2023-2024 B1G Basketball Thread

[betarhoalphadelta]

yes, but I go to bars anyway, so...

I'll be in a bar in the Old Market area of Omaha with my brother for the Friday night Husker game at Illinois.
And then most of the afternoon Saturday

I enjoyed Upstream Brewing Company when I was there...

...probably not the best place to order Bud Fat tho.

[ELA]

MSU prediction.  Xavier Booker is a slow burn, even though he's MSUs highest rated recruit.  But Coen Carr has a roller coaster season that tantalizes the NBA, and he's one and done

[847badgerfan]

Will MSU miss Joey Hauser? If not, they can be really good this season.

[FearlessF]

I enjoyed Upstream Brewing Company when I was there...

...probably not the best place to order Bud Fat tho.

I like Upstream.  Should visit again.
Last time was probably 10 years ago.
Sat at the bar next to the owner

Always many new places to try

[ELA]

So Kansas basically skated on some serious and obvious infractions.  But it did do one thing


https://twitter.com/DavidHarns/status/1712196324865814828?t=k2riSpbistV4HDWMM7o4kQ&s=19

[medinabuckeye1]

So Kansas had to vacate some appearances and now MSU has the longest streak of appearances so long as Kansas' vacated appearances are not counted?

[ELA]

So Kansas had to vacate some appearances and now MSU has the longest streak of appearances so long as Kansas' vacated appearances are not counted?

Yup

[medinabuckeye1]

Yup

Ok, thanks. 

The "vacate" thing is just weird to me but I don't mean that to take anything away from Izzo/Michigan State's accomplishment. 

Gonzaga's streak doesn't really impress me because I think my local High School would have made most of yhe last 20-some NCAA Tournaments if they played in Gonzaga's league. 

Kansas' streak (vacated or not) and MSU's unblemished streak are seriously impressive. Two-and-a-half decades of playing at least decent BB every year is amazing. 

How long is Izzo going to stay and is there a succession plan? If I am reading it right, the upcoming 23/24 season will be his 29th at the helm in East Lansing (I was a student at Ohio State when he took over in EL) and he'll turn 69 about mid season (January 30).

[bayareabadger]

Gonzaga's streak doesn't really impress me because I think my local High School would have made most of yhe last 20-some NCAA Tournaments if they played in Gonzaga's league.

It’s cool you have a local high school that’s better than half the college programs in the country. 

Is OSU getting a lot of kids from there. 

[medinabuckeye1]

It’s cool you have a local high school that’s better than half the college programs in the country.

Is OSU getting a lot of kids from there.

Obviously my post was an exaggeration but so is yours.  

Gonzaga doesn't have to be better than "half the college programs in the country" to win their conference.  They only have to be better than the other programs that make up their league and those are not very impressive:

• 2019 only two of their teams were in the top-68 per NET and that includes Gonzaga so to win the league they only had to beat out one decent team.  
• 2021 three of their teams were in the top-68 per NET.  That includes #1 Gonzaga along with #20 and #62 so they only had to beat out one, MAYBE two decent teams.  
• 2022 was a surprisingly good year for them, they had four in  the top-68 so Gonzaga had to beat out three decent teams.  Gonzaga was #1, the others were #19, #28, and #50.  
• 2023 only two of their teams were in the top-68 per NET and that includes Gonzaga so to win the league they only had to beat out one decent team.  

Yes, I was exaggerating but the fact that Gonzaga plays in a crap league remains.  For comparison here are the number of NET top-68 teams from serious leagues:

• 2023:  B12 10/10, B1G 11/14, SEC 9/14, ACC 7/15, B-East 5/11, P12 5/12
• 2022:  B12 9/10, SEC 9/14, B-East 7/11, B1G 8/14, P12 5/12, ACC 6/15
• 2021:  B1G 10/14, B12 7/10, SEC 9/14, ACC 9/15, B-East 6/11, P12 5/12
• 2019:  B12 8/10, B1G 11/14, SEC 9/14, ACC 9/15, B-East 6/10, P12 4/12

Playing a good team in the WCC is a rarity.  If you are Gonzaga it is even rarer because you don't have to play yourself.  They have only a handful of league games annually against competent teams.  The rest of their league games are the equivalent to the crap early-season OOC games that we complain our teams play too many of. 

[medinabuckeye1]

Media picked Ohio State to finish 7th this year.

The Ohio State writer linked above and I both think that is probably generous. He states:
"I see them at 10th and not making the NCAA Tournament again. This team just is too poorly coached to make adjustments on the fly."

[847badgerfan]

St. Mary's is probably gonna unseat Gonzaga this season in that conference.

[847badgerfan]

[medinabuckeye1]

Initial tiers, proposal:

• PU, MSU
• UMD, IL, UW, IU
• tOSU, NU, IA, RU
• M, UNL, PSU, MN

Thoughts?