Jan. 15, a 74-65 loss to Hopkins County Central.
--UHA won the state All 'A' Classic, a 53-46 win over Hazard.
--LexCath hasn't lost since Jan. 18, a 74-73 loss to Mason County.
--LexCath ran roughshod through the 11th Region, beating Richmond Model (81-50), Scott County (80-54) and Lexington Bryan Station (79-63).

Louisville Central (15-11) vs. Owensboro (22-9)
--Just like its football team, Central made an improbable run in the postseason, knocking off region powers Pleasure Ridge Park and Fairdale in the 6th Region Tournament.
--Central entered the 23rd District Tournament having lost 6-of-9.
--Owensboro High lost to Owensboro Apollo in the 9th District finals, only to knock off Apollo in the 3rd Region finals.

Jeffersontown (26-5) vs. Paintsville (29-3)
--J'town lost to Louisville Eastern in the 28th District final, but beat Eastern in the 7th Region title game.
--J'town has played just one team (Paducah Tilghman) in the state tourney.
--Paintsville hasn't lost since the All 'A' final to UHA.
--Paintsville is 1-2 against teams in the Sweet Sixteen. Paintsville beat Bardstown in the semifinals of the All 'A'.

Covington Holmes (31-2) vs. Bardstown (23-7)
--Holmes hasn't lost since a 47-46 loss to Newport Central Catholic on Feb. 14. Its average margin of victory since then is 26.5 points per game.
--After closing its season with a loss to North Hardin, Bardstown has won five straight games.
--Bardstown beat Central Hardin in the 5th Region championship game; the Bruins beat heavy favorite Adair County in the semifinals.
--Corey Hall scored 32 points for Bardstown against Central Hardin in the region finals.

South Laurel (27-7) vs. Hazard (30-4)
--South Laurel's last loss was a 69-65 setback to Knox County Central on Feb. 14.
--South Laurel beat Corbin, 59-49, in the region championship.
--Hazard has won 10 straight games since falling to UHA in the All 'A' finals.
--Hazard went 18-1 against 14th Region competition, with its only loss coming to last year's Cinderella, June Buchanan, on Jan. 12.

Shelby County (23-8) vs. Lincoln County (27-5)
--Shelby County lost 7 of its last 13 games to close the regular season, but has won six straight since.
--Shelby County went 14-3 against 8th Region foes.
--Lincoln County was 22-1 against 12th Region teams. Its only loss came to a 24-5 McCreary Central team on Jan. 29.
--Lincoln County is 0-1 against teams in the Sweet Sixteen. Lincoln lost to Paintsville, 78-72, on Dec. 28.

Paducah Tilghman (27-6) vs. Bowling Green Greenwood (24-10)
--Tilghman hasn't lost since Jan. 25, a 47-46 loss to Paducah Lone Oak.
--Tilghman, which is best known for its boys' and girls' track teams, is 1-1 against teams in the Sweet Sixteen. Tilghman lost to J'town (67-54) and beat UHA (77-70).
--By record, Greenwood is the third-best team out of the 4th Region.
--Greenwood lost to crosstown rival Bowling Green in the 14th District finals, 45-42, but beat the Purples in the 4th Region final, 57-49.

Mason County (30-4) vs. Elliott County (26-3)
--Mason County beat Elliott County, 90-61, on Feb. 16.
--Elliott's other losses are to Rose Hill Christian and Covington Catholic.
--Mason County is the home of Tennessee star guard Chris Lofton (Hi, Tubby!)
--Mason County's last loss came to No. 1 Lexington Bryan Station, which lost to Lexington Catholic in the 11th Region Tournament championship.

I agree, best tournament in the country. If it ever changes, it's a freaking shame.

Now, here's who I've got:

Lexington Catholic over UHA. God rid of one of the two private schools, Kentucky fans rejoice.

Owensboro over Central. Central's Cinderella run ends here.

Paintsville over Jeffersontown. I've seen Paintsville play, and they play HARD. I'm not a fan of the mountain teams for the most part, but these guys are good. Bye-bye city team.

Holmes over Bardstown. Bardstown is lucky to be there.

Hazard over South Laurel. Hazard can outshoot the Cardinals, who are young.

Lincoln over Shelby County. Veteran Lincoln team back for the second straight season. Terrific back court.
And IJAG, you sort-of team is a bunch of punk asses. Sorry.

Tilghman over Greenwood. Just bcause.

Mason County over Elliott County. I hate Mason County with the passion fo a thousand white hot suns, but they are damn good. They should cruise into the finals in the lower bracket.

I have Mason vs. Catholic in the finals, and Catholic cutting down the nets.

 

[rube]

Don't get me wrong ... I'm not disagreeing with you that it's one of the most unique and probably entertaining prep tourneys in the country. And I don't think it needs to be totally overhauled or anything ... just tweaked slightly with a regional seeding process.
I know how Kentuckyites hate them some change ... but it really wouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

[doubledown68]

Illinois ****ed up their damn-near perfect tournament by switching from two to four classes... so if any Kentucky puke is talking about changing it, shove his head up a horse's ass until he stops talking about it.. or stops breathing.

 

[rube]

Illinois ****ed up their damn-near perfect tournament by switching from two to four classes... so if any Kentucky puke is talking about changing it, shove his head up a horse's ass until he stops talking about it.. or stops breathing.

For the 900th time ... I'm NOT talking about classifying the ******* tournament! Just seeding the regional phase.
And I'm not a Kentucky puke ... I'm a Michigan puke.

 

[imjustagirl]

Slydell: Go to hell.

 

[doubledown68]

Illinois ****ed up their damn-near perfect tournament by switching from two to four classes... so if any Kentucky puke is talking about changing it, shove his head up a horse's ass until he stops talking about it.. or stops breathing.

For the 900th time ... I'm NOT talking about classifying the ******* tournament! Just seeding the regional phase.
And I'm not a Kentucky puke ... I'm a Michigan puke.

Nobody said you were.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Slydell: Go to hell.

May you have to root for Kentucky in your Hell. And they are still a bunch of punk-asses.

 

[imjustagirl]

YOU LEAVE THE COLTS ALONE!

Just because they're forced to wear red, white and columbia blue does not make them punk-asses!

 

[Bob Slydell]

YOU LEAVE THE COLTS ALONE!

Just because they're forced to wear red, white and columbia blue does not make them punk-asses!

No, the way they act does. But the uniforms suck too! And they need a new gym.

 

[imjustagirl]

Oh, their gym is ****. And the bleachers are falling apart..same as they were when I went there. When East-West used to play, it was obscene how packed it was...and how dangerous.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Oh, their gym is ****. And the bleachers are falling apart..same as they were when I went there. When East-West used to play, it was obscene how packed it was...and how dangerous.

Yeah, for a big school it may be the worst gym I've been in.

And I think Lincoln could get in to the semis and not face a real good team. Then they meet Mason and it's game over.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

The best boys basketball tournament in the country, now that Indiana and Illinois have classified themselves to death.

Although I do have a problem with a team losing in the postseason and not being eliminated from the tournament.

Eight teams make it to the region tourney.

No one has complained in the 90709709 or so years the KHSAA has been doing it, and no one will start. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

It is broke ... there is absolutely no reason for a random draw in that region tournament. Half the time you have what should be the "real" championship game in the first round, while in some regions you'll have some terrible team from the hills get a free pass to the finals.
It's not as flawless as you're presenting it.

Then what would you suggest doing? Seeding the damn thing? Classifying the state?

Seed the region tourneys. That's not classifying anything. You seed the region tourney's by record ... it wouldn't be perfect, but it'd be a hell of a lot better than randomly drawing and having two 20 plus win teams going at it in the 1st round and a .500 team advancing in another game.
Kentucky is far too small of a state to be classified ... it's actually one of the only states where this one-tourney format still can work ... and don't get me wrong, I like it. But some changes need to be made.

The KHSAA already ****ed up football by going to six classes. And with the way people are so heated about public/private, there's no way this state can go through another **** up by the organization.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Shameless bump, but the tourney gets underway tomorrow in Lexington.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Well, I'm 1-0 so far. Sounds like UHA played like dog crap.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I'm 4-0 so far, and I'll be at Rupp today.