loca2874 said:

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR!!

The Sixth Annual Bracket Challenge is upon us. Unlike last year there is no prize. I work for the federal Government and will not know if I have a job come tournament time. I wasn’t going to do this but against my better judgement I am. I didn’t want to break the streak so here you go. Even there is nothing of value I still have rules and they will be adhered to. If you don’t make your bracket name your board name I will comment one time that you need to change it to your board name. If come the Thursday of the tournament and you haven’t changed it then I will remove it. There are rules for a reason. This is for fun strictly and that is all. You don’t want to participate then you are not hurting my feelings.

Rules: (These are strictly adhered to)

1. You are only allowed one bracket entry.
2. Your bracket name must be your handle on ITS. IF I cannot find the (@name) then your bracket is ineligible.
3. I will lock entries at 10 am on the first day of the round of 64.


This is a private group for board members.

The Group Name is Hurricane Alley 2025

The password is ReignCane2025 and yes it is case sensitive

https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?...&joinKey=22979deb-620d-3f86-b010-aaf487d8a2e7

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Hope all works out well for you Loca

lawpoke87 said:

Without a significant increase in military assistance, Ukraine will eventually be lost with a perpetual war.

To date, Zelensky has shown zero desire to agree to any peace deal which involves ceding all or part of the territory currently occupied by Russia. I see no peace scenario where Russia does not retain at least part of that dirt.

Might come down to what is more important to Ukraine. Some of the land currently occupied or EU/NATO membership. I personally don’t see Zelensky agreeing to anything short of a complete withdrawal without being forced by the US and NATO.

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The idea that Putin (and therefore Trump) would agree to Ukraine in the EU or NATO is a fantasy.

astonmartin708 said:

Trump owns you and Putin owns Trump.

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If Putin owns Trump, why didnt he move on the Donbas with Trump in office.. Obama gave him the Crimea and Syria, yet he chose not to act on the rest of Ukraine until Biden was in office.. why?

chito_and_leon said:

Couple of weeks ago I thought we had an outside chance at 5th or 6th and winning a couple of games in the tourney. Then maybe we could sneak up to 8th or 9th and win 1 game. Now we're hoping to avoid the play-in game. Pretty pathetic. 2-7 in conference down the stretch. I guess the play-in would be good bc it's probably our only hope of winning a tourney game.

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I just want the season to be over. I doubt we sink to 12 or 13.

loca2874 said:

Here is the skinny of it. Today Charlotte is at East Carolina and Rice is at UTSA. Tulsa currently sits in the 10th position. Seed 12 and 13 go to Denton for round one while everyone else goes to Fort Worth. If UTSA and East Carolina win today, Tulsa just needs to win either against Temple or at Wichita State to keep from going to Denton. If Tulsa loses both games then they have a good shot of going to Denton slipping to the 12 seed. Charlotte will lock up a trip to denton with a loss today..

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Couple of weeks ago I thought we had an outside chance at 5th or 6th and winning a couple of games in the tourney. Then maybe we could sneak up to 8th or 9th and win 1 game. Now we're hoping to avoid the play-in game. Pretty pathetic. 2-7 in conference down the stretch. I guess the play-in would be good bc it's probably our only hope of winning a tourney game.

(Dick Vitale) I’m in baby! (/Dick Vitale)

drboobay said:

Perpetual war is an option in Ukraine.

To give Trump credit, a long term cease fire is another option, where the new lines are not finalized but left in limbo.

EU membership for Ukraine but not NATO is another potential face saving possibility for both sides.

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Without a significant increase in military assistance, Ukraine will eventually be lost with a perpetual war.

To date, Zelensky has shown zero desire to agree to any peace deal which involves ceding all or part of the territory currently occupied by Russia. I see no peace scenario where Russia does not retain at least part of that dirt.

Might come down to what is more important to Ukraine. Some of the land currently occupied or EU/NATO membership. I personally don’t see Zelensky agreeing to anything short of a complete withdrawal without being forced by the US and NATO.

After WW2, the US moved to establish a new world order that wouldn't produce world war after the world war. The UN, Marshall Plan, free trade, alliances, and foreign assistance replaced tariff wars and strong arming the weak. The result was 80 years of relative peace and an immense increase in wealth with the US at the top. Trump seems intent on returning to the pre-WW2 world. Major powers call the shots, taffies are used to extort concessions, and weak countries pay the price. Who in Europe would now believe that the US would now protect a small NATO country attacked by Russia?

The trigger for Putin's initial incursion into Ukraine was the possibility of its joining the EU which would have established a more vibrant alternative to the Putin regime next door. Putin wants to be surrounded by similar autocratic states, not growing, free democracies that make Russia look bad. Ukraine is the outlier, so it's hard to believe he will agree to Ukraine joining the EU, NATO or anything in that direction. He wants a vessal state, and Trump is sympathetic with the view. Plus Trump hates Z going back years.

This return means that the US has to attack its allies and friends first. Trump has initially focused on Canada, Mexico and Europe, our closest allies, because they are also our biggest trading partners and have the most to give up. Russia has basically nothing to offer the US. Japan, China, and the Pacific TBD. Trump can use US power to extort concessions, but the result will be the same as Trump's business dealings; a legacy of destroyed relationships and victims.

Agreed. There is no way Tulsa basketball should be at this point. No excuse.

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NIT has new selection criteria. They have now what is called the KNIT. This is a rating that comes up with an average of the BPI, KPI, NET, KenPom, SOR, Torvik and WAB rankings. If you are a Regular Season Conference Champion and you finish the regular season with a KNIT of 125 or better then you automatically qualify for the NIT if you are not selected on Selection Sunday by the NCAA tournament.

Those that have qualified for the NIT already are

Lipscomb
High Point
Chattanooga

Here is the skinny of it. Today Charlotte is at East Carolina and Rice is at UTSA. Tulsa currently sits in the 10th position. Seed 12 and 13 go to Denton for round one while everyone else goes to Fort Worth. If UTSA and East Carolina win today, Tulsa just needs to win either against Temple or at Wichita State to keep from going to Denton. If Tulsa loses both games then they have a good shot of going to Denton slipping to the 12 seed. Charlotte will lock up a trip to denton with a loss today..

aTUfan said:

Biden owd Zelensky money, not a solution.

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Trump owns you and Putin owns Trump.

3:00 p.m. today ESPN the game of the year in the AAC. Memphis at UAB.

"Suffer" is pretty much the perfect description of TU BB at this point.

mcane said:

Is enjoyed the game except for the ending. Guys fought hard but too many missed free throws and turnovers. Tulane is just a slightly better team. Not much difference between 4th and 10th. Only Mem NT and UAB are good.

Will be glad for K to get the boot and I believe it will happen.

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Can't believe UAB lost so much early in the season.

75% of Republicans polled by CNN say they want a quick end to the war, and Russia keeps all acquired land. SMH No penalty whatsoever desired by republicans for Russia.

Is enjoyed the game except for the ending. Guys fought hard but too many missed free throws and turnovers. Tulane is just a slightly better team. Not much difference between 4th and 10th. Only Mem NT and UAB are good.

Will be glad for K to get the boot and I believe it will happen.

I think for Ukraine to even start considering a negotiated peace, Russia would have to give up the Russian region occupied by Ukraine and probably one of the territories that it currently holds in the East.

If Russia really wants peace... it's not going to come strictly on their terms and the compromise is going to be bitter for both sides. Right now Trump is negotiating with Russia to give them their entire demands including (nonsensically) the withdrawal of US troops from several parts of Europe that aren't even in the war.

Right now, the USA has a decent hand to play in negotiations. (Well, at least we did until Trump started tanking the economy).... We had much more economic stability than Russia did. We had the threat of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, and calling Putins bluff for the 15th time in the past 3 years. Then, instead, we decided to give Russia everything they asked for.

drboobay said:

I would rather have won. How's that?

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We all would.

Perpetual war is an option in Ukraine.

To give Trump credit, a long term cease fire is another option, where the new lines are not finalized but left in limbo.

EU membership for Ukraine but not NATO is another potential face saving possibility for both sides.

Gmoney4WW said:

That's fine, but you can't expect that to be changed in the last oouple of games in the season. Every game we play decent it won't be a win. I guarantee you the responses would be different if it ended up a two point nailbiter of a win, instead of a two point loss. That's just a fact. I know I'm jaded, but it doesn't keep me from enjoying last gasps of a decent game when it happens. I just hope we make the change in the off season, or Konkol can recruit better with a little more money.

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I would rather have won. How's that?

crow4435 said:

im not getting it. i see temple up by 2 game with 1 game left to play. i can see if tulane loses, tulsa gets the 5

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That was a typo. Lawpoke is right, I was referring to the 5th seed. With 1 loss by Tulane or 1 win by Tulsa we get the 5. For us to lose the fifth seed we would have to lose our closer and Tulane would have to win both of their last two games. Otherwise we get the 5.