#also miles is acc mad young

[dutchdread]

No offense bro, but why are you always so protective of Cloud? No disrespect to you or anything but I've heard quite a bit of different opinions and theories on Cloud myself and I do agree with the people who say that he takes Tifa for granted. Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior. He also does act like he's the only one who has suffered in his life. Do you have other reason to defend him other than the fact that you "relate" to him? Just wondering.

Sorry for the late reply, my life has basically left no room for hobbies these past months. Your question is hard to reply to because I am not sure what you mean when you say I am protective of him. I guess you mean I defend his actions? Specifically in ACC? Firstly let me state that there is a difference between being a good character and being a nice character, there is also a difference between agreeing with someones actions, or just understanding them. Personally, I never really liked Cloud, especially not when I was younger. A lot of my defense of Cloud doesn't come from me personally liking him, but from me thinking he's a good character. I also think Snape is a good character, but I don't like his actions, and I don't defend them, although I still understand them to a certain degree. I should also say that as I started to understand Clouds character more, I also started liking HIM a bit more, although I still don't like the things he did, and would very likely not be friends with him. But I do understand why he did what he did and cannot be too critical of him because of that. You've probably heard that before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That's great advice, if you want to judge someone, you should imagine what it would be like to be them, however, I've noticed that too often when people try to walk a mile in someone elses shoes, they refuse to take their own shoes off first. They don't think "what would it be like to be him", they think "what would I do in that position". But Cloud is not you, and you cannot judge him by how you would act, you've not gone through the same things he has, your thought patterns aren't the same etc. This matters because too often I see people judging Clouds actions in ACC, and establishing his motivations by saying things that boil down to "If I were in his position, I would only do those actions if I loved Aerith/didn't love Tifa/whatever". But they're not Cloud, and they're not understanding how Cloud thinks, and that it's different from how THEY think. But like you said, I do see some recognizable elements of myself in Cloud, which is why I do understand his actions, and why I feel relatively certain in defending them, because I see them coming from a good place. It's common for me to react to things in a way that others find counter-intuitive. Let me give you an example, my brother once was mad at me because I had not told him my girlfriend of several years and I had broken up while I did tell a random stranger at the pub. He said that he felt like he wasn't important to me if I told a random stranger but not him. The truth was the exact opposite, I love my brother, and could not bear to face him for some reason, as I told him: "if not caring enough was the problem, then I wouldn't have told a random stranger". I see people exhibit that same lack of understanding when discussing Clouds actions, where they feel like his actions must be the sign of him just being a bad person, or not caring. But ask yourself what is more likely, that Square-enix wants their hero to be a bad person, or that you simply are misunderstanding the character? I understand why people don't get Cloud, Cloud suffers from obvious mental health issues, and mental health issues simply are not something that the general public understands, even today. Not only that, but Cloud went through the most insane series of traumatic events anyone could ever imagine. He had an alien parasite in him, saw his entire town murdered before his eyes, then saw Zack murdered in front of his eyes, then saw Aerith murdered in front of his eyes, and just when he started living a peaceful life he is forced to watch his child succumb to sickness in front of his eyes, and then he finds he himself is dying. All this on the psyche of a man who had had a fear of failure ever since he was a child, spent most of his life essentially in war, and had a severe identity crisis as well. Do you think you can honestly judge him by going "that's not what I would have done"? Would that not be incredibly

presumptuous? Have you suffered from depression as a result of severe post-war PTSD and a lifelong feeling of inadequacy combined with a fear of failure and the belief that many of your loved ones died because you failed and were inadequate? Because that's the context in which you have to view Cloud when watching Advent Children. Saying "Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior" is just incredibly short-sighted, your behavior is determined by who you are, and who you are is determined by what you go through in the past. You can't expect a broken child to become a well-adjusted adult when being a well-adjusted adult is the result of having a normal childhood.

I also don't want to cause offense, but this really is a mindset you should change, because this mindset is one of the most pervasive and damaging ones in our society, it's the one that probably bothers me most when I hear it because it makes zero sense. It's like breaking a robots self-repair unit, and then being angry at it on the grounds that the self-repair unit should have fixed it. It's also very insensitive in general, it's the equivalent of saying "why are you depressed, just stop being depressed", people don't choose to be depressed, people don't choose to have a fear of failure. People don't choose their emotions, they're just there. They can be influenced by behavior over time, sure, but behavior is equally influenced by who you are and your emotions, which, as mentioned before, is determined for a large part by your past. People don't just "snap out of it". They fight and fight and fight, and sometimes they win and break out of the spiral, and sometimes they lose and it breaks them.

FFVII, and especially Advent children, is all about that struggle, and during those struggles you will have high-points, and low-points. FFVII shows all of those. It shows Cloud trying, it shows Cloud wanting, it shows Cloud failing, but it also, ultimately, shows Cloud prevailing. Judging Cloud for not breaking out of the spiral by the time of Advent children, when he was mentally only barely 18 years old, and when he started at the worst place anyone could ever imagine, is just not reasonable. It's the modern day equivalent of "let them eat cake", something that can only be said from the place of privilege of not knowing what the struggles of the people you're critiquing are actually like. So having that out of the way, lets look at Clouds actions from the perspective of Cloud. Cloud is a young boy, and he's in love with the girl next door, he wants to get her to notice him. One day said girl walks up a mountain and he follows, she falls off a bridge and ends in a coma. Cloud followed her because he's in love with her, and he gets the blame from the adults. Cloud internalizes this, and its important to imagine what this must be like for a child, to have the adults all tell him it's his fault that the person he loves ended up hurt. "your fault", "your fault". Afterwards Cloud starts thinking Tifa hates him and starts acting out. I think this is a good moment to point out btw that this child has no father figure. This is the start of his feelings of failure and inadequacy, he blames himself for not being able to protect Tifa, failure number 1, he thinks that if he were strong, he'd be able to protect her, he thinks that if he were like Sephiroth, then even Tifa would have to notice him. Now until this time Cloud is not an asshole, he's a bit of a rebellious kid yes, but notice that he's not a bad kid as much as he's a kid who wants to protect someone, has no direction, and is acting out. So Cloud thinks he's not good enough, but he leaves town confident that he'll become good enough, and even makes a promise to Tifa. All this follows logically from what we know about Cloud, and tells us a lot about how deeply seated these feelings are. Becoming Soldier wasn't a small thing, not some small passion project that he just came up with one day, it's the result of the things that happened in his childhood and he left everything behind make it so. He told the girl he loved, he promised, he boasted. And then he failed. Failure number 2. He comes back to Nibleheim and can't bear to look Tifa in the eye and admit that he couldn't do it, that he's a failure. His entire life so far has revolved around this and he wasn't good enough. So here we have Cloud, not in a great mindset, thinking he's a failure, and what happens? His entire town is murdered by the person he admired, someone he worked with. His Mother is killed, and Tifa, the girl he PROMISED to protect, gets slashed open so badly that apparently she needed to have her ribcage reinforced with metal. I think we can all agree that this by itself would be enough to potentially scar a person for life. (Cloud, not Tifa XD) So what's next for the boy who left town in order to become a hero? Well, he gets captured and experimented on for 4 years, during which his mind and sense of identity is bombarded with memories and knowledge of the lifestream in the form of mako, muddying up his thoughts. Cloud already had a weak sense of self as a result of his childhood, it's why he failed to enter Soldier and now this distaste for who he is makes him extra susceptible to Jenovas influence. The next thing Cloud sees, (he didn't consciously experience the 4 years of mind-fuckery) is his best friend getting killed trying to protect him, because Cloud wasn't strong enough. Failure #3. At this point, in Clouds mind the list of people dead because he could not protect them, because he's a failure, include his mother, his entire town, his best friend, and as far as he knows, the girl he loves. This is his life. His mind is broken, he hates himself, he doesn't want to be himself,

he has a mind-altering parasite inside of him trying to adjust his identity and Clouds just goes "I reject this reality and constitute my own". And why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he want to live in a fantasy world where he wasn't a failure, where he made it into soldier, where he was cool and successful and not a disappointing failure? Zack tells him to be his living legacy and Cloud goes with it, then he runs into Tifa, Jenova adjusts Cloud further based on Tifas memories of them and rejoined with the girl for whom he joined Soldier Cloud is unconsciously all too willing to play the part. FFVII starts and it doesn't take long for the cracks in his fake persona to show, he meets Aerith, and becomes her bodyguard. He gets to be the hero he always wanted to be. But then, even as "Cloud strife, soldier first class", Cloud is still a failure, the plate still drops, killing thousands, he gives Sephiroth the black materia, he beats up Aerith, and ultimately, fails to save her as well. Tifa was the First Failure, and Aerith was the Final Failure. Even as a soldier, Cloud still couldn't save anyone, he loses even more faith in himself, he doesn't know who he is, he doesn't trust himself, and then when he also loses Tifas trust in who he is, he just breaks and gives over to Jenova/Sephiroth. Even Hojo calls him a failure. Cloud feels like a nobody. Now mentally weakened, under the influence of jenova cells, he gives Sephiroth the black materia AGAIN, and meteor is summoned. Another entry on the long list of moments Cloud can look back on in shame later on in life. He falls into the lifestream and again his psyche is under attack. We know what happens afterwards, Tifa finds him, cares for him, and saves him through his feelings for her. Cloud realizes who he is, realizes he's weak, and goes after Sephiroth without lying to himself. In the end he defeats Sephiroth mentally and is supposedly rid of his direct influence.

But that doesn't mean that this mentally 17 year old is now fine, we should remember these events when analyzing ACC. Cloud has been in constant fighting/war/peril ever since he left home as a child, and is now a traumatized 17 year old in a 21 year olds body. Novels and other materials give us an insight into how Cloud thinks during these times, and how he thinks about himself. We hear him say that he's going to live because that's the only way he can atone for his sins. He talks about wanting to change, and about believing he can change because he now has Tifa. He's a man (boy) who just exited war, and wants to be positive, but is still clearly blaming himself. We see that this initially goes well, we are told that Cloud experiences peace and happiness that he's never experienced before. We're also told about the things that make it go badly, when he has to deliver flowers to the ancient city for instance. While Cloud regained the sense of who he was the belief that he wasn't good enough, that he was a failure, was never solved, if anything it was put on hold until he got his memories back, and now he is forced to deal with it.

While he is no longer directly manipulated by Sephiroth he's still suffering from PTSD and, most notably, survivors guilt. He blames himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith in particular, and starts visiting the church. Now most people might think it's natural to avoid places that make you feel bad about yourself, but that's not how a depressed person thinks, Cloud thinks he deserves to feel badly he WANTS to punish himself, he WANTS to feel bad. He's ashamed of the moments where he's carefree and laughing with Tifa. Why should he get to be happy when Aerith and Zack are dead because of him? He shouldn't be happy, he should be in pain, he should remember them, not doing so would be an insult to their memories, he must never forget how he failed them! That's how Cloud is thinking. We know of course that this is non-sense, Aerith and Zack wouldn't want this, if anything it's this mindset that is tarnishing the memories of Aerith and Zack, but that's not how a mentally unwell person thinks. Cloud wants to atone, and thinks he finds salvation in Denzel, whom he finds at Aeriths church. He thinks that by saving this life, he can, in some way, make up for all the death he caused. Tifa has a similar belief when she finds out Denzels parents died in the plate crash. And when Denzel joins the family, and Cloud has path towards redemption in his mind, things start getting better again. Because this is the cause of the problems Cloud is having in ACC. When Nojima says:

first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same

This is the conflict he's talking about, he's not saying "Tifa and Cloud are incompatible, it has nothing to do with Sephiroth", he's saying "if Sephiroth didn't show up during Advent children, Cloud and Tifa would still be having problems because Cloud is going through survivors guilt."

But the good times don't last, Denzel has Geostigma and Cloud cannot find a cure, Denzel....is going to die. Cloud, has failed again. Not only that, but Cloud catches Geostigma....Cloud is going to die. And THIS is why Cloud leaves in Advent children. And you have to look at this as Cloud. Cloud said he was going to live to atone for his sins, but instead he's going to die. He won't atone for his sins, even worse, he's going to leave Tifa and Marlene behind. He failed again. He couldn't protect Denzel, he potentially brought an infectious disease into their house as well. Literally all Cloud can think about is that literally everything he's ever tried has ended in failure, everyone he's ever tried to protect, he's failed at. Do you understand how easy it would be for a person like this to fall into the trap of thinking "I deserve to die", "I don't want Tifa and Marlene to see me die", "Tifa and Marlene are better off without me anyway", "they'd be happier if I weren't here". Etc. Now we know this is nonsense, but come on, how many instances have you heard of depressed people genuinely believing that their loved ones would be happier and better off if they just didn't exist? However, throughout the movie, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith, all confront Cloud, and urge him to not give up. Cloud eventually does try again, and ultimately finds redemption not by being stuck in the past, but by letting the past rest and be beautiful (a lesson Cleriths unfortunately never learned). "I never blamed you you know, not once" "I want to be forgiven. By who?" "Isn't it about time you did the forgiving?" In the end, Cloud moves on, and therefore, so do Zack and Aerith. Aerith and Zack walk into the light, Cloud plants flowers on Zacks grave, and lets Zacks buster sword rest in Aeriths church, now no longer rusting, but shining. Instead of the past being a negative reminder, Cloud lets the past be beautiful. Cloud was doing Aerith and Zack a disservice by remembering them the way he did, because it was ruining his life, it wasn't a good thing, but it did come from a good place, from a good man whose ashamed of not being good enough. Yes, it harmed Tifa, people going through these things often do hurt those around them, but it's not because they're bad people, or even weak, but because people are imperfect and Cloud has gone through hell, both internally, and externally. Are his actions really that weird or deplorable? "He didn't even go save the kids!" Yes, he's hesitant about saving the kids, why shouldn't he be? Everyone Cloud tried to protect or save, ended up maimed or worse, or as Cloud puts it: "I can't even save myself". "He left Tifa alone!" Yes, he thinks he's going to waste away and die, can you blame him for not wanting to put Tifa through that and for thinking she'd be better off without him? "He drinks!" Wouldn't you?! Who wouldn't want to forget that stuff? But in the end, He's only gone for about a week, he never intended to harm Tifa, he never physically harmed Tifa or cheated on her, his entire life revolved around wanting to be better for Tifa and blaming himself when he wasn't good enough, how is it reasonable to say this man takes Tifa for granted when the fact that he thinks he has to BE BETTER in order to be worthy of being with her has been a constant throughout his entire life and story? He DOESN'T take Tifa for granted, that's why he's beating himself up, that's why he leaves, not because he thinks he's better than her, or that he'll always have her, or that she'll follow him like a dog, or something like that. But because of the opposite, because he thinks HE is not good enough, that SHE would be better of without him. Saying Cloud takes Tifa for granted, is honestly, simply, wrong. It's 180 degrees the opposite of what is happening in FFVII, the biggest constant in Clouds life, is that he doesn't take Tifa for granted, and I don't understand how anyone could argue otherwise.

#cloti #FFVII #ffvii crisis core #ffvii advent children #ffvii remake

[racingtoaredlight]

The degenerate’s guide to college football TV watch ‘em ups, 2019 season, week 6

Not sure if anybody has reminded you lately but there is only one OCTOBER!!! And we’re in it. October is breast cancer awareness month and one of only four annual truck months. The first football weekend of October features three top 25 matchups, which isn’t terrible, but two of them are B1G conference games. And they each feature a team from the state of Michigan who probably won’t be in the top 25 come tomorrow.

So now that I have you all pumped up for it, let’s get to the games! As per usual, the schedule is copied and pasted from FBSchedules and gambling info, where it’s provided, is from Vegas Insider. NOW ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!????!???? IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER!!!!

Saturday, October 5

Matchup                                                          Time (ET)               TV/Mobile

TCU at Iowa State                                           12:00pm                   ESPN2

TCU is tough to figure out. So is Iowa State for that matter. But I think Gary Patterson got back on track last week and the Cyclones -3.5 looks bad to me so... load up the Cyclones, I guess.

14 Iowa at 19 Michigan                                   12:00pm                     FOX

The line is moving towards Iowa but it’s still Michigan -4. I think the sharps are on Iowa here but I don’t trust it. This looks like a horrible game for purposes of watching.

Kent State at 8 Wisconsin                               12:00pm                 ESPNU

Wisconsin’s defense might be great but the Badgers still kept it close against Northwestern last week. That’s a big red flag for me but not so big that I think Kent State +35 is smart money. I hope Chryst runs it up like crazy.

Maryland at Rutgers                                         12:00pm                   BTN

It’s been a long couple of weeks since Maryland’s offense looked good. But I bet Rutgers can get them back in the swing of things. Terps and the over.

6 Oklahoma at Kansas                                      12:00pm                  ABC

The line has moved towards Kansas and I’ve got nothing. I love Les Miles and those plucky Jayhawks but come the fuck on. Oklahoma’s gunning for 80. Also, I love KU football for all the failure so I’m in the bag for either 95-0 Oklahoma or KU pulling one of the more monumental regular season upsets in memory.

21 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech                    12:00pm                   FS1

TIRED: Bet the over. WIRED: Chuba Hubbard hits the over by himself.

Purdue at 12 Penn State                                    12:00pm                 ESPN

Rondale Moore won’t play but he’s not out for the year. Supposedly. He should be, though, right? No reason to chance it with one of the best players in the country on a garbage program like Purdue. Penn State is favored by 28 and, as much as I hate to say this, they’re wildly undervalued even though that’s up 11.5 from where the line opened. This is going to be an all out splatterfest.

Tulane at Army                                                    12:00pm              CBSSN

This game is a metaphor. The environment vs. the troops. The environment is favored.

USF at UConn                                                      12:00pm      CBSSports.com

As godawful as USF has been this year they’re still favored by 11 on the road in a conference game. UConn should consider dropping football.

Utah State at 5 LSU                                             12:00pm              SECN

Jordan Love goes to Death Valley to face a bunch of future first round picks in the LSU secondary. That’s fun for scouting but LSU should destroy USU. 

Boston College at Louisville                               12:30pm              RSN

No idea what to say here.

Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan                3:00pm              ESPN+

We’re about to run through a bunch of MAC games.

Virginia Tech at Miami (FL)                                   3:30pm              ESPN

But before we get to all that MAC first we have to deal with this MAC-level disaster. Miami has pretty much sucked so far this year but maybe they fixed everything in the week off. More likely, Justin Fuente will get off the hotseat for a week after winning on the road against a Miami team dressed up as pumpkins.

Western Michigan at Toledo                                 3:30pm             ESPN+

O/u 74, 1.5-point line. These teams are interchangeable. Not just Toledo and Western Michigan - the entire MAC is a jumble of teams that are exactly the same and Buffalo. Buffalo sucks way differently than the rest of the MAC.

Ohio at Buffalo                                                        3:30pm           ESPN+

Buffalo sucks differently than the rest of the MAC but they still suck.

Marshall at Middle Tennessee                                3:30pm        Facebook

I want to love this game but it looks fucking horrible.

Arkansas State at Georgia State                            3:30pm         ESPN+

ESPN+ is definitely a government conspiracy. Real deep state channels over here. The other Arkansas is favored on the road in a matchup of two middling offenses and two of the worst defenses in the country. I’m tempted to say hit that over of 69.5 with the Red Wolves winning. I don’t know about that line, though.

11 Texas at West Virginia                                         3:30pm           ABC

I am not enjoying Heisman hype for Texas’ QB but I don’t think WFV is the team to bring him back down to earth.

Illinois at Minnesota                                                  3:30pm          BTN

Minnesota may be the worst 4-0 team in the country but if they are you can put money on them being the worst 5-0 team in the country, too. I think Tanner Morgan is pretty good as far as B1G passers go and the “worst...” unbeaten team thing could very easily extend to the worst 8-0 team in the country.

Bowling Green at 9 Notre Dame                              3:30pm          NBC

I very strongly disliked Notre Dame for a long time before they bought their coach’s way out of a murder trial but the line for this game is laugh out loud shit and I’m fully on board with it. Domers by 46 with an o/u of 63 is a thing of beauty even if it glorifies pure evil.

Baylor at Kansas State                                             3:30pm        ESPN2

Kansas State’s mimicry of a good team might be breaking down after getting run over by Chuba Hubbard & Co. last week but a win by Baylor could get the Bears into the top 25. I need the ghost of Taco Bill (yes, I’m aware) to rouse the Wildcats for a stomping of Baylor.

Ball State at NIU                                                        3:30pm         ESPN3

Do whatever you want with this.

7 Auburn at 10 Florida                                              3:30pm          CBS

Fantastic uniform matchup featuring some almost great Florida throwbacks to Steve Spurrier’s Heisman season. I wish the stripes on the shoulders went all the way around. Otherwise they’re perfect.

Air Force at Navy                                                      3:30pm           CBSSN

I haven’t gotten a handle on Air Force this year but this is not a good Navy team. Maybe the Paul Johnson offense has finally run its course in Annapolis? Usually you can count on a senior QB to make the option hum for the Middies but they aren’t looking like anything special through three games in 2019. Here’s hoping they can find their rhythm as home dogs.

Memphis at ULM                                                       3:45pm            ESPNU

Kenny Gainwell came very close to making the RTARLsman list this week but he needs some bigger highlights to get back on there. ULM running back Josh Johnson’s production has gotten worse every week this year. Memphis is a pretty big road favorite and they should be bowl eligible by the time they dip back into conference games.

Troy at Missouri                                                        4:00pm             SECN

Kelly Bryant has been OK so far as Missouri’s QB. Which is fine, that’s what Kelly Bryant is: an OK QB. But if he can get more confidence in Derek Dooley’s system he could get a real shot at an NFL roster next year. Games like this one are the best way to build confidence.

North Carolina at Georgia Tech                               4:00pm            ACCN

UNC has looked well-coached but talent-deficient so far this year while Georgia Tech has looked untalented and undisciplined. Here in the ACC that means this game is a tossup.

Northwestern at Nebraska                                        4:00pm             FOX

I’d like to think Nebraska can never climb out of their 15 years-long rut but maybe Scott Frost is the real deal. If he is then this game should be a walkover for the Huskers. Look for a close game that hinges on some comically bad execution.

Arizona at Colorado                                                   4:30pm        Pac-12N

Khalil Tate and Laviska Shenault are still cool. That brings a tear to my eye.

WKU at Old Dominion                                               6:00pm         ESPN+

This is the kind of football we live for in these posts. All gambling, no sentimentality, weird uniforms, and a matchup that would look great in the March Madness First Four. But it’s part of the Disney plot to overthrow Ukraine.

3 Georgia at Tennessee                                             7:00pm         ESPN

By what right do I hate Tennessee? And yet, my desire to see them keep falling to deeper and deeper depths is boundless. I don’t particularly like Georgia but I want them to win by 60+. They can do it but are they cool enough to do it? I doubt it. Look at their coach’s haircut. He must use a woodchipper like a Flowbee to get that look. Maybe he found a barber in the countryside of 12th century France.

Rice at UAB                                                                 7:00pm        ESPN+

UAB is dead to me. Favored by only 10 at home against Rice? That’s disgusting.

UMass at FIU                                                               7:00pm         ESPN3

Butch Davis is having quite the struggle trying to put FIU together as a program. Things are in a very bad place for FL Int’l (pronounced “Flinn-tull”) even though the school is in a very nice place.

25 Michigan State at 4 Ohio State                             7:30pm           ABC

I know Mark D’Antonio has gotten some crazy results in his time as Michigan State’s head coach but this looks bleak. Brian Lewerke truly sucks and Chase Young is getting Myles Garrett comparisons. 20-points is a huge number for a game like this but I’ll be pretty surprised if the Buckeyes of An Ohio State University don’t beat the spread.

Tulsa at 24 SMU                                                         7:30pm          ESPNU

SMU with that little number next to it is a sight to behold. So last week I guessed that it had been since 1986 that the Mustangs were ranked and that was correct. How smart I must be. I’m really curious how they deal with that success. It seems silly but that ranking is a really big deal for the Ponyfuckers. Here’s hoping they sprint right past 13-points and pull away from Tulsa for a decisive win.

Vanderbilt at Mississippi                                           7:30pm           SECN

AJ Brown and DK Metcalf already look like stars in the NFL. Remember the offense they were in last year that struggled getting them the ball and had them run a combined four total routes? Haha. Fuck both of these teams, though. Nobody cares what happens here.

UTSA at UTEP                                                             8:00pm          ESPN+

El Paso versus San Antonio, aka “The Bigger Even Boringer El Paso.” Everything is bigger in Texas. Even Texas.

Liberty at New Mexico State                                      8:00pm        FloSports

Put some prop money on Antonio Gandy-Golden and ignore everything else in this game. Maybe even ignore Gandy-Golden.

Pitt at Duke                                                                   8:00pm         ACCN

Goddamn does this game suck. Go Panthers.

California at 13 Oregon                                               8:00pm         FOX

The Berkeley Bears don’t have much of an offense but their defense is good enough to keep things within 20 here. I’d put money on Justin Herbert throwing his first pick of the year, Cal to cover, and Oregon to win.

Oregon State at UCLA                                                9:00pm        Pac-12N

Chip Kelly’s revival as a football genius lasted exactly one half. Here the Bruins and Beavers matchup in the Rose Bowl to sully the reputation of that great stadium.

San Diego State at Colorado State                           10:00pm       ESPN2

MWC, baby! Fun stuff for me even if CSU is a trash heap. SDSU is no great shakes this year but at least the setting and the uniforms clash are cool.

16 Boise State at UNLV                                              10:30pm        CBSSN

Boise by 100. Book it.

15 Washington at Stanford                                        10:30pm         ESPN

Stanford was one of the biggest disappointments of the season’s first month. This is the perfect spot for David Shaw and his team of sleepmakers to bore Washington to death and, at least, keep it closer than 15. 

#saturday post #football #college football #watch em ups #rtarl watches tv #degenerate football

[jodyedgarus]

2018 NCAA Men’s Tournament Preview

After a chaotic regular season in men’s college basketball — during which 18 separate teams ranked among the AP’s top 5 at various points — it’s finally time for the real Madness to begin. And that means we’re breaking out the FiveThirtyEight NCAA Tournament model to help you make all of your bracket picks, as always (you can read about how the system works here). Below I’m highlighting the key teams and matchups to watch in each region, including dark horses and cinderellas who could bust up the bracket. With overall favorite Virginia only boasting an 18 percent chance of winning it all, this year’s Big Dance should be as crazy as ever.

East Region

Favorites: According to the FiveThirtyEight model, top seed Villanova has the best chance of advancing to the Final Four in the entire field, with a 50 percent probability of winning the East. The Wildcats are an exceptionally strong offensive team, with guard Jalen Brunson leading ‘Nova to the nation’s top efficiency mark in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings during the season. But their 22nd-ranked defense is no slouch either, spearheaded by do-everything wing Mikal Bridges. The only thing keeping Villanova from being our overall favorite is the way the bracket has situated the East region on the same side as the Midwest, which contains three of the top eight teams in the field according to our power ratings.

No. 2 seed Purdue has the potential to make some noise, but a tough matchup with Texas Tech or Florida could loom in the Sweet Sixteen — if the Boilermakers make it past likely second round opponent Butler first, that is. (More on the Bulldogs later.) Purdue’s difficult path is a big reason why it only has a 20 percent probability of making the Final Four, which ranks last among two-seeds.

Dark Horse: Underseeded at No. 5, West Virginia ranks 11th in our power ratings and could be a team to keep an eye on. The unfairly low seed means the Mountaineers will potentially have to unseat fourth-seeded Wichita State (always a tough out) and Villanova in back to back games, but West Virginia is a constant threat with its swarming, turnover-inducing defensive style. Even though WVU might have peaked too early with its terrific run around New Year’s — it’s lost 9 of its last 18 games — don’t count out Bob Huggins’ crew just yet.

Don’t Bet On: No. 3 seed Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are a fine team that plays some of the nation’s stingiest defense, but they’ll probably have to make it through an unusually strong six-seed (Florida) in the Round of 32 just for the right to face Purdue (or possibly Butler). Our model only sees a 6 percent Final Four chance for Texas Tech, easily the worst mark for any three-seed.

Cinderella Watch: Slotted in as the 10-seed by the committee, Butler probably deserved better. We have them ranked as the 23rd-best team in the field, thanks in large part to an offense that sits at No. 32 in the nation according to Pomeroy. The Bulldogs should be solidly favored (60 percent) over Arkansas in Round 1, and they could potentially give Purdue trouble in the next round.

Likeliest Round 1 Upsets: Butler over Arkansas (60 percent); Alabama over Virginia Tech (41 percent); UCLA* over Florida (39 percent).

(* – Must win play-in game first.)

  Midwest Region

Favorites: The Midwest is nothing if not top-heavy. While most regions have a clear favorite, this one has three who combine for an 85 percent total probability of making the Final Four. First among these near-equals is No. 1 seed Kansas, with a 31 percent chance of making it to the national semifinals. Like their top-seeded counterparts in the East, Villanova, the Jayhawks are an explosive offensive team led by a standout guard — in KU’s case, Devonte’ Graham. One big concern for Kansas is the availability of big man Udoka Azubuike, who led the team in Box Plus/Minus during the season, but who hasn’t played since March 3 due to a knee injury. (He’s listed as questionable for the start of the NCAAs.) KU will also have to contend with a tough early draw that includes potential matchups with Seton Hall, Clemson or Auburn. (First-round opponent Penn is no pushover, either, at least as far as 16-seeds go.)

The second co-favorite out of the Midwest is — sigh — Duke, at 29 percent. The Blue Devils lost some close games down the season’s final stretch, but none were by more than 5 points, and they were one of only two teams in the country to rank among Pomeroy’s Top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. (The other? No. 3 seed Michigan State. Again, the Midwest is stacked.) Rooting against Grayson Allen and Co. will once again be a top springtime ritual for most of America, but barring, say, something special from Oklahoma’s Trae Young,1 Duke might not have much trouble until the Sweet Sixteen.

There, the Blue Devils might have to face Michigan State, our third co-favorite. Sparty is solidly No. 3 in the pecking order with 25 percent Final Four odds, but that’s also easily the highest of any team seeded lower than second in the entire bracket. This is your classic strong all-around Tom Izzo squad, with four players — Cassius Winston, Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward — who ranked among the Big Ten’s top 16 in Win Shares according to Sports-Reference.com. MSU and Duke’s potential Sweet Sixteen showdown is the game everyone is already circling in the second week.

Dark Horse: Because of how strong its top-line teams are, the Midwest doesn’t really lend itself to dark-horse bids. But if you had to pick one, Auburn might be the one to emerge from the field. Led by the undersized trio of Mustapha Heron, Bryce Brown and Jared Harper, the fast-paced Tigers should be entertaining regardless. Auburn will probably have to tangle with a strong Clemson team in Round 3, however, before potentially running through the gauntlet of all those favorites listed above. Fun or not, that is why our model sets Auburn’s Final Four odds at a measly 3 percent.

Don’t Bet On: Sixth-seeded TCU. The Horned Frogs rank 22nd in Pomeroy’s ratings, and enjoyed one of their best seasons in decades under coach Jamie Dixon. But no matter whether Syracuse or Arizona State wins their play-in game, they’ll give TCU a tough game in the first round — and it only gets harder from there, with Michigan State likely waiting in the wings. Playing in their first tournament since 1998, a deep run by the Frogs doesn’t appear to be in the cards this year.

Cinderella Watch: Of all the Midwest’s double-digit seeds, No. 12 New Mexico State is most likely to find itself playing with the big-name programs on the tournament’s second weekend. The Aggies won 28 games this season and had the nation’s 14th-best defense, according to Pomeroy. Our model thinks they have a fighting chance (38 percent) against Clemson and gives them an 18 percent chance of sneaking into the Sweet Sixteen.

Likeliest Round 1 Upsets: Syracuse* over TCU (46 percent); Oklahoma over Rhode Island (42 percent); New Mexico State over Clemson (38 percent); NC State over Seton Hall (37 percent)

(* – Must win play-in game first.)

West Region

Favorites: The West is probably the weakest of all the regions in this year’s bracket. Its top seed, Xavier, only ranks as the 10th-best team in the country by the FiveThirtyEight power ratings — which would typically only fetch a No. 3 seed. The Musketeers are plenty good on offense, but a defense that ranked just 59th in Pomeroy’s ratings is among the reasons why our model only assigns them an 18 percent chance of making the Final Four, by far the worst of any No. 1 seed in the bracket.

In fact, our projections say the West’s most likely Final Four team is the defending champion, North Carolina, who have a 25 percent probability of advancing to San Antonio despite getting a No. 2 seed from the committee. The Tar Heels had something of an up-and-down season, losing 10 games (including 7 in conference play), but they looked solid in the ACC tourney and boast one of the country’s deadliest two-man scoring combos in Joel Berry and Luke Maye.

Then there’s fourth-seeded Gonzaga, last year’s national runners-up, who also check in with a better Final Four probability (24 percent) than Xavier in this region. The Zags were badly underseeded here — we have them ranked ninth in the country by power rating — and their draw could have them set up for a very deep tourney run. According to Pomeroy, the Bulldogs were one of only three teams in the nation (alongside Duke and Michigan State) whose offense and defense each ranked among the Top 20 in efficiency.

Dark Horse: Does Gonzaga count here? If not, and you’re looking for a sneaky Final Four bid out of the West, look no further than sixth-seeded Houston. The Cougars pushed Cincinnati to the brink in the American Athletic championship game Sunday, showing a national audience just how stifling this team’s defense can be. Houston is a solid favorite to beat San Diego State in Round 1; in Wichita, they’d also be playing comparably closer to home against Michigan in Round 2. From there, UNC likely waits, but our model gives the Cougars a 33 percent chance of getting that far — and, as a result, a 7 percent chance of making the Final Four.

Don’t Bet On: No. 3 seed Michigan. It’s an unfortunate draw for a team heading into the tourney playing as well as just about anybody in the country (the Wolverines actually rank third in our pre-tournament Elo ratings, behind only Virginia and Villanova), but the selection committee did Michigan zero favors here. First-round opponent Montana is unusually strong for a 14-seed — check out the sea of 10, 11 and 12-seeds around them in Kenpom’s rankings — and likely second-round foe Houston was underseeded as a No. 6, too. Then, if the Wolverines survive opening weekend, they’ll probably be treated to a rematch of their 15-point loss to UNC from late November. Michigan has fought through similarly tough tourney paths before, but right now we only give them a 14 percent shot at a Final Four berth.

Cinderella Watch: Sadly, this isn’t a very promising region for Cinderella bids. For instance, No. 11 seed San Diego State is the kind of good, solid team (it ranks 50th in Kenpom’s ratings) that you’d ordinarily pencil in for an upset or two, but Houston and Michigan are too difficult to realistically expect a Sweet Sixteen berth from the Aztecs. And the other teams in classic upset seeds — 10th-seeded Providence and 12th-seeded South Dakota State — are each the weakest at their seed-line in the whole field. Blah.

Likeliest Round 1 Upsets: Florida State over Missouri (61 percent); Providence over Texas A&M (42 percent).

  South Region

Favorites: After a storybook 31-2 regular season, Virginia is a 47 percent favorite to make the Final Four out of the South — and an 18 percent favorite to win the whole tournament, tops among the entire field. You’ll hear a lot this month about how the Cavaliers play basketball: Yes, they’re painfully slow and they grind teams to a pulp with their defense. Yes, those kinds of teams have some history of coming up short in the postseason. These are questions Virginia must answer. But you have to give the Cavs credit: This is also a team whose only blemish in its last 24 games was a 1-point overtime loss. On paper at least, Tony Bennett’s team is set up well to silence its doubters this year.

If that doesn’t happen, Cincinnati might very well be the reason why. The second-seeded Bearcats are the fifth-best team in the country according to our power ratings, so they’re nearly top-seed-worthy in terms of quality. More importantly, they also play a similar style to Virginia — taking the air out of the ball and fighting every defensive possession to the bitter end — so a matchup between the two would be fascinating. We give Cincy a 53 percent chance of making the Regional Final, and a 23 percent probability of pushing its way into the Final Four.

Dark Horse: Laden as Kentucky perennially is with top recruits, we used to ask whether it was fair to slap the “dark horse” label on the Wildcats. But the SEC champs do seem to have perfected a certain formula under coach John Calipari: Enter the season ranked highly, struggle around midseason, then pour it on late in the schedule and slip into the NCAA tourney as a so-so seed before making a deep run through the bracket. This year’s squad has all the earmarks — from a No. 5 preseason ranking, and a four-game February losing streak, to an impressive run through the SEC tourney. Our model knows this kind of team, and it gives a little extra credit to highly touted preseason squads with inconsistent regular seasons. It’s no coincidence that we’re giving the Wildcats a solid 7 percent chance at making the Final Four.

Don’t Bet On: Fourth-seeded Arizona. Was the NCAA doling out early punishment for the Wildcats’ alleged recruiting scandal with this draw? The committee stuffed Arizona into a first-round matchup with Buffalo, who our power ratings easily consider the strongest 13-seed in the bracket. If they win, the Wildcats will then have to play either Kentucky (see above) or a dangerous Davidson team that easily rates as the strongest 12-seed in the bracket. And that’s just leading into a potential Sweet Sixteen matchup with No. 1 overall seed Virginia. Arizona big man DeAndre Ayton might be the best player in the country — he leads all major-conference players in Win Shares this season — but the odds of us seeing much of him in the tournament aren’t very high.

Cinderella Watch: Keep an eye on No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago in this region. We give them a 40 percent chance of knocking off an overseeded Miami squad in the opening round of the tourney, and they wouldn’t have terrible odds against Tennessee in Round 2, either. Of course, Loyola would have an even better Sweet Sixteen shot if there were any chance the 3-seed Volunteers would lose in round 1, but Tennessee’s first-round opponent, Wright State, is worse than two 15-seeds and a 16-seed.

Likeliest Round 1 Upsets: Texas over Nevada (60 percent); Kansas State over Creighton (42 percent); Loyola-Chicago over Miami (40 percent).

Check out our March Madness predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2018-ncaa-mens-tournament-preview/

[junker-town]

THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, where Chip Kelly replaces every coach

It’s your weekly tour of the most infuriated in college football internet.

The ninth week of the college football season was busy. It was especially so during the middle shift, when a bunch of games ended within a half-hour and featured losses by No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 TCU, No. 16 Michigan State, and No. 17 USF. Also losing were a couple of mediocre SEC teams with big fanbases.

It’s This Week in Schadenfreude, Week 9, your tour of the angriest in CFB internet.

Texas A&M (lost 35-14 to Mississippi State)

This is your moment, TexAgs message boards.

This poster has a suggestion to replace the embattled Kevin Sumlin:

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The rationale:

He couldn't be worse than what we have now.... Well, at least it would be entertaining.

This comment’s not made entirely in jest. It’s noted that Manziel is interested in coaching college football. Ironclad plan, IMO.

One suggestion is to simply replace the Texas A&M logo on the Aggies’ helmets with a different illustration:

Suggestions for new helmet decal? Mine is ole sarge sucking his toe

We are a joke. A consistent cursed joke. We don't learn from mistakes and continue to make them. Administrators, coaches, decisions, mishaps. All a joke. Notice I don't include players. It's not there fault. They are persuaded to come here and they are just following orders. I think a decal of ole sarge sucking his toe is perfectly acceptable to replace the ATM on our helmets. It's very fitting. Like i always say....Aggie is....is Aggie does!

Some other expressions of postgame sadness:

Everything sucks and I want to die

I will have no liver to donate to our smoothies after tonight.

More beer for my tears.

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Yes, and it’s time the luxury box elites stop ignoring the former NFL head coach.

Chip Kelly - it's time

For everyone here sipping their scotch and smoking cigars cackling about hiring Morris - NO. ITS time to bring in a proven WINNER and get **** done!!! Get this man now

Florida (lost 42-7 to Georgia, then fired Jim McElwain)

The loss to Georgia was bad, but everyone knew what was going to happen before it did. We’ll fast-forward to Sunday, when the Gators finally cut loose McElwain.

The Gators are the preeminent open job in the country. There’s going to be lots of interest in hot, young, up-and-coming candidates, such as this guy:

Les miles

why is les miles not being considered. He's won in the sec and has won a national championship. He has proven himself unlike a lot of these coaches being named. We took risks on mac and will so why not go with a guy that knows the sec and what it takes to win

Another unique idea here:

Is anyone else calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Too many to count. These are just from the AD’s mentions on Sunday afternoon:

I want Chip Kelly at Florida. Make it happen @ScottStricklin

— Scoochie (@HAleYeAhh) October 29, 2017

Get me Chip Kelly @ScottStricklin

— JD (@JustinDowell2) October 29, 2017

@ScottStricklin love the move today. No need to waste anymore time with this nonsense. Please call Chip Kelly ASAP!

— Jason Krehbiel (@jaxsurfer84) October 29, 2017

@ScottStricklin *clears throat* Chip Kelly! #GoGators

— Dabdaddy (@j_martin25) October 29, 2017

.@ScottStricklin yo u got Chip Kelly’s agent on call or nah?

— Jodak Orange (@JodakOrange) October 29, 2017

@ScottStricklin chip Kelly. That is all ....

— carl (@Gatorpike) October 29, 2017

Tennessee (lost 29-26 at Kentucky and didn’t fire Butch Jones)

Vols fans are trying to figure out if they, too, can get out of a coaching buyout by finding their coach might’ve said a falsehood in public. The good people at VolNation.com, regulars on this feature this year, wonder:

Can't we dig up some lies that Butch has said?

Surely he's told a lie or to while here. What about lying a hot dog bbq or something like Pearl did? Anything would be fine.

“I remwmber him saying he would win games,” one person responds.

“Best staff in the country,” another says.

Another poster wants to fire athletic director John Currie, who was just hired, because he’s waited too long to fire Jones. But another poster thinks Currie’s playing a long game:

Suspicion on Currie

I’ve been thinking through some of this stuff. Everyone is focused on John Currie firing Butch. He could be using this time to hook the next coach and could very well have that guy ready by the time Butch is dismissed. Which would actually be pretty clever seeing as how we would be examining his every move. Instead, the fans are focused on the “fire Butch” movement week to week. There is more to this story than meets the eye. I think he is using this time right now to land his guy. An AD’s legacy is always hinges on a big hire. He’s up to more than we know. Just a thought.

What’s the truth?

This next thing’s from before the Kentucky game, but I’m including it anyway. Here’s a thread about Florida State’s national championship-winning coach maybe wanting the Tennessee job. (He doesn’t.) Let’s follow along:

Rumors of Jimbo Fisher wants the Tennessee Job

Things are heating up down there in Tallahassee. Rumors swirling about Jimbo wants in on Tennessee. What are your thoughts?

Is that a joke? Maybe. I’m not certain. But these are serious replies:

“No Thanks.”

“No way. Jimbo has a far easier task in the ACC than in the SEC. fake news.”

“No thank you. I'd rather have Scott Frost. If Jimbo can't win with the talent they have at FSU, I doubt he can at Tennessee.”

“Gruden > Fisher”

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

You know it.

@John_Currie DO YOUR JOB AND GO GET CHIP KELLY

— Zach Cardwell (@z_cardwell) October 29, 2017

Go to hell @John_Currie

— CHIP KELLY OR BUST (@jacob_greer7) October 29, 2017

Penn State (lost 39-38 at Ohio State)

At Rivals’ Blue and White Illustrated message board, one poster was sure that pollsters’ ANTI-PENN STATE BIAS would plummet the Nits down the rankings.

Here's How IT IS.

Any other team would fall 1 or 2 places, but because it's us look for a huge screwing and drop.

Penn State fell five places in the AP Poll, from No. 2 to 7. Previous top-five teams to lose games this year fell six spots (FSU), seven spots (Ohio State), 10 spots (USC), nine spots (Oklahoma), and six spots (Clemson).

Someone’s thoughts on offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, whose team just scored 38 points against an elite defense and is averaging nearly 40 per game:

Franklin is the Guy for PSU but Moorhead's Offense Sucks

he sucks.

Here’s a, uh, unique comparison for James Franklin:

Is CJF College Football's version of Dusty Baker?

GREAT locker room guy, players love him, teams have good chemistry.

Also a lousy tactician without that instinct to know how to close a game out. This is now the 6th example of such a game in his Penn State career (Michigan 2014, Maryland 2014, Illinois 2014, Northwestern 2015, USC 2016, Ohio State 2017). Vanderbilt's losses to Tennessee in 2011, South Carolina in 2012, and Ole Miss in 2013 are examples from earlier in his career.

Last night looked painfully like the Reds 2012 NLDS loss to the Giants. It was RIGHT THERE! And we didn't seize the moment.

This person’s super mad about a former Pitt coach being on FOX’s on-site studio show, as he is every single week of the season:

Dave Wannstedt

Can we lead a charge to get this know-nothing marble mouth, PSU hater kicked off BTN. I mean really, he's the first guy to high five all the buckeye faithful????. Why is a no-nothing complete idiot Pitt wannabe, on Fox and BTN????? I absolutely hate this guy, he's dumb as a rock and pretty much always wrong. He's a homer for anything anti-Penn State. I cannot stand that man...................

At SB Nation’s Black Shoe Diaries, this commenter took the result well:

I am done watching Penn State.

Let’s be real if we don’t get into the CFP which we won’t now. There is no point anymore. You know why no one believes in us? Because we always do this shit. We look promising and then drop a game. No excuse when we were up by 15. The football god’s gifted us a special team TD and a nice fumble. The refs were decent. Our defense simply let us down. We can never just get it done. The defense blows a 15 point lead. Looked very amateur and Trace over threw it how many times? And the oline sucks. Fuck this team Fuck all the high hopes because they never get it done. Fuck football. No use in getting worked upover a silly fucken game with pampered athletes chasing a ball. That’s what dogs do

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Not that I could find. But less than two years ago, this guy was!

@SandyB_PSUAD Fire James Franklin. Lets get Chip...

— HB (@B27491) January 2, 2016

We all reach this again at one time or another.

Florida State (lost 35-3 to Boston College)

The Seminoles are 2-5. Their season is lost.

Boston College isn’t that bad. But losing to B.C. is still a come-to-Jesus moment for a lot of fans. See Louisville fans after the Eagles got their team a couple weeks earlier:

VIDEO: a bunch of Louisville fans recognizing their team lost to Boston College https://t.co/KNlClEMvmW http://pic.twitter.com/KVDM5boroz

— SB Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) October 16, 2017

We’re going to do this again.

SB Nation presents, “A Series of Florida State Fans Publicly Reckoning with the Point that Their Team Just Lost to Boston College.”

We start while the act is still in progress and move more or less chronologically:

Me realizing theres a possibility we losing to Boston College http://pic.twitter.com/IzeXuwJuKw

— Cardi Bey (@LeastroPhysics) October 28, 2017

We’re losing to Boston College.

— Jerry (@Mind_Wiz) October 28, 2017

We're seriously losing to Boston College. http://pic.twitter.com/GHBd5WeNvg

— Shaquille Sunflower (@PrettyDay_) October 28, 2017

Florida State is currently losing 21-0 TO BOSTON COLLEGE!!! I might just have to transfer to Miami..

— Hugo Vargas (@hugomata_15) October 28, 2017

Tell me we’re not losing to Boston college rn.....

— Jonell Sequira (@jonellsequiraxo) October 28, 2017

#FSUvsBC We are losing to Boston College by 25... Like what is this fucking life?

— Cory Beaver ↓ (@TheCoryBeaver) October 28, 2017

Hold up we losing to fuckin Boston College???

— KeseBdayOnThxgivin (@ended_up_ballin) October 28, 2017

We just lost to Boston College....you’ll have a good time

— Brittany Wilkes (@brittanymalissa) October 28, 2017

We really lost to Boston College 35-3 last night....

— Zαcκ Ⓥ (@Zack5cott) October 28, 2017

Bruh , we fucking lost to boston college last night ‍♂️

— J5 (@Jay5DaDon) October 28, 2017

It’s okay we lost by 30 to frikin Boston college

— Dayton (@_Daytonnn) October 28, 2017

So we really lost by 32 to Boston College last night. WTF

— (@NelsonGuevara) October 28, 2017

ha ha ha ha we lost to Boston College. I’m fucking done.

— Nick (@nguevara120) October 28, 2017

lmao we lost to Boston college... bahahaha

— ƙ. (@xxobvby) October 28, 2017

we really just lost 35-3 to boston college. my heart hurts

— tony (@AnthonyHood_) October 28, 2017

And perhaps the realest realization of all:

i literally was just cool until i clicked on espn and remember that we lost by 32 FUCKING POINTS TO BOSTON COLLEGE

— trap wiggins (@40ozGod_) October 28, 2017

Is someone calling for this team to hire Chip Kelly?

Yes.

One fan’s list of Jimbo Fisher replacements:

Patterson Petersen Dabo Patrino Harbaugh Sumlin Chip Kelly (coming soon)

just to name a few...

Fisher’s buyout is roughly $40 million.

[viralhottopics]

31 celebrities who smashed the stigma surrounding mental illness in 2016.

It may not seem like that big of a deal when a celebrity speaks up about their experiences with mental illness. But it is.

Throughout 2016, dozens of actors, authors, artists, and athletes trailblazers we’re used to seeing smiling on red carpets or snagging gold medals on TV shared the personal battles they’ve faced behind closed doors. It was a groundbreaking year.

It levels the playing field,” Aaron Harvey says of the many public figures who chose to speak up. Harvey is the founder of Intrusive Thoughts, a group set on humanizing those living with mental illness. Suddenly, you realize the same struggles that you have might be the same struggles that someone you really idolize have. And that [makes it] OK.”

The stigma surrounding mental illness is taking lives. Many millions of people living with conditions like depression and anxiety are shamed into believing there’s something inherently wrong with them that they’re weak, for instance, or even dangerous to others. They suffer in silence because of it.

When a person with a platform becomes a face others can relate to, it becomes a little bit easier for someone else to follow in their footsteps, talk to someone, and get the help they need. Speaking up can save a life.

Here are 31 celebrities who spoke out in 2016 some of them for the first time about their experiences living with a mental illness:

1. Actress Kristen Bell wrote about why you can’t trust all of your thoughts when you’re battling depression.

“For me, depression is not sadness. Its not having a bad day and needing a hug. It gave me a complete and utter sense of isolation and loneliness. Its debilitation was all-consuming, and it shut down my mental circuit board. I felt worthless, like I had nothing to offer, like I was a failure. Now, after seeking help, I can see that those thoughts, of course, couldnt have been more wrong.” Kristen Bell, on living with depression

2. Singer Selena Gomez reminded us that you never really know what’s going on in someone else’s head.

“I had to stop. ‘Cause I had everything, and I was absolutely broken inside. And I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down, but I kept it too much together, to where I let myself down. I don’t want to see your bodies on Instagram, I want to see what’s in here. [puts hand on heart] I’m not trying to get validation, nor do I need it anymore. … If you are broken, you dont have to stay broken.” Selena Gomez, on living with anxiety and depression

3. Musical artist Kid Cudi got candid about the limitations that living with a mental illness put on his own life.

“My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it. I can’t make new friends because of it. I don’t trust anyone because of it and Im tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace. I deserve to be happy and smiling. Why not me?” Kid Cudi, on living with anxiety and depression

4. Actor Wentworth Miller opened up about becoming the butt of a body-shaming joke amid his struggle to survive.

“Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle. My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. Some within. Some without. Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist.” Wentworth Miller, on living with depression

5. Actress Hayden Panettiere shared with fans that they might be seeing less of her because, first and foremost, she needed to prioritize getting well.

The postpartum depression I have been experiencing has impacted every aspect of my life. Rather than stay stuck due to unhealthy coping mechanisms, I have chosen to take time to reflect holistically on my health and life. Wish me luck!” Hayden Panettiere, on living with postpartum depression

6. Singer Zayn Malik penned an essay on why he had to cancel performances due to severe anxiety.

“The thing is, I love performing. I love the buzz. I dont want to do any other job. Thats why my anxiety is so upsetting and difficult to explain. Its this thing that swells up and blocks out your rational thought processes. Even when you know you want to do something, know that it will be good for you, that youll enjoy it when youre doing it, the anxiety is telling you a different story. Its a constant battle within yourself.” Zayn Malik, on living with anxiety

7. Artist Lady Gaga revealed a secret about her own battles at an event benefitting young homeless teens in New York.

“My own trauma in my life has helped me to understand the trauma of others. I told the kids today that I suffer from a mental illness. I suffer from PTSD. I’ve never told that to anyone before, so here we are.” Lady Gaga, on living with post-traumatic stress disorder

8. NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall explained why organizing with one another not hiding away is crucial for those living with a mental illness.

I thought, How many others are out there suffering? I tell people all the time, you know, where were at in [the mental health] community is where the cancer and HIV community was 20, 25 years ago. So we have to galvanize this community. Brandon Marshall, on living with borderline personality disorder

9. Actress Rachel Bloom showed us why we shouldn’t let stereotypes about medication dictate whether we should get the proper help we need.

“I had gone to therapists, but for the first time I sought out a psychiatrist. In his office I finally felt safe. I told him everything. Each session improved my life. He diagnosed me with low-grade depression and put me on a small amount of Prozac. Theres a stereotype (I had believed) that antidepressants numb you out; that didnt happen to me.” Rachel Bloom, on living with depression

10. Musical artist Justin Vernon of Bon Iver got real about what a panic attack can actually feel like.

It was like: Oh my god, my chest is caving in, what the f**k is going on? I dont like talking about it, but I feel its important to talk about it, so that other people who experience it dont feel its just happening to them. Justin Vernon, on living with panic attacks and depression

11. Singer Demi Lovato pointed out the importance of consistently staying on top of your health for the long haul.

“Its not something where you see a therapist once or you see your psychiatrist once, its something you maintain to make sure that you want to live with mental illness. You have to take care of yourself. Demi Lovato, on living with bipolar disorder

12. Actress Lena Dunham opened up about how anxiety affects her day-to-day routines.

Ive always been anxious, but I havent been the kind of anxious that makes you run 10 miles a day and make a lot of calls on your BlackBerry. Im the kind of anxious that makes you like, Im not going to be able to come out tonight, tomorrow night, or maybe for the next 67 nights. Lena Dunham, on living with anxiety

13. NFL guard Brandon Brooks discussed the difference between game-day jitters and the type of anxiety he experiences.

I wanted to get to the bottom of whats going on. Basically, I found out recently that I have an anxiety condition. What I mean by anxiety condition [is] not nervousness or fear of the game. … I have, like, an obsession with the game. Its an unhealthy obsession right now and Im working with team doctors to get everything straightened out and getting the help that I need and things like that. Brandon Brooks, on living with anxiety

14. Actress Evan Rachel Wood spoke out about how our world’s tendency to overlook or dismiss certain groups can complicate a person’s mental health.

“For so long, I was ashamed. Youre dealing with the shame that the world has imposed upon you, and then on top of that, the shame of identifying that way. Youre totally looked down upon in and out of the LGBT community. A good way to combat that and the stereotypes is to be vocal.” Evan Rachel Wood, on living with depression and coming out as bisexual

15. Actress Cara Delevingne got real about her early struggles living with a sense of hopelessness.

“I’m very good at repressing emotion and seeming fine. As a kid I felt like I had to be good and I had to be strong because my mum wasn’t. So, when it got to being a teenager and all the hormones and the pressure and wanting to do well at school for my parents, not for me I had a mental breakdown. I was suicidal. I couldn’t deal with it any more. I realized how lucky and privileged I was, but all I wanted to do was die.” Cara Delevingne, on living with depression

16. Comedian Patton Oswalt laid out the difference between living with depression and surviving the devastation of losing a loved one.

Depression is more seductive. Its tool is: Wouldnt it be way more comfortable to stay inside and not deal with people? Grief is an attack on life. Its not a seducer. Its an ambush or worse. It stands right out there and says: The minute you try something, Im waiting for you. Patton Oswalt, on living with depression and the grief brought on by his wife’s death

17. Singer Kesha opened up about what led her to a rehab program focused on treating eating disorders.

“I felt like part of my job was to be as skinny as possible and, to make that happen, I had been abusing my body. I just wasn’t giving it the energy it needed to keep me healthy and strong.” Kesha, on living with an eating disorder

18. Author John Green wrote about the dangers of romanticizing mental illness.

“Mental illness is stigmatized, but it is also romanticized. If you google the phrase ‘all artists are,’ the first suggestion is ‘mad.’ We hear that genius is next to insanity. … Of course, there are kernels of truth here: Many artists and storytellers do live with mental illness. But many dont. And what I want to say today, I guess, is that you can be sane and be an artist, and also that if you are sick, getting help although it is hard and exhausting and inexcusably difficult to access will not make you less of an artist.” John Green, on living with depression

19. Musical artist Halsley discussed her attempt at suicide as a teenager.

I had tried to kill myself. I was an adolescent; I didnt know what I was doing. Because I was 17, I was still in a childrens ward. Which was terrifying. I was in there with 9-year-olds who had tried to kill themselves. Halsley, on living with bipolar disorder, and once staying in a psychiatric hospital

20. Prince Harry addressed the problem with assuming people who seemingly have their lives in order aren’t struggling with an invisible issue.

You know, I really regret not ever talking about it. … A lot of people think if youve got a job, if youve got financial security, if youve got a family, youve got a house, all that sort of stuff everyone seems to think that is all you need and you are absolutely fine to deal with stuff. Prince Harry, on living with grief after his mother’s death

21. Actress Rowan Blanchard explained why living with a mental illness can be a learning opportunity.

“I learned this year that happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive. They can exist within me at the same time in the same moment. While also becoming more forgiving of myself and my emotions, I became more forgiving of others, specifically other teenagers.” Rowan Blanchard, on living with depression

22. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps spoke candidly about why even gold medals couldn’t truly make him happy.

I went in with no self-confidence, no self-love. I think the biggest thing was, I thought of myself as just a swimmer, and nobody else. … I was lost, pushing a lot people out of my life people that I wanted and needed in my life. I was running and escaping from whatever it was I was running from. Michael Phelps, on living with mental illness

23. Actress Jenifer Lewis talked about how the AIDS epidemic led her to realize she needed help.

“Sometimes I suspected that something was not quite right. Especially during the time when the AIDS epidemic was at its height and my grief was pretty much out of control. No one was talking about bipolar disorder and mental illness back then. I had lost so many friends and loved ones. My spiral into depression was overwhelming; I could not function. Thats when I couldnt ignore the fact that something was wrong anymore. Jenifer Lewis, on living with bipolar disorder

24. Singer Adele highlighted why not each form of mental illness manifests the same way in every person.

“My knowledge of postpartum [depression] or post-natal, as we call it in England is that you dont want to be with your child; youre worried you might hurt your child; youre worried you werent doing a good job. But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like Id made the worst decision of my life. … It can come in many different forms.” Adele, on living with postpartum depression

25. Actor Jared Padalecki launched a new “I Am Enough” campaign, selling shirts to support initiatives that fight depression and self-harm.

I am enough. And you are enough. … I know I can keep fighting and I know that Im trying to love myself, but sometimes you feel like youre not enough. So this message is helping me kind of understand that I am enough just the way I was made. Jared Padalecki, on living with depression

26. Actress Amanda Seyfried nailed why we should be treating mental illness just as seriously as any other disease or condition.

“Im on [antidepressant] Lexapro, and Ill never get off of it. Ive been on it since I was 19, so 11 years. Im on the lowest dose. I dont see the point of getting off of it. Whether its placebo or not, I dont want to risk it. And what are you fighting against? Just the stigma of using a tool? A mental illness is a thing that people cast in a different category [from other illnesses], but I dont think it is. It should be taken as seriously as anything else.” Amanda Seyfried, on living with anxiety and depression

27. Musical artist Keke Palmer opened up about how her own mental illness postponed the release of a new album.

I stopped trying all together because I allowed people to make me believe that being an artist meant having big budget music videos and big record producers backing you. When in reality, all being an artist means is to be fearless in your creative pursuits. My anxiety, caused by the habit of unconsciously holding my breath, coupled with the stress of my personal life at that time created a lot of hard years of depression for me. Keke Palmer, on living with anxiety

28. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones said she’s in a good place right now, thanks to identifying her struggle and finding the help that was right for her.

“Finding out that it was called something was the best thing that ever happened to me! The fact that there was a name for my emotions and that a professional could talk me through my symptoms was very liberating. There are amazing highs and very low lows. My goal is to be consistently in the middle. Im in a very good place right now.” Catherine Zeta-Jones, on living with bipolar disorder

29. Actor Devon Murray used World Mental Health Day to share his own ups and downs with fans on Twitter.

“I’ve been battling depression in silence for ten years and only recently spoke about it and [it] has made a huge difference. I had suicidal thoughts this year and that was the kick up the arse that I needed! Open up, talk to people. If you suspect a friend or family member is suffering in silence [reach out] to them. Let them know you care.” Devon Murray, on living with depression

30. Musical artist Jade Thirlwall discussed a dark time in her life that looked picture-perfect from afar.

“My periods stopped and things were getting out of control, but I don’t think I really cared about what was happening to me. I felt so depressed at the time that I just wanted to waste away and disappear. … It should have been a really happy time my career was successful, ‘Black Magic’ was doing well, and we were traveling and performing. On the surface I was happy, but inside I felt broken.” Jade Thirlwall, on battling anorexia

31. Musician Ellie Goulding explained how her panic attacks often came at the worst possible times.

“I was skeptical [of going to therapy] at first, because Id never had therapy, but not being able to leave the house was so debilitating. And this was when my career was really taking off. My surroundings would trigger a panic attack, so I couldnt go to the studio unless I was lying down in the car with a pillow over my face. I used to beat myself up about it.” Ellie Goulding, on living with anxiety and facing panic attacks

Many celebrities have helped bring the conversation around mental health into the mainstream. But it’s on us to make the real change happen.

While its amazing to have celebrities out there blazing trails and introducing a radical new transparency,” Harvey notes, “the most important thing is that individual sufferers communicate with their everyday connections. If we really want to make an impact on stigma, it cant just be a headline.”

If you need help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1800273TALK (8255). If you want to learn more about mental illness, visit the National Alliance on Mental Health.

Read more: http://u.pw/2oCny2M

from 31 celebrities who smashed the stigma surrounding mental illness in 2016.

#31 celebrities who smashed the stigma surrounding mental illness in 2016.

[junker-town]

The 2017 NCAA Tournament has revealed a lot about the top NBA Draft prospects

Who’s impressed us through the first weekend, and who has a longer way to go? Plus, a Lonzo Ball argument.

The NCAA Tournament field has been sliced from 68 to 16, and gone are many of the top NBA Draft prospects we wanted to see. In that spirit, this week’s Flanns & Zillz focuses on our thoughts on the draft class after the first weekend of madness.

ZILLER: Just like most NBA writers, we're using the NCAA Tournament to cram on the top prospects for the 2017 draft, which is just three months away. But before we get into what happened over the weekend, let's discuss the two elephants not in the room: Markelle Fultz and Dennis Smith are two elite prospects whose teams didn't make the tournament.

Nothing Fultz did at Washington this season dropped him down the big boards. The Huskies were bad, but Fultz showcased exactly what put him atop mock drafts for a couple of years. In fact, he improved his stock by showing he could shoot the long ball. So many recent hyper-athletic point guards lacked that piece when entering the league. He proved he can shoot.

So Fultz missing the tournament shouldn't hurt his case, just as it didn't for Ben Simmons last year.

But the knock on Smith at N.C. State was that he lacked focus and intensity, and he didn't disprove that when the chips were down for the Wolfpack. He's smaller than Fultz and a worse shooter, and I think not reminding teams who makes him a top prospect here in March could cost him a few spots. Small guards tend to drop in the lottery without massive Marches.

What do you think about the fate of the prospects who missed the Madness?

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

FLANNERY: I think Markelle Fultz will be the No. 1 pick even though people will talk way too much about Lonzo Ball over the next few weeks. Fultz is the guy and it wouldn't surprise me if someone -- maybe Duke's Jayson Tatum or Kansas' Josh Jackson -- overtook Ball for the second spot. But let's not get too far ahead of things yet.

Smith is an enigma. He has major physical talent with obvious holes in his game that can be developed with more experience. That's the hope anyway. Talent evaluators would really like to see him spend another year in school and work on his point guard skills, but he's going to be a lottery pick regardless. NC State is also making a coaching change, so there's no reason for him to go back.

I would have liked to have seen more of Jonathan Isaac. I'm still not sure what to make of that guy.

ZILLER: I've moderated somewhat on the NBA age minimum, but Dennis Smith is one of those guys for which one-and-done did absolutely no benefit for anyone (not even Mark Gottfried, his now unemployed college coach). Smith is still will go super high in the lottery without any assurances he'll pan out.

Isaac did help himself -- he considered entering the 2016 NBA Draft through a loophole but went to Florida State instead -- by showing decent three-point range for the tall, skinny prospect. I am concerned about whether he can actually be a combo forward in today's NBA or whether he's a pure center. Small forwards usually aren't this tall, and defense could be a major concern if he's asked to play the wing instead of the pivot. He's also not much of a playmaker. He's intriguing, but he's also going to be compared to the more skilled Tatum and Jackson.

Should we talk about Tatum? I know we both love that dude.

FLANNERY: Tatum is really good. I watched a lot of his work in the ACC Tournament and came away impressed. He's not a great long-range shooter by any means, but he's got nice footwork and he can score in isolation. He just looks like an NBA player and the upside, as they say, is strong. Tatum's almost a year younger than Josh Jackson. That matters when we're talking about draft babies.

Jackson's the other guy who's almost certain to crack the top five. He's a live wire on the court, but he can really pass and he plays so hard. You like what you've seen from him?

ZILLER: He's an exciting player on the court, for sure. I especially enjoy his playmaking ability.

His off-the-court issues of late really can't be ignored, though. He admitted to kicking the car of his teammate's ex and is alleged to have hit it repeatedly in an apparent attempt to intimidate her after a public fight between her and Jackson's teammate. Teams are rightfully sensitive to off-the-court issues and so Jackson's spectacular on-court potential cannot and should not be seen in a vacuum. (Kansas in general is basically impossible for me to watch -- there's too much unspoken context and all of the credit for overcoming "distractions" makes me ill.)

Like you, I think Tatum absolutely looks the part of an NBA player and a modern NBA small forward, more specifically. In that sense he can slide right in. He had some spectacular blocks in Duke's Round 1 win and was the Blue Devils' best player in their Round 2 dismissal, but I do have a few questions about his face-up defense and playmaking.

I have far fewer questions here than I do about, say, Isaac. It seems inconceivable to me that one mediocre team will nab Tatum and one will grab Isaac and they'll both actually be competing in the NBA next year.

Speaking of Duke, do you think Luke Kennard or Grayson Allen are NBA players? And do you agree that Harry Giles would be served extremely well by staying at Duke, provided his family doesn't have financial pressures? (It's really unfortunate that, because the NCAA refuses to pay players, we have to mention that as an important consideration.)

FLANNERY: I like Kennard, am decidedly ehhhh on Allen, and think Giles should go back to school for another year. I long for the day when some kind of workable system can be set up that will allow pro prospects to develop on their own timeframe while enjoying the university life and not being exploited for their services. I actually think this may be attainable in our lifetime, but we'll see.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

We should probably talk about Lonzo Ball now. I remain unconvinced that he's worthy of the hype. I think he's good, I just don't believe we're watching Jason Kidd 2.0 here. What do you make of him?

ZILLER: We are relatively young and we're talking about the NCAA maybe paying the athletes that collectively make them billions "in our lifetime." Our expectations are super low and super realistic.

I don't think Grayson Allen is an NBA player despite his shooting stroke. One-trick shooters need the right attitude to survive and thrive in the NBA (see: J.J. Redick) and Allen hasn't shown he has that.

However, we DO NOT agree on Lonzo Ball. I am all the way on this train.

How often do we see this combination of brash self-assurance and wily basketball IQ? It's rare, man. Kidd was a special, special player -- one of a kind despite our inclination to compare big pass-first point guards to him every third year. Ball is different. Ball is going to come into the league trying to score and pass and control the floor. In that way, I see him more like a Deron Williams type, but with more pizzazz and less weight.

I'm not saying Ball will be Curry, Harden or Westbrook. But we're in the golden era of these dual-threat fearless, playmaking point guards. Who better than Ball to carry the torch?

FLANNERY: I am willing to concede that I may be wrong here and that everyone else is correct when they see Ball as a transformative figure. Again, I'm not saying he'll be a bad pro. I think he'll be a good, even All-Star level player. I'm just not seeing greatness.

I know one thing: his father isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in where he goes and I refuse to get all worked about him one way or the other. Let the man have his 15 minutes.

I wrote last week about embracing the Tournament from a player perspective and a lot of those guys are out: Miles Bridges, Juwan Evans, Semi Ojeleye (my personal fav), Monte Morris, John Collins, Donovan Mitchell. Thank god for Kentucky. I need more De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk in my life. I also want to see Lauri Markkanen against Gonzaga's front line. (That Xavier club looks primed for an upset, though.)

What else do you have your eye on this weekend?

ZILLER: The Kentucky kids and Markkanen are the biggest draws other than Ball, but I'd like to get a better sense of Justin Jackson, even though he's a junior. These UNC upperclassmen so often look better in college than they do in the league, but he'll go in the top 20 with decent expectations. We won't know if he can meet them until he gets to the league, but I need to see more.

Switching to the basketball itself for our final thoughts: any sense of who will win this thing?

FLANNERY: I haven't a clue, to be honest. I will note, as have many college basketball aficionados, that the seedings seem to have been thrown together by a team of circus seals. That said, half of my Final Four is already out (thanks Nova and Louisville) and I'm not feeling great about Arizona or Kentucky either. The most impressive teams I've seen have been Michigan, West Virginia, and Xavier. So, Carolina? Maybe?

You have any better feel for this?

ZILLER: UCLA is winning this. Let the legend of Lonzo begin!

[junker-town]

How to enjoy March Madness as an NBA partisan

There are lots of fantastic draft prospects headed to a TV near you during the NCAA Tournament. Lean in to the college game and enjoy.

The cold war between NBA heads and college basketball believers needs to thaw. At the very least, it could use a 20-second timeout.

The two have always been distant, bickering cousins. Go back through the decades and you’ll find cranky scribes and wizened NBA fans rolling their eyes at March Madness. The complaints then are the complaints now: the game is too slow, the spacing is too limited, the refs are too inconsistent, and my god, can we have a possession without a cutaway to some middle-aged dude with a clipboard hyperventilating on the sideline?

Lately, however, it feels like we’ve crossed a Rubicon from ironic NBA detachment to out and out disdain. It doesn’t have to be that way. Yes, the college game is not like the NBA game, but it doesn’t have to be the NBA. It can exist on its own terms.

It’s true that there are those of us old enough to remember a more prosperous time in college basketball. Way back when the NCAA Tournament meant Georgia Tech’s Lethal Weapon 3, Arkansas’ 40 Minutes of Hell, the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV, and pre-championship Duke Blue Devils all competing in the same Final Four back.

There were no less than a dozen future first-round picks on those rosters (shoutout to Malcolm Mackey and Oliver Miller) with each participant sending multiple players on to the pros. Compare that to last season when there were three first-rounders total among the Final Four teams.

Far from an aberration, that combination of individual talent and iconic teams was a common occurrence back in the day. Where we used to watch players develop over time, now it’s an ever-changing personnel proposition. Even for the same power programs that load up on one-and-done recruits year after year. Things change.

But, here’s a little secret for NBA snobs. A week of cramming reveals that this year’s final college exam will be fun. There’s a bevy of point guards, athletic wings with diverse skill sets, and developing bigs with first round dreams. Many of those prospects are scattered among the tournament favorites, offering the possibility of some amateur advanced scouting before the draft.

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

There are also a number of good, veteran clubs that have been together for years and play like it. What Villanova, Virginia, and Cincinnati lack in top-end NBA talent, they make up for with steady play and exacting defenses.

That contrast between experience and young talent now lies at the heart of the Tournament. Nova’s Josh Hart may never be a star in the NBA, but he and the Wildcats have a legitimate chance at repeating for the first time in almost a decade.

With all that in mind, here’s an NBA-centric, player-focused guide to enjoying the Tournament. It won’t kill you, even if the endless timeouts and noxious parade of corporate champions may test your patience.

First, a word about who won’t be playing next week. Markelle Fultz, the presumptive top pick in this summer’s draft, saw his college career end with a whimper. Despite his many talents, his Washington Huskies team was decimated by early defections and never had a chance in the Pac-12. Scouts and talent evaluators aren’t holding that against him. In the words of one, Fultz just does everything well.

The other hot prospect sitting out March Madness is Dennis Smith. A turbo-charged point guard from NC State, Smith put on a show against Duke earlier this winter, but wound up exiting stage left following an uninspired showing in the ACC Tournament. That’s a pity because Smith is one of the more exciting freshmen in this year’s loaded point guard class.

That leaves UCLA’s Lonzo Ball as the man of the moment. He’s a unique player with a busted shot who still manages to carve up defenses with his uncanny passing ability. One of the cool things about Ball is that his unselfish play has transformed the Bruins from an also-ran into a finely-tuned offensive machine. (Defense appears to be optional and often comes in the form of a zone, but we can’t have everything.) Ball is a phenom, the one player you really have to see this week.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

My favorite freshman point guard, however, is Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox. Fellow frosh Malik Monk gets a ton of attention for his scoring ability, but Fox makes the Cats get up and go. He can’t shoot from distance, but Fox is a crafty scorer who can navigate into space. He’s also an awesome on-the-ball defender.

Monk, meanwhile, is one of the best pure scorers in the country. He may have to transition to combo guard status in the pros, but his athleticism and range make him a likely lottery pick along with Fox. With the wonderfully named big man Bam Adebayo patrolling the paint, Kentucky has its usual array of first-round prospects.

The point guard class thins out after that (Frank Ntilikina from France is also a likely lottery pick), but there are a number of quality veterans who always seem to emerge as March heroes. Iowa State’s Monte Morris is your dad’s favorite player. The senior almost never turns it over. Oklahoma State’s Jawun Evans is a delight. He’s the diminutive linchpin for The Cowboys’ high-octane offense.

Depending on how you classify Monk, there’s not a lot of top-end shooting guards in this year’s class. Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell is the one to watch here. He’s a classic Louisville guard who plays bigger than his size and has athleticism to spare.

The other main area of lottery competition takes place on the wing with three highly-touted freshman vying for a spot in the top five. You could not find three more different prospects.

Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Jackson may be the most complete of the three. The Kansas freshman is an excellent passer, especially out of the pick-and-roll as a smallball four. His shooting can be a bit erratic (including an unsightly 56 percent free throw percentage), but he can score and he’s a tough defender.

Jackson is also hyper-competitive — he once trash-talked Gary Payton in high school — and that can spill over on the court. Off the floor, he was charged with misdemeanor property damage after allegedly damaging a female student’s car. He was also suspended for the first game of the Big 12 Tournament for a separate incident. (There’s a lot going on at Kansas.)

Duke’s Jayson Tatum is a terrific isolation scorer, combining solid footwork and length to score over the top of defenders. Tatum’s been overshadowed at times by the emerging Luke Kennard (he’s good!) and the ongoing Grayson Allen chronicles, but Tatum put together a strong ACC Tournament. He may not have Jackson’s upside, but he’s a year younger.

Then there’s Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac, an athletic freak with projection written all over his long, skinny frame. At the very least, Isaac should be a phenomenal defender in the pros when he puts on weight. He’s already a good rebounder and excellent cutter. You can dream big on Isaac.

The old man of the group is North Carolina junior Justin Jackson, who returned to school after last year’s wrenching loss in the championship game to Villanova. Jackson needed to improve his range and he became a solid 3-point shooter en route to ACC Player of the Year honors. Jackson’s moved up the draft boards and that climb could continue if Carolina has another solid run.

The bigs are a mixed bag. The only true center with lottery potential in the Tournament is Creighton’s Justin Patton. A late-bloomer who redshirted his freshman year, Patton is skinny but long, and is an excellent finisher at the rim. Jarrett Allen from Texas and Robert Williams from Texas A&M will not be invited, unfortunately.

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

The top-rated four man is Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, who is a tremendous long-range shooter. He’s not just a spot-up threat. The Wildcats run a bunch of different actions for him, both off screens and in the pick-and-roll. There aren’t many 7-footers like him.

Playing the role of versatile Michigan State forward this year is Miles Bridges, who has hung around the lottery pack. Wake Forest sophomore John Collins is a super-efficient scorer and Gonzaga freshman Zach Collins is the the definition of intriguing, even with a limited role. Baylor’s Johnathan Motley emerged this season as one of the best forwards in the country, and could be in line for a late rise.

One player to keep an eye on further down the rankings is SMU’s Semi Ojeleye. The Duke transfer has had a breakout season for the season’s biggest surprises. He’s strong and skilled and if he were three inches taller he’d be a lottery pick. Ojeleye does a little bit of everything for the Mustangs. At the very least he’s an awesome college player.

There’s plenty here for the NBA fan to enjoy. Why not try holding the sarcasm in check and giving college ball another chance? You might even like it.