~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[medinabuckeye1]

Loving this:

[TyphonInc]

So wow, that was a really good game. 

As always we can nit-pick the refs, the only grievous error I saw was Haas violently taking out Tate with the Ref watching how far Tate was gonna slid past him into the camera men.

Speaking of Haas, he is an awesome talent. Just watching him get whatever he wanted inside, and if help came over to defend, he found the open sharpshooter licking his chops on the outside. I like his game. Alot. Truly a man among boys.

Carson Edwards had an amazing game. Frankly, I'm not sure how OSU scratched and clawed their way back into the game watching him hit those "Big Mo" 3 pointers.

Purdue is no doubt in the mind the best team in the conference. And this scramble tip-in win was definitely an upset by the Bucks. I see Purdue going far come March.

[MarqHusker]

that was a game of inches bounces.

[TyphonInc]

Grr. Now Purdue needs a win on the road against MSU  

Or not 

[ELA]

Wow, that's surprising.  Maybe he could teach the football program how you win a COTY award.  

[ELA]

Haas just literally took Tate out of the game. Slammed into him from behind at the foul line, hit him so hard he flew, and slide all the way into camera men. With Tate "knocked out" Purdue executed the 5 on 4 perfectly for an uncontested 3.

And the ref watched the hole thing, whistle swallowed.

What, this box out?

https://twitter.com/BuckeyeVideos/status/961441640173981696

[Brutus Buckeye]

Well that was unexpected. 

[TyphonInc]

Yup that one.

I don't think I'm being bias am I? That's a foul. I don't think Haas was playing dirty or trying to hurt Tate, I just think his eyes were up, and he lumbered into a much smaller Tate, sending him sprawling.

From this clip I can't tell where the refs eyes are during the foul, but in the reply during the game you can watch the ref turn his head and follow Tate's slide to the camera man. I inner monologued for the ref "So how far are you going to slide Mr. Tate, I'll call a foul if you make to the fans. Aww, the camera man stopped you. Play On!"

Tate didn't get up from the play, he laid out of bounds grabbing his lower back. After Purdue drained the 3 the refs called injury timeout, and we see Tate still on the ground, and then the trainers helping off the court where they continue to work on his lower back. In my head, I actually called the game there, I didn't think Bates-Diop could do it all on his own. (And he didn't, the bench was awesome, and Tate came back in on the next play stoppage.)

Sidebar: Tate is a very emotional payer, did he not get the call cause the refs thought is was gamemenship on Tate's part and not a foul?

[medinabuckeye1]

Wow, that's surprising.  Maybe he could teach the football program how you win a COTY award.  

LoL!

[medinabuckeye1]

Ohio State's win in West Lafayette was obviously an upset and it changes the projected #1 seed along with creating a 3-team race for the B1G Championship.  

Of the top three teams, after this weekend the Buckeyes clearly have the toughest remaining schedule.  Here are the top three teams, their records, and their remaining games:

• 12-1 Ohio State (wins all ties) vIA, @PSU, @M, vsRU, @IU
• 12-1 Purdue (loses a tie with tOSU, MSU is tbd, wins all other ties) @MSU, @UW, vPSU, @ILL, vMN
• 11-2 Michigan State (loses a tie with tOSU or M, PU and NU are tbd, wins all other ties) vPU, @MN, @NU, vIL, @UW

Mathematically the Cornhuskers, Wolverines, Nittany Lions, and Wildcats are still in the race but as a practical matter the Buckeyes, Boilermakers, and Spartans are not all going to tank so it is between those three.  

New projected final standings/BTT seeds:

• 16-2 Michigan State (wins tiebreaker over PU based on H2H, no game in West Lafayette)
• 16-2 Purdue
• 15-3 Ohio State
• 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, 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

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 UW/IL, 9pm, BTN
• #7 Indiana vs #10 Iowa, 6:30pm, BTN
• #8 Maryland vs #9 Northwestern, noon, BTN

Friday, March 2:

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

Saturday, March 3:

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

Sunday, March 4:

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

[Brutus Buckeye]

What would have to happen for the Wildcats to win it? 

[medinabuckeye1]

What would have to happen for the Wildcats to win it?

I think you just like seeing if I can figure this stuff out.  

• Ohio State loses out to finish 12-6
• Purdue loses out to finish 12-6
• Michigan State beats Purdue then loses out to finish 12-6
• Nebraska finishes no better than 3-4
• Michigan finishes no better than 4-1
• Northwestern wins out to finish 12-6

Then you would have a four, five, six, or seven way tie at 12-6 between the Buckeyes, Boilermakers, Spartans, Wildcats and possibly the Cornhuskers, and/or the Wolverines, and/or the Nittany Lions.  

There are no mathematical impossibilities in there.  All of those things are theoretically possible.  

[medinabuckeye1]

Until last night I believed that the biggest gap was between the top-2 (MSU/PU) and #3 Ohio State.  I have now changed my mind on that for two reasons:

• Ohio State is now 2-0 against the top-2 so the gap can't be THAT big.  
• Michigan is slumping a bit so I think that the gap between #3 Ohio State and #4 Michigan is significant.  

Therefore, I now believe that the #1 seed in the BTT is a pretty big deal.  Whichever of the top-3 teams gets it will avoid the other two until at least the B1GCG on Sunday.  Furthermore, it is reasonably likely that the 2-seed and the 3-seed will play each other on Saturday while the 1-seed has a comparatively much easier game against the 4, 5, 12, or 13 seed.  

I do not think it is terribly likely that the Buckeyes could beat either the Boilermakers or the Spartans in the BTT at MSG in NYC but the best potential set-up for the Buckeyes would be to get the #1 seed and play the PU/MSU winner in the B1GCG.  Then, as a Buckeye fan, I'd basically be hoping for an epic 2OT heavyweight bout between MSU/PU on Saturday (in the later slot no less) such that the eventual winner was just completely gassed heading into the B1GCG against the comparatively well rested Buckeyes who would have both an easier game on Saturday and a couple extra hours of rest.  

[PSUinNC]

Penn State has one last gasp to make something of a tournament case.  Winning over Maryland last night was step one.  Not sure they have to win out, but can't lose @ILL for sure.  PSU plays three ranked teams to end the season (@PU, OSU and M) and a very strong Nebraska team so there are chances to make a case.  The utterly anemic non conference is going to really hurt them along with some losses @IU and home to Minne - missed opportunities.  

I very small possibility of PSU making the Dance is likely contingent on Penn State winning out (MAYBE could survive a loss to M or OSU, but the win at PU is necessary to show a very strong road win) as well as a good showing at MSG.

I predicted NIT for this team this year and I think that's where they will end up.  I can live with that.