big ten basketball

Me: Coach Izzo, do you think big-ten-regular-season scheduling is much different now with Nebraska in the conference than it was before?

Izzo: "'Everything has changed so much,' coach Tom Izzo said. ""

Me: "Changed so much"?  Really coach?  I see that since at least as early as the 1998-1999 season, a big ten team would often avoid playing twice against at least two teams each.  What do you think about the effects of having to not play every team each twice?

Izzo: "'There's been seasons we've either won or lost strictly on schedule,' Izzo said. 'If it's really erratic -- playing the top four twice and the bottom four once -- that could be a four- to six-game swing. And who you play on the road (means) a lot. I think the champion a lot of times is now determined by the schedule.'" 

Me: You say the champion is "now determined by the schedule"?  Doesn't logic suggest that that must have been the case as far back as 1998 then?

Izzo: (silence)

Me: So you're saying that at least some of the big ten titles MSU won since 1998 were not based on merit?

Izzo: (silence)

Me: Do you think you'd make the same argument if your team were today alone in first place in the big ten conference?

Izzo: (frown)

Dantonio (surprise appearance): "'OK, here's what we're going to do,' Dantonio said. 'We're going to get other people up here. We're going to talk about more than [scheduling].

'How many guys got a guy that's [knowledgeable on big ten scheduling]?' Dantonio asked . . . . After a couple raised their hands, Dantonio said: 'One, two -- so the two guys can go back there in the corner and talk about that. All of us right here, we're going to talk about [excuses for losing] for everybody. Let's go.'"  

 

sources (disclaimer: one link is to a free press article; please avoid clicking to it if possible): http://www.freep.com/article/20120201/SPORTS07/202010433/Big-Ten-schedule-imbalance-irks-Michigan-State-s-Tom-Izzo 

http://www.freep.com/article/20120120/SPORTS08/120120037/Mark-Dantonio-cuts-off-Michigan-assistant-Jeff-Hecklinski-during-coaches-convention 

 

Nebraska, last place in the B1G, beats Indiana.

Oh how the tide has turned for Indiana. What does mean for the B1G in general? Is the B1G beating up on itself hurting us? Is this good or bad for us(since we lost to IU), or WHO CARES 3 IN A ROW VS SPARTY!!?

Discuss.

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/from-a-makeshift-office-michigan-basketball-coach-john-beilein-prepares-for-move-to-new-facilities/ 

 

This article talks about the new basketball facility.  The fact that it will be completed soon is not so much news, however I thought the quotes from Coach B were new and also encouraging enough to post here.  Anyone in the community still have doubts about whether he's the right coach long-term for Michigan?

 

 

"When Michigan had to re-tool in many ways back in the mid-90s, they had to go in different directions and do some different things. At that time, Wisconsin popped up. Other teams started re-doing facilities. It wasn't like everybody else said, 'Oh, hey, Michigan wants to come back -- it's their turn. That's not happening. … We need to continue to establish a culture that breeds winning and a championship attitude." " I know we're moving in the right direction, but I don't doubt for a second that every other program out there isn't doing the exact same thing,” Beilein said. “There's 12 of us in the league, and to get to the NCAA Tournament and get that consistency, half of us will make it and half of us won't. "Which half are we going to be? That's how we have to approach it."

 

 

You might recall a few weeks back when we addressed the four proposals that fans could vote for on Facebook and touched upon the one rods-and-cones-scarring possibility that the court would end up looking like this. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the least awful option was selected.

Below is sample illustrating how the stained floor will actually look upon completion:

 

That’s actually not too shabby. You know what? Democracy: sometimes, it actually works!

 

http://www.sportressofblogitude.com/2011/08/16/northwestern-fans-select-...

So with recent wins by Northwestern and Minnesota, there is the possibility that FIVE teams in the Big Ten will finish 9-9 in the conference. Each of these five teams has one game left in regular conference play. This will happen if:

- Michigan beats Minnesota
- Northwestern beats OSU
- Indiana beats Wisconsin

Obviously, the last one (Indiana over Wisconsin) is really unlikely to happen. But still, we could easily have Michigan, Minnesota, OSU and Northwestern all at 9-9. I know this affects seedings for the Big Ten Tournament, but can anyone hazard a guess at what the implications are for the NCAA tourney?

The good thing is that, if this scenario (four teams at 9-9) occurs, Michigan will have a head-to-head advantage over Northwestern and Minnesota (but not OSU). The bad thing is that, even if this happens, Michigan will still place 7th in the conference, not counting the Big Ten Tournament of course.

Apparently, the Big Ten is morphing into a high school basketball league:

Penn State 38, Illinois 33
Recap: http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290490356

Normally, I find that people who speak out about the weakness of Big Ten basketball to be stupid considering the number of final four teams we've produced over the last decade (9), which beats the Big 12 (6), the Big East (4, 6 if you count appearances by C-USA teams that have since defected), the Pac-10 (4), and the SEC (4), tying the ACC (9) for first. However, this is just ridiculous.