T1B

Another year of this made for TV "challenge" which has been all ACC. Will this year be more of the same?

UVA vs Penn St- I'm really inclined to take UVA here as PSU is Battle and nobody, but it is a home game and Battle is good enough to carry 1 home prime time game.
PSU wins, Big 10 up 1-0.

Wake vs Purdue- Wake will make this a battle but PU is a legit top 10 team this year if Hummel stays healthy and Johnson continues to progress.
PU wins, Big 10 up 2-0.

NCST vs Northwestern- I would've take NW here earlier in the year but injuries have already ruined the year for NW, who came in with legit hopes of their first NCAA bid.
NCST wins, Big 10 up 2-1.

Maryland at IU- I give IU a punchers chance since there is a chance that Rivers is able to totally befuddle Vazquez. That is a very big if and a few other things would need to happen as well for this still very young IU team to beat a veteran Terps squad.
Maryland wins, tied 2-2.

UNC vs MSU- clearly the marquee matchup of this years TV showdown. Yes it still is even after the Cuse blasted the Heels already. Lots of times in a so-called "title game rematch" when the loser still has key core guys from the year before and the champ is loads of newer guys the losing team "gets revenge". I think Sparty wins a very good and close game.
MSU wins, Big 10 up 3-2.

VaTech vs Iowa- Iowa is a big heaping bowl of bad basketball.
VaTech wins, Tied 3-3.

Clemson vs Illinois- this should be a tight game but I think Clemson lost too much from last year. Could see this one going either way, I'll lean to Illannoy.
Illinois wins, Big 10 up 4-3.

Miami vs Minny- Miami has looked better than I thought they would early but I think the toughness of Minny wins an ugly game.
Minny wins, Big 10 up 5-3.

BC vs Michigan- I think that scUM may be back at an elite level. Nice coaching hire.
Mich wins, Big 10 up 6-3.

Duke vs Wisc- Certainly Dook is Dook. Even in a rare true road game.
Dook wins, Big 10 up 6-4.

F$U vs O$U- I really like tO$U this year. Turner is a stud. Buckeyes could challenge for the Big 10 title this year.
O$U wins, Big 10 wins 7-4.


Shocker I pick the Big 10 again. I will be just as unsurprised when the ACC wins again.

Nice, I was wondering when Shine would make his yearly appearance for this thread.

If the Big Ten doesn't win this thing this year, it's NEVER going to happen. Funny thing about the conference this year is there seems to be your absolute haves and absolute have nots. Obviously things can change but what we know based on talent and experience it appears that Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio St, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota will be tournament bound teams. Penn St, Northwestern, Indiana, and Iowa will not be. Northwestern would've been the sole team I would've placed somewhere in the middle of these two groups, but since they lost their best player for the season, their fate is pretty much sealed.

My predictions:

Virginia vs Penn St - I don't know anything about Virginia, but I'm guessing they're not a whole lot worse than a one-man-team in Penn St. Simply put, if Battle's shots aren't falling, they will get trounced by anybody. Plus UVA has the home court advantage. I'll take the Cavs here.
1-0 ACC

Purdue vs Wake Forest - Purdue returns an experienced, skilled, smart, and well-rounded team that should get it done at home.
Tied 1-1

NC St vs Northwestern - Like UVA, I don't know much about NC St except they always seem to have athletes. N'western lost their best all around player in Kevin Coble and in a difficult matchup to predict, I'll err to home court advantage.
ACC up 2-1

Indiana vs Maryland - Ugh, it's going to be another long, ugly year in Bloomington but Crean will get this thing turned around; I have zero doubts about that. IU is still just too young to beat teams like this.
ACC up 3-1

UNC vs MSU - Kinda like the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, if MSU can't beat the Heels this year it'll never happen . Getting worked by Syracuse I'm sure was a wake up call for this team, and brought them back to earth a little bit. They'll play harder, better as a result. It's an interesting match up as MSU has the better team, imo, but UNC will have the home court edge. What gives here? MSU knows how to win close games down the stretch. I'll take the Spartans in a back and forth game.
ACC up 3-2

Iowa vs Va Tech - Iowa...just awful.
ACC up 4-2

Clemson vs Illinois - Maybe the toughest one to predict. Both teams might be coming in a little overrated. Illinois was a really young team last year but still played their way into the tourney. Bruce Weber should definitely have these guys improved, and they'll go on the road and beat a young, but talented Clemson team.
ACC up 4-3

Miami vs Minnesota - Minny, another team that might be coming in a little overrated but we'll see. They're tough defenders, I just question their offensive talent. They can beat a team like Miami though.
Tied 4-4

Michigan vs Boston College - I think Michigan could finish as high as #2 in the conference. They're going to be solid all around. I still don't like their unwillingness to rebound the ball, I think that hurts them in big games, but their starting 5 this year is as good as anybody's in the Big Ten.
Big Ten up 5-4

Wisconsin vs Duke - Wisky is always tough to beat at home, but Duke will be too much this early in the season for them. They always play well on the road and they're just going to out-talent Wisky...Singler has bulked up and looks really, really good.
Tied 5-5

Ohio St vs Florida St - OSU is pretty inconsistent, but when they're good they're REALLY freaking good. I don't think it'll matter too much which OSU team shows up in this one, they'll take care of business even if it's ugly. Plus they'll have had the benefit of playing a team like UNC. They'll beat the Noles.

Big Ten wins 6-5

Iowa vs Va Tech - Iowa...just awful.
ACC up 4-2

Not true. I assure you we are much worse than that.

That fucking Steve Alford.........

Didn't you have some tatted up w.igger kid last year that could bomb 3s? Did he get injured or something?

In fairness, I think Lickliter is a good coach. He just needs a couplefew years with the recruiting process and Iowa should be respectable.

Didn't you have some tatted up w.igger kid last year that could bomb 3s? Did he get injured or something?

In fairness, I think Lickliter is a good coach. He just needs a couplefew years with the recruiting process and Iowa should be respectable.

Jake Kelly transferred to Indiana State (he's playing this year). It's a shame because this would actually be a really good starting lineup if Jake stuck around. We have a lot of shooters, the problem is we just don't have ANYONE that can create off the dribble. Jake could do that. But he had to leave because he wanted to be closer to his family in Indiana. His mom died in a plane crash last summer and we all knew at the end of the year he was going to head back home. I'm glad the NCAA granted him a waiver so he didn't have to sit out this year. I hope he kicks ass and takes names in the MVC. Can't wait to see him face our leading scorer from 2 years ago (Tony Freeman of Southern Illinois).

The biggest problem with Iowa hoops is we can't keep our star players around. After our big year in 2005-2006, we lost a lot of seniors. Then because his dad was dying, Tyler Smith transferred to Tennessee to be close to him. Then our leading scorer the next year (Freeman) transferred. Then our leading scorer last year (Kelly) transferred.

This could be a great team if we had Jake Kelly and Tyler Smith. We'd be athletic, have some decent ballhandlers and be a great shooting team that can play defense.

The saddest part about what's going on with Iowa basketball is not the action on the court. It's the lack of fan interest. We used to pack Carver and now you can't pay people to go to games. It's depressing. We had 8 years of Steve Alford's teams where he would get the fans hopes up and then the team would collapse in February. And on top of that, you had not just 1, but 2 Pierre Pierce rape incidents. The first one divided the campus because Alford stuck behind Pierre and because of that there were a lot of Iowa fans that wanted nothing to do with the hoops program anymore. And then when he raped another chick and actually got convicted this time, it was Alford's last straw. But we wouldn't fire him. Attendance kept dropping due to underachieving teams and countless off the court incidents. And then the Todd Lickliter hire excited nobody here. And since Lick has shown up, it's been much of the same except the team is even worse. Players are transferring left and right, the team is performing poorly on the court.

I think Lickliter is a good coach but he is WAY too damn stubborn. He refused to let 6'9 David Palmer play until he was forced to with injury last year and then Palmer gets back-to-back 20 point games against Penn State and Wisconsin and he doesn't let him play more than a few minutes a game the rest of the way. So Palmer transfers to a Division II school to play his senior year. Recently he Tweeted that he hopes "that asshole" (Lickliter) gets what he deserves and he's rooting against us. Jermain Davis, a JUCO transfer last year, left the team about the same time as Palmer because he didn't like the system. Our starting PG, Jeff Peterson, transferred to Missouri State because he too did not like the system.

I just don't know what happened to Hawkeye basketball. We've been competitive my entire lifetime and gone to many NCAA Tournaments, and now we're having losing records. We started 0-2 for the 1st time since 1931 and lost our season opener for the first time since 1963. We'll finish with a losing record for the 3rd straight time and I don't believe that's been done in about 50 years.

RIP Iowa basketball! Thanks for all the great memories Lute Olson, Dr. Tom, George Raveling.........oh how I miss thee!

TheJON wrote:

Iowa vs Va Tech - Iowa...just awful.
ACC up 4-2

Not true. I assure you we are much worse than that.

That fucking Steve Alford.........

Don't worry. Since I will be at this game, it is almost a guaranteed win for the Hawkeyes. I usually mush my teams when I attend games.

Also, VT has not really been dominant against scrub teams. They are basically a two-man team. Malcolm Delaney is a do-it-all guard and best player on the team. Jeff Allen is a knucklehead. A nice presence in the middle but is always in foul trouble or suspended for flipping UVA fans the bird.

Should be a sloppy, coma-inducing 45-43 game.

ACC in a cake walk

Great take.

Iowa just nailed a full court 3 to tie the #3 team in the nation at halftime.

Wow, Talor Battle is a freaking beast. Best player nobody knows about.

Big Ten 1
ACC 0

3-3 with one day to go.

I think this might be the Big 10s year. Lucky number 11

Espeically when Evan Turner and the buckeyes get done deep dicking your Seminoles...

Another drubbing at the hands of UNC. Toss a bunch of freshmen and sophomores on the floor for the Heels and they still make every shot they jack up - it's incredible and annoying at the same time.

I think Michigan could finish as high as #2 in the conference

ooooops! Way to go Bee-Line! So much was promised...so little delivered. The surprise of the conference is definitely Northwestern. After they lost Coble, I thought they would head directly into the shitter. Just the opposite. They have solid wins @ NC State, neutral site game vs ND, and home win vs Stanford. Only loss is to a very good Butler team. I think the Big Ten will expose them, but if they can keep beating their OOC creampuffs and go .500 in conference they've got a shot at the tourney, ala Minny last year. I believe the Cats have the longest NCAA Tourney drought amongst major conference teams.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:I believe the Cats have the longest NCAA Tourney drought amongst major conference teams.

If never making the tournament, EVER, can even qualify as a drought.

I too thought they were dead when Coble went down. Major props to Carmody for again coaching his ass off.

If never making the tournament, EVER, can even qualify as a drought.

Ahh shit, ya got me there.

scUM up by 17 at home and loses to Northwestern... . Belein is a flat out clown. He's got two all-conference players and they aren't being utilized. I remember an article that ran in the Free Press prior to the season about how Michigan was "closing the gap" on MSU. Good stuff.

Oh, and what's up with that "Maize Rage?" Note: It ain't real effective when only 7 people are jumping up and down.

I guess this is the unofficial Big Ten thread...

Purdon't is extremely solid. Wins @ MSU and OSU almost within a week's span. That just doesn't happen. That starting 5 is ridiculously good, and they play so disciplined on both ends of the floor. Definitely for my money the best team in the Big Ten - only thing that would make me reconsider that is if MSU wins out (which would include a win in W. Lafayette) and wins the conf title outright. Don't see that happening though.

Purdue is definitely FF caliber - a team to remember when filling out that bracket.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:I guess this is the unofficial Big Ten thread...

Purdon't is extremely solid. Wins @ MSU and OSU almost within a week's span. That just doesn't happen. That starting 5 is ridiculously good, and they play so disciplined on both ends of the floor. Definitely for my money the best team in the Big Ten - only thing that would make me reconsider that is if MSU wins out (which would include a win in W. Lafayette) and wins the conf title outright. Don't see that happening though.

Purdue is definitely FF caliber - a team to remember when filling out that bracket.

i like Purdue's team, even though Painter was kind of whiny bitch at last years pre-season NIT.

Painter's a whiny bitch period...

the other night against tOSU...I was wondering when the other 4 guys on OSU's team were going to stop standing around and watching Evan Turner...Purdue is very solid...and the other night Robbie Hummel barely provided any offense...they are athletic...and you are right a FF caliber team

King Crimson wrote:i like Purdue's team, even though Painter was kind of whiny bitch at last years pre-season NIT.

You'll have to reset that one for me, I don't recall.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:

King Crimson wrote:i like Purdue's team, even though Painter was kind of whiny bitch at last years pre-season NIT.

You'll have to reset that one for me, I don't recall.

I don't know of anything specific but IIRC last years game between PU and OU went to OT and some of the calls down the stretch of regulation were questionable. Wouldn't be shocked to find out Painter was pissing and moaning afterwards.


As to PU in general there is no doubt they are a FF caliber team. Still not sure if I'd put them ahead of a healthy Sparty or even tO$U. Both of the PU/tO$U games were close and could have gone either way. In West Lafayette nobody stepped up to help Hummel and PU lost, in C-bus nobody stepped up to help Turner and the Buckeyes lost. Very evenly matched games and teams. For my dinero I say that tO$U has the best starting 5 in the league but their complete lack of anything off the bench raises serious flags for their postseason chances. I give the slightest of edges to MSU for top team ahead of PU but that's almost a coin flip to me. We'll see how the rematch in WL goes with Lucas back closer to 100% and of course how the BTT shakes out. Three FF potential teams in the B10 this year though.

Yep shine...huge deal with tOSU's bench...which we can't figure out seeing as though Simmons and Hill haven't sniffed the floor much and they provide some relief for Turner (even a couple minutes rest from PG) and Diebler...Simmons can shoot and handle the ball...

next year IF IF Turner comes back OSU will be strong with Sullinger and Thomas...

but I like Purdue overall better than either MSU or OSU to go to the FF...of course based on seeding, etc...

in fact OSU is going to skullfuck MSU tomorrow...

Shine wrote:For my dinero I say that tO$U has the best starting 5 in the league but their complete lack of anything off the bench raises serious flags for their postseason chances.

I should clarify that I don't mean Purdue necessarily has the most individual talent from 1 through 5, but in terms of the way they play as one unit - it's the best starting 5 in the league, in my opinion.

in fact OSU is going to skullfuck MSU tomorrow...

Hitting the sauce pretty hard last night, eh buckeye? Should be a good one. UNwar 11 AM tip times.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:UNwar 11 AM tip times.

Sucks to be you, CST fan.

Try again, rashlick. In general I prefer CST over EST. I'd rather have 11 AM weekend starts than 9 PM weeknight starts.

No sauce M GO...

I get fucking PItt v Nova on my nice HD TV broadcast...so I got to steam online...unwar not watching this game in HD on TV...I am not technically savvy enought to run my computer through my TV

FUCK SPARTY!

I guess you were right. It's like the Keystone Cops out there. Unforced turnovers, no leadership, no home court advantage, lazy defense, confused offense. Add to that Lucas is healthy, Turner is a non factor, and they're STILL getting worked. At home.

Embarrassing.

Lauderdale's gotta be at least 50 years old.

No way he is older than Oden...

How does Matta bring all these studs to OSU anyway? It's gotta those hotdog, tiny hotdog things.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:I guess you were right. It's like the Keystone Cops out there. Unforced turnovers, no leadership, no home court advantage, lazy defense, confused offense. Add to that Lucas is healthy

Hopefully he’s learned not to jump into his opponent when he goes up for his shot.

No such thing happened. This is MSU, not Wisky. Izzo doesn't teach the Bo Ryan school of flopping, dramatic charge taking, and all-around dirty play.

Izzo does have a PhD in Whining Incessantly To The Refs. Not sure why that little pipsqueak doesn’t get T’d up more often.

Bo Ryan should take some notes - he might advance past the 2nd round.

Yes, but at what cost to his dignity?

Dignity? Have you actually watched Wisconsin play the game of basketball? Just watch Bohannon lunge himself to the floor after his wrist gets grazed on a 3 point shot. That's how Bo teaches his players to play. He has no dignity, because he has no respect for the game.

You forgot to mention how he's set basketball back 100 years.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Dignity? Have you actually watched Wisconsin play the game of basketball? Just watch Bohannon lunge himself to the floor after his wrist gets grazed on a 3 point shot.

He got fouled!!

Screw_Michigan wrote:You forgot to mention how he's set basketball back 100 years.

Not to mention how they do it all with "hard hat" guys who were 1 star recruits, passed over by Oshkosh Community College.