Alright, so who are we rooting for (errr, against) today?
I'll definitely be doing some scoreboard watching at work today (and TV watching once I get home) and I at least want to make sure I have my shit together. From what I can tell, these are the games that may have an effect on us -- in some of them our rooting interest seems clear, but not so much in others:
- MSU vs. Iowa -- Do we want Sparty to lose b/c it would probably drop them below us, or win b/c it preserves our wins over them as "quality" ones?
- Colorado vs. Kansas St -- Gotta root for KSU to keep Colorado a peg or two below us
- Penn St vs. Indiana -- Should we root for PSU to boost our SOS, or could they potentially steal a spot from us? They're actually 1 spot ahead of us in RPI according to this morning's bubble watch (they're 53, we're 54).
- Washington vs. Wazzou -- Should we root for Washington to keep Wazzou off the bubble, or could a Wazzou win potentially take Washington below us?
- Utah vs. San Diego St -- However unlikely it may be, I guess a Utah upset might make our win over them look a little better (meh, I dunno)
Let me know if I'm missing anything here...
Eff sparty. Them winning doesn't help us as much as them losing, IME.
We beat both in the regular season, so I would take a Sparty meltdown over a nuanced bump in our rankings.
If they can crack the top 50 with a win over IU (and maybe another win over Wisconsin), that's 2 more top-50 wins on our resume. It would definitely put them ahead of us (if we don't make a run of our own), but it might give us a boost over some other random teams.
IDK, the more I think about this stuff the more convoluted it gets. Sometimes you don't really know who you were supposed to root for until long after the games have been played.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^
About top 50 wins, but I think that your statement about a PSU win - "It would definitely put them ahead of us" - is the reason that we CANNOT root for PSU. There are a limited # of spots out there. If they get one, there is one less spot for us. While a PSU helps out SOS and "top 50 wins" stats, this does not have a concrete effect on our chances - at best, it helps us in a vague, amorphous way against hypothetical match-ups against scores of other teams. Also, even if PSU is a top-50 win, it is not one that is likely to sway the committee - beating the Iowa, Pudrue, Wisconsin level teams woulf have had more impact. Whether PSU is 48 of 55 wouldn't have that level of impact.
March 10th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
Is the committee that naive that they'd take into account that we have 5 wins over teams ranked in the top 50? Rather than wins over teams ranked in the top 53....or 56? I think that magic number of 50 is a little blown out of proportion.
1. Root against sparty. Yes, we need wins against top 50. But, if Sparty goes on a run in the BTT, and we lose tomorrow, there is still the chance that they can jump us for a spot. If they lose, they are done.
2. Agree on rooting for Kansas State to keep Colorado behind us.
3. I am going for INdiana over PSU. I know that we need top 50 wins. But, at the end of the day, we need teams that are in our approximate bubble band to start to drop off, since any team that remains could steal one of the few spots that we are competing for. This one is close, though.
4. I have no thoughts on the Wash v. Wazzou.
5. I agree with you - pull for Utah over SDSU. Gives us a slight bump up in SOS.
For me, the only games with real impact on us are the MSU anf PSU games. Need MSU to lose, just to seal the deal on them being out of it. Ditto PSU.
Of course the most important game is tomorrow at 2.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
A win over Illinois gives us one more win over a top 50 team, but if Sparty loses and goes below the mark, we just break even. So, I'd rather see MSU blow it and eliminate themselves.
We need to need to go against every team that still is being considered as a bubble team.
I'd be OK with PSU winning only because it would be a miracle for them to win the whole thing.
Don't forget we root for Cal over USC today. USC is creeping up on the bubble.
Another may be Arkansas over Tennessee
Georgia Tech over Virginia Tech
And I can't decide on the UAB-ECU game. We want UAB to win that conference tourney so that CUSA is a one bid league, but if they lost early to a team like ECU it might take them down to the wrong side of the bubble.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
Also Wake Forest over B.C.
If BC loses to the ACC bottom feeder it may kick them out all together - but a win probably secures their bid.
Let's hope for a South Florida over 'Nova type upset in this one
March 10th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
Definitely Cal over USC, Arkansas over Tenn and GT over VT.
I would go for UAB. If they are out, someone else will get their bid, so it is a zero-sum game.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^
I think you gotta pull for IU over Penn St - IU is our 'worst' loss and we would like them to look a bit better? But I think Battle is going to have a big-time final Big Ten weekend (though it may not last long)
Also, I think we root against BC against Wake, would be quite an upset but would hurt BC's bubble hopes.
I agree with you about pulling for Utah over SDSU, and along the very marginal help... let's root for Bowling Green over Western!
March 10th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
Root against MSU and Penn State. They're both tied with us in conference play, so if the BT only gets 5 invites, it will be easier for the committee to pick us if we all end up losing.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:11 AM ^
Michigan's going to get the automatic berth, so there's really no need to root for other teams.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
Iowa. Iowa. Iowa. I hope they run up the score all the way to 9.
Oh, and fuck Izzo.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^
I want MSU to not only lose, but get blown out when Iowa only scores 9 points. That could break the NCAA record for lowest-scoring basketball game (the current record is 11 total points, for a final score of Tennessee State University 7, Ogelthorpe 4).
March 10th, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
I just don't see how that would happen. Somebody in maintenance leaves the windows open during a snow storm and the game is played with two feet of snow on the court? Both teams and both coaches are stricken with horrific but brief bouts of food poisoning right before tip off and are unable to dribble? The game is called and Iowa declared the winner after the first basket because of some bizarre act of God?
March 10th, 2011 at 11:37 AM ^
This was a reply to the hope that "they run up the score all the way to 9." This was taken out of context; he was referring to Izzo's complaining about Michigan running up the LEAD to 7 at the end of last week's game, not the score. In all truth, I would prefer MSU loses big so they know what "running up the score" actually means.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
I hope they get beat by 40. Other than that, I'm not ready for March Madness yet.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^
I am so with you. From Izzo's sort-of-guaranty of victory to the whole post-game crap to Izzo's hypocritical criticism of Morris for making a layup when the game was within 2 scores to my love of "get the fuck off my court," I just hate Sparty.
But, with the BTT starting today, how can you not be ready for March Madness? With this team, I will be so psyched to see what we can do in the tourney.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:43 AM ^
We want these teams to LOSE in my opinion:
Sparty
PSU
Wazzu
Colorado
USC
And ALSO:
Virginia Tech
Boston College
Georgia
Memphis
UTEP? (listed as a bubble team but we played them)
March 10th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^
The best day of the conference tournament schedule is today IMO. If you have a chance to watch, do so. Almost 50 games going on.
Rooting Interests:
Kansas over Okie State-Helps us and doesn't let OSU bubble talk start again.
Auburn over Georgia-Die Bulldogs Die
ECU-UAB-This is a tough one. There are a lot of bubbly teams in the CUSA but none with really worthy resumes. I'd really prefer to see one of those teams take the autobid and UAB probably has the best resume of all of them. I'll go UAB to win the game and the CUSA tourney.
Wake over BC-Not likely to happen. Cheer for it anyway.
Cal over USC-This will help us and make you feel warm and fuzzy. Win-win.
KSU over Colorado-A Colorado win would be the worst thing imaginable.
Memphis-USM-Meteor to hit arena. Or for whoever looks worse to pull out a win and lose to UAB tomorrow.
Iowa over MSU-We've done our job against them. Now Sparty needs to go bye-bye.
New Mexico-CSU-Meteor game #2. Only concerning if the winner beats BYU tomorrow.
Cincinnati over ND-I don't like ND.
Arkansas over Tenn-The SEC version of Sparty will probably be in, 14 losses not withstanding. But can't hurt to see them lose this one.
Indiana over PSU-Too much bubble talk for a team that shouldn't be near it.
Marshall-UTEP-UTEP as long as either they or UAB win the conference tournament.
GTech over VTech-Would kill VTech's bubble hopes.
Washington over Washington State-Ditto VTech
March 10th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
"Cincinnati over ND-I don't like ND."
+1 for that remark. I love to see them lose whenever I get a chance.
March 10th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
As of now, we're an 11-seed going against....West Virginia!!!! What a showdown that would be!!!!
March 10th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^
Syracuse - former Michigan opponent.
March 10th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
A few thoughts:
Go Hawkeyes! I will be rooting very hard against Sparty this afternoon. I don't really care whether it helps our Top 50 wins or not, we can worry about ourselves tomorrow against the Illini.
I am rooting for Wazzu... can't let that Washington win for MSU look good now, can we?
You don't have to tell me twice to root against Steve Fisher... go Utes!
Finally, I am pulling for Penn State today, but I want to beat Wisconsin in the BTT Championship. I feel like we owe them one...
Bowling Green, I believe a past opponent, is currently down to WMU @ half, 33-26. Don't bet on the comeback.
I'm grudgingly pulling for Sparty. I think we really need them to help our resume. (This would all be simpler if we could just play our game first, but oh well.) Also, I'd like the idea of playing them one more time - for the Big Ten title. A 2-0 sweep is fun. 3-0 would be legendary.
Woah, adios Pitt.
Pitt is already in post-season form.
It's March and Pitt chokes, ah the circle of life.
Does anyone know a place to find online streams for the big ten tournament?
Kansas escapes against OK State, 63-62. That could have been a disaster.