Would you rather have Michigan's basketball season or Purdue's?

Submitted by Controversialidea on March 18th, 2023 at 1:20 PM

I think I'd rather have Michigan's, because Purdue will never forget that loss. It'll be like an App State kind of thing to them.

swc_92

March 18th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^

This is a pretty ridiculous question. Competitive sports is not just about the ultimate outcome, but also the journey of getting there. Yesterday probably really sucked for the Purdue people, but they still won the B10 double title and I'm sure had a blast through the year as it progressed. Conversely, our season was filled with very little joy, much frustration and wild speculation about what could have been. I'll take Purdue

Kentucky.maize

March 18th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^

I would argue the exact opposite. I would say sports is about the the journey but elite competition is about the goal. Would MJ, Kobe, Brady or any of the other true greats be happy because they won a regular season that was awesome but had an all time loss in the post season. I think the answer is an obvious no. Was Kobe more fulfilled losing to the Pistons than when he was on bad teams? It is all about winning a championship and anything short is not acceptable to the truly great players.

rc90

March 18th, 2023 at 2:44 PM ^

This Michigan team has been an unpleasant slog for four months. There's an obvious concern that this slog will be repeated next year, and a slog might be the best we can hope for if Kobe leaves. It really wasn't all butterflies and rainbows last year either, in spite of a trip to the round of 16.

OTOH Purdue's last contest in the Final Four was the third place game, which hasn't been played in 40 years, and the star on that team was nicknamed Joe Barely Cares. The Purdue program seems to have settled into something like what Beilein had in 2012, where somehow he had MAC-caliber athletes win a Big Ten title, only to get physically overmatched by Ohio (not that Ohio). The season was fun, but I remember tossing my round two ticket away to get the hell out of Nashville. I can't imagine experiencing that year after year.

If it's just one game, I can deal with it -- I still face the occasional joke about calling timeouts because of one game in 1993. So my answer is, sure, take Purdue's season. But this isn't really just one season, and so, yes, it's less poopy to be a Michigan fan right now (but don't lose sight of it still being poopy to be a Michigan fan right now).

LabattBlue

March 18th, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^

Ok, Purdue won regular season,  and the BIG tournament.

They have Freshmen guards, which is somehow the excuse used here.

They choked in a easy win game, and we've done it like 10 x.

NEVER think an NIT Championship  means anything.

Perkis-Size Me

March 18th, 2023 at 3:22 PM ^

Purdue. Not really a dispute. 

Yes, this was a humiliating loss for them. But the fact of the matter is that they are a much better team in a more stable position to be winners for the foreseeable future. Michigan honestly doesn’t have much to laugh at. It blew a big lead in the final minutes for what must be the 15th time this season. Michigan has bigger, far more fundamental issues, and honestly, if Purdue goes and settles the score next year like UVA did, no one is really going to be able to hang this over their head anymore.

Another case in point: the Lightning in 2019. Presidents Trophy winners, overwhelming favorites to win the Cup, and get swept by the lowly Blue Jackets in round one. As humiliating as it gets. They proceed to then go to three straight Cup Finals and win two of them. No one can ever say anything to them about the Blue Jackets debacle ever again.

the Glove

March 18th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^

As a Michigan fan do you not still get shit for the Appalachian State game? That was just a regular season game. Now imagine the largest upset in NCAA history by a team that was favored to win the national championship. FDU was ranked 310th on Ken Pom. UMBC was at least ranked 160th. FDU wasn't even supposed to be in the NCAA tournament. They finished second place in the worst conference in college basketball. The other team was ineligible because they were transitioning to D1. So a division 2 school won their conference. Yes Purdue won the Big Ten and we'll get banners, that will be laughed at and scarred for all of their existence. Please tell me that you will not use this as ammunition and make fun of their banners every time you see them,?

bdneely4

March 18th, 2023 at 3:35 PM ^

For some reason this question made me laugh because both are obviously bad. Under the circumstances, I would 100% pick Michigan this year because Purdue losing was their 3rd straight year losing to an inferior opponent and choking their season away. 

JonnyHintz

March 18th, 2023 at 3:54 PM ^

Big Ten regular season champs, Big Ten Tournament champs, 29 wins 

 

vs 

 

Losing the opening game of the BTT, missing the tournament and losing in the 2nd round of the NIT…

 

come on man. It’s not even like we made the tournament and went on another Sweet 16 run or anything. There was, objectively, nothing positive about the outcome of our season this year while Purdue earned two trophies

Kentucky.maize

March 18th, 2023 at 6:10 PM ^

They are not at all the same. Purdue is only the second team in history to have this happen to them. Let’s say Michigan suffered one of the biggest point differential losses tin football history to TCU the argument would closer. Football is also different because Michigan competes in and won the greatest rivalry in sports, there is nothing Purdue did this basketball season on that level and they as a program will never have the ability in any sport to do something remotely close to what Michigan has the opportunity to do every November during their regular season.

Clarence Boddicker

March 18th, 2023 at 4:52 PM ^

I'd rather have Purdue's season. Yeah, that loss was epic--historic. But the best thing about college sports is that your team plays for multiple championships every year. If your pro team doesn't win it all that season can considered a failure. A MAC team can get blown out by Michigan or OSU but win their conference and beat their MAC rivals. That season is still a success. Purdue can still celebrate winning the B1G and the B1G tournament and hang banners. Purdue has a strong system to recruit to; no one would be surprised if they went to the Tournament next year and made a run. Michigan didn't win squat this year and looked bad in not winning squat. No one would be surprised if Michigan was even worse next year and, to paraphrase a line from Apocalypse Now, there doesn't seem to be any method at all.

Savoy88

March 18th, 2023 at 5:22 PM ^

Putting this here because we could all use more Tom Izzo, right?:

"Michigan State’s Tom Izzo ‘felt bad’ watching Purdue suffer historic upset in NCAA Tournament"

"We all felt bad,” Izzo said. “They’re in our bracket and we felt bad because you don’t want that to happen to anybody."

Shockingly enough he didn't blame the players for the loss. I'm sure he will rectify that matter shortly.

M-Dog

March 18th, 2023 at 5:46 PM ^

I'd want to be in Purdue's position.

You can't lose as a 1 seed without first being a 1 seed.

Nobody can predict the future.  You always want to be in a position like a 1 seed.  Who knows what will happen?  But you always want that opportunity.

 

Preacher Mike

March 18th, 2023 at 10:51 PM ^

I think its a tie. Our season was painful, but they never really get our expectations get very high, so the ending wasn’t all that painful. More a relief, really. 

Losing to a 16 seed and making the regular season accomplishments look flukey or meaningless would feel way worse IMO. So, both seasons are terrible in different ways, no reason to rank them. 

Heptarch

March 18th, 2023 at 11:59 PM ^

Michigan's. Because outside of die hard Michigan basketball fans this season will not be remembered.

Purdue losing to a 16 seed will be. 

ghostofhoke

March 20th, 2023 at 1:05 AM ^

Yikes. Someone turn this thread off. This isn’t really a post is it? Did anyone watch the Vandy game? Or any other game we couldn’t close out all season. It’s one thing to get beat, even by a 16 seed, it’s another to lose game after game in the fashion we did all season. Please tell me this thread was a joke or a bad dream.