dahblue

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^

I don't think he's blaming the officials in the game; I think he's blaming Wisconsin for playing an overly physical brand of basketball that doesn't work in the tourney because B1G refs aren't on the court, letting them get away with it.

Toward the end, you could see Wisc players absolutely baffled at some of the calls going against them.  Folks asked how B1G refs could hurt the conference in the tourney.  Wisc can tell you...from the comfort of their collective couches.

joeyb

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^

I had Ole Miss beating them, but then when I saw how the SEC was doing in the NIT, I switched my pick. I decided that once Wisconsin got by them, they had a pretty good shot at the Elite 8. My MGoBlog reflects these changes and my work one doesn't, so I just got fucked in one and am sitting pretty in the other in that respect. However, my work one had New Mexico over OSU. I just can't win.

oriental andrew

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^

all my first, er second, round misses so far i had losing in the round of 32.  Except Ok St, which I had in the elite 8.

I at least had K-State beating Wisconsin in the next round, so that's still intact, if K-State beats LaSalle and Ole Miss.

NC State is on the ropes, but I had them losing in the next round, anyway.

moffle

March 22nd, 2013 at 4:16 PM ^

I had Wisconsin over K-State, so I'm actually rooting against K-State now although I picked them over LaSalle. This way, everyone in my pool loses that game in the next round, not just us dopes who picked Wisconsin.

M-Wolverine

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^

I can never tell with Wisconsin whether we're supposed to think that's crazy or be apologizing because they are good, or they really do suck.

Erik_in_Dayton

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

They shot 25% and scored 46 points, so once again they entered the national stage and made the Big Ten look like a bunch of chumps for not being able to beat them...Wisconsiny is a good word, btw.  I think I may start using it when something that should be really good (like basketball) turns into something ugly (like Wisconsin basketball).   Ex: Seeing that kitten be hit by that car was particularly Wisconsiny. 

SFBlue

March 22nd, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^

This is especially bad because Wisky beat us twice. Wisky was not only a victim of its own soulless brand of basketball, but of low-ball seeding. Ole Miss, like Oregon, is better than all 11 and 10s, and most 9s.

WolvinLA2

March 22nd, 2013 at 4:59 PM ^

Well, because it's better than random SEC team winning?  

The Big Ten doing well in the tourney benefits all Big Ten teams, including us.  It helps get more teams bids, and it makes more money for the conference, which is then split. So for both money and perception, Michigan benefits.  

I'm not exactly crying that they got upset, but there are actual benefits to Big Ten teams winning.

M-Wolverine

March 22nd, 2013 at 7:43 PM ^

Teams that do well in the Tourney recruit better. Big Ten teams recruit a lot of the same players we do. Good players that go to other schools instead of Michigan makes them better and Michigan worse. Which often results in losses for Michigan. That's not good.

WolvinLA2

March 22nd, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^

I disagree.  We recruit kids from all over the country, and only go head to head on a handful of kids, and there aren't any teams (like there are in football) where M recruits against for kids every year.  

So if OSU or MSU or Indiana wins the national title, that might sway one kid in 2 or 3 years, but maybe not.  Then again, there might be a handful of kids who want the chance to knock of the national champion, or to play in the league with recent national title winners becuase those will be big games on national TV.  I'm almost positive this is a net-positive for us.  

It also helps our seeding in future years.  If there is a perception that the Big Ten performs well in the tourney, that will help our seeding.  

And again, the league gets big time TV dollars out of it, which is the most measurable part.  So cheer for that, if for no other reason.

M-Wolverine

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:00 PM ^

With mostly Indiana players, a revitalized Hoosiers seems like a bad thing. And if you don't think our sustained success is going to have to involve beating MSU for our fair share of instate recruits, I don't know what to tell you. Ohio State isn't going to pass on the best player in the country in their home city too often either.

WolvinLA2

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:05 PM ^

I'm not saying we won't go up against any other Big Ten teams, but for any given team, we'll probably go up against them one every few years.  Yes, if all three of those teams won the national title in the same year, it would be bad for us.  But that's not going to happen.  And it's not like Ohio or Indiana kids don't already want to go to OSU of IU.  

There is a lot of bball talent in the Midwest, and we'll get our guys (and some from outside of the region too).  A Big Ten team winning it all will not have a major impact on our recruiting at all.  

M-Wolverine

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:49 PM ^

And they had a lock down on that state, with the crumbs going to Purdue. We've offset weak instate recruiting with Indiana talent. If the latter gets shut down, we're going to have to go head to head with MSU for the former. We have Nik, THJ, and....? who aren't from those three states?

WolvinLA2

March 22nd, 2013 at 11:20 PM ^

There's more talent in Indiana and Ohio than those schools can take, so assuming our program doesn't tank, we'll always get our guys.

I see the point you're making, I just don't agree. I think the Big Ten doing well helps us overall. I didn't say there weren't some drawbacks, but overall it's a plus.

Now, cheering against teams like ND and Cincinnati is a good idea.

M-Wolverine

March 22nd, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^

That got us losses and a stinky 4 seed. While a bunch of teams that played nobody and amassed a nice record (SEC, Big 12, Gonzaga) got rewarded with high seeds. It's like football. They like to say they look at strength of schedule, but number of losses comes first.

WolvinLA2

March 23rd, 2013 at 1:17 AM ^

No, we got a four seed because we lost to Penn State. If we win that game, we're a three seed. Or either Wisconsin game. We had a tough schedule, but we also lost a few we shouldn't have.

SOS plays a big role. Name another team that finished 5th in their league and got a 4 seed or better. Especially one that didn't make any noise in their conference tourney.

M-Wolverine

March 23rd, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^

That 4 teams with the same or more losses got a higher seed than us (out of a realistic 8). How many from real conferences with less were ranked behind us?

You want to argue finishing back hurt us, sure. The conference didn't help though.