Tuesday Night College Hoops Open Thread
You know the drill. Not too many games of intrigue but a couple of Big Ten games none the less.
Indiana at Michigan State in progress.
Purdue at Northwestern tips at 9 on Big Ten Network.
If all else fails, we can talk about the big one at Crisler tomorrow night.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:11 PM ^
thanks for the correction
January 21st, 2014 at 9:07 PM ^
Well that probably does it for Indiana. I have no doubt MSU will play exponentially better against us Saturday, we'll just have to play at our highest level as well.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:11 PM ^
I'd also prefer us to beat MSU and give them their first conf loss
January 21st, 2014 at 9:11 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^
Indiana is a good example of what is wrong with college basketball. They were a great team last year and then early entries to the draft has made this team a shell of its former self. I dislike the NBA since it incentivizes this problem.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:20 PM ^
Michigan lost 2 first round draft picks, and then lost a future first round talent to injury and yet they are playing pretty damn well. There's more to bball than just the players, coaches have a big impact too.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:23 PM ^
January 22nd, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
No. Just no. There are only two facts I need to say to put this into perspective. First, Indiana lost to Northwestern. That alone is a pathetic loss and will probably cost them an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Michigan is honestly a few wins away from being considered a lock for the tourney.
The second is a brief look at KenPom. Michigan is rated #13 in the nation, but Indiana is rated a mere #68 and frankly, they got a big boost by playing "well" last night against an MSU without Payne. You can say KenPom's stats are flawed or whatever, but we're talking about an independent rating system that's generally pretty accurate that has 55(!!) teams between Michigan and Indiana. That's pretty substantial. People rip on the additions of Maryland Rutgers to the Big Ten. Maryland is rated above Indiana right now.
January 21st, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
IU lost four starters after last year: two seniors (Hulls and Watford), one junior (Oladipo) and one sophomore (Zeller). If this were football, three of the four would still be gone.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:14 PM ^
anyone ever tell you that you walk like your asshole is on fire
January 21st, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^
what a beautiful thing that is.
Our wins in Minny and Nebby look better and better every game
January 21st, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^
over, FT's clinched it
January 21st, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^
Lots of mugging under the rim tonight. No help from the cops. We need to bring mace on Saturday.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^
MSU just makes plays defensively and rebounds, getting timely shots to go.
If Payne is out Saturday night and at this point I don't know how effective he would be having missed nearly two weeks of game action, I think Michigan presents problems. Like Iowa, they are the one league team where you can't concentrate on one or two guys, because everyone is capable of scoring double digits.
Without Payne, MSU is primarily a perimeter team with guys who look to score inside off putbacks and tips. If Dawson is a go-to guy, he sure is a reluctant performer in that role.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
Well Indiana really Munson'd that one today.
January 21st, 2014 at 10:02 PM ^
ever so slightly ahead of Michigan and then a toss-up between Wisconsin and MSU. Izzo will have his team dialed in for Michigan, but I don't see us losing our home court to him. We might be able to steal one there. But first things first.
Tomorrow's game is HUGE. Go Blue, baby.
January 21st, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^
So is Purdue a team we should pay more attention to? They're 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
We'll see them in a little over a week at home so we'll get to know them personally. No team in this league is an easy win. I realize MSU is missing Payne but they've gotten all they can handle from a bunch of teams recently.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:19 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:22 PM ^
This Purdue - NW game is the butt of a lot of jokes on Twitter. I'm going to turn the 2nd OT on and have a gander before heading off to bed.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
Bonus x2. I don't know who to root for. Our RPI would benefit more by Purdue winning but poor damn Northwestern. Good game though.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:39 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:43 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:52 PM ^
Points from Twitter:
1) Still didn't hit the over.
2) 
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:30 AM ^
the B1G has only one team below .500 right now. That's kind of amazing.
January 22nd, 2014 at 1:34 AM ^
for a beatdown.....Go Blue!
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:02 AM ^
so i like our chances whether payne plays or not.
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:12 AM ^