2025-2026 B1G Basketball Thread

[Wildcat4E]

I always liked Bruce Weber.

Bill (go play with your) Self not so much.

Bruce got his players to play hard for him.

He was never really loved by Wildcat fans, probably for a dumb reason from the jump.  KU hired Bill Self from Illinois, after he had built them into a power in a short period.  Bruce Weber took over there, and took the (mostly) Bill Self recruits to the Title Game, where he lost to Roy Williams and UNC.  Weber lasted a few more seasons, was fired by the Illini, and we picked him up after running the very successful Frank Martin off to South Carolina(!), where HE took that moribund program to the Final 4.

So, KU hired the wildly successful Illinois coach, and we hired the guy that program fired.  That didn't taste good from day 1.

However, he did win 2 conference championships, with a downturn in between, and then it went pretty bad for his last 3 seasons.

But hope springs eternal.  Tang had a good NIL budget, had some talented guys in town, but the only successful year was when we had a PG coach on the floor and a last minute (August) transfer that Florida wouldn't allow to play because he nearly died of heart failure while on their team.  

Sorry, I realize I'm in a B-10 board.  Hit the scroll and I won't be offended.

[847badgerfan]

The B1G board is the new catch-all, like the old XII board was. It's all good.

[ELA]

What even is a conference these days?

[847badgerfan]

I got nothing for ya.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I think there is a lot of truth here. 

As a fan I hate this new version.  I liked watching guys develop and looking forward to next year as guys improved but now I look at Ohio State's younger players from this year and wonder "will they even be here next year?". 

I also think that there is some feeback loop going on here in the way that you explained but also in another way:  When you develop a team through recruiting HS players it is going to be VERY rare that you wind up with five championship level guys at the same time.  Usually you'll miss on one position or a guy will leave early or whatever and you'll end up with 4/5 of a championship team and one MAC level guy.  In the old (like five years ago) days that was fine because most every team was in that same boat so even when you got to the F4 most teams had a position or two that wasn't really up to F4/Championship caliber.  You can't do that anymore because the teams that get to the F4 are going to be teams that filled ALL of their holes and can put five high end players on the court at once. 

In today's game you KNOW that other teams are going to fill their holes with portal guys so if you want to have a legit shot to compete at the highest level then you are going to have to do the same. 

I don't know about Izzo, but Painter has been active to fill holes with transfers / grad transfers / portal where he can. He was active in the grad transfer market for years when they were the only ones who could play immediately. Now he's making us of the portal. 

Just this year, Oscar Cluff came in as the #1 portal guy. We needed it. We had a gap at the 5. TKR is a more natural 4 and was forced to play the 5 too much last year after Daniel Jacobsen went down with a season-ending injury. And we didn't know whether Jacobsen was going to be good enough to hold down the position this year (note: he wasn't). 

So it's not either-or. You can try build your core around recruiting, but you're not going to hit on every recruit. You have to supplement and fill holes when they develop. 

What I think separates Painter and Izzo is that they understand what they want in players, and they know how to go out into living rooms and recruit THEIR guys. And they know that they can get those guys on campus and develop them to build a cohesive core of a program. Then you reach into the portal when/where you need to fill the gaps. 

[FearlessF]

[bayareabadger]

Izzo and Painter might be the last two coaches building nearly exclusively through recruiting high school players.

I think there might be other coaches who want to, but you have to win quickly, so you need a quick infusion of portal talent, and what good recruits are signing up when you are putting a bunch of older kids adults in front of them.  So then your first year, win or lose, you lose a decent number of those guys.  If you won, you can't get worse.  If your didn't, you can't lose again.  The coaches who get it right will be the best teams.  The coaches who don't will flame out.  I think MSU and Purdue are well situated to always be very good.  The teams they finish behind will change year to year, but I think they will always be behind whichever team did get it right that year.  That might mean teams who lean into the portal heaviliy; Auburn, Michigan, Indiana, etc... will be great one year, and in the NIT the next.  So it's a matter of whether you want to be consistently very good, or shoot for great, and maybe be Auburn or Kentucky or Kansas State this year if you miss

I wonder if the run of lackluster teams that had some some transfers in key spots informed his thinking. 

One thing Izzo has always been good at doing is playing a lot of guys some and I suppose getting guys good enough to do so early. 

[medinabuckeye1]

This just makes sense. 
South Region:

• Houston is literally in town, 2.5 miles / 8 minutes drive. 
• Nebraska is a 13 hour drive and this is literally the first S16 in Nebrasketball history. 
• Illinois is a 14-1/2 hour drive. 
• Iowa is a 16 hour drive and Iowa hasn't been to the S16 in 27 years. 

Probably not a lot of people driving in from Illinois but the Houston fans are close enough to walk so there will be tons of them, the Iowa fans haven't had this opportunity in more than a quarter century and the Nebraska fans have NEVER had this opportunity. 

East Region:

• Dook is a 4 hour drive. 
• St. Johns is a 4-1/2 hour drive. 
• UCONN is a 6-1/2 hour drive. 
• MSU is a 9 hour drive. 

St. Johns hasn't been to a S16 since 1999 (same year as Iowa) but the other three obviously have and none is particularly close. 

Midwest Region:

• Michigan is a 4 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 
• Iowa State is a 5 hour drive and they were in the S16 two years ago. 
• Tennessee is a 8-1/2 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 
• Alabama is an 11 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 

Michigan and ISU are both reasonable driving distance but an S16 appearance is not the same novelty at those schools that it is at Nebraska, Iowa, and St. Johns. 

West Region:

• Arizona is a 13 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 
• Texas is a 26 hour drive and they were in the S16 three years ago. 
• Arkansas is a 27 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 
• Purdue is a 33 hour drive and they were in the S16 last year. 

Distances are just so much greater out west.  Also a S16 is not a novelty at any of these schools. 


What about our resident Californian Purdue Alum, @betarhoalphadelta are you going to make the trek up to the Bay Area?

[grillrat]

Hubert Davis fired.  Brad Stevens has already said no.  Apparently Dusty May is their next highest target?
Wow, if somehow that happens, both the IU and the Michigan fans are going to be murderous for a few days.

[847badgerfan]

Hubert Davis fired.  Brad Stevens has already said no.  Apparently Dusty May is their next highest target?
Wow, if somehow that happens, both the IU and the Michigan fans are going to be murderous for a few days.

ISU coach is supposedly at the top of their list.

[Wildcat4E]

ISU coach is supposedly at the top of their list.

They have run out of Dean Smith/Roy/Bill Gutheridge guys?

Otz has done a great job at Iowa State, would have mixed feelings about him moving on.  

[847badgerfan]

I wouldn't mind it at all. He's from Milwaukee and he has been a PITA for Wisconsin recruiting.

[FearlessF]

he would have trouble getting Wisconsin kids to come to the new gig?

[FearlessF]