From The Barn

It’s a Bruin Blowout!

Posted on 23. Mar, 2013 by zipsofakron.

I was excited for Friday’s game against UCLA for plenty of reasons. Of course, it was the fact that the Gophers were in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. They were playing on college basketball’s biggest stage with a chance to redeem a season that fell well short of expectations once [...]

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Golden Gophers blow out the Bruins, and now get the Gators

Posted on 22. Mar, 2013 by JF.

A truly rewarding journey isn’t easy. There are wrong turns, detours, and delays. The college basketball season is 30 games long, and the Golden Gophers got lost along the way, and more than once looked like they wanted to give up and go home. Instead, they’ll be playing to go to the teams first Sweet 16 (that counts) since 1989. In basketball as in life, without negatives there can be no positives.

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UCLA is beatable if the Gophers don’t beat themselves.

Posted on 18. Mar, 2013 by JF.

In the run-up to Selection Sunday, there is no shortage of what teams will make the NCAA tournament and how they will be seeded. The discussion of which teams will make the tournament isn’t pointless. Obviously bubble teams and their fans care a great amount about their tournament chances, and making the tournament is a prerequisite to winning a national championship. Seeding, on the other hand, doesn’t matter. For all the talk of the number one overall seed and which teams received a good or bad seed, more discussion should surround match-ups and location. Playing a virtual home or road game does more to determine the outcome of a game than wearing a home or road jersey, the only thing seeding actually does determine. Even more important than game location is the actual teams that are playing, is how they match-up.

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Let’s Dance! Golden Gophers will play UCLA in the first round in Austin, Texas.

Posted on 17. Mar, 2013 by JF.

It wasn’t smoothest path or the prettiest product, but the Gophers are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three seasons. Their first round opponent will be UCLA, the 7th seed out of the PAC12. The Golden Gophers picked up an 11 seed. At first glance, this is a as good as [...]

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The “From the Barn” Bracket Challenge!

Posted on 16. Mar, 2013 by JF.

It is that time of year again. It is the time to irrationally pick the Gophers to go to the Sweet 16. It is the time of year to invest too much energy in rooting for Belmont, Davidson, or Hyphenated-State to beat a top 10 team. It is the time of year to win a book or two?

Well, the last part is true at least. We’ve set up a group at ESPN’s Tournament. The top two entries win a fabulous From The Barn t-shirt, and their choice of a March Madness themed book. The next two (or maybe more depending what I can scrounge up) win whichever book the better scorers don’t want. The real prize, of course, is endless bragging rights for the next 11 and a half months.

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Barack Obama’s bracket is better than yours

Posted on 20. Mar, 2011 by JF.

With only a few games left in the second round of the NCAA tournament (the play-in round was not the first round), people across the country are tearing up their brackets and hopefully rooting for underdogs. This phenomenon likely hasn’t reached the White House, where the President of the United States is sitting pretty, and [...]

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Tournament Preview: Southwest region

Posted on 15. Mar, 2011 by zipsofakron.

With the massacre that was the 2011 portion of the Gophers’ season over with, we can finally turn our attention to basketball that isn’t vomit-inducing. Here at From The Barn, we’ll break down each region of the NCAA Tournament with some interesting early takeaways from the bracket. Southwest Region: Team to love: St. Peter’s Playing [...]

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Tournament Preview: East Region

Posted on 15. Mar, 2011 by JF.

Before we get to the preview of the Midwest Region, please consider a donation to help the folks in Japan dealing with a horrific disaster. I’ll be donating a dollar for every game I watch, you should too. Now on to the basketball… Now that the bad basketball portion of the season is mercifully over, [...]

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Please donate to Japan Disaster Relief

Posted on 13. Mar, 2011 by JF.

By now I am sure you are acutely aware of the disaster unfolding throughout Japan. After a massive earthquake, one of the five strongest in recorded history and a subsequent tsunami, there is indescribable devastation. An estimated 10,000 died, thousands more are injured, millions are homeless and are struggling with access to basic needs like food, shelter, [...]

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Xavier Preview Part 4: Putting it all together

Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by JF.

If you haven’t had enough previewing of tomorrow’s first round NCAA tournament game, why not a look at the keys to the game and a prediction? Keys for the Gophers 1. Establish an inside presence. Ralph Sampson will need to be strong with the ball, and Colton Iverson will need to be strong with his [...]

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Xavier Preview Part 3: The Players

Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by JF.

As you probably noticed in the previous post breaking down Xavier’s conference season, the team goes as its big 2 (or 3) go. Jordan Crawford and Jason Love are the core of the team, but they are not the entire team. Three players average in double figures and three more average more than 4.5 rebounds [...]

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Xavier Preview Part 2: Atlantic 10 at a glance

Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by JF.

Needless to say, Xavier got things straightened out once the Atlantic 10 season started. They lost only three games, two in the regular season and in the final of the conference tournament. Here is how it happened: Score Leading Scorer Leading Rebounder Key Statistic XU 68 – LaSalle 62 Jordan Crawford – 22 Jason Love [...]

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Xavier Preview Part 1: The Non-conference Schedule

Posted on 16. Mar, 2010 by JF.

As was the case last year, we’ll go right up to game time slicing and dicing Minnesota’s NCAA tournament first round match-up. Today, we look back at Xavier’s non-conference schedule, over the next few days we’ll also look at their players and strengths and weakness, culminating Thursday with the final preview and a few predictions. [...]

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What a weekend!

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by JF.

The reaction: “We all jumped together,” point guard Devoe Joseph said. “I think we might have damaged the couch in there.” Damaged would be putting it mildly. “We did break the couch,” shooting guard Lawrence Westbrook confirmed. “We were excited to see our name.” “I honestly had no clue,” said Joseph, who made the All-Tournament [...]

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The Gophers are dancing…in Milwaukee!!!

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by JF.

Interstate 94 should be pretty crowded on Thursday night. The Gophers, the 11th seed,  will take on #6 Xavier. More later on the match-up and the crazy weekend that made it all possible.

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