2021-2022 B1G Basketball thread

[Kris60]

Yeah, I think that's fair. They're a tough team, and their draw doesn't look too bad.

I'd say that Purdue has the highest ceiling of any B1G team--their ceiling is winning the whole damn thing. Unfortunately they've come up short every time they've played with something on the line; lost to Rutgers when they got their first #1 AP rank in school history, lost to Wisconsin when a win would basically seal a share of the B1G regular season (and then lost @MSU to follow it up and lose a shot at a shared title), and lost in the BTTCG to salvage the conference slate with a Big Ten Tournament championship.

I just don't have any trust that Purdue can play to their ceiling when the brightest of bright lights come on.

Well, I have Purdue in my FF so they have that going against them now, too.

[ELA]

https://twitter.com/PregameEmpire/status/1503830355207462915?t=DMda2X4tsDGtwDVtVXBPhA&s=19

[bayareabadger]

The more I watch college basketball, the more confused I am about when it makes sense to use fatigue as an excuse. 

[ELA]

The more I watch college basketball, the more confused I am about when it makes sense to use fatigue as an excuse.

I said earlier in regards to the BTT, that once you play for your third consecutive day, it anecdotally seems to get harder.  So when a team is playing their first game, against a team playing their second, it seems to be a wash.  The one team might be slightly more fatigued, but they also are in better rhythm.  But a team on their third game vs. a team in their second game, there seems to be a gap.

As for the NCAA, meh, I don't think it's ever a thing.  Teams play two games in three days sporadically throughout the season.  And sometimes (usually?) against a team on more rest.  Here, both teams are in the same boat, and it's not SO extreme that I buy the team with better depth has a rest advantage.

The only teams that might be able to claim it, are the First Four teams, playing three games in five days, with a travel day mixed in.  And these are underdogs to begin with, so I think how they've fared going forward should kill any sort of fatigue excuse.

[MaximumSam]

Michigan point guard Devante Jones out with a concussion

[medinabuckeye1]

I said earlier in regards to the BTT, that once you play for your third consecutive day, it anecdotally seems to get harder.  So when a team is playing their first game, against a team playing their second, it seems to be a wash.  The one team might be slightly more fatigued, but they also are in better rhythm.  But a team on their third game vs. a team in their second game, there seems to be a gap.

I slightly disagree.  I think the team playing their second actually has an advantage over the team playing their first although that may depend on how physical and how difficult the first game was.  

Mostly anecdotally (because I don't want to look it all up):
Back when we had an 11-team league the #6 seed almost always (I think all but once) beat #11.  Then, their second game was against #3 who was playing their first and despite #3 obviously being generally better than #6, the #6 seed had a winning (by a lot IIRC) record against the #3.  I think there are two important factors though:

• #11 was generally an awful team.  Back then that was last and with 11 teams in the league usually at least one is just REALLY bad so #6 generally had an easy win in basically a tune-up game against #11.  
• #6 isn't generally THAT much worse than #3.  

Another thing though is that in both the 11 and 14 team formats the #8/9 winner has done surprisingly well against the #1 seed.  This year's #8/9 winner (Indiana) took out #1 (Illinois) and that has happened a few times but in addition to that there have been a LOT of VERY close games in the 1 vs 8/9 slot and just looking at the teams you wouldn't expect that.  Really, #1 should handle the 8/9 winner pretty easily but frankly they usually don't.  

Evan Turner's half-court heave to beat Michigan
Evan Turner's half-court heave to beat Michigan is a great example of this.  Ohio State fans like me love reliving that moment because it was a buzzer beater to beat our rival but look a little deeper.  Ohio State was the #1 seed.  They went 14-4 in the league and were 24-7 entering that game.  Michigan went 7-11 in the league and was 15-16 entering that game.  Ohio State went on to win the BTT and make the S16 whereas that was Michigan's last game, they didn't even go to the NIT.  My point is that while it was a neat win and all there really was no reason for Ohio State to need a miraculous buzzer-beater to beat Michigan.  Looking at the disparity between the two teams, the Buckeyes should have been dribbling out the last few seconds while sitting on a double-digit lead but they weren't.  

Ohio State is FAR from the only #1 seed in the BTT to have a LOT more trouble with the 8/9 winner than you would expect just by comparing the two teams.  

[ELA]

Michigan point guard Devante Jones out with a concussion

Damn, what did he say to Juwan?

[grillrat]

Damn, what did he say to Juwan?

Wasn't Juwan.  Jones ran into Purdue's Kelsey Barlow and doubted his ball-rack-throwing skills.

[TyphonInc]

I mean, perhaps it's an exaggeration, but Ohio State's 06/07 and 07/08 seasons fit into this.  In '06/'07, the Buckeyes won the Big Ten and BTT and made the national championship game.  Then in '07/'08, they failed to make the tournament (as probably the 1st or 2nd team out), then won the NIT. 

I'd take those 2 years over any other 2 consecutive years since 2013.

Those were two great years.
I remember the snub for the NIT, and we were all like has this team packed it up, or are they just going to crush it in the NIT, then they went out and won. I can't tell you who won the NCAA that year, but man was that NIT run a blast.

[FearlessF]

no march madness bracket challenge here?

[MaximumSam]

Those were two great years.
I remember the snub for the NIT, and we were all like has this team packed it up, or are they just going to crush it in the NIT, then they went out and won. I can't tell you who won the NCAA that year, but man was that NIT run a blast.

That was pretty cool, mostly because all the games were at OSU until the final. I think they did one at St. John's too, which was fun as hell. A proper basketball arena.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Stupid Domers...

[medinabuckeye1]

Stupid Domers...

I missed it because I don't get that channel but must have been a heck of a game!

[Abba]

It was a great one.  Honestly, I thought Notre Dame outplayed Rutgers for the most part, but the Scarlet Knights kept making crazy 3's to stay in it.  Notre Dame dominated in the paint, while Rutgers was shooting jump shots for most of the game.