Championship watch: Gophers getting 6 tonight

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February 22nd, 2012 at 11:23 AM
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ClearEyesFullHart
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Championship watch: Gophers getting 6 tonight

     Sparty makes his way to the barn tonight at 8:30 Eastern for a matchup with Tubby Smith's golden gophers in a matchup that could put Michigan in the driver's seat for a big ten championship.

     The spartans enter as 6 point favorites, and they obviously know their way around a barn, but it is a road game in the big ten, and if the gophers can find a way to hold onto the ball and big ten officiating holds to form they just might win one for the good guys.

     The numbers are somewhat stacked against the gophers, but Julian Welch is on somewhat of a tear, going 7-12 overall and 5-10 from downtown against Northwestern.

     Sparty is going to have to slip up for Michigan to have a shot, and their games at Indiana and against Ohio loom large in Michigan's hopes for a B1G championship...But a win by the gophers would certainly be huge--both for their ncaa hopes as well as Michigan's.

     I guess what I am trying to say is...

 

Omnes i facere est vincere 
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February 22nd, 2012 at 11:28 AM | haha gopher it (Score:3 Normal)
shep4569
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Joined: 11/18/2009
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I see what you did there....

Michigan football = life

GO BLUE!!

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:02 PM | Yes Gopher It! Go for the Score (Score:2 Normal)
Bombadil
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February 22nd, 2012 at 11:35 AM | If Minny pulls off the upset (Score:1)
Lionsfan
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If Minny pulls off the upset then I think we would have a real shot for a solo Big Ten championship. I don't think MSU will get out of Assembly Hall, and I think they're going to knock off OSU again.

If you're doing nothing, how do you know when you're finished?

StraightDave owes me a steak dinner

February 22nd, 2012 at 11:36 AM | Hard to imagine Minnesota winning w/out Mbakwe (Score:4 Normal)
Erik_in_Dayton
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MGoPoints: 6784

But I'll certainly be watchin' the Gophers.

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra

                         

February 22nd, 2012 at 2:04 PM | Statistics back up your (Score:2 Normal)
Maize_in_spartyland
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Statistics back up your point: Minnesota is 6-1 with Mbakwe, 11-9 without.

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February 22nd, 2012 at 11:37 AM | I'm worried about myself (Score:2)
Blazefire
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Earlier, I caught myself making a note to watch the MSU-OSU game and actually root for OSU. First we're saying "Gopher it", then we're rooting for OSU... being in the championship hunt in basketball is making me feel dirty.

I guess if MSU takes a key loss or two, I don't need to root for OSU OR MSU... there, I feel better.

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:26 PM | What would make you feel (Score:1)
BrokenRhino
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What would make you feel dirtier, rooting for OSU over MSU or a three way tie for the B1G Title?

If we need OSU to win I will have to do some serious soul searching to find it in me to root for OSU. This championship hunt is so different what we are used to.

February 22nd, 2012 at 11:54 AM | I gotta say it. (Score:1)
YoungGeezy
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A three way tie with MSU and OSU would be almost as bad as having us blow one of our final games.

Hoefully we get some help and can win the B1G Championship solo-dolo.

I LOVE MICHIGAN

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:11 PM | A 3-way tie after going 0-fer (Score:5 Normal)
ReadYourGuard
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A 3-way tie after going 0-fer the last 26 years still gives us a banner, and a hell of a legacy for Novak and Douglass.

A 3-way, split, or solo.  I'll take it.

"the Spirit of Michigan...is based on a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways....and a conviction that nowhere is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours" - Fielding Yost
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:30 PM | I am absolutely agree. I (Score:2)
benjamin
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I am absolutely agree.

I will take what I can get- I just want some new linen hanging in the rafters.

--
Benjamin in Ann Arbor.
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February 22nd, 2012 at 12:20 PM | There is no part of a Big Ten (Score:4 Normal)
jmblue
Joined: 11/07/2008
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There is no part of a Big Ten championship that is bad. 

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:22 PM | Outright would be great but I (Score:2)
WalMartWolverine
Joined: 04/21/2009
MGoPoints: 588

Outright would be great but I wouldn't mind swiping a piece from either Sparty or ohio at all, not this year.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:36 PM | As someone who lived through (Score:3 Normal)
a2bluefan
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As someone who lived through the 1992 football season when we went 9-0-3 (ties against both ND and OSU, as well as Illinois)... trust me, I hate a damned tie. But given that this year's hoops team was expected to finish like 5th in the Big Ten, I'll take a 3-way tie for the conference championship and be happy about it!

I automatically downvote "B1G"
February 22nd, 2012 at 12:02 PM | Remaining Schedule and rooting interests (Score:2 Normal)
El Tigre
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1. Michigan to win out. 

2. Wisconsin to beat Ohio

3. Indiana to beat MSU

4. Ohio to beat MSU

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:27 PM | On #4, the only thing I can (Score:2)
WalMartWolverine
Joined: 04/21/2009
MGoPoints: 588

On #4, the only thing I can root for is the earth to open up and swallow the arena whole, and that's the problem with anything but worrying about our guys and our games and letting the rest play itself out.

That said, all four of those things, plus a couple other possiblities that get us a piece of the championship, are all very plausible.

Did we come out of the half last night and play like Beilein had told them, Your playing for your B1G championship right now in these next 20 minutes? I thought so.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:34 PM | #4 (Score:1)
El Tigre
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It is a no win scenario for a michigan fan.  But if one beating the other means Michigan gets a B1G Championship, then I can dislike one team slightly less than the other that night.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:42 PM | No-win scenario?  It's (Score:3 Normal)
jmblue
Joined: 11/07/2008
MGoPoints: 28972

No-win scenario?  It's absolutely in our interests for OSU to win at MSU.  I have no problem rooting for the Buckeyes when it benefits us.  The rivalry stuff should go out the door when Michigan needs help in the standings.

Side benefit: if MSU loses at home, we'll have the longest home winning streak in the conference.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:47 PM | Yeah, you totally have to (Score:2)
WalMartWolverine
Joined: 04/21/2009
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Yeah, you totally have to want the outcome that is in our interests. I hesitate to call that rooting though.

February 22nd, 2012 at 6:12 PM | Exactly (Score:2)
ZooWolverine
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If MSU is still a game ahead, I have no problem cheering for the Buckeyes--self-interested cheering for evil is just fine by me.

One of the best parts of the MSU-OSU game is that it's the last game of the season, so you know with certainty what you want to happen. If the game was tonight, it would be theoretically possible that State drops 2 games later, and we actually wanted MSU to win the game in retrospect. But, with it being the last game, if MSU does drop those 2 games somehow, we know to happily cheer for the Spartans to break our tie with OSU. If State has won every game up to the end, it's not that we're in better shape if OSU wins, it's that they must win for us to get the co-championship, and I'll be cheering like crazy for the Buckeyes. Well, for a stadium collapse primarily, but for the Buckeyes to be ahead when it collapses.

February 22nd, 2012 at 1:06 PM | Boom...Dantonio'd (Score:4 Normal)
saveferris
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Only a Spartan would put petty institutional hatred of a rival ahead of personal glory.  If we need OSU to beat MSU to assure us a piece of a Big 10 title, then brother, I am rooting for OSU and feeling zero guilt about it.

 

"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:08 PM | Isn't the conference champion determined by the tournament? (Score:2)
Don
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If so, does it really matter all that much how we finish the regular season?


February 22nd, 2012 at 12:12 PM | No. Conference Champ is (Score:5 Normal)
GoBlogSparty
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No. Conference Champ is determined in the regular season. BTT Tournament champs are determined by the tournament. The 2 are unrelated

Your friendly neighborhood Sparty

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:14 PM | The regular season (Score:2)
ReadYourGuard
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The regular season championship is a two month long journey of endurance.  Winning it, particularly in this conference, is monumental.

Winning the tournament is big, but a mid-level team can all of the sudden get hot and win it.  It's big, but I think the regular season is bigger, imo.

"the Spirit of Michigan...is based on a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways....and a conviction that nowhere is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours" - Fielding Yost
February 22nd, 2012 at 12:16 PM | The Big Ten tournament (Score:1)
BigBlue02
Joined: 06/29/2009
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The Big Ten tournament champion and auto bid for the NCAA tourney are determined by the B10 tournament. The B10 champ is determined by regular season outcome

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:16 PM | There are two champions -- (Score:2)
jtmc33
Joined: 04/15/2009
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There are two champions -- regular season (which can be co-champions) and the tournament champion.    Both get banners.  

The tournament champion gets the automatic bid (but in the history of the Big tournament no team has won it that otherwise would not have been invited to The Big Dance... Illinois as a #10 seed lost in the finals a few years back.  Otherwise, it's always been a "lock" that received the automatic bid).

We haven't won the Big 10 regular season championship since 1986.  According to history* we have never won the Big 10 tournament.

Meeze wants moarz maize banners

Class of '97: 4 Years -- 4 Four-loss seasons

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:20 PM | I'd be happy with either, but... (Score:2)
Erik_in_Dayton
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I think a regular season title is more impressive.  You have be good for a much longer period of time. 

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra

                         

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:31 PM | Not that I wouldn't be quite (Score:2)
WalMartWolverine
Joined: 04/21/2009
MGoPoints: 588

Not that I wouldn't be quite happy with a BTT championship, but it is primarily a) a show, and b) a chance for someone to play their way into the NCAA. The regular season championship is the primo thing.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:24 PM | The tournament champion gets (Score:2)
jmblue
Joined: 11/07/2008
MGoPoints: 28972

The tournament champion gets the automatic bid (but in the history of the Big tournament no team has won it that otherwise would not have been invited to The Big Dance... Illinois as a #10 seed lost in the finals a few years back. Otherwise, it's always been a "lock" that received the automatic bid).

There was one Cinderella (sort of) - Iowa won the BTT as a #6 seed in 2001. They may not have gotten in otherwise (they were 7-9 in league play that year).

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:30 PM | "Correction... I too had sex (Score:2)
jtmc33
Joined: 04/15/2009
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"Correction... I too had sex with Katie."

Class of '97: 4 Years -- 4 Four-loss seasons

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:10 PM | This game is in the same (Score:2)
jtmc33
Joined: 04/15/2009
MGoPoints: 4921

This game is in the same catagory as last nights.... the road favorite playing to keep its chance at a league title alive and the home dog needing the win for its bubble resume' "GW" and to avoid an 11th loss and to keep its hopes for a .500 league record.  

Sparty has won 5 in a row and can win the league outright by winning out versus the Gophers being 2 losses away from the NIT.   

Gophers in OT.

Class of '97: 4 Years -- 4 Four-loss seasons

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:41 PM | Stats comparison (Score:2 Insightful)
Needs
Joined: 08/05/2008
MGoPoints: 4163

And much like last night, this is a matchup of very similar teams where the road team has a slight but consistent advantage in most statistical categories. MSU's biggest advantages lie in their efficiency stats, where they're going 1.10/0.92 PPP/OPPP vs Minny's 1.01/1.04.

But when you dig into the other stats, you see teams that are pretty close. [All stats here have MSU first]

-Both teams get to the line in similar numbers (587/564 FTA)

-They shoot almost identical %s from the floor (.475/.470) and from 3 (.353/.352). Both teams also pound it inside, being 10th and 11th in 3's attempted. (We've taken 250 more 3s than MSU).

-They are also both in the top third in defensive FG %, with MSU leading the league at an ungodly .371, but Minny in 4th at .414.

-They're both negative in turnover margin (-.19/-.74) though Minny's averaging slightly more than half a turnover a game more.

-They're tied atop the league in assists per game at 15.7

-They lead the league in blocked shots (4.4/5.1) and offensive rebound percentage (.395/.363)

-The biggest gap lies in defensive rebounding. Where MSU's 2nd in the league in defensive rebound %, Minnesota is 11th, ahead of only Northwestern.

 

It seems like if Minny can keep MSU from killing them on the offensive boards, this will go down to the wire. The matchup is far closer than their relative place in the conference standings would lead you to believe. Throw in the weird aspects of playing in the Barn and a team playing for its tournament life, and Minny's got a definite shot at pulling the upset.

February 22nd, 2012 at 12:26 PM | #GoGophers (Score:2)
jamiemac
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 7894

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