2024-2025 B1G Basketball Thread

[ELA]

So the Elite 8 is 7 of the top 8, plus a top 12 team.  And people are mad because they want this to be a chaos event, and instead its an actual legit 8 team title tournament 

[Kris60]

Wow, Kelvin Sampson with the play call of the year

Great out of bounds play.  Unbelievable.  I will say Houston got some questionable calls go its way the last few minutes.  Retained a couple of possessions on plays that it clearly went out on UH.  And that inbounds play never happens if the refs call Uzan for the push off on Smith. But those things happen. Great ending.

[OrangeAfroMan]

So the E8 is:

• 4 #1 seeds
• 3 #2 seeds
• 1 #3 seed

This is a good thing.

[SuperMario]

Great out of bounds play.  Unbelievable.  I will say Houston got some questionable calls go its way the last few minutes.  Retained a couple of possessions on plays that it clearly went out on UH.  And that inbounds play never happens if the refs call Uzan for the push off on Smith. But those things happen. Great ending.

The out of bounds call then followed by the three was tough. The push off at the end of the game was absolutely BS. That was so beyond blatant. The play call after that was incredible, but tough to overlook such a horrible no-call in such a key moment.

[FearlessF]

This is a good thing.

should have been an 8-team tournament

[OrangeAfroMan]

should have been an 8-team tournament

Only if there's any interest in the best team winning it.  Pffft, crazy talk!

[CatsbyAZ]

So the E8 is:

• 4 #1 seeds
• 3 #2 seeds
• 1 #3 seed

So the Elite 8 is 7 of the top 8, plus a top 12 team...

Have thought a lot about this thread's commentary, dating back through this month, discussing the combined impact of the NIL and Transfer Portal widening the gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots by eroding the mid-majors into a "glorified JuCo" status, as Norfolk State's head coach aptly phrases it. Where the NIL pockets of high-majors can buy experienced starters from the MAC, A-10, MTW, CUSA, etc. This siphoning off of both talent and experience across the mid-majors will lead to less upsets and Cinderella runs in the NCAA Tournament. We've talked more about this pertaining to football, but it's notable to see how the NIL/TP impact is playing out in college basketball as well. This year might be the first season where the full result is taking hold of the tournament. It was only two seasons ago that #1, #2, & #4 seeds lost in the first round.

Another area this is impacting is "bracket betting." Vegas Sports Books have always been able to count on upsets to diminish the potential winnings of the vast numbers of casual "bracket betters" submitting brackets that are mostly "chalk." This year the "chalkers" are set for higher than usual winnings, to the point that Vegas Sports Books are expecting to lose record amounts on "bracket betting" this March.


https://twitter.com/blake_levine/status/1904461541757350125

[Kris60]

Texas Tech with an absolute gutting loss. Up 9 with under 3 to play only to see UF go on a 18-4 run to end the game.

[ELA]

I know 3 point defense is kind of random, but Texas Tech looked uninterested in guarding it, when Florida had to shoot them

[ELA]

I think every time I watch Alabama, Sears has a bad game

[medinabuckeye1]

Unfortunately it looks like 24/25 B1G BB is 20 minutes from over.

[medinabuckeye1]

Unfortunately it looks like 24/25 B1G BB is 20 minutes from over.

OTOH, only being down 9 at the half after shooting as terribly as MSU did in the first half isn't bad.

[ELA]

Winning coaches get hired for things that would end their career in any other profession.  SEC hires coaches that couldn't even get hired elsewhere in coaching.  That's where the Big Ten is always going to lag behind, if there is no downside to hiring these guys.

The Final 4 is going to be 2 coaches fired for ethical violations, one who won enough to get his sex accusations swept under the rug...and Duke

Do you realize how low the bar is that Duke is the likeable team in the Final 4?

[OrangeAfroMan]

What Duke did on defense vs Alabama was nuts.  That's scary.  Even more than Houston holding Tennessee to 15 at the half.