Gene Smith re: B1G BB Scheduling: "We're not chicken."
Gene Smith displays his backbone (or lack thereof) in comments regarding Ohio basketball scheduling Michigan in the non-conference, after missing the game @ Ann Arbor this coming season. While being obviously against the measure, he goes on to say "We're not chicken." Lots of chicken in the B1G news this week...
http://annarbor.com/mi/wolverines/2013/05/gene_smith_ohio_state_not_chi…
Oh snap.
This is why I am hoping that Cincinnati is one of the last two teams invited into the Big Ten. I really want Ohio State to have to play a little brother every year like Michigan does. When Michigan and MIchigan State are both playing to their historical norms, MSU beats Michigan one time out of three, just because of MSU's hatred for Michigan.
If Cincinnati's hatred for Ohio State turns out to be similar to MSU's for Michigan, I wouldn't mind seeing Ohio State get another loss every three years.
just to spite OSU. Ohio State plays a little brother every year in Ohio, Akron or Toledo.
I doubt their rivalry could ever approach the levels of UM-MSU. There's just not enough hate built up there. And I'd hate to say this, but Sparty fields better teams than Cincinnati. If you look at the players Sparty had when they beat us, you'll find more than a few NFL caliber players on those teams. I don't think you could say the same for Cincy.
Don't forget MSU was basically a community college when they started playing Michigan. The Big Ten can do a lot of things for a school and program. Give Cinncinati 15-20 years in the Big Ten with that kind of money and I think you would be surprised how much their program improves in the long-term. Plus, it would give Cinncinati a major recruiting tool to use against OSU because they would still get to play a similar schedule and play in the Horseshoe as a player.
But wouldn't it be bad for us to have two B1G schools in Ohio? It seems like it would be harder to pull players away from two schools instead of one.
Doubt it. Cincinnati being in the Big Ten wouldn't make it any more difficult to recruit against them. We'd still just recruit against OSU for the top kids in Ohio. Ohio kids would commit to Cincinnati over Michigan about as often as Indiana kids commit to IU over Michigan.
There would be the occasional kid from Cincinnati who grew up around the program or who has some connection to it, but that exists now and I can't imagine them simply switching conferences will make all that much of a difference.
Is recruiting in NJ that much harder for the top teams now that Rutgers is in the Big Ten?
The NJ situation is different. That state was never part of the B1G footprint and now it suddenly is. That makes recruiting there easier for the rest of the conference. And there's only one NJ school in the conference, so if kids don't like Rutgers, they'll leave the state. Having two schools in a state is a very different dynamic than one. Not that much talent leaves the state of Michigan, for instance, because kids who don't want to come here can stay local and go to MSU, or vice versa.
Right now, if you're from Ohio and don't want to attend the school in Columbus, you'll leave the state if you want to play big-time football. If a second local school were added to the mix, suddenly there would be an alternative to the Bucks within the state borders.
That would not bode well for Cincinnati. The vast majority of UC students are OSU fans first. At least in football. They do pride themselves on their bball program, and already have an in state (in town, actually) rival in Xavier. In bball, sure, it would be fine, but football? No. Never would be close to UM-MSU.
Although I can't find any proof at the moment, I think we did this against MSU sometime during the last decade.
In 1997, Michigan played a non-conference game at Breslin and beat the Spartans 74-61.
The team finished 19-11 in the regular season, 9-9 in the Big Ten with non conference wins over Duke in Durham (a 2 seed in the tournament), Arizona (at Auburn Hills) who was a 4 seed and won it all, at Michigan State, St Johns (at Uniondale LI), a neutral court win over Washington State, a win over LSU at Auburn Hills, wins at Crisler over Ball State, Cleveland St, Bradley, and Detroit, and two non-conference losses in Hawaii to Memphis and Pitt.
Michigan lost 6 of its last 7 games and did not get a bid to the tourney. My recollection is that in the analysis of who should get an at-large bid, the non-conference win at Michigan State was totally ignored. All the pundits lumped it into the 9-9 conference record.
Snubbed, Michigan went on to win the NIT in Fisher's last year.
MSU was just an NIT team then, so it wasn't a marquee victory. The "Last 10" criterion is what killed us that year.
Reportedly, Indiana and Purdue are looking into scheduling each other for next season in non-conference. It's a shame teams have to even consider this option. Just fix the one-plays by either having divisions or protected rivalries
Sorry, not sure why it's doing that. Working on it.
i dunno. almost nobody schedules non-conferences games against conference opponents. the schedule is what the B1G gave us, so that's what we got.
not that big of a deal imo
Is anticipated, fun, and important for both schools. The pro arguments aren't ridiculous.
Gosh, I'm getting old!
I don't get this. Is he saying Ohio State is not afraid to play against Michigan in The Game? Why would he even bring this up? It's not like one side has considered suspending the rivalry. Either Gene Smith's quotes are not about Michigan or he's just trying to get attention.
This is regarding basketball, not football.
OP could point that out in the title.
Figured it was a given, but now clarified. Thanks.
Thanks doe.
Jesus, man. This is two, now three grown ass men calling eachother and their repsected institutions "chicken."
What in the fuck?
It was stupid from the very beginning and continues to be stupid.
original post(er)
calls Marty McFly chicken.
Nothing to see here, just trying out my block quote skillz.
Marty McFly
“What’s the matter Colonel Sanders?"
I always lurk and rarely post, so don't think I have enough pts:
Glowing praise about THJ: "Hardaway showed that passion and more Tuesday. He was the best player on the floor for all two hours. He played with terrific intensity, nailed shots from all over the floor and played above the rim whenever he hit the paint. While he doesn't have his father's crossover, he handled the ball against Canaan and was able to get where he wanted on the floor. Hardaway has size, excellent leaping ability and a huge 7-foot wingspan for a shooting guard."
Missing Michigan a second time -- yeah, it bothers us. But we're not going to fall on the sword.Why would it be "falling on the sword" to play us out of conference? It'd be good for their strength of schedule and a loss wouldn't hurt them in the B1G race. I don't see a real downside for them.
the conversation, but.......... Does Wisconsin have some pics Delaney doesn't want to be seen? or are they the luckiest team in the B1G? Does he live there? Have kids going to school there on half tuition? What the hell is the deal?