2022-2023 B1G Basketball Thread

[FearlessF]

Worse? How can it get any worse? The Badgers are at the threshold of hell!

hah, have you watched the "other" big red

[bayareabadger]

The train is off the rails.

Relax, my guy. 

[847badgerfan]

Have you met Minnesota?

The Badgers would lose to them if they played today.

[847badgerfan]

Relax, my guy.

They just got blown out by a mediocre team. Lost 5 of 6. This is a team that was once projected as a 3 seed. They are not the same and something is very wrong.

[FearlessF]

fire the coach

[medinabuckeye1]

They just got blown out by a mediocre team. Lost 5 of 6. This is a team that was once projected as a 3 seed. They are not the same and something is very wrong.

I realize that this may seem hypocritical since I am the chief advocate for ending the Holtmann era at Ohio State but I think that you are overreacting here. There are some significant differences:

• The Badgers were forced to play Maryland on the road on one day's rest due to Northwestern's fortuitously timed COVID outbreak while the Terps were at home and on normal rest. I think it is a huge mistake to read too much into the outcome in College Park, frankly I expected it.
• Wisconsin is a game better than Ohio State 4-5 vs 3-6.
• Wisconsin's schedule is front-loaded. When I was setting up the tiers I noticed that Wisconsin's losses were concentrated early. Yes, they have lost five of six but four of the five losses were fully expected road losses (@IL, @IU, @NU, @MD). The other loss was to the B1G's best coach by far.
• Down the stretch Wisconsin's schedule gets MUCH easier. Six of their 11 remaining games are in the Kohl Center and the five road games are mostly against the league's worst teams (MN, UNL, PSU, tOSU).
• Wisconsin is projected to go 8-3 down the stretch and nab a three-seed in Chicago.
• In his seven prior seasons in Madison Gard has two S16's and two league titles including last year.

[medinabuckeye1]

Lost 5 of 6. 

Honestly, reactions like this are why we do the tiers, or at least they are why I got involved in it.  

I noticed YEARS ago that the talking heads would overreact anytime my team won/lost three in a row without considering context.  Looking, for example, at this season: If the Buckeyes won three in a row by picking up a couple home wins over mediocre teams such as themselves and a road win in Minneapolis that really wouldn't be very impressive, all things considered.  Conversely, if the Buckeyes lost three in a row by losing a couple road games to mediocre teams such as themselves and losing at home to Purdue that wouldn't be all that concerning, all things considered. 

In spite of the above, the talking heads could be counted on to excitedly point out how great/awful tOSU was after three straight wins/losses even though the wins/losses weren't really all that impressive/damming.  

I think, @847badgerfan that you are doing the same thing here.  Yes, Wisconsin has lost five of six.  Yes, on the surface that seems concerning.  However, when you look closer only one of the five (vsMSU) was not predicted by the tiers and the Badgers have an offsetting unpredicted win (@IA) so they are still on track to finish 12-8.  

[847badgerfan]

I fully understand the tiers. I also fully understand that there is something seriously wrong in the program right now.

I flat out saw a team QUIT last night.

Gard deserves some time to fix things - he deserves the BOD.

Some thought PC deserved the BOD too - me included. 

You don't always get what you deserve, and if the firing of PC is an indicator, well, Gard should be paying attention.

[ELA]

Per BPI, Wisconsin has played the 3rd most difficult schedule in the Big Ten, behind only MSU and Nebraska.  Their remaining schedule is the 4th easiest, behind just Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers.  BPI factors in travel and rest in their SOS calculator 

Somehow MSU has had the 2nd hardest SOS, and the 2nd hardest remaining SOS.

UM has the hardest, so they better get going.  Granted that also means the opportunities are going to be there

[ELA]

I fully understand the tiers. I also fully understand that there is something seriously wrong in the program right now.

I flat out saw a team QUIT last night.

Gard deserves some time to fix things - he deserves the BOD.

Some thought PC deserved the BOD too - me included.

You don't always get what you deserve, and if the firing of PC is an indicator, well, Gard should be paying attention.

UWGB fired Bo Ryan's kid last night, so he's available 

[medinabuckeye1]

Speaking of the tiers, last night's Northwestern win in Lincoln was an upset and it completely rearranged the seeds for the middle eight teams because they project to be REALLY bunched up.  

The top-4 remain the same (PU, RU, UW, MSU) as to the bottom two (UNL, MN).  The rest are very much rearranged because Northwestern's extra win moves them up into the tie at 10-10 which is now for 5-8 and out of the tie at 9-11 which is now for 9-12.  New seeds 5-12:

• #5 3-1 Iowa because they do not travel to College Park nor Ann Arbor.  NO CHANGE.  
• #6 2-2 Maryland because they do not host IA nor visit Evanston.  UP FROM #7.  
• #7 2-3 Northwestern because they do not host UMD and they beat M due to a better record against MSU.  UP FROM #10.  
• #8 2-3 Michigan because they do not host IA and they lose to NU due to a worse record against MSU.  DOWN FROM #6.  
• #9 3-1 Indiana because they do not host PSU nor visit Columbus and they won in Champaign.  They beat PSU based on a better record against UW because they do not visit Madison.  UP FROM #11.  
• #10 3-1 Penn State because they do not host tOSU nor visit Bloomington and they won in Champaign.  The lose to IU based on worse record against UW.  DOWN FROM #9.  
• #11 2-2 Ohio State because they do not host IU nor visit State College.  DOWN FROM #8.  
• #12 1-5 Illinois because they lost at home to both IU and PSU.  NO CHANGE.  

[medinabuckeye1]

I fully understand the tiers. I also fully understand that there is something seriously wrong in the program right now.

I flat out saw a team QUIT last night.

Again, I would ignore last night's result.  

The Wisconsin basketball team played a game in Evanston, Illinois on Monday night.  I presume that they then flew back to Madison and got in late but it might be worse, they might have bussed back to Madison.  Then they had ONE day.  Sometime either Tuesday afternoon/evening or yesterday morning they flew to Maryland then played the Terps last night.  

That is insane.  

It is also completely unfair to Wisconsin because unlike in a tournament where everybody is in the same boat, the Terps players had no such difficulty.  Their last game was on Sunday against the Boilermakers in West Lafayette.  I presume that they flew home Sunday night then had all day Monday, all day Tuesday, and most of Wednesday to rest and recover AT HOME and prepare for Wisconsin.  

Wisconsin got blown out in College Park, Maryland.  This should not surprise anyone.  Don't blame your team or coach, blame Northwestern's fortuitous COVID outbreak.  

[847badgerfan]

F'ing Nerds.

[bayareabadger]

I fully understand the tiers. I also fully understand that there is something seriously wrong in the program right now.

I flat out saw a team QUIT last night.

Gard deserves some time to fix things - he deserves the BOD.

Some thought PC deserved the BOD too - me included.

You don't always get what you deserve, and if the firing of PC is an indicator, well, Gard should be paying attention.

He’s the coach of a team that’s struggling. I’m pretty sure he’s paying attention.

The rules are mostly the same. The leash isn’t long, but it’s longer than “freak out over a bad season.”

Miss the tournament two years in a row, you’re done. Right now, it’s one bad but often competitive year off two Big Ten titles in three years.

Shoot, an almost millennial is put in charge of the department and suddenly the older fans want to run everything based on vibes. At year’s end, we’ll assess the big picture.