2025-2026 B1G Basketball Thread

[medinabuckeye1]

Personally, I think we should shorten up the Tournament by having the top-4 host as follows:

Tuesday, March 10:

• #15 vs #18 at #2
• #16 vs #17 at #1

Wednesday, March 11:

• #1 vs 16/17 at #1
• #2 vs 15/18 at #2
• #3 vs #14 at #3
• #4 vs #14 at #4
• #5 vs #12 at #4
• #6 vs #11 at #3
• #7 vs #10 at #2
• #8 vs #9 at #1

Thursday, March 12:

• #1/16/17 vs #8/9 at #1
• #2/15/18 vs #7/10 at #2
• #3/14 vs #6/11 at #3
• #4/14 vs #5/12 at #4

Friday, March 13:

• Travel day to a neutral site for the League's Final Four

Saturday, March 14:

• #1/16/17/8/9 vs #4/14/5/12 at the B1GF4 site
• #2/15/18/7/10 vs #3/14/6/11 at the B1GF4 site

Sunday, March 15:

• #1/16/17/8/9/4/14/5/12 vs #2/15/18/7/10/3/14/6/11 at the B1GF4 site

[betarhoalphadelta]

I try not to overreact to streaks and these three were all challenging games but this is surprising.  Purdue went into that UCLA game 17-1, #4 in the Nation, and looking like every bit of a #1 seed and since then:

• Lost at UCLA by 2, UCLA is 6-3 and this was a West Coast road game
• Lost at home to Illinois by 6
• Lost at Indiana by 5, Indiana is .500 even after the upset

This has definitely changed my perception of Purdue.  I expected them to win each game and if they had dropped one, upsets happen.  Dropping all three is more problematic.  Purdue likely has no margin for error now if they want a share of the league title. 

The good news is that Purdue has a couple weeks to get right.  They visit Maryland on Sunday but Maryland is atrocious and then they host Oregon next Saturday which should be an easy win for them.  After that, two weeks from yesterday they go to Nebraska then continue the road swing with a visit to Carver-Hawkeye on Valentine's Day. 

Purdue's problem vis-a-vis the league title is that Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Illinois each only have one loss.  Winning out would give UNL, M, and MSU each a second loss but they'd still need a lot of help.  They'll get most of it because a lot of those teams still have to play each other but they need things to balance right to get everybody to three losses and if Purdue drops another game they'll need miracles. 

Ultimately I think they've played themselves out of any chance at a share of the reg season title. I don't see them going 3-0 against the big teams in current form even though they get 2 at home. And if they continue playing like this, I don't trust they're going to avoid dropping another one elsewhere either. 

The only chance IMHO is that there's something going on physically with Smith (who has definitely had some issues) or TKR (who people think might have a nagging back or hip injury). And that if those are cleared up, they'll be a different team. 

If that's the case, though, I think they'd STILL be a very very long shot for a share of the reg season title. The hope would be that they get healthy before the BTT and NCAAT and make the noise where it truly matters. 

[ELA]

Would presently be Maryland-Oregon on a Tuesday afternoon in Chicago.  Probably not a tough ticket

[medinabuckeye1]

Would presently be Maryland-Oregon on a Tuesday afternoon in Chicago.  Probably not a tough ticket

And that is why I think we should change it as outlined above.  You still wouldn't fill up the arena but I think you'd do better with:

• Maryland-Oregon on a Tuesday night in Ann Arbor with the winner playing Michigan the next night.  At least a few Michigan students would show up to check out the opposition.  
• Northwestern-Penn State on a Tuesday night in Lincoln with the winner playing Nebraska the next night.  At least a few Nebraska students would show up to check out the opposition.  

Note, I didn't check tiebreakers.  I just used what you put as the 16-17 game and the other two of the bottom four became the 15-18 game and for the top-2 I'm just using the order in which they are listed by ESPN currently.  

[ELA]

And that is why I think we should change it as outlined above.  You still wouldn't fill up the arena but I think you'd do better with:

• Maryland-Oregon on a Tuesday night in Ann Arbor with the winner playing Michigan the next night.  At least a few Michigan students would show up to check out the opposition. 

Michigan fans barely show up to see Michigan.  Not a basketball school.  Just play all conference championships and tournaments in Lincoln.  Attendance would be unparalleled.

[FearlessF]

it's true

[ELA]

Also, I know we've sort of abandoned the Tiers, but if we still had them, I'd do (alphabetical by tier)...

1 - Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska
2 - Purdue
3 - Indiana, Iowa, UCLA, Wisconsin
4 - Ohio State
5 - USC, Washington
6 - Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon
7 - Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers

EDIT: Northwestern, UCLA

[ELA]

Using those for the standings.  Green means +1, Red means -1

• Nebraska (19-1) 29-1
• Michigan State (17-3) 27-4
• Illinois (17-3) 26-5
• Michigan (16-4) 26-5
• Purdue (15-5) 25-6
• UCLA (13-7) 21-10
• Wisconsin (12-8) 20-11
• Iowa (12-8) 22-9
• Ohio State (11-9) 19-12
• Indiana (10-10) 19-12 (-2)
• USC (9-11) 20-11
• Washington (8-12) 16-15
• Minnesota (6-14) 13-18 (+2)
• Northwestern (5-15) 13-18
• Rutgers (4-16) 11-20
• Oregon (4-16) 11-23
• Maryland (2-18) 10-22
• Penn State (2-18) 11-20

I'll work with whether the +/-2s are worth changing

EDIT: UCLA is an easy one to move up; dropping Indiana keeps them -2, so they stay the same; moving Minnesota up keeps them +2, so they stay the same

[ELA]

Tier picks for tonight...

Iowa d. USC
Wisconsin d. Minnesota
UCLA d. Oregon

[bayareabadger]

I swear to God, if Wisconsin fucks this up…

[847badgerfan]

I swear to God, if Wisconsin fucks this up…

They tried really hard but failed.

Poor Goophs.

[bayareabadger]

This is what I wrote but didn't get posted after turning it off with 8 minutes to go in the first half.

"Appears UW has decided to miss everything and take a dump on the floor on the offensive end. The USC game was bad but made intrinsic sense. This level of non-shot-making is kind of baffling."

I followed the score a bit before bed, and as they rallied, decided they were doing better without me watching.

This UW team is far from perfect and often isn't very good. But they are absolutely without a drop of give up. 

I've said if they make the dance considering how some of the transfers worked out, I'll be happy. They'll need to take care of business and win a tossup along the way, and maybe sweat a bit on the bubble depending on how things fall, but that mark is well within reach.