~2017-18 Big Ten Basketball Thread~

[Brutus Buckeye]

So there will definitely be an OSU-Michigan Big Ten Ccg? 

[medinabuckeye1]

So there will definitely be an OSU-Michigan Big Ten Ccg?

Sure, assuming that they both win all the necessary qualifying games!

[847badgerfan]

When was the last time there was an OSU/UM championship game in any sport?

I remember 2006 football being the de-facto Big Ten championship game but not since, I don't believe.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Any sport? 

It probably happened in some obscure sport or another in the not too distant past. 

[ELA]

Updated composite computer poll.  It does NOT factor in Monday night's results. 62 rankings (last week in parenthesis)

1.		Virginia (2)
2.		Villanova (1)
3.		MICHIGAN STATE (5)
4.		Duke (6)
5.		PURDUE (3)
6.		Cincinnati (4)
7.		Xavier (7)
8.		North Carolina (11)
9.		Kansas (10)
10.		Texas Tech (8)
11.		Auburn (9)
12.		Wichita State (17)
13.		Gonzaga (13)
14.		West Virginia (16)
15.		Tennessee (14)
16.		Clemson (15)
17.		OHIO STATE (12)
18.		Arizona (20)
19.		Houston (-)
20.		Nevada (25)
21.		MICHIGAN (-)
22.		Rhode Island (19)
23.		TCU (23)
24.		Texas A&M (18)
25.		Kentucky (-)
	-
42.		Penn State (48)
50.		Maryland (44)
59.		Nebraska (52)
71.		Indiana (77)
86.		Northwestern (73)
93.		Wisconsin (102)
103.		Minnesota (97)
112.		Iowa (108)
113.		Illinois (118)
145.		Rutgers (153)

[ELA]

Weird Senior Night for MSU tonight.

Obviously, first they can clinch a Big Ten title with a win.

But then to the seniors, and kids playing their last game.

You have the seniors.  Tum Tum Nairn and Gavin Schilling, who were major players on an overachieving team 4 years ago that was a Valentine brain fart away from upsetting runner up UW for a BTT title, and then made it all the way to the Final 4.  Now, they are role players at best.

Then grad transfer Ben Carter, who suffered his second torn ACL last year, got a 6th year, re-injured himself, now barely plays.  So he gets a senior day after also getting one last year (before his 6th year petition went through), even though he really only played a little bit in a handful of games over 2 years.

Then you have Bridges and Jackson, who are both off to the NBA, they don't get a Senior Day, but both are clearly playing their last home game.

[847badgerfan]

Soo.. Louisville, eh?

[MarqHusker]

I don't think there's a lot of enthusiasm to cast a stone at Luvl given the state of affairs and the curtain that's about to fall and unmask a significant number of programs.

[medinabuckeye1]

In a way it is silly to do promotions/demotions this late in the season but there are a few that we should probably consider.  

Every team in the conference has now been involved in at least one upset with Maryland and Nebraska having the fewest (one each).  Wisconsin has the most, five but it is three up and two down so they are still at +1.  

Surprisingly, 11 of the league's teams are within +/-1.  The three exceptions are:

Purdue (-2):  The Boilermakers's two upset losses were at home to Ohio State and at Wisconsin.  Both would be upsets even if we 
demoted Purdue so these just fall in the category of "it happens".  

Michigan (+2):  One of Michigan's upsets (@MSU) would be an upset no matter what.  The other (@UW) would not be an upset if we promoted Michigan.  There are six potential games in which there is a difference between tier-2 and tier-3 (home games against the two tier-1 teams and road games against the four tier-4 teams).  Of those:

• Michigan does not play four (vMSU, vPU, @IU, @MN)
• Michigan won one (@UW)
• Michigan lost one (@NU)

Indiana (+3):  There are five potential games in which there is a difference between tier-3 and tier-4 (home games against the two tier-2 teams and road games against the three tier-5 teams): Of those:

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

Michigan should be promoted because they are 1-1 with another upset win.  Indiana should be promoted because they are 2-1 with another upset win.  

The new tiers are (with +/- for upsets):

• Michigan State -1, Purdue -1 (+1, -2)
• Ohio State even (+1, -1), Nebraska -1, Michigan -1 (+1, -2)
• Maryland +1, Indiana even (+1, -1), Penn State -1 (+1, -2)
• Northwestern +2 (+3, -1), Wisconsin +2 (+3, -1), Minnesota -1 (+1, -2)
• Iowa +1, Rutgers, Illinois even (+2, -2)

There are only two teams outside of +/-1.  Northwestern and Wisconsin are both at +2 but I do not believe that either should be promoted.  

New projections based on these updated tiers:

• 16-2/28-3 Michigan State
• 15-3/26-5 Purdue
• 14-4/23-8 Ohio State
• 13-5/22-9 Nebraska
• 11-7/22-9 Michigan
• 10-8/17-13 Indiana (wins tiebreaker over PSU based on H2H, no game in State College)
• 10-8/20-11 Penn State
• 9-9/20-11 Maryland
• 7-11/16-15 Northwestern
• 6-12/13-18 Wisconsin
• 4-14/15-16 Minnesota (wins tiebreaker over RU and IA based on H2H2H, 2-1)
• 4-14/14-17 Rutgers (second in H2H2H tiebreaker with MN and IA, 1-1)
• 4-14/13-18 Iowa (last in H2H2H tiebreaker with MN and RU, 1-2)
• 3-15/13-18 Illinois

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

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

Thursday, March 1:

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

Friday, March 2:

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

Saturday, March 3:

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

Sunday, March 4:

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

[847badgerfan]

I don't think there's a lot of enthusiasm to cast a stone at Luvl given the state of affairs and the curtain that's about to fall and unmask a significant number of programs.

Could be. I'm not worried about UW though. I mean, if they are cheating, they REALLY suck at it. The sheer number of highly ranked in-state kids who didn't pick state U lately is proof.

I wonder if Diamond Stone's dad is still working for Under Armor.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Yeah I feel safe considering how badly Thad's recruiting went down the crapper, but then again Jim 0'Brien was fired for playing a recruit that never even played for OSU. So you never know. 

[medinabuckeye1]

I love how Badge and Brutus are offering the "We must not have been cheating because nobody could be this bad at cheating" defense preemptively!  

[Brutus Buckeye]

Well less of a defense than a gut feeling, which I qualified by pointing out why my gut feeling is built on a foundation of sand. 

I'd imagine the programs that would be the most itchy would be the ones that have been killing it in recruiting the last few years. Particularly if there is some sort of an Adidas connection. 

[847badgerfan]

The line of top-ranked/elite kids running away from Madison has been maddening. The only one UW got was Dekker.