MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL- '23 -'24 Season.

[Hannibal]

The past few games, our opponents appear to have fallen apart in the second half and quit. I expect the rematches to be a lot tougher.

[lineygoblue]

Yeah, I expect Minnesota to be better on Saturday than they were in Ann Arbor. Even though there are no crowds to play in front of you have to believe that teams play better in their own buildings. I expect Wisconsin to be better in Madison as well. They don't play everyone twice, though. I think they only get Iowa, OSU, and Illinois only once apiece.

[Mike]

The past few games, our opponents appear to have fallen apart in the second half and quit. I expect the rematches to be a lot tougher.

That's because Michigan took their manhood.

[Hannibal]

That's because Michigan took their manhood.

And it was beautiful to watch.

I wasn't too fired up for last night's game until I saw that they had beaten us 18 times out of the last 25. I had kind of forgotten how much trouble those assholes have given us. Very satisfying.

[Hannibal]

I'd love to get a little bit of Izzo payback this year, although realistically, any year where we split with them is good enough.

[lineygoblue]

I'd love to get a little bit of Izzo payback this year, although realistically, any year where we split with them is good enough.

They'll have a good shot at that on Feb 6 when Sparty comes to town, but then the return engagement will be in East Landfill on March 7th. MSU is struggling right now, but that's also typical of most Izzo teams. He'll have them playing their best before the end of the season.

[Niffla]

The past few games, our opponents appear to have fallen apart in the second half and quit. I expect the rematches to be a lot tougher.

Yeah for sure. We'll get those teams' best shots in the rematches. When you get dominated the way they did you gotta think that they'll bring their very best to make sure they don't get ran out of the building again.

[Mike]

Yeah, I expect Minnesota to be better on Saturday than they were in Ann Arbor. Even though there are no crowds to play in front of you have to believe that teams play better in their own buildings. I expect Wisconsin to be better in Madison as well. They don't play everyone twice, though. I think they only get Iowa, OSU, and Illinois only once apiece.

It's strange how there still seems to be a strong home court advantage. Minnesota is 10-0 at home, 0-4 on the road. That's a place where we usually struggle so hopefully we get past them on Saturday.

We're starting to collect enough data points to draw some distinctions between the contenders and pretenders. NW and Rutgers were both ranked in the top 20 a week or two ago but NW stinks and Rutgers isn't near as good as their early ranking. MSU is 2-4 but I expect them to round into a decent team by the time we play them.

Right now, I'd say the conference is a 3 team race between Iowa, Michigan, and Illinois. Wisconsin leads the "best of the rest" with OSU, Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, MSU, & Rutgers. The others are pretty much crap. The schedule actually sets up pretty well for us. Michigan only plays Iowa and Illinois once each and both games are in Ann Arbor.

[lineygoblue]

At some point, the road game at Penn State is going to be rescheduled. Once the Nits get out of Covid protocols, they're supposed to try and reschedule the games they've had to postpone. That game is always tough.

Saturday's game at Minny is going to reveal a lot about this team.

[Hannibal]

Is there any time in the schedule for make-up games?

[lineygoblue]

Is there any time in the schedule for make-up games?

From my understanding, the Big Ten wants to reschedule any/all missed games due to Covid. So, when PSU is ready to go, they're supposed to work with the opponent's schedules and try to work those games in. Its possible that some teams may play as many as 3-4 games per week, to get them made up.

Of course, knowing the Big Ten, they can change those rules any time they want.

[Niffla]

What's everyone's concern level on the season in general? As far as covid goes I mean? Lots of games being cancelled and programs being put on pause right now. I am thirsting badly for the NCAA tournament this year after not having one last season, but I gotta admit unfortunately that I am worried about how they're going to pull off a 68 team tournament...

[THE_WIZARD_]

...as a UNL fan...I feel they should end the season ASAP...

[Cody_Russell]

I find it hard to believe the NCAA tourney will be canceled again.

Don’t sweat it... at least for now.

[lineygoblue]

I find it hard to believe the NCAA tourney will be canceled again.

Don’t sweat it... at least for now.

I think there's a lot of support for getting the tournament played. They've already said that the entire tournament is going to be played in Indiana, so that will eliminate a lot of travel. I think the idea is to have something like four "bubbles" where the Final Four will be decided. Then play the actual final four in Indy. I hope it gets done.

I'm not sure about the Big Ten tournament.