Wisconsin Badgers Basketball

[TooLiveBrew]

Wisconsin drops down to a 5 seed in Lunardi's Bracketology this week. I thought they were a 2 last week, so I'm not sure where the huge drop comes from. I mean 5 isn't bad but they pretty much dropped 8-12 spots due to 1 loss to the first place team.

 

Well, it is ESPN. Let me wager a guess... the three conferences with the most teams in his bracket are... ACC, Big East, & Pac-10 (and that's only bc the P-10 is monstrous this year).

[Oldcity]

Disclaimer: I realize the rankings mean nothing for tournament seeding.

 

How is MSU that far ahead of Wisconsin? They each have four losses. Wisconsin's are all against quality opponents (well, sort of. Insert your Marquette collapse joke here). MSU has lost to Penn State and Iowa... Does not add up at all.

[Glennron]

Wisconsin and MSU are one away in SOS, but MSU's RPI is 7 spots higher than Wisconsin's. MSU also has 5 wins against the RPI Top 50, while Wisconsin only has 2.

[Oldcity]

Your... Your brain has the shell on it.

 

Fair enough. I got served. I still think UW fell too far for one loss, but that's just me.

[Glennron]

I don't agree with Wisconsin dropping six spots, but I was just pointing out why the voters probably have MSU that much higher than Wisconsin.

 

I didn't catch this until I glanced at Bracketology again, but this statement about the Badgers caught my eye-"Worse, that big win at Texas is fading into history." What's that even supposed to mean? Is he suggesting that since it was early in the season it didn't matter? Cause if that's the case I'll gladly erase the Duke and Marquette losses. If anything it's looking better after tonight's big win over Kansas.

[TooLiveBrew]

"Worse, that big win at Texas is fading into history." What's that even supposed to mean? Is he suggesting that since it was early in the season it didn't matter?

 

He's just reminding us of the 5-minute attention span of ESPN! BEecuzz the Bajjurz has lozt 4 gamez sinse then!

[Oldcity]

Surprise, surprise. Kelvin Sampson never stopped cheating. I only wish the game tonight was at Madison so we could see what creative chants the student section came up with. What a tool, and what a bonehead hire by Indiana.

 

On a different note, Purdue is on a serious roll as they knock off Michigan St. Man. And this team lost to Wofford at home? Wofford just lost to Appalachian St. by over 20 yesterday.

[Glennron]

The only way Indiana would be prevented from making the post-season is if they do it themselves, because the NCAA won't do anything until June. I really hope Indiana doesn't sanction themselves. I hope so because I'm sure a lot of the illegal calls were made to Eric Gordon, and he will only be there one year. Then, in June, I can see the NCAA stripping whatever they do in the post-season, rendering the Gordon fiasco pointless. I can at least hope.

[TooLiveBrew]

"Sampson wasn't allowed to take part in three-way calls, originated by anyone on the staff. In October, Indiana made public that former assistant Rob Senderoff initiated three-way calls. During the October news conference, Indiana said that Sampson said he was unaware he was participating on a three-way call. Senderoff, who was forced to resign, said he didn't let Sampson know he was on a three-way call, either. Prior to being forced out, Senderoff was told he couldn't recruit off campus for a year or make a phone call. The same restriction was put on Dan Dakich, who has since been moved up to an assistant position from director of basketball operations."

 

 

Ahhhh... the road to greatness... paved with fall-guy yes-men.

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif Seriously, Sampson. Your hair's been snipped. No reason to tell us you're just trying out a new look.

[hawing]

On a different note, Purdue is on a serious roll as they knock off Michigan St.

Yeah, as we watched the 2nd half of that game I realized that Purdue winning was worse for the Badgers, but seeing the likes of Tom Izzo and Drew Neitzel defeated was fun enough for me to override the (further) diminished Big Ten championship hopes.

[Oldcity]

Yeah, I'm with you hawing. I wanted to root against Purdue. I knew I should. Yet I couldn't bring myself to root for Izzo.

 

Interestingly, Ken Pomeroy still has the Badgers fifth overall today. Just as interesting is Marquette ranked 13. Other notables: Indiana 17, Michigan State 23, Purdue 24, Ohio State 27, Illinois 34. That he'd have Illinois that high is surprising to me, but according to his numbers they've been very unlucky.

[Glennron]

If by unlucky he means the propensity to choke away games, then Illinois is just that. I realize he puts a ton more calculation into his rankings than in basic AP and Coaches polls, but Kansas State 6? Apparently West Virginia is better than both Notre Dame and Texas, and so on. It's interesting to look at but it doesn't really seem that valid to me.

[Oldcity]

I see what your saying, but he stresses the fact that these are not rankings based on what teams have done this season. They are meant to indicate which teams have the best chance of winning from this point on. It's more of a predictive tool.

[Glennron]

Gettin' piggity-pumped for the game. A sweep of Indiana would offset getting swept by Purdue. Although looking at Purdue's schedule it's going to be pretty hard for them to go worse than 15-3 at this point. Wisconsin will have to play well the last month + maybe get a little lucky to win/share the BT title.

[Glennron]

I will never, ever, complain about a lucky shot made by an opponent ever again. Unreal. My heart was racing the last 3 minutes of the game and it still is.

[brettac1]

Polar.

Bear.

[burniebrewer]

Was there ever a doubt?

[pitchleague]

I didn't get home until halftime but I saw the best part of the game. Back and forth pretty much every possession. I was mesmerized watching the television screen--couldn't take my eyes away.

 

Win or lose, it was one heck of a game, though.

[burniebrewer]

How soon until the latest round of Big Ten Network complaining begins?

[owbc]

I got to the Kohl Center with 4:00 remaining in the game after getting out of work. There were about 5,000 people there and it was fun to see everyone jumping around like it was a home game :-)

[wisconsinfan47]

The Kohl Center was ridiculous tonight, especially for those last 3 or 4 minutes. Great times. That should happen more often.

 

Hughes definitely should've been called for a double dribble on that last possesion, but I can't imagine anyone is really feeling sorry for Sampson and Co. on this day.

[hawing]

http://www.lazybearlodge.com/images/07pb-package/large/LBL-polar-bear.jpg

 

Oh, yeah.

 

And may I add, that's my J-Bo, too - he of the half dozen 3-balls.

 

 

[Oldcity]

Awesome game. The pace in the second half was extremely entertaining. This completely makes up for Saturday's loss and keeps them right in the picture for a conference title.

 

And I imagine I'd feel sick to lose on a long bank shot if I were an Indiana fan, but they'd have lost to Illinois without one from Gordon. I guess it sort of evens out for them.

[davego]

...and the bank stayed open late!

[elbobbo82]

I'll tell you what, Bohannon is going to be something pretty special the next couple of years. I lived in Iowa City for the past couple years, and boy were they PISSED when he chose Wisconsin over Iowa. And it seems that they had reason to be.