Discussion: Nebraska upsets 13 Indiana 70-69; Good or Bad?
Oh how the tide has turned for Indiana. What does mean for the B1G in general? Is the B1G beating up on itself hurting us? Is this good or bad for us(since we lost to IU), or WHO CARES 3 IN A ROW VS SPARTY!!?
Discuss.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:09 PM ^
Looking at the B1G standings, yes, it's a damn good thing.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^
January 18th, 2012 at 9:16 PM ^
Relax... Even if Indiana completely falls apart, they still have 3-4 more wins on the schedule giving them something like an 18-13 record at worst, with wins over Kentucky and Ohio State. Losing to them will not become a bad loss.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:18 PM ^
We lost to a much worse IU team last year and it didn't keep us out of the tournament.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:23 PM ^
January 18th, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^
I don't think we need to worry about that. IU went undefeated in nonconference play, so losing to them can't hurt perception of the league. It's the Iowa loss that could potentially hurt us.
January 19th, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^
I agree, hopefully we will be a lock when it comes to tourney time. But if we're not, that Iowa loss is one that we'll be wishing we could have back. I was saying this before the game had even started...
I think I have confidence issues when it comes to Michigan b-ball. In my defense, I was around during the Tommy Amaker era, so that explains a lot.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:20 PM ^
They did manage to beat Penn St. on the road, but will struggle in all their road games while being extremely tough at home. If it is bad for us then it must also be bad for Kentucky and Ohio.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^
I think it's a bad thing, except that it helps us get a higher BTT seed over Indiana now, and maybe NCAA seed as well. It's bad for the Big Ten as a league though.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^
January 18th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^
Awesome with a capital A. I am not a Tom Crean fan, he reminds me too much of Doug Collins, when Collins was a deranged head coach of the Pistons. Big is extremely tuff tuff tough
On ESPNU right about now Iowa State and my favorite college player Royce White, take on Oklahoma State. Check it out. We are rooting for the Cyclones, because every game they win is a bonus for M
January 18th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^
Further proof that it's pretty much impossible to win on the road in the Big Ten
January 18th, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^
Good thing. Notwithstanding the help it gives us in the standings today it arms B-Line with the "dont overlook these guys" speech he's going to have to give before the game.
Now they may actually listen to him. Indiana players didn't.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^
How crazy/sucky is the Big East though? Villanova just beat Seton Hall (who was looking kinda good) and Cinci beat UConn at UConn. Outside of Syracise, that league is upside down.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:17 PM ^
January 18th, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^
Don't think it matters for us, other than to make our trip to Lincoln look a bit more difficult (much like Northwestern's win over MSU).
It does mean...
1. Tough to win on the road in the Big 10. At least from watching that game, Nebraska isn't the masoleum that Penn State's arena is.
2. Can't let an inferior team hang around.
3.Thank you for hiring Gus Johnson, BTN.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^
Indiana is a great team at Assembly Hall, but on the road they are beatable.
I was actually really surprised to see that Indiana shot decently in this game (51% and 44.4% from 3), but the 4 less offensive rebound and 5 more turnovers meant extra possessions for Nebraska then ended up being the difference maker.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:15 PM ^
This is nuts. The Big Ten is dog-eat-dog. The conference champ might be like 13-5.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:17 PM ^
Is the Indiana fan upset?
January 18th, 2012 at 9:42 PM ^
Is this supposed to imply that Indiana doesn't have many fans? Because IU basketball is pretty huge.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:59 PM ^
Yeah, I've thought of IU basketball as being like Michigan football in a lot of ways - a tradition-rich program with a huge fanbase that has recently gone through a brutal period and is back on the upswing.
January 18th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^
No comparison!
January 18th, 2012 at 9:19 PM ^
In the upper tier of Big Ten teams. Hopefully we can play tough enough to stay up there and get a bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Any rest you can get helps a lot in March.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:19 PM ^
Don't think it's necessarily bad or good. There are elements of both. If I had to choose, I'm saying good. Indiana probably has tired legs, they've also had a 5 game in 13 days type streak just like us, and went 2-3 in that stretch.
There is no way our loss to them becomes a bad loss, considering the other top tier teams they've beaten at home.
Most importantly, BTT seeding. This could be a very very good thing
January 18th, 2012 at 9:25 PM ^
January 18th, 2012 at 9:31 PM ^
This is why it sucks we have so few home games left. Winning on the road is so difficult.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^
I will be at the Nebraska game here in this flat ass state. I never see Michigan lose whether it is hockey, football, basketball, or scrabble. So you can bet your life savings we crush big red. Yes they say go big red here. I am not kidding, and they still don't realize they are cheering for Ron Jeremy.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:33 PM ^
The most important thing I got from this is we HAVE to beat Indiana at home. They've looked awful on the road, and if we want to win a B1G title this year, we can't afford to lose that game.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^
Watching Northwestern - Wisconsin. Given how slow both of these teams play, the points per possession must be off the chart. For this game to be in the 30s before halftime is an offensive explosion.
Northwestern's offense, when it's working, is really nice to watch.
January 18th, 2012 at 9:55 PM ^
WHO CARES 3 IN A ROW VS SPARTY!
end of discussion
January 18th, 2012 at 9:59 PM ^
Remember, Indiana also beat Ohio St and Kentucky at home. Losing at Indiana is not a bad loss. It does, however improve our seeding in the B1G which is a good thing. I watched the game and was rooting for Nebraska the whole way. Hooray for strength throughout the conference.
January 18th, 2012 at 10:30 PM ^
It's obviously a bad loss for IU but winning on the road is tough. I don't think a single team has a good road record so far in the big ten.
January 18th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^
It helps us. The way I think of the season is two parted:
<br>
<br>1. OOC: each conference earns as many "marbles" as they can
<br>2.in Conference: all conference "marbles are reallocated based on conference performance
<br>
<br>So what I mean is the B1G already has all the credibility they are going to get. Now it's an exercise of distributing that credits among the best teams. Every time another team loses and we win, we get a bigger piece of the pie.
January 18th, 2012 at 10:34 PM ^
Have you lost your marbles?
January 18th, 2012 at 11:11 PM ^
Good: This loss caused Tom Crean's panties to bunch up and makes his head almost asplode.
Bad: This hurts IU's KenPom-like value - unless, of course, Nebraska can pull off a few more victories (please not us, please not us). IU's victories against some earlier big-time competition trump this loss. Those tough out-of-conference victories are so valuable for IU and the B1G. I think the best case scenario from here out is if IU goes .500 in the B1G. Then we can all puff our chests after UM wins the reg season championship and proclaim how damned competitive the B1G is this year.
January 18th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^
Nothing to get too excited about.
January 18th, 2012 at 11:34 PM ^
I watched a terrible GT team pound UNC by 20 last year. didn't seem to affect them in the long run.
January 19th, 2012 at 2:19 AM ^
UNC has two UGLY losses this year so far to UNLV and Florida State.
Just pointing that out because I hate UNC.
January 19th, 2012 at 12:33 AM ^
If Michigan can defeat them at home that means we probably finish ahead of them in the final standings - better seed at the B1G tourney and a better chance to win it.
January 19th, 2012 at 2:14 AM ^
How can Indiana losing to Nebraska possibly be bad? It helps Michigan is the conference standings, and it doesn't hurt us in the least with the "they lost to the team that lost to Nebraska" argument, since they also beat then no. 2 Ohio State and no. 1 Kentucky.
January 19th, 2012 at 7:25 AM ^
now UM has a 2 game lead over Indiana in the standings...thats GOOD
January 19th, 2012 at 8:11 AM ^
And not for any of the reasons listed above.
I think it's good because it should open the eyes of our guys that while Nebraska may be the worst team in the league they can obviously beat a top level B1G team. Hopefully they watched that game and it just aided into the realization that you can't take a single game off - doesn't matter where and it doesn't matter against whom, you have to bring it for 40 mins if you want to be at the top of the heap at the end of the season.