Are we so Distraught there is no Big 10 BB board?

Submitted by lmgoblue1 on March 11th, 2022 at 8:50 PM

Guys and Gals, lots of basketball still to be played. Great games left to discuss. So far, Indiana beats Illinois, and Wisconsin out.  How are you feeling? Who wins the Big 10, and do we make it to the tourney?  Tough choice between Iowa and Purdue, but we beat both, so?

S.G. Rice

March 11th, 2022 at 8:58 PM ^

There was no reason to watch Wisky-MSU, both teams are losers no matter who won.  

Vaguely prefer Purdue to win, like Painter, Iowa is relatively fun to watch and you never know when Fran is going to blow, indifferent about Indiana, though they've been bad about long enough for the fanbase to be more tolerable, don't care about the Nits and FUS.

A Lot of Milk

March 11th, 2022 at 9:00 PM ^

The conference is terrible this year. There is essentially no difference between teams 1 through 11 and not a single team plays with any consistency. If we get multiple teams in to the sweet 16 based on sheer volume alone, I'll be shocked

B-Nut-GoBlue

March 11th, 2022 at 9:29 PM ^

What conference is actually good then?  I think the Big 12 is and Arizona is legit great...but beyond that, the parity in the sport creates a lot of "Not very good" teams.  In fact the teams are good and have many talented players but the competition is much more stiff night in and night out compared to 15, 20 years ago.

Also the way the game is called, my new gripe, ruins the game a bit.  The block/charge call single handedly ruins college basketball.  More offense is needed and allowing defenders to cheaply get charge calls by leaping in front of athletic players ruins the flow and offensive output of the sport.

Maizinator

March 11th, 2022 at 9:01 PM ^

What's the stat line on floor-slaps and dong punches from the MSU-Wisconsin game?

Definitely can't remember a recent time of wishing so strongly that both teams could lose. Don't like either coach or either program. 

snarling wolverine

March 11th, 2022 at 9:06 PM ^

If people are distraught, it's probably because the "Today's Rooting Guide" thread wrongly suggested that we needed a bunch of games to go our way when a lot of them don't affect us that much.   We don't need every other bubble team to lose today, just some of them - and several have.  Of the four teams right below us in the Bracket Matrix, three have lost and Wyoming is playing right now (and losing).

We'll make the tournament.  There's an outside chance we drop down to the First Four.  But that's our floor. 

Sam1863

March 12th, 2022 at 5:45 AM ^

Ditto. I am a tried & true University of Michigan fan until the end of my days. But the other teams in the conference they happen to play in? Don't care, and can't imagine why I should.

Unless STAEE or tosu get stomped. That's always nice from a schadenfreude point of view.

Woodstock Wolverine

March 11th, 2022 at 9:29 PM ^

Lots of Eeyore’s on this blog. These next couple of weeks are some of the best for sports fans and I can’t wait, regardless of how Michigan does. 
 

Penn St. looking good so far.
 

B-Nut-GoBlue

March 11th, 2022 at 9:32 PM ^

Yea a solitary loss in the BigTen Tournament has made for some realizations that we have dour-ass fans amongst us.  That loss realllly sucked but golly, the attitude about not even caring anymore and about the Tournament (best weekend in sports, IMHO) is so weak.

WestQuad

March 12th, 2022 at 6:41 AM ^

This year is clearly a disappointment after being pretty great the past number of years.  We had a lot of solid players to replace and it didn’t quite happen.  Watching now is largely to invest in the team’s maturation next year, but if HD, MD and Houston go pro and Dvante graduates we probably won’t get the payoff.  

Woodstock Wolverine

March 11th, 2022 at 9:43 PM ^

So we could have Indiana vs. Iowa and MSU vs. Penn St. in the semi finals…?
 

Crazy year. I’m sure Purdue pulls this out, but it’s not too crazy to think we could see an Indiana vs. Penn St. final.

Hotel Putingrad

March 11th, 2022 at 9:50 PM ^

I realize I'm probably in the minority here, but B1G basketball is better when Indiana is good. I hope they win this tournament, and I think Mike Woodson was the best coaching hire from the last cycle. If they just had just gone .500 in all those close games they lost this year, they'd be in the running for a 1-seed.

RAH

March 12th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^

There are a lot of really good players in the league this year. I only really make it a point of watching Michigan but I check the other playoff games once in a while and they are usually fun to watch. I just checked Iowa/Indiana and it's a very entertaining game. Don't know why some people seem to hate all the other BIG teams. 

TBuck97

March 11th, 2022 at 9:53 PM ^

I’ve been watching the tournament but that wolves game yesterday was pretty rough stuff. It’s almost as if you’d rather just see them get blown out. 

Nervous Bird

March 11th, 2022 at 10:03 PM ^

Yeah, the Big Ten Tourney is kinda 'meh' for me once Michigan is out. However, Michigan or not, I'll be channel surfing all the games the next 2 weekends... always anticipating that!

LSAClassOf2000

March 11th, 2022 at 10:13 PM ^

Watching the Big Ten Tournament (Purdue / Penn State at the moment) is an interesting exercise if you let your mind wander a bit. For example, pretend that you don't know the rules of basketball, but you are watching this game and you are paying attention to Big Ten officials and the broadcast crew and you take this information and explain the game to others. Do you know what you would be describing? Probably a cross between cribbage and Kerplunk, but still....the attempt was entertaining. 

chatster

March 12th, 2022 at 1:20 AM ^

Even if Michigan (17-14 with a NET ranking of 34 before Friday’s games) winds up having to play in one of the First Four games in Dayton as the last team in thanks to a strong NET ranking and one of the three strongest schedules in the country, with Indiana’s tournament wins over Michigan and Illinois to get them to 20-12 (NET ranking of 41 before Friday’s games), Rutgers might be the only Big Ten team that’ll be sweating out Selection Sunday.

Rutgers has a weird resume. They’re 18-13 and beat every one of the other top nine Big Ten teams, but lost four against the bottom five. Those four losses plus their loss to Iowa in their first Big Ten Tournament game, three very bad out-of-conference losses in November by a total of seven points and their low NET ranking (77 before their loss to Iowa) may drop the Scarlet Knights to the NIT.

If Rutgers fails to make the NCAA Tournament, then they’ll have to be thinking about their inability to adequately replace the three players they lost to transfers after last season (Myles Johnson, Jacob Young and Montez Mathis). Those three were among Rutgers’ top five scorers last season. Johnson was their leading rebounder and Young led the team in assists and steals.

Against Iowa on Friday, Rutgers got no points and two rebounds from their bench players; Iowa’s bench players had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Johnson averages close to six rebounds and four points a game as a backup center at UCLA. Young has averaged a little over 12 points, three rebounds and three assists as a starting guard at Oregon. Mathis has averaged 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists as a starting guard at St. John's. None of Rutgers’ reserves averaged more than 4.4 points a game this season.

victors2000

March 12th, 2022 at 2:42 AM ^

Indiana appears to be getting the most out of playing instate. Our team has shown how well it can play when rested. Perhaps this loss may have a silver lining. Yep, there's plenty of basketball still left.

gustave ferbert

March 12th, 2022 at 3:45 AM ^

How am I feeling? I’m annoyed.  One of the most talented teams in the nation and we have 14 losses and lost a game that we had a 1.5% chance of losing.  
 

I actually developed a respect for Calipari through all this.  He gets one and done players and still manages to accomplish something.   I didn’t realize you could screwup 5stsr talent like they are in Ann Arbor.