5:30 PM ESPN for MSU-Uconn
7 PM NBCSNfor Ohio-Marquette
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Awesome pre game show for msu - uconn
It's Marquette vs. OSU (not Ohio U) for those, like me, who find these kinds of posts unnecessarily confusing.
Agreed. I don't ever use the whole Ohio thing, but I find it weird anyone would use it when referring to basketball especially with how our season ended...
Noooo! I almost wiped that completely from my memory... you reminded me. DON'T SETTLE FOR THE THREE WHEN YOU DON'T NEED IT!!!!!!!!
/fetal position.
Wife's alma mater is Marquette, I now am a Milwaukee resident, go Marquette, go go go go goooooooo, gooooooooo...
but that still doesn't make these uniforms any less of an abomination.
I really don't think they look that bad, but they are way too similiar.
I'm sitting here watching the Sparty game at Ashley's. Well it hasn't officially tipped off yet. Sitting next to a Sparty fan. Pre-gaming before making the walk down State to Crisler. Can't wait to see the arena and the team.
I know a lot of people on here will say it's gimmicky or whatnot, but MSU has done a good job the past few years promoting their program. Whether or not playing basketball on an aircraft carrier or on a military base in Germany is "pure to the sport," MSU has gotten a ton of PR out of both experiences. ESPN has practically been drooling MSU the start of the last two-basketball seasons because Hollis is effectively positioning his team.
I know a lot of people would oppose Brandon making these moves and cry "money, money, money," but the fundamental fact is that it is pretty cool and gives the university an exclusive national broadcast. I hope Brandon follows suit...
but is it just me or do they lose ALL these gimmick games?
I honestly don't know. I just think it's cool they are participating, and their program is pushing the envelope a bit.
We always lose to UNC and Duke. Always
I think these gimmick games are overrated as there are so many preseason tournaments that every decent BCS team goes to at least one. Is it any different than playing in MSG for the Preseason NIT or going to Hawaii for the Maui Classic? Michigan will be playing at the new Barclays Center against West Virginia in the "Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival", and barring a huge upset, MSG for the Preseason NIT.
For the record, Sparty lost both "Basketbowl" twice in 2003 & 2008 playing in Ford Field (and that doesn't even include their third loss there in the 2009 NCAA Champ Game), lost the "Carrier Classic" last year on an aircraft carrier, and lost the "Champions Classic" at MSG last year. If they lose this "Armed Forces Classic" on a base in Europe, MSU should just avoid creating these things all together.
Preseason tournaments have always been very common for winter sports like basketball and wrestling. It's a great way to get your bearings against top notch competition and see where you need to improve.
As a coach, I love early season or "per season" tournaments.
This "gimmick game" generates substantially more publicity for the two-individual schools than any 8-team pre-season tournaments. Since noon PST, ESPN has basically been the MSU and UCONN show.
UM will get nowhere near the same level of publicity and attention when they play WVU at the Barclay's Center. Even though we have a compelling storyline with Belein playing his old team, it will be but one of a dozen storylines ESPN discusses that day.
As far as who wins / loses these games, what difference does it make? This is college basketball, not footbal. One loss does not destroy bowl hopes or dampen an entire season. If I were MSU, I would leverage this unique positioning to brand myself to athletes and the basketball fanbase, overall.
1. The only way to get games like this are to have an established program. Even if Michigan wanted to play these games, we haven't built our program up to the point where we could sell a game like this to ESPN. There is a reason why Michigan Hockey has played more outdoor games than any other hockey team (including NHL teams): their winning tradition.
2. These games count especially if you are on the bubble. Hasn't applied to MSU in a long time. The games at Ford Field were cool because local fans could go to the game, and it helped prep for the NCAA tournament. The Carrier Classic though is where these games started turning into a gimmick. Playihg on an aircraft carrier is unnecessary and a huge injury risk. The Ohio State/Marquette game is being delayed right now due to condensation on the court and may even be cancelled. I would rather play a game in a state of the art NBA facility like the Barclays Center than an aircraft hanger with a sloped floor that needs to be leveled for basketball in Germany at midnight local time. Michigan State's "student-athletes" probably had to take at least a week off from school to travel for this games, and I have my doubts how any of these students can possibly be doing real academic work by taking a week off during the end of the fall semester.
3. I think you are overstating the publicity gained by these games. ESPN during the day barely moves the meter (few people on the West Coast will even see this game), and I bet you the ratings for the Kentucky game in Barclays that follows will be greater.
I would love to see Michigan play a game in Okinawa, Naples, Guam, maybe even somewhere in the Middle East if somehow that could get done without making those guys jobs even harder.
I don't think anyone would be saying "money grab" if M did something like this. I'd much rather wear maize, though. Like I said above, these uniforms are legitimately terrible.
I don't know. Me thinks a material percentage of persons on this board (and in the alum community) are skeptical of any "outside the box" idea Brandon comes up with to promote our program.
I agree with you. We've got the basketball product to pull off some stuff like this. We don't because 1) the creativity isn't there 2) we see it as a gimmick and somehow beneath us or 3) too much of a demand on coaches and players. I tend to think it's number one.
I think they go great with the concept, just need more contrast.
Nice.
I love this start!
All I see is a floating ball, where is everyone?
/camouflage
Floating and not bouncing? Refs just don't call travelling anymore...
It's good to see Dawson was able to recover alright from that injury late last year, that guy is a hell of an athlete.
Did I mention I love this!?
I don't think it has to do with Brandon wanting to make money. It's when he puts stripes and zigzags on our uniforms because they're not good enough for him.
Dawson is good. That's about all they got.
The only one I would take from their team is Dawson. McGary, GR3, Burke, and Hardaway are better than anyone else on State.
trust me it's the uniforms and the brand and I agree with them. We mess with our uniforms more than any other traditional rich program in the country. You don't see USC and Alabama wearing 4 different uniforms a year.
These unis are terrible, and are way too similar.
I do however like seeing all the military in the crowd! What a treat for them, at least between set-up and break-down!
My friend is in the navy and is going to the OSU-Marquette game tonight. It's definitely nice to see teams do this so the servicemen can enjoy some college sports while on duty!
Nix looks so confused.
This is awesome!
Im liking this annual sparty beat down classic!
Apparently has another year of eligibility.
Nix always looks confused.
Oh c'mon UConn get your shit together!
This is as unathletic team as I can remember Izzo fielding. Right now they have Valentine, Nix and Byrd on the floor and none of the three are moving very well
I'm sure fatigue and being 4000 miles from Michigan has something to do with it
With all due respect, I don't think so, UConn is just as far from home and looks much more athletic. I don't think Valentine, Nix and Byrd would look much more athletic whether they play in East Lansing or East Berlin.
Valentine looks fine to me, but yeah nix is still unathletic
To be fair Harris hasn't shown what he can do yet, and Appling is a decent player. Dawson however is one of the best 3's on the country, that kid can play.
State will be good as always, but this isn't one of Izzo's vintage teams IMO
Harris, Trice, and Byrd can all shoot, and supposedly Appling got his shot back over the summer (was good his freshman year, lost it last year)
Yep. Don't expect Payne and Nix to start together when B1G play starts. This is more of an expirement, that's failing.
Don't celebrate too soon folks, 9point game. State wasn't ready for the start but if they are strong with the ball they will get back into this.
I may be in the minority... but State losing in their OOC does nothing for me in basketball. I want the perception of the Big10 to be as strong as possible heading into conference play and subsequent tourney seeding.
I 2nd that
A Tom Izzo team playing bad in November.....why am I not shocked by that one? Call me in Feb when they are in the thick of things as usual.
Hate them or not....it's wash and repeat for Izzo to start every season.
This is incredibly odd watching OSU and Marquette literally on their knees wiping the condensation off the floor...
As long as everyone is trashing Nix I should point out he had 5 or 6 points and 9 rebounds in the first half.
Is there a stream for the Marquette game? Or is it available on the NBC website. Can't find it.
MSU will win this game. I bet by double digits.
Still no tipoff yet for OSU Marq game...a lot of concern over the court (FYI, it's on an aircraft carrier)....
Was a big problem for MSU last year too. With so many people doing it now, it was bound to happen. The Syracuse one was already postponed
They are now going to do a "2 minute test period" before the start of the game to see how it holds up.
This is why Naismith intended this game to be played in a gymnasium...
State looks much better going small to start the 2nd half. Replacing Payne with Travis Trice. I doubt Izzo was too impressed with Payne's zero point, zero rebound, pathetic D, first half
OSU game now going be delayed 20 minutes to try to wait for the temperature to drop. Marquette's coach is very pessimistic of a game tonight...
Damn, looks like they are considering calling it.
Anybody else still miss Nike? I just turned on the Uconn game. Horrific uniform alert!
Yup. Nike > Addidas.
Call me old fashioned, but shorts are not supposed to be 3/4 length pants, sounds like Adidas makes appropriately sized garments.
Camo uni's are about the only thing Nike has done bad imo. The camo shoes are sick though
Those jerseys are so sick. And regardless of those uni's how many times do we go over this. Adidas isn't in the same galaxy as Nike. Adidas is just plain terrible, horrible, any word that means not good you can use there. They stink.
OSU Marquette game will not be played.
They're going to call the OSU Marquette game. Damn, sorry for the kids and particularly our service folks.
What a pain in the ass to orchestrate this whole thing to just not play it.
On another note, I haven't seen thadmattasagoblin lately, but let me take this opportunity to say that Thad Matta is, in fact, a goblin. Eeesh.
Valentine reminds me of a less athletic Darius Morris. He likes to back guys down into the paint and throw up funky runners.
So while I'm disappointed the game got called, I'm satisfied.
These aircraft carrier games are an unnecessary risk for players who aren't even paid. SI's Pete Thamel is looking prophetic right now after posting this earlier today:
My final take on these boat games. I just hope no one gets hurt. Lot can go wrong with wind, cold, moisture, etc.
You can do charity events with indoor games. I'm all for charity.
Kevin Ollie is a solid choice for UConn. He'll probably be a really good recruiter.
Obviously started out slow and just didn't play a good game at all, but you can see how they can still be a good team later in the year. As for their freshman, Gary Harris didn't have a great game either but you can see his potential, although I wasn't very impressed by Valentine. Tough loss against a team I thought they were better than, always root for the Big10 early in the season, but I'm sure they'll be fine this year.
Alright, time for our team to have a better showing. Go Blue!
Izzo teams normally struggle to score early in the year, but this appears to be a very guard oriented team. Not sure how much the frontcourt will be able to contribute this season.
..ever again.
If they do it, it should be done the way UCONN and MSU did it, in a hangar with a crowd in an indoor environment.
I'm just glad they were sensible enough to cancel the game(s) or stop once they couldnt control the moisture ont the court.
Hopefully the Syracuse game goes through without any injuries or problems.