2025-2026 B1G Basketball Thread

[bayareabadger]

Wisconsin’s two injured rotation players reportedly “full go” save for major contact stuff. 

Not 100% sure if that actually means you are full go, but hopefully it means they are trending toward being able to play to some degree this week.

[ELA]

If Auburn played 23 Q1 games, and won 10 they'd be in comfortably.

But still, not for Miami.  Everyone agreed Texas and SMU were the two teams at the bottom

[MaximumSam]

I guess you guys like this:
[img width=301.104 height=500]https://i.imgur.com/LBBBHc8.png[/img]
Personally, I don't.  I'd rather see quality BB. 

I like it because the seal is Auburn

[medinabuckeye1]

Well, I guess present something that isn't silly and I can respond to it. But just repeating NO QUAD 1 WINS 400 times and expecting that to do the work just ain't cutting it.

You are a liar and this is beyond childish.  

In this thread:

• I questioned their metrics.
• You said "31 wins".
• I presented NET.  
• You said "31 wins".
• I presented KenPom.  
• You said "31 wins".
• I presented Torvik (because it is YOUR favorite metric).  
• You said "31 wins".  
• I broke their wins into quads per NET.  
• You said "31 wins".  
• @betarhoalphadelta explained that some team winning 31 games against rotting corpses is a statistical certainty.  
• You said "31 wins".  
• I pointed out that their loss is dreadful, Q4.  
• You said "31 wins".  

I don't know where you find the audacity to accuse me of doing literally EXACTLY what YOU did.  

Please try being honest.  

[grillrat]

I guess you guys like this:

Personally, I don't.  I'd rather see quality BB. 

So by this logic, none of the little leagues should get an automatic qualifier either?

[847badgerfan]

Wisconsin’s two injured rotation players reportedly “full go” save for major contact stuff.

Not 100% sure if that actually means you are full go, but hopefully it means they are trending toward being able to play to some degree this week.

Winter back is gonna help the rebounding for sure.

Having Janicki will be huge for the defense. His absence has been notable at times.

[ELA]

Among other reasons I hate the 18 team league, I used to have a good feel for at least the other Big Ten teams.  I think I watched like 4 Wisconsin games fully this year.

Wisconsin crushed MSU because Boyd and Blackwell went 9-16 from 3, but Winter was the guy who really impressed me.  He got a double double, and shut down Cooper/Kohler, while also getting Cooper in foul trouble.  That forced Jesse McCulloch to play 9 minutes.  He played a TOTAL of 14 minutes in the 7 games after that, and 9 of them came in garbage time in a 30 point win over UCLA.

[medinabuckeye1]

So by this logic, none of the little leagues should get an automatic qualifier either?

If you are asking my personal opinion, I shared it way upthread and I'll repeat it here:

I think that there should be a limit.  I don't think ANY group of teams that get together and call themselves a conference should get a seat at the table.  I would drop back to 64 teams and my limit would be that your champion (however YOU choose to determine that) gets an auto bid but ONLY if you have at least one team in the top-128 (so double the size of the field) of the final NET* rankings. 

This year that would exclude the following leagues:

• Patriot - Best team is #137 Navy
• SoCon - Best team is #140 ETSU
• ASUN - Best team is #164 Austin Peay
• OVC - Best team is #172 Tennessee St. 
• MAAC - Best team is #180 Merrimack
• America East - Best team is #196 UMBC
• NEC - Best team is #198 LIU
• MEAC - Best team is #203 Howard
• SWAC - Best team is #261 Bethune-Cookman

The Big Sky would just make the cut as Montana State is #128.  Similarly the Horizon league's Wright State is #127. 

So my proposal would eliminate 4 tournament slots and let in five teams that are VASTLY better than the five #16 seeds that they would replace. 

*NET:
I don't have any personal affinity for NET I only selected it because that is the on the NCAA owns.  I'd be fine with using KenPom, Torvik, any reasonable data-driven (ie, not emotional) measurement. 

[medinabuckeye1]

If Auburn played 23 Q1 games, and won 10 they'd be in comfortably.

But still, not for Miami.  Everyone agreed Texas and SMU were the two teams at the bottom

I'm glad that you have at least SOME respect for quality but I'm having a hard time figuring out what your line is.  So SoS matters in a hypothetical sense if you play 23 Q1 games but it doesn't matter if you club 31 baby seals?  You are a lawyer so you'll understand this question, what is the distinction you are making?  

[medinabuckeye1]

I like it because the seal is Auburn

I don't mind AT ALL seeing Auburn get clubbed but you really aren't in a position to call Auburn a baby seal.  You've spent 6 pages defending beating Trinity Christian, Indiana University East, and Milligan.  Those actually are analogous to baby seals.  I think this is beyond your comprehension so enjoy your bliss.  

[ELA]

I'm glad that you have at least SOME respect for quality but I'm having a hard time figuring out what your line is.  So SoS matters in a hypothetical sense if you play 23 Q1 games but it doesn't matter if you club 31 baby seals?  You are a lawyer so you'll understand this question, what is the distinction you are making? 

I'm saying that would improve their resume.  So they would pass Texas or SMU, who every Bracketologist agreed had the clear 2 worst resumes of the teams in the field.

[grillrat]

If you are asking my personal opinion, I shared it way upthread and I'll repeat it here:

I think that there should be a limit.  I don't think ANY group of teams that get together and call themselves a conference should get a seat at the table.  I would drop back to 64 teams and my limit would be that your champion (however YOU choose to determine that) gets an auto bid but ONLY if you have at least one team in the top-128 

This goes back to what you think the purpose of the tourney is.  You believe that only the best are allowed to vie for the championship.  That is not the way that it has been set up, at least not for a very long time.  The NCAA tourney is closer in concept to the Olympics than it is to the Super Bowl.  

[medinabuckeye1]

I'm saying that would improve their resume.  So they would pass Texas or SMU, who every Bracketologist agreed had the clear 2 worst resumes of the teams in the field.

I'm asking what YOUR line would be.  Not what the Bracketologists would predict or what you think the committee *WOULD* do, I'm asking what you think the committee *SHOULD* do.  

Lets say a MEAC team scheduled 3 non-DI games (like Miami did) then went 28-1 in 29 Q4 games with a loss in their league tournament opener.  Would YOU let that team in?  

I'm trying to figure out if quality means anything.  

[medinabuckeye1]

This goes back to what you think the purpose of the tourney is.  You believe that only the best are allowed to vie for the championship.  That is not the way that it has been set up, at least not for a very long time.  The NCAA tourney is closer in concept to the Olympics than it is to the Super Bowl. 

I've always thought it was a hybrid:

• The 30-whatever league champions and
• The BEST however-many teams are needed to fill in the 68 spots.  

The 30-some league champions obviously include teams like Purdue that would get in either way so it roughly ends up being the best ~40 teams and 28 tallest midgets that range from almost tall enough to earn a bid to ridiculous.