~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[Brutus Buckeye]

Horizon League is down to the Final Four; 8 seed Cleveland St vs 4 Oakland, 2 Wright St vs 6 Milwaukee. 

[medinabuckeye1]

As an Ohio State fan who went to NYC it sucked to see my team lose in their first game but I take some comfort in the fact that none of the teams playing for the first time against at team that played the day before did very well.  It happened six times:
Thursday, March 1:

• #5 Michigan needed OT to beat #12 Iowa.  Interestingly, this ended up being the toughest game Michigan got in the whole tournament.  
• #6 Indiana lost to #14 Rutgers.  

Friday, March 2:

• #1 Michigan State  barely survived #9 Wisconsin
• #2 Ohio State lost to #7 Penn State
• #3 Purdue trailed most of the game and barely survived #14 Rutgers
• #4 Nebraska got absolutely drilled by #5 Michigan

Teams facing that situation went 3-3 with the three winners winning by 7, by 3, and in OT.  In theory all six should have won easily.  

[Entropy]

I've watched a few more BigEast games of late... I've enjoyed their basketball this year.   Some quality teams in the BE.   I'll probably watch their tourney over all the rest.

[Entropy]

grillrat.. thanks

[ELA]

I've watched a few more BigEast games of late... I've enjoyed their basketball this year.   Some quality teams in the BE.   I'll probably watch their tourney over all the rest.

I've loved FOX's coverage of the Big East the last few years.  It was my go to tourney if the Big Ten game wasn't interesting, and with the Big Ten off, I assume I'll watch quite a bit of that league.

[ELA]

Lunardi's latest has Texas, Alabama, USC and UCLA in Dayton.

Can we cancel and replace it with a 4 team football tourney?

[Entropy]

bama is not that good.   I'd predict UNL on a neutral court. 

[ELA]

bama is not that good.   I'd predict UNL on a neutral court.  

Lotta football helmet power sitting on his 12 team bubble.  Bama, Texas, USC, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, UCLA.  Hell, even Boise State has Group of 5 helmet power.

[Entropy]

Thanks for including UNL, but I think they're off the bubble.  A lot can happen this week, but if I was objective, PSU is in over UNL. 

[PSUinNC]

Neither are getting in.  PSU is probably in 'better' shape, but they'd need epic meltdowns by ND and Syracuse today, a L'ville loss tomorrow, and losses by Okie St (vs OU), Baylor (vs WVU) and Texas (vs ISU) at the min to possibly back in.  

Thanks for including UNL, but I think they're off the bubble.  A lot can happen this week, but if I was objective, PSU is in over UNL.  

[ELA]

Updated composite computer poll through the Big Ten Tournament. 56 rankings (last week in parenthesis)

1.		Virginia (1)
2.		Villanova (2)
3.		Duke (3)
4.		Cincinnati (8)
5.		PURDUE (5)
6.		MICHIGAN STATE (4)
7.		Xavier (9)
8.		Kansas (6)
9.		North Carolina (7)
10.		MICHIGAN (17)
11.		Gonzaga (11)
12.		Auburn (10)
13.		Tennessee (15)
14.		Texas Tech (12)
15.		Wichita State (13)
16.		West Virginia (14)
17.		OHIO STATE (16)
18.		Clemson (18)
19.		TCU (20)
20.		Kentucky (19)
21.		Florida (-)
22.		Houston (23)
23.		Arizona (21)
24.		Nevada (25)
25.		Seton Hall (-)
	-
45.		Penn State (46)
55.		Nebraska (53)
56.		Maryland (52)
81.		Wisconsin (86)
84.		Indiana (76)
96.		Northwestern (97)
106.		Iowa (111)
113.		Illinois (108)
114.		Minnesota (107)
137.		Rutgers (156)

[medinabuckeye1]

Neither are getting in.  PSU is probably in 'better' shape, but they'd need epic meltdowns by ND and Syracuse today, a L'ville loss tomorrow, and losses by Okie St (vs OU), Baylor (vs WVU) and Texas (vs ISU) at the min to possibly back in.  

Does it help or hurt Penn State that all of their good wins came against Ohio State?  Conversely, does it help or hurt Ohio State that all of their bad losses came against Penn State?  
I mean both questions as compared to having the same record but with different opponents?  
By RPI, Penn State's three best wins (by far*) are:

• At #21 Ohio State
• Vs #21 Ohio State (neutral court)
• Vs #21 Ohio State

Ohio State's three worst losses (by far^) are:

• Vs #80 Penn State
• Vs #80 Penn State (neutral court)
• At #80 Penn State

Hypothetically, if Penn State had won the home game over Ohio State but lost the other two but also won:

• At #15 Michigan State, and
• Vs #23 aTm (neutral court)

Would that be better, worse, or about the same for PSU's NCAA chances?  It would have little or no impact on their RPI.  

Similarly, hypothetically, if Ohio State had won the home and neutral court games over Penn State but also lost:

• Vs #72 Stanford (neutral court), and
• Vs #92 William&Mary

Would that be better, worse, or about the same for tOSU's NCAA seed?  It would have little or no impact on their RPI.  

In considering this question please ignore the impact that these changes would have had on other games (ie, PSU not playing PU if they lost to tOSU in the BTT and both PSU and tOSU having different later round opponents if they won/lost preseason tournament games against aTm and Stanford.  I'm simply asking how we think the committee will view the three wins / three losses.  I could make a reasonable argument either way and I'm curious how the committee will view it.  

*After the THREE wins over #21 tOSU, PSU's next best RPI wins were:

• Over #63 Nebraska at home.  
• Over #70 Maryland at home.  
• Over #95 Montana at home.  

^After the THREE losses to #80 PSU, tOSU's next worst RPI losses were:

• To #45 Butler on a neutral court.  
• To #30 Gonzaga on a neutral court.  
• To #13 Michigan on the road.  

[Brutus Buckeye]

All Ohio Horizon Ccg tonight.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Wright St beat Cleveland St in the Horizon Ccg, claiming an auto-bid. 



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The Mac Tourney is rounding into form.