~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[medinabuckeye1]

Based on this update the Final Standings and BTT seeds would be:

• 17-1 Michigan State (wins tiebreaker over PU based on H2H, no game in W. Lafayette)
• 17-1 Purdue
• 14-4 Ohio State
• 11-7 Penn State
• 10-8 Nebraska (Nebraska has a VERY favorable schedule)
• 9-9 Michigan (wins tiebreaker over UMD based on record against tOSU)
• 9-9 Maryland
• 8-10 Minnesota
• 7-11 Wisconsin
• 6-12 Rutgers (wins tiebreaker over NU based on H2H, no game in Evanston)
• 6-12 Northwestern
• 5-13 Illinois
• 4-14 Indiana
• 3-15 Iowa

The BTT match-ups would be:
Wednesday, February 28:

• #11 Northwestern vs #14 Iowa, 8PM, BTN
• #12 Illinois vs #13 Indiana, 5:30PM, BTN

Thursday, March 1:

• #5 Nebraska vs IL/IU, 2:30PM, BTN
• #6 Michigan vs NU/IA, 9PM, BTN
• #7 Maryland vs #10 Rutgers, 6:30PM, BTN
• #8 Minnesota vs #9 Wisconsin, noon, BTN

Friday, March 2:

• #1 Michigan State vs MN/UW, noon, BTN
• #2 Purdue vs UMD/RU, 6:30PM, BTN
• #3 Ohio State vs M/NU/IA, 9PM, BTN
• #4 Penn State vs UNL/IL/IU, 2:30PM, BTN

Saturday, March 3:

• MSU/MN/UW vs PSU/UNL/IL/IU, 2PM, CBS
• PU/UMD/RU vs tOSU/M/NU/IA, 4:30PM, CBS

Sunday, March 4:

• MSU/MN/UW/PSU/UNL/IL/IU vs PU/UMD/RU/tOSU/M/NU/IA, 4:30PM, CBS

Then we sit and wait for a month . . .

Ok, not really a month but it is still annoying.  

[ELA]

Not that the polls mean anything in college basketball, but I'm surprised OSU remained unranked

[grillrat]

Purdue up to #5 in the new AP poll.

Almost a guarantee that they'll lose the Michigan game now.  

[medinabuckeye1]

That Purdue at Michigan game along with a couple others could effectively eliminate all but PU, MSU, and tOSU from the B1G title race this week.  

• 4-0 Purdue:  @M, @MN
• 4-0 Ohio State:  vUMD, @RU
• 3-1 Michigan State:  vRU, vM
• 3-1 Michigan:  vPU, @MSU
• 3-2 Maryland:  @tOSU
• 2-2 Indiana:  vPSU, vNU
• 2-2 Wisconsin:  @UNL
• 2-2 Minnesota:  @NU, vPU
• 2-2 Penn State:  @IU, vUNL
• 2-2 Nebraska:  vUW, @PSU

That is all of the 2-loss and better teams.  If Purdue, Ohio State, and Michigan State all go 2-0 this week/weekend then I think the B1G is a three-team race.  

[MaximumSam]

KenPom Power Rankings

1. MSU (2)
2. Purdue (5)
3. Michigan (32)
4. OSU (33)
5. Maryland (35)
6. PSU (41)
7. Minnesota (48)
8. NW (71)
9. Wisconsin (77)
10. Nebraska (81)
11. Illinois (87)
12. Iowa (88)
13. Indiana (91)
14. Rutgers (123)

[grillrat]

"That Purdue at Michigan game along with a couple others could effectively eliminate all but PU, MSU, and tOSU from the B1G title race this week.  " (my quote function is not working)

Waaaaaay to early to be saying this.  Heck, just last year on February 10th, Wisconsin had a 2 game lead on everybody and everybody was tripping over themselves to crown them.......and then they lost 5 of their last 7.

[medinabuckeye1]

"That Purdue at Michigan game along with a couple others could effectively eliminate all but PU, MSU, and tOSU from the B1G title race this week.  " (my quote function is not working)

Waaaaaay to early to be saying this.  Heck, just last year on February 10th, Wisconsin had a 2 game lead on everybody and everybody was tripping over themselves to crown them.......and then they lost 5 of their last 7.

I get what you are saying and I don't completely disagree but if (big IF) the Boilermakers, Spartans, and Buckeyes each go 2-0 this week, there will be an enormous gap between them and #4.  
FWIW, I don't think the Buckeyes are nearly as good as the other two but if they get that far out ahead it will be tough for them to be overtaken for the #3 seed in the BTT at MSG in NYC.  

[medinabuckeye1]

It seems that the conference (at least for scheduling purposes) considers Friday to be part of the weekend.  Every team plays this week (Tu-Th) so there are seven games, sorted according to my interest level (for the conference as a whole, otherwise Ohio State's game would always be #1):

• Purdue at Michigan:  Can Michigan stay in the race?  They are 3-1 but their wins are over IU, IA, and IL and they blew a big lead in Columbus.  If they can't win this, they are going to have trouble getting a "signature" win in conference.  
• Maryland at Ohio State:  Can the Buckeyes avoid the letdown after their big upset win over the Spartans?  
• Penn State at Indiana:  The Nittany Lions have a very favorable schedule but they have already lost at home to Wisconsin and is it possible that the Hoosiers are getting things together?  
• Wisconsin at Nebraska:  I promoted Nebraska in the tiers so they are jinxed.   
• Minnesota at Northwestern:  Both teams are major disappointments this year.  Maybe one can get something going?   
• Iowa at Illinois:  When this game ends there will only be one winless team remaining.  Tune in to find out which one.   
• Rutgers at Michigan State:  I would not want to be Rutgers this week.  I see this as the basketball equivalent of MSU v tOSU in football.  Remember what happened to the next team that played Ohio State after their blowout loss in Iowa City?  Yeah, I think the same thing is going to happen to the next team to play Michigan State after their blowout loss in Columbus.  

[ELA]

It seems that the conference (at least for scheduling purposes) considers Friday to be part of the weekend.  

I think Friday goes either way.  MSU I believe at one point has a Friday-Sunday turnaround

[Brutus Buckeye]

OSU, breaking out the ole Motion Block O. 

[ELA]

Updated composite computer poll, 50 rankings (last week in parenthesis)

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

[ELA]

Purdue firing on all cylinders right now.

[TyphonInc]

TTUN not able to pull an OSU and beat the better team on home court. 

[SuperMario]

Tough loss for Michigan. Two really close calls going the other way in the final 6 seconds, neither of which happen if Matthews plays selfless and hits Wagner open at the top of the key. Very good Purdue team and Michigan giving them all they can handle shows how much UM has improved since the beginning of the season.