Big 10 - wow

[azfan]

Very exciting, entertaining games tonight. The Northwestern up was really amazing. Iowa's come back was awesome although I really have to admit I was rooting for Whalen and her team.

Wonder who would have thought Rutgers and Northwestern would be sharing the Big 10 lead at this point

 

[enigmatic]

NW is on a upward trajectory right now. Didn’t expect them to be doing this well at this point. If they can keep it up then McKeown gets my vote for B1G COY but of course there’s still a month left of conference games to be played.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Wonder who would have thought Rutgers and Northwestern would be sharing the Big 10 lead at this point

Don't forget Iowa.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Don't forget Iowa.

Yeah, I like Iowa, actually. Has been a solid team, and as a program has treated CVS very nicely.

I'm hoping Rutgers can keep it up, every game seems close.

And I like Joe from Northwestern, whom I met when he was at George Washington. Nice guy, although he comes off a bit oddly on TV. So sorry we were away at a convention when AZ hosted NW in the WNIT final. Was talking to one of the fund raising folks a week or so later and they also commented what a nice guy he was.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

I think Rutgers was 7-1 at the start of last season with an upset win in Maryland on their resume. Rutgers can get off to great starts. So far, so good for the Big 10. Three of the bottom 4 are no surprise. Minnesota is off to a rocky start once again (just like last season).

 

[DefenseBB]

Rutgers has been the beneficiary of a soft early conference schedule so their current 5-1 standing is considered suspect. Their best in conference is at Purdue (Massey #36). They are also fortunate this year that they only play Maryland, tOSU, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern once each. Talk about lucky. I will reserve judgement until those 4 remaining games against the better Big10 teams are played.

 

[nwhoopfan]

They are also fortunate this year that they only play Maryland, tOSU, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern once each. Talk about lucky

They are the UCLA of the Big 10.

 

[bbsamjj]

I won't argue that RU has had an "easier" start to B10 play than other teams, though 4/6 first B10 games have been on road. I'd put RU behind Iowa, NW, Indiana, MD so far based on quality wins, though that could change. RU's best wins so far are GT on neutral court (Massey #23), Purdue on road (Massey #34), and Nebraska at home (Massey #36). Both losses are to teams in Massey top 30 (LSU, Indiana)

In terms of schedule, RU's 4 "double opponents" this year feature two of the worst teams in the league (Illinois, PSU), but also two teams who started the season in the Top 25 (Michigan & Michigan St). The other top contenders actually all have similar types of double opponents, except MD, who's schedule is rough: they play Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana all twice.

 

[azfan]

I won't argue that RU has had an "easier" start to B10 play than other teams, though 4/6 first B10 games have been on road. I'd put RU behind Iowa, NW, Indiana, MD so far based on quality wins, though that could change. RU's best wins so far are GT on neutral court (Massey #23), Purdue on road (Massey #34), and Nebraska at home (Massey #36). Both losses are to teams in Massey top 30 (LSU, Indiana)

In terms of schedule, RU's 4 "double opponents" this year feature two of the worst teams in the league (Illinois, PSU), but also two teams who started the season in the Top 25 (Michigan & Michigan St). The other top contenders actually all have similar types of double opponents, except MD, who's schedule is rough: they play Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana all twice.

Iowa has a favorable schedule the rest of the way. Tough Maryland game and a really interesting season ender in New Brunswick.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

They are the UCLA of the Big 10.

At first I thought you were referring to Maryland and the famous quote by Lefty Driesell.

 

[nwhoopfan]

At first I thought you were referring to Maryland and the famous quote by Lefty Driesell.

Nah, just the favorable schedule compared to other contenders. But that kind of went out the window for the Bruins last night.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Big 10 with eight teams in the top 50 in RPI. Bodes well for Selection Monday.

 

[Plebe]

Big 10 with eight teams in the top 50 in RPI. Bodes well for Selection Monday.

Plus two more that are just barely outside the top 50.

What's amazing is that the Big Ten could get 9 or 10 teams in the tournament, but it's not clear that any of them will be hosting as a top 4 seed. Indiana looked like a good bet for hosting, but their recent losing streak has thrown that into question.

 

[DefenseBB]

I won't argue that RU has had an "easier" start to B10 play than other teams, though 4/6 first B10 games have been on road. I'd put RU behind Iowa, NW, Indiana, MD so far based on quality wins, though that could change. RU's best wins so far are GT on neutral court (Massey #23), Purdue on road (Massey #34), and Nebraska at home (Massey #36). Both losses are to teams in Massey top 30 (LSU, Indiana)

In terms of schedule, RU's 4 "double opponents" this year feature two of the worst teams in the league (Illinois, PSU), but also two teams who started the season in the Top 25 (Michigan & Michigan St). The other top contenders actually all have similar types of double opponents, except MD, who's schedule is rough: they play Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana all twice.

RU has 11 games left and Massey has them favored to win 5 of those to finish 10-8 in conference before the Conference Tournament. They would be playing themselves into a bubble team at that rate. CVS soft OOC could haunt her...

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Plus two more that are just barely outside the top 50.

but it's not clear that any of them will be hosting as a top 4 seed. Indiana looked like a good bet for hosting, but their recent losing streak has thrown that into question.

This is a great point. Maryland at the beginning of the season was a shoo-in to host the opening round games. But a rough stretch at Northwestern and Iowa put them on the outside looking in to hosting. If they can beat Northwestern at home (and they are playing very well right now), they should be a top 16 team easily going into February.

 

[Plebe]

This is a great point. Maryland at the beginning of the season was a shoo-in to host the opening round games. But a rough stretch at Northwestern and Iowa put them on the outside looking in to hosting. If they can beat Northwestern at home (and they are playing very well right now), they should be a top 16 team easily going into February.

Iowa, Northwestern, Indiana and Maryland are all hovering around the top 16 cut line. If any of these teams pulls away from the pack to dominate in February and the Big Ten tournament, they could easily be a 3 seed. If as a group they only lose to each other and pull away from the rest of the Big Ten, I could see 2 or 3 of them being hosts. The segment from 10 to 16 has grown very soft lately with lots of upsets.

 

[azfan]

Two interesting if not impactful games. Nebraska had a bad loss at home against Ohio State. Entering the fourth quarter ahead they lose in overtime. While this certainly is a positive for the Buckeyes this is a real bad loss for the Cornhuskers.

The double overtime Rutgers Minnesota game on the Gophers home court was a must-win for Minnesota. Frankly for a team at the top of the conference Rutgers perhaps from fatigue had serious errors in the second OT.

So the Huskers lose at home to what should be a non tournament Ohio State team. This should be a loss that haunts the Huskers come tournament time.

I suppose a now 4-7 in conference Minnesota polishes its resume with this one....Bello was a beast. So close to 20/20.