About the Big Ten Tournament making you tired.

Got into a discussion with a friend over the importance of the B1G tournament, he thought it was a useful "spring board", I did not.  Did some gopher work on the results that might be interesting to you. 

4 – Exceeds expectations, only 2009 Purdue wasn’t a #1 seed.

5 – played to seed

7 – Did not meet expectations.  Although 3 of these are Sweet 16 losses, which aren’t absolutely terrible.

Year	Champion	B1G Tourney Seed	NCAA Tournament Result
1998	Michigan	4	#3, lost in 2nd round.  Later Ed Martin’d
1999	Michigan State	1	#1, Lost in Final Four
2000	Michigan State	2	#1, Won it all
2001	Iowa	6	#7, played to seed
2002	Ohio State	2	#4, lost to #12 Mizzou in second round
2003	Illinois	2	#4, lost to #5 ND
2004	Wisconsin	2	#6, played to seed
2005	Illinois	1	#1, Lost in NCG
2006	Iowa	2	#3, Lost in first round
2007	Ohio State	1	#1, Lost in NCG
2008	Wisconsin	1	#3, Played to seed, but lost to #10 Davidson
2009	Purdue	3	#5, played slightly above seed, lost to #1 Uconn in Sweet 16 Side note, doesn’t it seem like decades ago since Purdue was good at basketball?
2010	Ohio State	1	#2, Lost to Tennessee in Sweet 16.  In a cruel twist of fate, Bruce Pearl gets canned for lying about hosting Aaron Craft at his house
2011	Ohio State	1	#1, lost to Kentucky in Sweet 16, [fart noise].  Is that big white guy from Kentucky still in the NBA?
2012	Michigan State	1	#1, lost Louisville in Sweet 16
2013	Ohio State	2	#2, got Shocked in Elite 8.  All the debates about charges…..

Thanks,

Kent, a.k.a. Baloo_dance

That doesn't look like anything resembling a real effect, especially since only 1998 Michigan, 2002 OSU, and 2006 Iowa  had anything resembling first-weekend surprise exits. OSU and MSU going out in the Sweet 16 after a two-week period in which they played two games can't be chalked up to fatigue unless you're Tom Izzo.

Also worth noting that teams that "play to seed" generally exceed the average tourney wins per seed line:

So a one seed that reaches the final four is about seven tenths of a win to the good. Big Ten Tourney champs have acquired 38 wins in the tournament since the BTT's inception; based on seedings they were expected to get 36.42. At the very least we can say there's no evidence that winning the Big Ten has any effect on your tournament hopes. Given the seed line graph above and the fact that winning games moves you up lines, it is undoubtedly a net positive.

Resolved: in favor of winning Big Ten Tournament.

On Michigan twitter.

Brian,

In your opinion, is Delonte' Hollowell the most interesting M athlete to ever grace Twitter? I think so, but that's just, like, my opinion, man. At the bare minimum he has to be the greatest all-caps philosopher of all time.

Adam

If Twitter has proven anything it's that plebes are suckers for athletes who tweet in all caps, and I am in their midst.

Most athletes use twitter like high school kids with ten followers—like weird semi-public email, and that puts a damper on things. You can tell whenever a dude breaks up with a girl because he starts making tweets that sound like Gin Blossoms lyrics; a lot of the time you're just getting "hey @other_athlete, what's good". The rest of the time it is "rise and grind #blessed." This is fine and all but not particularly interesting to people other than @other_athlete.

Hollowell, on the other hand, spends large chunks of his time with ALL CAPS EXHORTIONS to be something or do something else that are meant to be twitter. He rises and grinds without informing the world of this fact, and he does not tweet #blessed. He seems perpetually irritated by everything. He is the best.

Other current Wolverines worth following:

1. Henry Poggi's feed is mostly about the Big Lebowski, which means you may not want to follow it but I do.
2. Andrew Dakich, obviously.
3. Jordan Morgan trolls MSU fans, and keeps trolling.
4. Graham Glasgow takes shots at his brother by deploying Snorlax. Frequently tweets about being sleepy or in bed.
5. Desmond Morgan sarcastically deploys #blessed.

Big day today. Got #mcm'd by an 11 year old girl on instagram. #blessed

— Desmond Morgan (@D_Morgan48) March 10, 2014

#mcm == "Man Crush Mondays."

Ondre Pipkins would have been on the list, but he nuked his twitter last year.

On NBA Draft changes.

Brian -

This question is undoubtedly way too soon. I normally don't like to engage in the "who are we losing" questions while still able to enjoy the product on the floor. However, I was reading about potential NBA draft changes and Adam Silver's emphasis on extending the age-limit prohibiting players from entering the NBA until they are done with their sophomore year.

Several articles mentioned NBA front-offices fearing a insanely weak 2015 draft if any changes were implemented. What do you think this potential, if any, has on a player like Nik Stauskas when evaluating an NBA departure?

Justin

No. Stauskas is projected in the top 15 of this loaded draft and there's hardly any difference between going 15th and 5th. That would not impact his decision.

However, it might impact McGary and Robinson. They would go from guys who might play themselves into the first round next year into holy first round locks. That would shift the equation significantly enough that it would suddenly be a very bad idea to enter.

However, despite the immediate salutary benefits for Michigan that is a step in the wrong direction. The right direction is draft and follow: everyone's eligible before their freshman year, five round draft, anyone who gets signed occupies a roster spot for remaining NCAA eligibility + 1 years no matter where they are.

SO WOW

after a loss michigan is 7-0 with an average margin of victory of 24 points.  thats insane, no?

Robert

YES

MUCH ZING

Be sure to note that Michigan notched its 7th road win of the season yesterday. Folks sometime forget how tough it is to win on the road in the B1G; how tough it is to win in East Lansing, or in Madison, or in Columbus -- much less in all three places in the same friggin' year. It's really an eye-popping achievement, and a testament to the job Coach B has done of getting them ready to compete in very hostile environments.

Cheers.

Doug

HOW WOW