B1G/NCAA basketball

[lineygoblue]

Showdown next Sunday.

Of course OSU gets the one and only game in Columbus. The Big Ten always takes care of its fave.

[Mike]

Hey. We get Illinois and Iowa once each in AA. Gotta win this thing.

[iam416]

Meanwhile, Ohio State is scheduled to play basically every top team in the B10 twice except for the Covid Fetal Monkeys. And, I guess, Wisconsin. Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers all twice, @Wisky; vs M.

Easily hardest conference slate. Miracle they’ve only lost 4. Will probably lose 3 more, though — maybe 4. I’ll take 13-7 if that happens.

[lineygoblue]

Hey. We get Illinois and Iowa once each in AA. Gotta win this thing.

Those are a couple games I wish I could see in person. The matchup with Garza and Dickinson should be a good one.

[Mike]

I didn't realize that Sparty scratched out a couple wins over PSU and Nebraska. But then they lost to Iowa by 100 and Purdue beat them last night. Despite losing 6 or their last 8 they've actually climbed into a tie for 11th place in the Big Ten.

[iam416]

Suck it, ridiculous shooting Nittany Fucks!

9 Q1 wins. Suck it, Alabam”Alum”!

It was fun while it lasted.

[lineygoblue]

OSU isn't going away.

Even if Michigan pulls off an unlikely win in Columbus (since when does Michigan win ANYTHING in Columbus?) OSU is right there with the best teams in the country, and will be there still once the tournament begins.

Michigan won tonight, but looked sloppy at times, and had two long stretches totaling 9 minutes where they went without a FG. Do that in Columbus, and they'll get blown out.

[iam416]

M is much better defensively than Ohio State and M actually has a legitimate post player. Ohio State is a fairly deep team, but Towns may be out and Kyle Young is just struggling with his legs -- but he'll be playing for sure. In any event, Ohio State's lack of post-defense undermines their entire defensive structure. They'll need to be really good offensively against a really good defensive team in order to stay in it.

Ohio State is now 9-3 in Quad 1 games and 9-1 otherwise. They have M, Iowa and Illinois in their final 4 (and @Sparty). JFC. They'll end up playing 15 Q1 games out of 24.

[Mike]

Iowa jumped Michigan in Kenpom to #3. The Big Ten now has 4 of the top 6 starting with Iowa at 3 followed by Michigan, Ohio State, and Illinois. Michigan State, despite not playing, was able to climb from #71 to #69. Keep swinging Sparty.

Edit: Was looking through the NET rankings and it's interesting to see MSU at #92. One spot above Liberty and two spots behind Akron. Chin up, Tom!

[iam416]

I'm assuming M's offensive efficiency took a little hit last night and maybe Iowa's nudged up a bit. I think Iowa's OE is as high as any team since the Frank the Tank Badger fuckstick team.

Meanwhile, Ohio State's OE is almost as high as it was with their ridiculously good 2011 team. Fuck off, Kentucky.

[Mike]

Iowa is #1 in OE but only 92nd in DE. It seems like that, along with 6 losses, would push them a little further down. They were 7th in NET going into last night. I imagine with a strong finish they'll be a 2 seed. I think it's possible the Big Ten gets two 1s and two 2s in the tourney. That's kinda crazy.

Michigan, OTOH, is 7th in both OE and DE. One of only 3 teams to be in the top 10 in both along with Gonzaga and Baylor.

[iam416]

Welll, KenPom subtracts DE from OE and that's your rating. So, Iowa is 92nd in DE and OSU is 66th, but OSU is only 1.8 points better. Iowa is 1st in OE and OSU is 3rd in OE, but Iowa is 4.3 points better. Hence Iowa nets out as 2.5 points better (2.46).

Math, motherfucker.

[iam416]

Ohio State has faced the 6th best defensive schedule in the country and is still scoring like a truck driver with Mrs. Wizard.

[Mike]

Welll, KenPom subtracts DE from OE and that's your rating. So, Iowa is 92nd in DE and OSU is 66th, but OSU is only 1.8 points better. Iowa is 1st in OE and OSU is 3rd in OE, but Iowa is 4.3 points better. Hence Iowa nets out as 2.5 points better (2.46).

Math, motherfucker.

Oh cool. I didn't know the formula.

[WingsFan]

Michigan Twitter has been very nice to Sparty this year, I don't think it would be the same if the shoe was on the other foot.