Gophers a 10 seed, will play #7 Louisville in Des Moines!

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Thanks Winasota. Clearly that is the answer.

However, I think we are trying too hard if that's the case. I'm pretty sure MSU fans would have driven the extra 90 miles to stay out of Duke's region.
 

Any good bars to spend the day at? Thinking leave before sunrise and just spend all Thursday there

Looks like a place called Buzzard Billy's is closest to the arena. Never been there, but it's well reviewed.

If you want a place to get effed up the night before, look no further than the Hessen Haus down toward the south end of downtown. I've been there twice, and I haven't found a way to avoid trouble there. Have a boot...or plural boots.

In terms of food, Fong's Pizza & Tiki Bar is a personal favorite.

I mentioned Zombie Burger over across the river toward the capitol. They're best known for their spiked shakes and malts. As a rule, I find spiked milkshakes to be great in concept but underwhelming in execution, but Zombie Burger makes the best one I've had.

Take a short trip out to Confluence Brewing. They brew some yummy beer.

For fine dining, we ate at Centro, and it was a very good, memorable meal.
 

Thanks Winasota. Clearly that is the answer.

However, I think we are trying too hard if that's the case. I'm pretty sure MSU fans would have driven the extra 90 miles to stay out of Duke's region.

I prefer rules/less subjectivity over the idea of making the subjective "right decision" in things like this. Absent of calling up MSU and asking them at the time of awarding that how do you know what they would decide? At the point they face duke they'll have to win several other games. Make a rule and move on.

I don't know for SURE that's the way it works, and I don't think anyone does. It just makes logical sense to me that you would have a rule on how to assign brackets and I know travel costs are a big deal.
 

I prefer rules/less subjectivity over the idea of making the subjective "right decision" in things like this. Absent of calling up MSU and asking them at the time of awarding that how do you know what they would decide? At the point they face duke they'll have to win several other games. Make a rule and move on.

I don't know for SURE that's the way it works, and I don't think anyone does. It just makes logical sense to me that you would have a rule on how to assign brackets and I know travel costs are a big deal.[/QUOTE]

With the kind of money the tournament makes, travel costs should not be an issue one bit. My understanding about the pods, regions, etc. was that it was to protect higher seeds, allowing them to stay closer to home, not because of travel costs, but making it easier for their fans to get there.
 

Am I the only one that thinks Michigan St. is probably the best possible 2nd round matchup for the Gophers among the #2 seeds? I don't think they have a good shot against any of them but Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee seem like even worse matchups to me.
 


Am I the only one that thinks Michigan St. is probably the best possible 2nd round matchup for the Gophers among the #2 seeds? I don't think they have a good shot against any of them but Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee seem like even worse matchups to me.

I think you are right about that. MSU, despite their reputation for toughness (and they are tough) has made a lot of hay off of shooting the 3 pointer incredibly well. They shoot it at a 38% clip and their two volume shooters are both above 40%. If they can be gotten on a cold day from outside, anything can happen.
 

MSU is the most beatable #2 seed IMO. If Ward is completely healthy it might be a different story because he kills the Gophs but they're pretty shorthanded right now.
 

MSU is the most beatable #2 seed IMO. If Ward is completely healthy it might be a different story because he kills the Gophs but they're pretty shorthanded right now.

I saw MSU live in all three games in Chicago, and Ward was sometimes effective, but he is moving really slow and is clearly out of shape. Hard to picture him being that much better by the weekend.
 

Am I the only one that thinks Michigan St. is probably the best possible 2nd round matchup for the Gophers among the #2 seeds? I don't think they have a good shot against any of them but Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee seem like even worse matchups to me.

I agree. There aren't any appetizing matchups on the #1 or #2 line in any year. It's going to be someone hard with a low chance of success. At least the Gophers know MSU and can prepare on short notice.
 



**** SeatGeek. Had order canceled so now need to pay more for worse tickets.
 

I agree. There aren't any appetizing matchups on the #1 or #2 line in any year. It's going to be someone hard with a low chance of success. At least the Gophers know MSU and can prepare on short notice.

Yeah there is that angle.
They also know the gophers’ weaknesses as well.
I think the gophers are better served playing teams that don’t know us at all.
 

What do we know about Louisville? I've heard good defense, good ft shooting, poor 3 pt. shooting.

They got 5 guys that shoot the 3 with greater than 35% success.
 

I saw someone mention Centro here for dinner. It's a nice restaurant, but I would call ahead and see if you can get a reservation if you are interested in eating there as it can be very busy. They have steaks, pasta, wood fired pizzas, etc. It's a white tablecloth place, but not too upscale. One place I really like downtown that I didn't mention before is Bubba. It's a nice place as well, but what they do exceedingly well (for Des Moines at least) is fried chicken. It's the best fried chicken, I've had in town and there really is no second place.

Zombie burger is a fun spot if you've never been. They have a bunch of novelty burgers on the menu and shakes. They will probably create something wild for March Madness too. Maybe even a Minnesota Gopher inspired burger!

I am happy to give anyone advice/recommendations. If you have questions about your trip to Des Moines, I will try to check my PM's here a few times a day.
 



They got 5 guys that shoot the 3 with greater than 35% success.

The game is likely to be decided by how well Louisville shoots the 3s. About 45% of their shots are 3s as compared to about 28% for the Gophers.
They have two forwards- Nwora and another that shoot the most from 3 point range. If the Cardinals shoot 30% or less on 3s, there's a pretty good shot at a Gopher win.
 

**** SeatGeek. Had order canceled so now need to pay more for worse tickets.

How does that happen? I've used Stubhub dozens of times and never an issue. I've checked Seat Geek a few times and usually they have similar prices and less selection. Guess I will not be trying them out.
 

The game is likely to be decided by how well Louisville shoots the 3s. About 45% of their shots are 3s as compared to about 28% for the Gophers.
They have two forwards- Nwora and another that shoot the most from 3 point range. If the Cardinals shoot 30% or less on 3s, there's a pretty good shot at a Gopher win.

Do they start their two big guys?
 

The game is likely to be decided by how well Louisville shoots the 3s. About 45% of their shots are 3s as compared to about 28% for the Gophers.
They have two forwards- Nwora and another that shoot the most from 3 point range. If the Cardinals shoot 30% or less on 3s, there's a pretty good shot at a Gopher win.

Do they have someone who can lock Coffey down? IMO that's the most important factor, if Coffey gets going we're tough to beat, if not, we're tough to watch.
 




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