~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[grillrat]

Eden Ewing kicked off the Purdue team for "violation of team rules".  He was a Juco transfer who joined this past offseason but hadn't really seen much time on the floor except in mop-up duty.
Not sure if this is a "puff puff" situation or grades (finals were just completed last week).  May never find out.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Eden Ewing kicked off the Purdue team for "violation of team rules".  He was a Juco transfer who joined this past offseason but hadn't really seen much time on the floor except in mop-up duty.
Not sure if this is a "puff puff" situation or grades (finals were just completed last week).  May never find out.

Did not see that one coming... I have to think it was beyond just "puff puff", as I haven't seen Painter toss a kid for a first offense on that one. 
Interesting as well that he's been dismissed from the team but I haven't seen anything suggesting he was dismissed from the university. So I wouldn't think it's due to severe legal problems...
That said, he wasn't getting any minutes, so I suppose it isn't a big loss. 

[medinabuckeye1]

A pretty boring stretch of BB games of late and coming up today and tomorrow:  
On Tuesday:

• Ohio State beat the Citadel by nearly 30
• Penn State beat Binghamton by 25
• Northwestern beat Lewis (?) by nearly 40
• Iowa beat Southern Utah by nearly 30

On Wednesday:

• Nebraska beat UTSA by 10

Tonight:

• Michigan is favored over BamaA&M by 33.5
• Michigan State is favored over Long Beach by 30.5
• Purdue is favored over Tennessee State by 26
• Maryland is favored over Fairleigh Dickinson by 23.5
• Minnesota is favored over Oral Roberts by 22
• Indiana is favored over Tennessee Tech by 13

It should get more interesting on Friday with NU/OU and Iowa/CU.  

[MaximumSam]

Some KenPom power rankings about a third of the way through the season:

1. MSU (2)
2. Purdue (5)
3. Michigan (33)
4. Maryland (34)
5. PSU (41)
6. Minnesota (42)
7. OSU (45)
8. Northwestern (54)
9. Wisconsin (68)
10. Iowa (73)
11. Indiana (87)
12. Nebraska (90)
13. Illinois (95)
14. Rutgers (97)

[medinabuckeye1]

Some KenPom power rankings about a third of the way through the season:
1. MSU (2)
2. Purdue (5)
3. Michigan (33)
4. Maryland (34)
5. PSU (41)
6. Minnesota (42)
7. OSU (45)
8. Northwestern (54)
9. Wisconsin (68)
10. Iowa (73)
11. Indiana (87)
12. Nebraska (90)
13. Illinois (95)
14. Rutgers (97)

Looking at the conference as a whole:
The large gap between the top-2 and everyone else is interesting.  ELA has pointed this out before.  
It appears that we do not have any just plain awful teams.  Nebraska, Illinois, and Rutgers in the 90's certainly don't look good, but they aren't awful.  
It seems to me that the seven teams from Michigan through Wisconsin are all close enough to the bubble that any one of them could be in or out with just a relatively minor improvement or decline.  
ESPN's latest (12/21) Bracketology:

• #1 seed:  MSU
• #4 seed:  Purdue
• #8 seed:  Minnesota
• #9 seed:  Michigan
• #11 seed (play-in game/last four in):  Maryland
• Next four out:  Ohio State

It could make for a really interesting B1G Tournament at MSG in NYC because we could have around half a dozen teams somewhere close to the bubble.  

For my team:
I'm thrilled.  We were NOT expecting a tournament appearance at all this year and as of right now the Buckeyes have the look of a bubble team.  That is much better than I anticipated.  

[ELA]

Ugh, Maryland loses Jackson for the season.  Looking more and more like a four bid league.

[mcwterps1]

Jackson has been a non-factor and a liability since he's been on the court this year.  Perhaps it was his shoulder, and why he's getting surgery, but he has done NOTHING since the beginning of the year.

He certainly hasn't lived up to the NBA hype prognosticators have lamented since the start of the year.

He hasn't played a game in weeks anyway.

I guess he'll be back next year.

[mcwterps1]

Lost Bender for the year too. 

That hurts depth. B1G conspiracy. 

[medinabuckeye1]

I updated the projections now that (I think) all of the OOC games are complete:

Team	noAway	noAway	noAway	noAway	noHome	noHome	noHome	noHome	RR-W	RR-L	miss-W	miss-L	Proj-W	Proj-L	RR%	Proj%	Diff	+Var	-Var	Var	Conf-W	Conf-L	OOC-W	OOC-L	ProjT-W	ProjT-L
MSU	M	UNL	PSU	PU	IOWA	MN	NU	tOSU	25	1	7	1	18	0	0.962	1.000	0.038	0	0	0	18	-	12	1	30	1
Purdue	UNL	NU	tOSU	PSU	ILL	IU	IOWA	MSU	25	1	8	0	17	1	0.962	0.944	(0.017)	0	0	0	17	1	11	2	28	3
tOSU	MSU	UMD	UNL	ILL	UW	NU	MN	PU	16	10	5	3	11	7	0.615	0.611	(0.004)	1	0	1	12	6	9	4	21	10
PSU	M	MN	RU	UW	ILL	IU	MSU	PU	16	10	3	5	13	5	0.615	0.722	0.107	0	(1)	(1)	12	6	10	3	22	9
UMD	IOWA	MN	RU	UW	ILL	IU	UNL	tOSU	16	10	6	2	10	8	0.615	0.556	(0.060)	0	0	0	10	8	11	2	21	10
M	ILL	IU	MN	RU	MSU	UNL	PSU	UW	16	10	6	2	10	8	0.615	0.556	(0.060)	0	0	0	10	8	11	2	21	10
Minny	ILL	MSU	tOSU	RU	UMD	M	PSU	UW	16	10	6	2	10	8	0.615	0.556	(0.060)	0	(1)	(1)	9	9	11	2	20	11
NU	ILL	MSU	UNL	tOSU	IU	IOWA	PU	RU	11	15	3	5	8	10	0.423	0.444	0.021	0	0	0	8	10	9	4	17	14
UW	IU	M	MN	tOSU	IOWA	UMD	PSU	RU	11	15	4	4	7	11	0.423	0.389	(0.034)	1	(1)	0	7	11	7	6	14	17
UNL	IU	IOWA	UMD	M	MSU	NU	tOSU	PU	6	20	1	7	5	13	0.231	0.278	0.047	1	0	1	6	12	9	4	15	16
RU	IU	IOWA	NU	UW	UMD	M	MN	PSU	6	20	0	8	6	12	0.231	0.333	0.103	0	0	0	6	12	10	3	16	15
ILL	IOWA	UMD	PSU	PU	M	MN	NU	tOSU	6	20	1	7	5	13	0.231	0.278	0.047	0	0	0	5	13	10	3	15	16
IU	UMD	NU	PSU	PU	M	UNL	RU	UW	6	20	3	5	3	15	0.231	0.167	(0.064)	0	0	0	3	15	7	5	10	20
Iowa	MSU	NU	PU	UW	IL	UMD	UNL	RU	6	20	3	5	3	15	0.231	0.167	(0.064)	0	0	0	3	15	9	4	12	19

If these are anywhere close to right, we should have nearly a half-dozen bubble teams playing in the B1G Tournament at MSG in NYC.  The five teams between 22-9 (PSU) and 20-11 (MN) would all be on the bubble.  

[ELA]

With conference play beginning in earnest, probably have enough data to begin posting the weekly composite computer poll, 46 rankings right now

1.		Duke
2.		Villanova
3.		MICHIGAN STATE
4.		PURDUE
5.		Kansas
6.		North Carolina
7.		Arizona State
8.		Xavier
9.		Virginia
10.		Oklahoma
11.		West Virginia
12.		Arkansas
13.		Texas Tech
14.		Texas A&M
15.		Arizona
16.		Wichita State
17.		TCU
18.		Clemson
19.		Gonzaga
20.		Seton Hall
21.		Tennessee
22.		Miami
23.		Cincinnati
24.		Kentucky
25.		Florida State
	-
33.		Maryland
34.		Michigan
39.		Ohio State
45.		Minnesota
60.		Penn State
65.		Northwestern
77.		Illinois
81.		Wisconsin
85.		Nebraska
97.		Iowa
101.		Indiana
127.		Rutgers

[medinabuckeye1]

With conference play beginning in earnest, probably have enough data to begin posting the weekly composite computer poll, 46 rankings right now

1.		Duke
2.		Villanova
3.		MICHIGAN STATE
4.		PURDUE
5.		Kansas
6.		North Carolina
7.		Arizona State
8.		Xavier
9.		Virginia
10.		Oklahoma
11.		West Virginia
12.		Arkansas
13.		Texas Tech
14.		Texas A&M
15.		Arizona
16.		Wichita State
17.		TCU
18.		Clemson
19.		Gonzaga
20.		Seton Hall
21.		Tennessee
22.		Miami
23.		Cincinnati
24.		Kentucky
25.		Florida State
	-
33.		Maryland
34.		Michigan
39.		Ohio State
45.		Minnesota
60.		Penn State
65.		Northwestern
77.		Illinois
81.		Wisconsin
85.		Nebraska
97.		Iowa
101.		Indiana
127.		Rutgers

This mostly lines up with our current tiers but some adjustments will undoubtedly be needed.  I figure we'll hold through this week and weekend then look at it on Monday.  
Current tiers (with +/- upsets):

• MSU, PU
• blank
• tOSU +1, UMD, M, PSU -1, MN -1
• NU, UW
• UNL +1, RU, ILL, IU, IA

[FearlessF]

I know you're watching Badge

[mcwterps1]

Time for B1G officiating to kick in. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

This mostly lines up with our current tiers but some adjustments will undoubtedly be needed.  I figure we'll hold through this week and weekend then look at it on Monday.  
Current tiers (with +/- upsets):

• MSU, PU
• blank
• tOSU +1, UMD, M, PSU -1, MN -1
• NU, UW
• UNL +1, RU, ILL, IU, IA

Looks like Purdue and Michigan St are elite, while everyone else is extra mediocre.