~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[ELA]

Updated composite computer poll, 31 rankings (last week in parenthesis)

1.		Villanova (1)
2.		Virginia (2)
3.		PURDUE (3)
4.		Duke (4)
5.		MICHIGAN STATE (6)
6.		Cincinnati (7)
7.		Kansas (5)
8.		Xavier (8)
9.		Auburn (9)
10.		Tennessee (12)
11.		Texas Tech (11)
12.		North Carolina (10)
13.		Gonzaga (16)
14.		West Virginia (13)
15.		Clemson (14)
16.		OHIO STATE (17)
17.		Saint Mary's (22)
18.		Arizona (18)
19.		Oklahoma (15)
20.		Creighton (24)
21.		Kentucky (20)
22.		Wichita State (19)
23.		MICHIGAN (-)
24.		Seton Hall (-)
25.		Rhode Island (25)
	-
42.		Maryland (47)
55.		Penn State (68)
59.		Nebraska (61)
71.		Northwestern (77)
80.		Minnesota (76)
89.		Indiana (84)
97.		Illinois (114)
103.		Iowa (111)
104.		Wisconsin (96)
139.		Rutgers (137)

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hey, I'm just hoping that Purdue will go 2-0 this week rendering the discussion a moot point by Saturday evening.

[JerseyTerrapin]

Edwards was 0-13 in the past three games from 3-pt land (0-6 against IU, 0-3 against Maryland, and 0-4 against Rutgers).  If he shoots his typical 40 to 50%, the IU game goes from a 74-67 grind to a 80-67 blowout.  The Maryland game goes from 75-67 to an 78-67 victory, and the Rutgers game goes from 78-76 to a more comfortable 84-76.  They were fairly open shots too, from what I recall.  I suspect his shot will improve once he is back to top condition.  Hopefully he gets there by Wednesday.
Hoping that we didn't peak a month early.

This could be a new way to pick winners.  Sum the average PPG for each roster and compare the results.  Or maybe even sum each player's max PPG, or min PPG, etc.  

Or the homer version -- use the max PPG for fav team and min PPG for the enemy...

[medinabuckeye1]

Per the tiers Indiana's win at Rutgers was an upset so Indiana is now at +2 (won at MN, won at RU).  I don't *feel* like they should move up to tier-3, but maybe . . .  There are five potential games in which their is a difference between tier-3 and tier-4, home games against the two tier-2 teams (tOSU, UNL) and road games against the three tier-5 teams (RU, IA, ILL).  Of those:

• Indiana does not play one (vUNL)
• Indiana won one (@RU)
• Indiana lost one (@ILL)
• Indiana has two to play (vstOSU, @IA)

So the Hoosiers are 1-1 with two to play and another upset (the win at MN would be an upset either way).  I don't think we should move them up yet, but I would consider them to be on a watch list for a promotion.  

With the IU upset of Rutgers the new projections are:

• 17-1 Purdue
• 16-2 Michigan State
• 14-4 Ohio State (wins tiebreaker over UNL based on H2H, no game in Lincoln)
• 14-4 Nebraska
• 10-8 Penn State (wins tiebreaker over M based on H2H, no game in Ann Arbor)
• 10-8 Michigan
• 8-10 Indiana (wins tiebreaker over UMD and NU based on H2H2H, 2-0, no games in College Park or Evanston)
• 8-10 Maryland (loses H2H2H to IU, beats NU based on record against the 10-8 teams)
• 8-10 Northwestern
• 5-13 Iowa (wins tiebreaker over UW based on H2H, no game in Madison)
• 5-13 Wisconsin
• 4-14 Minnesota (wins tiebreaker over RU based on H2H, no game in Picastaway)
• 4-14 Rutgers
• 3-15 Illinois

The match-ups in the BTT at MSG in NYC would be:
Wednesday, February 28:

• #11 Wisconsin vs #14 Illinois, 8pm, BTN
• #12 Minnesota vs #13 Rutgers, 5:30pm, BTN

Thursday, March 1:

• #5 Penn State vs MN/RU, 2:30pm, BTN
• #6 Michigan vs MN/RU, 9pm, BTN
• #7 Indiana vs #10 Iowa, 6:30pm, BTN
• #8 Maryland vs #9 Northwestern, noon, BTN

Friday, March 2:

• #1 Purdue vs UMD/NU, noon, BTN
• #2 Michigan State vs IU/IA, 6:30pm, BTN
• #3 Ohio State vs M/MN/RU, 9pm, BTN
• #4 Nebraska vs PSU/MN/RU, 2:30pm, BTN

Saturday, March 3:

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

Sunday, March 4:

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

[medinabuckeye1]

Two huge games for NCAA hopes tonight.

Michigan looks fine right now (projected 7-seed in Lunardi's latest projection) but they finish with a difficult stretch of four road games and just two home games.  We project them to win the home games (vs IA, vs tOSU) and lose the road games (@NU, @UW, @PSU, @UMD).  A 2-4 finish for a 10-8/21-10 final record would put Michigan's tournament hopes in jeopardy.  It would really help the Wolverines if they could steal a road win or two.  They should have a decent chance in some of the road games and that starts tonight.  Michigan is favored over Northwestern by a slim margin.  

On the other side of the coin, Northwestern has won three of their last four and this is a game they probably can't afford to lose if they are going to have any chance for an at-large bid.  

Nebraska has won three in a row and five of their last six to move from complete afterthought to Lunardi's "First Four Out".  They also have a decent chance to win out with four of their last six at home.  They are at Minnesota tonight and the Gophers are favored by a slim margin.  Winning this game would really help the Cornhuskers.  

[ELA]

ESPN debut of the Bubble Watch today

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22256337/bubble-watch-returns-competition-places-acc-sec

Eamonn Brennan was part of the firings, so they have a new guy doing it, and my main takeaway is that the new layout is horrible.  Reading the comments, seems like most people can't get beyond that either.

Anyway, they have Purdue and MSU as locks, OSU as "should be in", Michigan, Maryland and Nebraska as "work to do" with no other mentions

[JerseyTerrapin]

ESPN debut of the Bubble Watch today

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22256337/bubble-watch-returns-competition-places-acc-sec

Eamonn Brennan was part of the firings, so they have a new guy doing it, and my main takeaway is that the new layout is horrible.  Reading the comments, seems like most people can't get beyond that either.

Anyway, they have Purdue and MSU as locks, OSU as "should be in", Michigan, Maryland and Nebraska as "work to do" with no other mentions

Terps are on the NIT Bubble!

edit: Actually, I misread that page.  Those are NCAA bubble teams.  Not sure why they don't list bubble teams in their NIT seedings.  Seems odd.

http://www.nycbuckets.com/current-nit-bracketology/

[ELA]

Terps are on the NIT Bubble!

edit: Actually, I misread that page.  Those are NCAA bubble teams.  Not sure why they don't list bubble teams in their NIT seedings.  Seems odd.

http://www.nycbuckets.com/current-nit-bracketology/

I think they are using the working assumption that for now, those teams are in the tourney.  I don't see anywhere where they list the bracket they are using for making that assumption though.

[ELA]

They are also doing a 32 team 3 vs. 3 tourney at the Final 4, with 4 man teams representing each conference.  Any senior with no eligibility remaining, who isn't in the Final 4, is eligible.

Trying to pick a Big Ten team...

Keita-Bates Diop, Ohio State
Vincent Edwards, Purdue
Nate Mason, Minnesota
Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern

Alternates assuming OSU or Purdue is in a Final 4
Dakota Mathias, Purdue (if OSU is)
Jae'Sean Tate, Ohio State (If Purdue is)
Scottie Lindsey, Northwestern (if PU and OSU are)
Robert Johnson, Indiana (if PU and OSU are)

[medinabuckeye1]

I usually check standings on the Worldwide leader's site and I found this interesting:

At the far right they list streaks.  During conference play ordinarily roughly half of the conference is on a winning streak and roughly half is on a losing streak.  Oddly, right now the nine B1G teams with seven or less losses are all on winning streaks while the five with nine or more losses are all on losing streaks.  

Thus, there hasn't been much change to the bubble situation lately because the teams with some iota of a chance have all won lately.  That will start changing tonight.  

[ELA]

They are also doing a 32 team 3 vs. 3 tourney at the Final 4, with 4 man teams representing each conference.  Any senior with no eligibility remaining, who isn't in the Final 4, is eligible.

Trying to pick a Big Ten team...

Keita-Bates Diop, Ohio State
Vincent Edwards, Purdue
Nate Mason, Minnesota
Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern

Alternates assuming OSU or Purdue is in a Final 4
Dakota Mathias, Purdue (if OSU is)
Jae'Sean Tate, Ohio State (If Purdue is)
Scottie Lindsey, Northwestern (if PU and OSU are)
Robert Johnson, Indiana (if PU and OSU are)

Should add I doubt high major conference players likely to be drafted will play, because the money you could win won't be nearly worth what you could lose with an injury.  So it's possible KBD skips it.  I don't think any of those other guys are projected draftees.

[TyphonInc]

They are also doing a 32 team 3 vs. 3 tourney at the Final 4, with 4 man teams representing each conference.  Any senior with no eligibility remaining, who isn't in the Final 4, is eligible.

Trying to pick a Big Ten team...

Keita-Bates Diop, Ohio State
Vincent Edwards, Purdue
Nate Mason, Minnesota
Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern

Alternates assuming OSU or Purdue is in a Final 4
Dakota Mathias, Purdue (if OSU is)
Jae'Sean Tate, Ohio State (If Purdue is)
Scottie Lindsey, Northwestern (if PU and OSU are)
Robert Johnson, Indiana (if PU and OSU are)

Is this a real thing? That would be cool.
(Who is "they"?)

[ELA]

Is this a real thing? That would be cool.
(Who is "they"?)

Yes.  I believe the NCAA is doing it, with money for participants.

[TyphonInc]

Yes.  I believe the NCAA is doing it, with money for participants.

Shut The Door. NCAA is paying college athletes? I just saw pig flying, and Hitler just texted me saying it's getting chilly in the after life.