T1B

[web]http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big ... racket.pdf[/web]

The best early matchup looks like MSU/Wiscy in the second round. Gotta like Sparty's chances on a neutral floor. The Buckeye’s half of the brackets look fairly easy. Hope I didn’t jinx them.

The championship game doesn't start until 3:30 EST. It didn't seem all that long ago that the NCAA committee would wait for the last of the games to finish before announcing final results.

BTW, anyone going to any of the games?

I like OSU over MSU in the finals.

With so many teams in the middle playing for their NCAA lives the Big 10 could be the most entertaining conference tourney in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

I think the highlight game might be dUI and IU playing for the third time. The bad blood between Bruce all Whiney and Sampson, dUI playing to secure an NCAA bid.

It'll be interesting to see how these teams match-up in a neutral court setting since home court meant so much in the B10 this year.

With Butch out I've gotta put tO$U as the favorite.

The Bucks should run through the field but look for a desperate team in that middle group to put two or three wins together to sew up a bid. I think there are 2 teams looking at 1 or 2 seeds in the Big Dance, Indiana is pretty secure with their position but I think the next handful of teams have some work to do. I think State has built a nice resume with wins over Indiana and Wisconsin. State and Indiana are the only teams in that second tier to beat Wisconsin. The Buckeyes and Badgers split their season series of course. The biggest mark against State has been their streakiness...losing their first 2 conference games, winning the next 4, losing the next 4, winning the next 4 and losing their final 2.

To build on those revised standings I posted in the UM-MSU thread...here's those middle 6 teams' records against each other, I threw in Indiana:

Iowa.....5-3
Purdue.....4-3
Indiana.....5-5
Michigan State.....4-5
Illinois.....4-5
Michigan.....4-5

Definitely doesn't show much seperation between the second tier in the conference. Any and all wins in this tournament are huge and any losses could be followed by an invite to the NIT. This tournament should be entertaining because of what is at stake for a half-dozen teams.

Wisconsin will take it.

Can’t believe that the Badgers first game will probably be MSU. That means that three of Wisconsin’s last four games will be against the Spartans. I really don’t care if the Badgers drop out the tournament early. It seems that any time they make a run to the championship game, they get rewarded with a Thursday morning game in the NCAAs, and they come out looking tired.

I'm going with some upsets... Indiana over Purdue on Sunday. I wouldn't mind tOSU ducking out early and getting rested up for the big dance. I mean, this isn't college football. This weekend's games don't mean much to me.

I am not that concerned either. I would like to see tOSU win both championships but I also agree with Lance. Additionally, I am much happier with tOSU's side of the bracket as the other side looks fairly tough. Wiscy vs MSU v3 would be great but I also think most of these games could go either way. Some of the Big10 teams have such strong advantages at home I think it is hard to predict who will do well on a neutral court.

On a side note, this was one of the most embarassing things I have seen in a while:


You actually try to make your hair look like one of the all-time best helmets and you look stupid....and you miss a wide open dunk....and you lose the game, NICE.

A big fuggin NNNNNOOOOO!!!! to tOSU with any early exit from the B10 tourney...

I've got tix for me and my son for the Midwest regionals on the 23rd and 25th. Now don't get me wrong, this is an excellent bonding opp, coupled with the opportunity to catch some excellent games. Catching the Buckeyes in the same regional, however, would be putting the cherry on top of the sundae.

Well I hope for your sake, FLW, that the Bucks make it to Sunday. Sky & I know all too well about eating a big shitburger during the Big Ten tourney. We had tickets for the whole weekend back in 2000 in Chitown and watched the top-seeded Buckeyes exit early against Penn State. Kinda sucked dog balls.

Because of our pathetic loss to a Penn State team that played out of their minds, Iowa's gotta win it all to make the Big Dance. I was hoping we'd get on Wisconsin's side of the bracket, because I think there's almost NO chance Wisky beats us for a 3rd time. But we got the tOSU side, and I see almost no way in fucking hell we beat them. I doubt Michigan will upset them, so if we beat Purdue on Friday (and we will in a blowout), it will probably be the Buckeyes on Saturday. But this is the Steve Alford Invitational and no one has done better in this tournament than Steve, so maybe a blind squirrel will find a nut and we'll beat tOSU. If we do, I will take us over ANYONE in the championship game.......unless it's Penn State or Northwestern!!

My prediction is Ohio State beats Indiana in the championship game.

I think Ohio State and Indiana are about the only teams that have even a punchers chance to win the whole thing. Once you get to the 3rd or 4th day anyone can win, so that's why I give IU a shot. Wisconsin, Michigan State, Illinois, and Purdue all have absolutely a ZERO percent chance of winning this. Wisconsin is the biggest fraud in the country, and they remind me of Kansas 2 years ago. They'll be exposed this postseason. They are not a tourney team at all. Michigan State cannot win 3 games in 3 days, especially on a neutral court. They have no quality depth and if Neitzel just has one average or worse game, they'll lose. No way do they make it to the finals. Michigan might get upset in the 1st round. After that heartbreaking loss to tOSU, I could see them quit. That's a program that doesn't even play for pride anymore. Coach Barbaro's gotta go. Illinois can't shoot, so they can't make a run. I think Penn State has a damn good chance to pull that upset on Thursday.

My picks....

Thursday winners
Penn State over Illinois
Minnesota over Michigan
Michigan State over Northwestern

Friday winners
Ohio State over Minnesota
Iowa over Purdue
Wisconsin over Michigan State
Indiana over Penn State

Saturday winners
Ohio State over Iowa
Indiana over Wisconsin

Sunday winners
Ohio State over Indiana

Big-10 sucks!

TheJON wrote:Wisconsin is the biggest fraud in the country, and they remind me of Kansas 2 years ago. They'll be exposed this postseason. They are not a tourney team at all.

Once again I'm amazed at the sheer and complete lunacy that is a noJ post.

Shine wrote:

TheJON wrote:Wisconsin is the biggest fraud in the country, and they remind me of Kansas 2 years ago. They'll be exposed this postseason. They are not a tourney team at all.

Once again I'm amazed at the sheer and complete lunacy that is a noJ post.

He wrote the exact same thing about Wisconisn football. Clearly the Badgers owe Jon rent, because they have taken up residence in his head.

Since NOJ brought up Wisconsin, I have a question. I'll preface my question by saying that I haven't seen enough of Wisconsin playing this year to know, so I'm not baiting, just looking for an honest answer.

I note that Wisconsin has been held below 60 points in five conference games this season, including all of the last three games. I know that was the style of play for the '00 team that reached the Final Four, but given the athletes this team supposedly has, that strikes me as almost unthinkable. And certainly, at least at first glance, that wouldn't seem to bode well for a team looking at a possible #1 seed and a potential deep run into the NCAA tournament. What gives?

Well they did hold their Big 10 opponents under 60 9 times, compared to 6 for OSU, so it isn't a major concern, I think. Three of thsoe five bleow 60 were on the road and they won three of those games. The real key is getting someone to score along with Alondo Tucker. They ranked fourth in Team Offense in the Big 10 and second in Team Defense. They don't need the whole team to score, but if they can get at least one other player putting up decent points in a game then they actually can win pretty easily. This team plays very good team defense and so they have been in every game they have played this season.