College Basketball 2009-2010 (part 1)

[hawing]

The S.O. just got home and confirmed the rockin-ness. Plus Erin Andrews was there.

 

Edit: He also reported that Jon Leuer participated in the pregame shootaround, still with a cast on.

[craigharmann]

That was an impressive game to watch. And even on TV, it seemed like the Kohl Center was rocking. I really think that if this team can play this well, a sweet 16 berth is not out of the question.

[Glennron]

"I really think that if this team can play this well, a sweet 16 berth is not out of the question."

 

If Leuer is healthy by the start of the tournament (or earlier) I'd be disappointed if they didn't reach the Sweet 16. I know all their outstanding wins have been at home this year, but the OSU game was the only road game where they didn't have a chance to win with only a couple minutes left.

[TooLiveBrew]

At the time, I didn't think the loss at UWGB would look that bad come Selection Sunday. Now, it's probably going to mean the difference between a #2 or #3 seed, #3 or #4, etc.

[Buckylovesbeer]

A great win, no doubt. I am impressed by how much our "role players" have improved, such as Taylor, Nankivil, Evans, Wilson, etc.

 

They are all improving and there is no reason this team cannot make some march madness noise.

 

Great detective work by Hawing has me believing that Leuer will be back soon......I cant wait!

[TooLiveBrew]

How can you not love Bo Ryan?

“I always say (Taylor’s) 5-10. He gets mad, he says, ‘Coach, I’m 6-1.’ We replaced a 6-10 [Leuer] with a 5-10 in his stocking feet,” Ryan said. “He’s just smart, he just finds ways to get things done. And he cares, he cares about the ball and he cares about game. Whenever you take care of the ball, you’re respecting the game.”

...

With the victory, Wisconsin joined No. 3 Syracuse as the only teams with three wins over Top 10 opponents this season, and Taylor said Ryan has helped put him and the rest of the Badgers in the right position, even if the wily old coach can’t judge height.

 

“That’s about the only thing,” Taylor said. “For the record, I’m 6-1 with shoes on.”

Link

 

 

-- Remaining schedules --

MSU

@ Ill.

v. Purdue

@ PSU

@ Ind.

v. OSU

@ Purdue

v. PSU

v. Mich

 

Purdue

@ Ind.

@ MSU

v. Iowa

@ OSU

v. Ill.

@ Minn.

v. MSU

v. Ind.

@ PSU

 

OSU

v. PSU

v. Iowa

@ Ind.

@ Ill.

v. Purdue

@ MSU

@ PSU

v. Mich.

v. Ill.

 

UW

@ Mich.

v. Ill.

v. Ind.

@ Minn.

v. NWU

@ Ind.

v. Iowa

@ Ill.

Pretty hard to not feel good about Bucky the rest of the way

[craigharmann]

Pretty hard to not feel good about Bucky the rest of the way

Especially if Lucas is out for any significant time for Sparty. They've got a bunch of good players, but he's their leader.

[brewcrew7]

Pretty hard to not feel good about Bucky the rest of the way

Especially if Lucas is out for any significant time for Sparty. They've got a bunch of good players, but he's their leader.

 

Especially since the big ten is simply an average conference and really won't matter as far as the big dance. Yes, they beat Mich St, but what does that say? State has lost to all the goor or semi good (Carolina) teams they played. The badgers are a surprise but doing well in this conference does not say alot.

[homer]

brewcrew,

The Big Ten is probably tied for third best conference in the country with the Big East. Not sure where you're getting "average" from.

[TooLiveBrew]

The badgers are a surprise but doing well in this conference does not say alot.

 

If you follow the Badgers closely, they most certainly are not a surprise. And your obvious bias against the Big Ten makes it hard to take your stance seriously. As Homer said, the Big Ten has clearly been one of the best conferences in the country. Wisconsin even satisfies your arbitrary "NC" comment -- took down then-#6 Duke in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

[zzzmanwitz]

Yes, they beat Mich St, but what does that say?

 

You mean the team that made it to the National Championship game a year ago?

[TooLiveBrew]

Not to mention that they beat them by 18 points without arguably their best offensive player... and without their other top offensive player for the vast majority of the first half due to foul trouble.

[brewcrew7]

Yes, they beat Mich St, but what does that say?

 

You mean the team that made it to the National Championship game a year ago?

Well first of all we are talking about this year. And second, you mean the team that was not even competitive in that game?

 

Anyways, I know I am working with a bucky bias here but look wherever you want and the Big Ten is, at best, the 3rd best conference. And I have seen them below that. Can you really take the Big Ten seriously? Iowa, Northwestern, Penn St, Indiana, and Michigan are byes and Illinois and Minnesota are just above them. The conference is Mich St, Purdue, Ohio St, and Wisconsin. And if you asked anyone before the year, the badgers were not going to be very good. But beating up a bunch of crappy teams has people believing I guess. And the badgers beat the better teams at home and lose to them on the road. They are playing great at home but are just not that great of a team. All of the big ten teams are simply not a factor when you talk about getting deep in the tourney. Who out of this group could win 5 or 6 in a row against good teams? None

 

 

[homer]

Anyways, I know I am working with a bucky bias here but look wherever you want and the Big Ten is, at best, the 3rd best conference. And I have seen them below that. Can you really take the Big Ten seriously? Iowa, Northwestern, Penn St, Indiana, and Michigan are byes and Illinois and Minnesota are just above them. The conference is Mich St, Purdue, Ohio St, and Wisconsin. And if you asked anyone before the year, the badgers were not going to be very good. But beating up a bunch of crappy teams has people believing I guess. And the badgers beat the better teams at home and lose to them on the road. They are playing great at home but are just not that great of a team. All of the big ten teams are simply not a factor when you talk about getting deep in the tourney. Who out of this group could win 5 or 6 in a row against good teams? None

Let me take this one by one:

 

but look wherever you want and the Big Ten is, at best, the 3rd best conference.

 

- And that makes it average?

 

Can you really take the Big Ten seriously? Iowa, Northwestern, Penn

St, Indiana, and Michigan are byes and Illinois and Minnesota are just

above them. The conference is Mich St, Purdue, Ohio St, and Wisconsin.

 

- Big 12 is Texas, Kansas, KSU, and Mizzou

- ACC is Duke (and Maryland if you're into Ken Pomeroy's ratings)

Iowa, Northwestern, Penn St, Indiana, and Michigan are byes and Illinois and Minnesota are just above them.

 

- So what does that make DePaul, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, Notre Dame, and South Florida

- Or Nebraska, Texas Tech, Colorado, Iowa St, and Oklahoma?

But beating up a bunch of crappy teams has people believing I guess

- If Duke is crappy then I guess there are no good teams in this country.

 

And the badgers beat the better teams at home and lose to them on the road.

 

- Well yeah...that's sort of how it works most seasons. Even more so when you don't have your best player.

[dadofandrew]

Last I checked, NW might make the tourney.

[Oldcity]

Also the win over Maryland at a neutral site, and a last second shot away from a win at Purdue.

[bucks2281]

South Florida won at Georgetown tonight -- probably their biggest win in school history. Their game in Milwaukee next weekend suddenly looks like it'll be competitive.

[thebruce44]

I agree with most of the points you are making about the Big 10, but I can't agree that they are tied for the 3rd best conference in the country with the Big East. The Big East is #1 in my mind, with the Big 12 a close second. ESPN has The Big East and Big 12 both getting 7 teams into the tourny. ACC with 6, Atantic 10 with 5, SEC with 5, and the Big 10 with only 4.

 

If you want to compare the Big East and Big 10...well at this time next week I think you are going to see 4 Big East teams (Villanova, Cuse, WVa, Gtown) ranked ahead of MSU or Purdue as the #1 Big 10 team. Then the second tears. 7 teams into the tourney for the Big East will likely be Villanova, Cuse, WVa, Gtown, Pitt, and two of Cinci/Lville/Marquette/UConn. I think those 4 could easily dominate the 4-8 of the Big 10 (IL, Minn, N'Western, Mich).

 

Its really not even very close in my mind.

 

edit: Well maybe not Gtown ahead of MSU unless they loose at IL or against Purdue.

[Buckylovesbeer]

Does ESPN name those 6 teams from the ACC, or the 5 from the A-10 or SEC? I cannot figure how this can be.......although I did see today that Steve Lavin said that the Pac 10 could only get one, which made me laugh a bit.

 

The Big 12 actually falls off fast after you get by Kansas, Texas, and Kansas St.

 

TLB, we may need some of your research here!

[owbc]

While the Big East is clearly #1, much of the hate on the Big Ten seems exaggerated--perhaps by Marquette fans?

 

The Big East is really the BIG East. The Big 10 is likely to get 5 teams in and the Big East will get 8, after one of the bubble teams is added to the mix. Doing some quick math, 5 NCAA bids for the Big Ten is the same as 7.2 for the Big East. So the difference is about 1 team when you account for a larger conference. The Big East has more of everything, but that does not make them that much better than the Big Ten.

 

What is the difference between Wisconsin almost losing to Penn State and South Florida beating Georgetown? Is one an example of a deep conference and the other an example of a weak conference? I can not find the statistic, but the Big Ten was near the top in ranked team non-conference victories. The Big East had a higher overall non-conference winning percentage, but the conference has several basketball-only schools that schedule easier games for the funding.

 

I understand that the Big Ten has earned this reputation through years of mediocre basketball, but the conference is much improved again this year over last. That game says nothing about Michigan State's ability to advance to the final four--except that it may have cost them a #1 seed. They were clearly a step slow from playing so many road games lately while the Badgers were fresh. Give both teams equal time off and you would have gotten the close battle that we are used to.

 

What really matters in the end is the top teams, not the mediocre or bad ones. The B10 has Bucky, MSU, and Purdue. The Big East has Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, and West Virginia. You could go on all day pointing out the various flaws in each team without getting anywhere. Wisconsin nearly lost to Penn State. Georgetown lost to South Florida. Louisville should have beat West Virginia if it wasn't for the refs. Marquette should have beat West Virginia and had 2 good chances to take down Villanova. Purdue lost 3 games in a row. Etc, Etc. In the end, at least 4 of those teams are going to be in the Elite 8, and we will see who is better then.

[brewcrew7]

I don't know where the Big East debate came from either but Wisconsin would not finish top 5 in either the Big 12, ACC, or Big East. Sorry to burst your bubble. But in any conference you are going to have some awful teams at the bottom and seeing the Big East is so large, you are bound to have a few in there. But overall I don't see how you look at the Big Ten and say that it is a grueling schedule. The teams play very hard and good team basketball but that is because they are all below average athletically. Which usually means they are not serious threats in the end.

[PeaveyFury]

because they are all below average athletically. Which usually means they are not serious threats in the end.

 

And yet, they always have a team or two in the Final Four.....

 

How'd the Big Ten do in that Big Ten/ACC challenge this year, BTW?

[thebruce44]

I don't know where the Big East debate came from either

 

I didn't just start the debate at random. I should have quoted the original post, but I was responding to this statement which I strongly disagree with:

brewcrew,

The Big Ten is probably tied for third best conference in the country with the Big East. Not sure where you're getting "average" from.

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't know where the Big East debate came from either but Wisconsin would not finish top 5 in either the Big 12, ACC, or Big East. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

This is so wrong, it's hilarious. Sorry to burst your bubble. The team they beat in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, ranked #5 or 6 nationally at the time, I think that team was from the ACC. Now they put a beatdown on one of the best teams in the country in MSU (very athletic, to boot) with their top two offensive options out for basically the entire first half... then without one of them in the second half, once Hughes returned from foul trouble. I don't care if they played at home or not, that's impressive. The only thing anyone can hold against the Badgers at this point is the loss at UWGB.

[brewcrew7]

I don't know where the Big East debate came from either but Wisconsin would not finish top 5 in either the Big 12, ACC, or Big East. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

This is so wrong, it's hilarious. Sorry to burst your bubble. The team they beat in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, ranked #5 or 6 nationally at the time, I think that team was from the ACC. Now they put a beatdown on one of the best teams in the country in MSU (very athletic, to boot) with their top two offensive options out for basically the entire first half... then without one of them in the second half, once Hughes returned from foul trouble. I don't care if they played at home or not, that's impressive. The only thing anyone can hold against the Badgers at this point is the loss at UWGB.

So because they beat one team, at home, they would finish well in a different league? Now that's funny. And if you are going to use the Mich St win, they lost their best player durng the game as well. Not that they were going to win anyways. All teams lose guys so stop making excuses. It doesn't matter if all Big Ten teams had all their guys, they are not a threat to win anything this year in hoops.