MoCarrBo

January 27th, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^

Big Ten is a meat grinder. Don't get down on the guys if they don't look spectacular every game. Very physical up and down conference 

Don

January 27th, 2019 at 3:28 PM ^

So much for the idiot notion that MSU had a virtual lock on the conference championship after we lost to Wisconsin. 

The last time a BIG regular season champ went undefeated was 1976, and since then there have been a small handful of champs finishing with one loss. Virtually every champion has at least 2 losses, and majority with 3 or more.

J.

January 27th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^

While that's true, MSU has a much easier closing stretch overall than Michigan.  5 KenPom Tier A games, 3 Tier B, and 2 Tier... C, I guess.  (Tier Nothing?).

Meanwhile, Michigan has 9 Tier A and 2 Tier B games.

Purdue, on the other hand, has 7 Tier A, 1 Tier B, and 3 Tier C games.

IMO, Michigan's Big Ten regular season chances come down to two games: @Iowa and @Maryland.  If they can win both of those two games, they likely win the Big Ten with a split over MSU.  If they only win one, they probably need to sweep Sparty.

J.

January 27th, 2019 at 5:25 PM ^

Oh, speaking of that:

Michigan has 5 home and 6 road games remaining.

I know we all like to think that teams should win at home, and there's certainly some truth to that.  That said, KenPom gives them only about a 20% chance to sweep the remaining home schedule.  My assumption is that both Michigan and MSU will lose a game they "shouldn't."

FYI:  The last time Michigan went undefeated at home was the '76-77 season, when Phil Hubbard and Rickey Green led the team to a 14-0 home record during a Big Ten champion season.  They were 26-4 overall, including 16-2 in the Big Ten.  And, yes, one of those losses was at Assembly Hall. :/ They fell in the Elite Eight to Cornbread Maxwell's UNC-Charlotte team.

A Lot of Milk

January 27th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^

Tom Izzo only wins games because he stunts the growth/development of all of his elite recruits until they're upperclassmen and then when he has a whole team of literal adults who were 5 star recruits they actually can make a run. He's not an elite coach. He's an elite hoarder.

Cassius and Ward wouldn't be this good at Michigan. Because they'd already be in the NBA.

ijohnb

January 27th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^

I doubt Winston will play in the NBA regardless of where he went to school.  He is like 5’10, has all kinds of issues creating his own shot, can’t finish at the basket, is athletically limited, and is a marginal at best defender.  That is not a recipe for a pro.

Bambam

January 27th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^

I went to RCMB for some schadenfreude, but was distracted by a thread full of people praising Dantonio for pulling a kids scholarship this close to signing day. 

northernmich

January 27th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^

Awesome way to enjoy a Sunday. A bitch ass Sparty team getting punked. It’s all ahead of this team now. Conference championship runs through AA!!

benzolamas

January 27th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^

This game shows why the big ten is up for grabs with top 4 teams. I still think it's between michigan and sparty, as Maryland is in a funk,  but who knows? That's why I love college basketball