Basically the B10 & ACC sucks - edited
- Thread starter ThePhog08
- Start date
I dunno VT gave us all we could handle. That was a true 50/50 that could have gone either way.
Serious question....which current Big 10 coaches other than Izzo have accomplished anything in the tourney?
They aren't going to be able to use the zone as effectively against WVU as they did SDSU, but I wouldn't count out Beheim ever in March
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset
Well-Known Member
Time of the year to show the love, even for deranged, Illini-hating Iowa fans.
I have the Hawks in the Final Four in one of my brackets, and I have them going down to the Zags in the other. Hoping both are wrong and we meet you guys in the Championship Game!I mean, come on, man ... this is the time for us lowly Big Ten fans to stick by each other! Haha, hasn't been a great 48 hours...
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset
Well-Known Member
We probably should stop fighting amongst ourselves long enough to clean up the mess the others in the conference have made......Time of the year to show the love, even for deranged, Illini-hating Iowa fans.
I mean, come on, man ... this is the time for us lowly Big Ten fans to stick by each other! Haha, hasn't been a great 48 hours...
Slightly on topic, I admit I drank the Big Ten Kool-Aid, and I was wrong. I had OSU in the Final Four, and in one bracket I actually had Purdue upsetting Baylor ... I didn't really think the second was going to happen, but you gotta pick some crazy upsets. My renewed take on the Big Ten is this:
- The very bottom (Northwestern, Nebraska) is absolutely terrible, but the Big Ten is a very "familiar" conference with intense competition from top to bottom, and these teams could muster up competitive losses every once in a while in a way that the bottom of other conferences usually can't ... this might lead to overrating the "depth" of the Big Ten.
- The teams just above the cellar (Penn State, Minnesota, Indiana) have some very good players who can do very good things ... but they're simply not good teams. So, when Minnesota can randomly upset Iowa or Indiana can take Illinois to OT, they look better than they are. This also contributed to a bit of the overrating.
- The lower-level Tournament teams by seed (MSU, Rutgers, Maryland) have the talent to upset good teams, but they all have one or more glaring deficiencies that enable them to play terribly on occasion and be capable of stinkers. Are they "good"? You can answer "Yes, kind of" or simply "No," depending on your POV, but they're perhaps not consistent enough to warrant the respect the conference got.
- Wisconsin seems its own beast ... very "solid," and they can clearly play with the best teams. However, they lost so many games vs. good teams that it caught up with them in their seed. I actually think they are probably, at least at this point, one of the few UNDERRATED Big Ten teams.
- The teams that appear to have been truly overrated, at least in terms of how they are built for the Tournament, are obviously Purdue and Ohio State. I was shocked to see that Purdue could be that wildly inconsistent, but this wouldn't be the first time Painter (an admittedly excellent regular season coach) has disappointed in March, I guess. OSU truly looks like they are a "boom or bust" team to the nth degree. When EJ is on his A-game and their shooters are draining threes, they can take a red hot Illini team to OT or beat Michigan. However, they showed yesterday just how low their floor is, too, I guess. I think they were exposed as truly relying on great performances and not able to grind out games successfully - a MUST come March.
- I think Illinois, Iowa and Michigan are still, in one way or another, elite teams. I'm biased when it comes to Illinois, so I won't spend too much time on them, but ... I think we have National Championship potential and few weaknesses to exploit. Doesn't mean we'll win it, but I do NOT think we are overrated. Michigan before the injury would have been in my Final Four, but it remains to be seen how they will respond. This might ignite a fire in them that was lacking and allow them to get some momentum. Still, without Livers, I fear their ceiling might be the Elite Eight. Iowa is an interesting one, as when Garza is on his A-game and they're hitting from outside, they can beat anyone. When I REALLY started to believe Illinois was a NC contender was when we HANDLED an Iowa team that shot very well from three, especially in the first half. I don't think there are many teams Iowa doesn't beat if they play the way they did in the BTT Semifinals, and that says a lot (to me) about how good Illinois is right now. If Iowa is hot from three by the second weekend, I think they are going to make a deep run.
- The very bottom (Northwestern, Nebraska) is absolutely terrible, but the Big Ten is a very "familiar" conference with intense competition from top to bottom, and these teams could muster up competitive losses every once in a while in a way that the bottom of other conferences usually can't ... this might lead to overrating the "depth" of the Big Ten.
- The teams just above the cellar (Penn State, Minnesota, Indiana) have some very good players who can do very good things ... but they're simply not good teams. So, when Minnesota can randomly upset Iowa or Indiana can take Illinois to OT, they look better than they are. This also contributed to a bit of the overrating.
- The lower-level Tournament teams by seed (MSU, Rutgers, Maryland) have the talent to upset good teams, but they all have one or more glaring deficiencies that enable them to play terribly on occasion and be capable of stinkers. Are they "good"? You can answer "Yes, kind of" or simply "No," depending on your POV, but they're perhaps not consistent enough to warrant the respect the conference got.
- Wisconsin seems its own beast ... very "solid," and they can clearly play with the best teams. However, they lost so many games vs. good teams that it caught up with them in their seed. I actually think they are probably, at least at this point, one of the few UNDERRATED Big Ten teams.
- The teams that appear to have been truly overrated, at least in terms of how they are built for the Tournament, are obviously Purdue and Ohio State. I was shocked to see that Purdue could be that wildly inconsistent, but this wouldn't be the first time Painter (an admittedly excellent regular season coach) has disappointed in March, I guess. OSU truly looks like they are a "boom or bust" team to the nth degree. When EJ is on his A-game and their shooters are draining threes, they can take a red hot Illini team to OT or beat Michigan. However, they showed yesterday just how low their floor is, too, I guess. I think they were exposed as truly relying on great performances and not able to grind out games successfully - a MUST come March.
- I think Illinois, Iowa and Michigan are still, in one way or another, elite teams. I'm biased when it comes to Illinois, so I won't spend too much time on them, but ... I think we have National Championship potential and few weaknesses to exploit. Doesn't mean we'll win it, but I do NOT think we are overrated. Michigan before the injury would have been in my Final Four, but it remains to be seen how they will respond. This might ignite a fire in them that was lacking and allow them to get some momentum. Still, without Livers, I fear their ceiling might be the Elite Eight. Iowa is an interesting one, as when Garza is on his A-game and they're hitting from outside, they can beat anyone. When I REALLY started to believe Illinois was a NC contender was when we HANDLED an Iowa team that shot very well from three, especially in the first half. I don't think there are many teams Iowa doesn't beat if they play the way they did in the BTT Semifinals, and that says a lot (to me) about how good Illinois is right now. If Iowa is hot from three by the second weekend, I think they are going to make a deep run.
If Illinois loses to Loyola the B1G most likely won't have a team in the F4
There is a strong possibility they don't have a single team in the E8
There is a strong possibility they don't have a single team in the E8
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset
Well-Known Member
Thanks. A relatively comfortable win despite two of their best players being out or limited.
The greatest league of all time can't beat scrubs at full strength. 🤣
So she decided to go to Oral Roberts over Morehead St?
That’s the destination for the grad degree.
As terrible as you’ve been with every single prediction, and you’re still going? The Big 10 has a legitimate chance of 3 teams in the E8. You want to put some money on the strong possibility that there’s zero, or are you ready to just shut up after the embarrassment of a season that Texas just had... again?
The Big Ten was perceived to be strong because we clowned the ACC. But now it seems like the ACC being really bad is why.
Why does the big ten constantly struggle in the tournament? Are we tired after the 20 games, style of play, I am curious what people think?
Pace of play, officiating, type of athletes. Besides Illinois I don’t really think the Big 10 top teams have outstanding athletes.
big 10 teams are built to battle other big 10 teams. When they see a different type of athlete they struggle.
If they didn't do anything in the non-con, why would they be expected to dominate the tourney? Because they beat each other?
Big Ten won 6-4. If you were all powerful it would have been much worse. ACC is weak this year.
It was 5-4 and a game was either rescheduled or occurred later. Ended 6-4.
Eh, Big Ten has had a lot of NCAAT success and we’ve put countless players into the NBA. It’s the NC game where we just haven’t been able to get it done. People are really putting a lot of stock into 1 weird covid year.
