2020-2021 B1G Basketball Thread

[MrNubbz]

I tell my daughter all the time softball is the only team sport I know of where you are allowed to talk trash and not be penalized for it. 

"Hey,Ump you're missing a good game"

[bayareabadger]

Baylor, ALWAYS with an answer. Dang, they're pretty good. 

[medinabuckeye1]

B1G seeds and what they should accomplish based on past results for those seeds:

• #1: Michigan, Illinois
• #2: Iowa, Ohio State
• #4: Purdue
• #9: Wisconsin
• #10: Maryland, Rutgers
• #11: Michigan State

What this group should accomplish:

• 6.15 teams in the R32
• 3.91 teams in the S16
• 2.62 teams in the E8
• 1.36 teams in the F4
• 0.69 teams in the NC
• 0.39 National Champions

Based on our initial seeds we "should" put almost four teams in the S16. 

We now only have four teams left so all four would need to win to approximate what we "should" accomplish. 

[OrangeAfroMan]

So, if I gave you a choice between Florida winning 5 titles in basketball or one in football over the next 10 years which would you choose?

That's easy.  And I think 99/100 Gators agree with me.

[MaximumSam]

Late game Syracuse giving me Ohio State flashbacks

[betarhoalphadelta]

If Rutger pulls this off, with Badge give them their 'S' back?

[OrangeAfroMan]

Wouldn't it be funny for Rutgers to be the B10's saving grace? lol

[betarhoalphadelta]

Obviously that Purdue game was a gutshot. I thought Purdue had a puncher's chance at another S16, and to get bounced like that just hurts.

That said, there's a lot of missing context if you just look at a 4 getting upset by a 13.

The epitaph on this season reads: "Ahead of schedule"

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, was expecting Purdue to come into a stacked conference, finish 4th in the regular season, and be a 4 seed in the tourney. 

Purdue fans were simply hoping to MAKE the tourney. 2019-20 looked to be on the wrong side of the bubble, with a few BTT wins probably needed to get Purdue into the dance, but it ended up being moot as the tourney was canceled. 

• Then we lost Matt Haarms and Nojel Eastern to transfer, our only seniors. 
• We missed on Hunter Dickinson and our consolation prize was a gigantic Canadian that found basketball late in life because he grew too tall for hockey and baseball, and then our other backup (Emmanuel Dowuona) missed the entire season for medical reasons.
• Our 4 spot was to be manned by Aaron Wheeler, a RS Jr whose previous season was highly underwhelming, and Mason Gillis, a RS frosh who hadn't played much competitive basketball in 2 years because of injury issues.
• That left a number of freshmen who we knew were going to play significant minutes out of necessity, and we just hoped they'd survive and learn.

And what happened? 4 of those freshmen won Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, some multiple times. Edey was a force. Jaden Ivey looks like a game-changer. Gillis and Newman... Well they survived well enough to be consistent role players.

This team wasn't expected to do much... They dramatically exceeded those expectations. 

So the season ended on a sour note... That sucks. It really sucks. But given the perspective, the season was more successful than any of us thought coming in. And the future looks VERY bright.

[bayareabadger]

Wouldn't it be funny for Rutgers to be the B10's saving grace? lol

Profoundly funny. 

[ELA]

How the hell did Purdue lose to this team?

[MaximumSam]

Oral Damn Roberts

[bayareabadger]

Oral Damn Roberts

Ohio State and Florida played for titles in football and basketball in the same year.

Now ORU has eliminated both. 

[medinabuckeye1]

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, was expecting Purdue to come into a stacked conference, finish 4th in the regular season, and be a 4 seed in the tourney.

Unfortunately Purdue didn't, our league wasn't stacked. I think it was @ELA who pointed out that most of our OOC success was against the ACC which turned out to be hot garbage. 

In retrospect Purdue finished fourth in a meh league.

[bayareabadger]

Unfortunately Purdue didn't, our league wasn't stacked. I think it was @ELA who pointed out that most of our OOC success was against the ACC which turned out to be hot garbage.

In retrospect Purdue finished fourth in a meh league.

So, the metrics still say the Big Ten on balance was the best conference. Maybe that's because they kicked the hell out of the ACC, but those metrics likewise adjust for competition. 

I assume you're using the lack of playing to expectations as some evidence of this, and in the end, I think that might be missing the forest for the trees a bit. Even though we have the adjusted numbers about how far teams will go, in the end, having more high seeds builds a mechanism to disappoint. All the success is wrapped up in smaller conferences. The second-best conference (the Big 12) lost 3 seeds in the first and second rounds and is waiting to see on OK State. I guess one could say the Pac-12 is better than we thought, but I think in the end, the Big Dance is just too jagged and weird to be a great indicator of conference strength. 

The Big Ten was still, on balance, stacked. It turned around and didn't do well in the dance, but that happens. And sometimes the league ain't that strong and gets a couple of teams rolling deep into the tournament. It's just weird like that.