.....if we were to get by UCLA and BYU, there is no reason why we wouldn't have a legit shot at the Elite 8 or the final four. I may be up to my ears in maroon koolaid, but to get past these two teams would be HUGE!

Pretty good shot at BYU, I think. UCLA will prove too strong.

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BYU could be tough, but if we play decently we should win.

To beat UCLA in Anaheim would be a huge upset. We couldn't do it with Acie last year and they are better this year. That said, you never know what can happen.

We're so unpredictable. The Big 12 tournament has changed my opinion of late. I think we are playing our butts off now, and I see us giving ANYONE we play fits.

Screw it. If we're going to go down, let's go down taking a #1 seed in their back yard to the wire.

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but to get past these two teams would be HUGE

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Yes you are correct...to beat the #1 seed in a virtual home game for them would be huge

Jones
Davis
Jordan
Elonu

If they keep up the intensity I like where that will take the Ags.

But we played UCLA in Cali last year. Yes we have a bunch of newer players starting, but since most of them had that experience. I'm hoping it won't be as much of an issue.

We played UCLA in Cali last year... WITH Acie... and UCLA was no better last year than this year... and we lost.

We'll have our hands totally full just getting past BYU.

But IF we do, I'd think that we'd be a double-digit dog to UCLA in round 2. It would be a MONUMENTAL upset... and without a doubt the most improbable NCAA Tourney win in A&M history.

Well, we almost pulled it off against another #1 seed on a not-so-much neutral court yesterday afternoon.

That gives me hope if we can manage to get past the Mormons. How often does the 23 ranked team in the nation only get an 8 seed?

If we play like we played against KU in the tournament we have a chance. KU and UCLA are (obviously) of very comparable quality and the KU game was on an anything-but-neutral court. Ironically the game in LA will probably be more neutral as I expect more people from all the various schools to travel, plus a lot of locals with little affiliation. Plus, UCLA crowds recently just aren't all that rowdy, or so I've heard, and so it seemed last year.

They're better than we are. I'm pretty certain of that. But we played KU basically even in the tournament; if we'd hit one more shot the entire dynamic of the endgame would have changed (no foul derby, etc). We a shot in that game. We could have a shot against UCLA.

We'll probably go home, but at least we've got real evidence that we've got a shot.

I think we would've beat Kansas in the big 12 tourney if it weren't for some stupid passes and stupid judgement. That's in their backyard. Therefore, we have the capability of beating UCLA in their backyard if we correct our stupid mistakes and play with the same intensity.

Thats a big big big IF, plus if we do by some chance happen to beat these teams I don't see A&M beating Drake or Xavier.

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I think we would've beat Kansas in the big 12 tourney if Josh Carter goes 3-8 rather than 1-8. That's in their backyard. Therefore, we have the capability of beating UCLA in their backyard

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FIFY. And Dominique didn't play as well as Friday either. The truth of that game was that Kansas played a very good game at full strength and we still almost won WITHOUT our starting point guard and center for most of the game and our best shooter going 1-8. Now you can say that Beau hitting 3 (#'s 2, 3 and 4 of his career) offsets a part of that, but we had a BUNCH of guys step up and if it all carries over, we could be the toughest 9 seed in a while.

While 9's first 8's in first round have a winning record since 1985, only three of them have won in round 2, and none have made the Final Four.

What it takes to be add one to that second round total is a team that is either grossly under-rated or a team that is peaking at just the right time.

I don't think we are grossly under-rated, based on our performance, but I do think we underperformed for a good part of our conference schedule relative to our talent. Given the way we played in the conference tournament, we might be back on track and peaking at the right time.

I think we have a decent shot at putting a win in that round 2 column, but its still a longshot, but BYU is not an easy game, and UCLA is a legit #1 seed.

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Thats a big big big IF, plus if we do by some chance happen to beat these teams I don't see A&M beating UCONN or Duke.

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fify

If we are in the UCLA game the crowd will start to pull for us (it will be more 50-50, 60-40% for us). Everyone likes to pull for the lower seeds and to see a #1 knocked off. We just need to make it to halftime within 5-10 points and play well in the 2nd half.

I think we will show no intensity againist BYU!

That would be so cool to watch the Ags be a bracket buster. I doubt it will happen, but should be fun to watch nonetheless.

I agree, that's why I would love if we could somehow beat UCLA...easiest bracket overall.

12th Manchild Free Tourney Pool, winner gets a Free A&M Nike Polo
http://www.the12thmanchild.com/story/2008/3/16/232658/382

Teams playing in Anaheim:

UCLA
Stanford
Marquette
BYU
Texas A&M
Kentucky
Cornell
Mississippi Valley St.

Cross off Cornell and MVS. Their fans will not travel.

We have to hope for Stanford, Marquette and Kentucky to bring their fans. We all know Kentucky has probably the best traveling fans. And many of them, probably the 15,000 that went down to Georgia that did not get to see them play, will travel to So. Cal.

Unfortunately, I think this will only help on Saturday (if they win on Thursday) because they will be the late set of games on Thursday.

Lets hope we win and Kentucky wins on Thursday!