Big Ten Conference Season Tip -off. Who's #1?

[cancontent]

Minny travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State tonight. The Spartans are looking to move up the standings and continue their winning streak. Minnesota is on a three-game losing streak which might continue tonight.

Didn't see the game but the score indicates your instincts were right. Losing Braun has had significant impact on the Gophers.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Terps defeat Illinois to go 4-3 in the conference.

Next 4 games for the Terps are brutal. @Michigan, @PSU, Indiana and Iowa.

I really hit this on the nose.

 

[cancontent]

I really hit this on the nose.

Yes you did, but I was hoping you weren't going to. The drop off from last season is a lot more drastic that I thought it would be.

 

[Bigboote]

I was gonna say that the last couple of times I saw Maryland, their rebounding was subpar. I was wondering if Brenda’s mantra had changed. Then I tuned in to the UMD-Rutgers game a bit ago, and within about two minutes the Terps had six offensive rebounds. There may be some joy in Mudville.

 

[The deacon]

Ohio State's looking more and more like the best of the Big Ten, crushing Nebraska tonight. Jacy Sheldon might not be a first-team All-American, but I'd love to have her on my team!

It should be interesting to see if Iowa can stay with the Buckeyes when they meet March 3 in Iowa City.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It should be interesting to see if Iowa can stay with the Buckeyes when they meet March 3 in Iowa City.

Why wouldn't they be able to? It was an OT game in Columbus.

 

[GoChips20]

I’m a big fan of Jacy Sheldon. I see a lot of Paige in her game. Smooth, efficient, and big-time playmaker. It’ll probably take a few years but I could see her as a solid WNBA 2-guard eventually.

 

[The deacon]

Why wouldn't they be able to? It was an OT game in Columbus.

Good question!

 

[cancontent]

Why wouldn't they be able to? It was an OT game in Columbus.

Ohio State seems to be hitting another gear based on their last few games. Not saying this game won't be close or that Iowa can't win, but it wouldn't surprise me if Ohio State won by a larger margin the next time either.

 

[Bjbod]

Ohio State seems to be hitting another gear based on their last few games. Not saying this game won't be close or that Iowa can't win, but it wouldn't surprise me if Ohio State won by a larger margin the next time either.

Ohio State is a great team to be sure. I didn't watch their game vs Nebraska last night, but I did look at the box score: Nebraska had 30 turnovers! I'm guessing the Buckeyes were pressing; in their game against Iowa they took it off because it was ineffective. I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat Iowa in Iowa City that last game of the season, but I'm not looking for any kind of easy win.

 

[JellyBean]

Ohio State is a great team to be sure. I didn't watch their game vs Nebraska last night, but I did look at the box score: Nebraska had 30 turnovers! I'm guessing the Buckeyes were pressing; in their game against Iowa they took it off because it was ineffective. I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat Iowa in Iowa City that last game of the season, but I'm not looking for any kind of easy win.

Ohio State has been impressive since their loss to Michigan. I was surprised that Michigan won that game. Yep. Ohio State was pressing. It is going to be interesting see the final few games of the Big Ten regular season.

 

[GoChips20]

Ohio State controls its own destiny for a share of the Big Ten, which is a good thing because there are few situations I’d want to be in less than playing Iowa on the road, in the final regular season game of Clark’s career, with a conference title on the line.

 

[BigTenGuy]

Ohio State controls its own destiny for a share of the Big Ten, which is a good thing because there are few situations I’d want to be in less than playing Iowa on the road, in the final regular season game of Clark’s career, with a conference title on the line.

Ohio State and Stanford might be the best teams in their leagues, but the league offices in both cases gave them the easier path to the conference championship. OSU playing IU only once, at home, is a huge break vis-a-vis both Iowa, who plays IU and OSU twice, and IU, who had to go to Columbus. And Stanford, getting single plays with the currently 3rd-6th teams in the league, Colorado, USC, UCLA, & Utah, and double plays with teams 7-12, is a real break as well.

 

[visitingcock]

Ohio State and Stanford might be the best teams in their leagues, but the league offices in both cases gave them the easier path to the conference championship. OSU playing IU only once, at home, is a huge break vis-a-vis both Iowa, who plays IU and OSU twice, and IU, who had to go to Columbus. And Stanford, getting single plays with the currently 3rd-6th teams in the league, Colorado, USC, UCLA, & Utah, and double plays with teams 7-12, is a real break as well.

Oh, so it’s not just an SEC conspiracy?

My Lawd, it’s HUGE!

 

[tahoma17]

Ohio State and Stanford might be the best teams in their leagues, but the league offices in both cases gave them the easier path to the conference championship. OSU playing IU only once, at home, is a huge break vis-a-vis both Iowa, who plays IU and OSU twice, and IU, who had to go to Columbus. And Stanford, getting single plays with the currently 3rd-6th teams in the league, Colorado, USC, UCLA, & Utah, and double plays with teams 7-12, is a real break as well.

I could be wrong, since I have not gone back to check on the schedules over the past few years, but I would be surprised if Stanford was given a "walk in the park" to the Pac-12 tournament over the past 5 years. If its path was favorable this year, perhaps that was just the "luck of the draw" this year. Feel free to rebut with the schedules from the recent seasons, since I did not go back to check and am relying on general impression, versus actual statistics.

 

[cancontent]

Ohio State and Stanford might be the best teams in their leagues, but the league offices in both cases gave them the easier path to the conference championship. OSU playing IU only once, at home, is a huge break vis-a-vis both Iowa, who plays IU and OSU twice, and IU, who had to go to Columbus. And Stanford, getting single plays with the currently 3rd-6th teams in the league, Colorado, USC, UCLA, & Utah, and double plays with teams 7-12, is a real break as well.

Re Ohio State, that was a big head scratcher to me. Had assumed it was a given considering how both teams performed last season.

 

[BigTenGuy]

Re Ohio State, that was a big head scratcher to me. Had assumed it was a given considering how both teams performed last season.

The BIG schedule makers predicted a top tier of OSU, Iowa, IU and Maryland, rather than a top tier of OSU, Iowa, & IU. With a 4-team top tier, you play 5 games (2 double plays, 1 single play) against the other top tier members. With a 3-team top tier, you would play double plays against both of the other top tier members. It wasn't bias to predict a top tier with Maryland in it, but it was a reasonably foreseeable (not obvious) bad prediction. A lot of BIG fans were predicting pre-season that this was finally the year Maryland was not elite, by BIG standards.

 

[cancontent]

The BIG schedule makers predicted a top tier of OSU, Iowa, IU and Maryland, rather than a top tier of OSU, Iowa, & IU. With a 4-team top tier, you play 5 games (2 double plays, 1 single play) against the other top tier members. With a 3-team top tier, you would play double plays against both of the other top tier members. It wasn't bias to predict a top tier with Maryland in it, but it was a reasonably foreseeable (not obvious) bad prediction. A lot of BIG fans were predicting pre-season that this was finally the year Maryland was not elite, by BIG standards.

I get that, but considering how these teams battled last season, having a home and home between OSU and Indiana seemed like a better match up for viewing to me.

 

[cancontent]

Michigan State grinds out a win and gets the in-state rivalry sweep today.

Maryland beats Penn State by 15. Have they righted the ship to try to keep themselves in consideration for the tournament?

In contrast, Penn State has now lost 5 in a row, after being on 6 game winning streak. What's happened? I know they lost a player for the season, but with everyone else on the roster, I thought they would figure things out.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Michigan State grinds out a win and gets the in-state rivalry sweep today.

Maryland beats Penn State by 15. Have they righted the ship to try to keep themselves in consideration for the tournament?

In contrast, Penn State has now lost 5 in a row, after being on 6 game winning streak. What's happened? I know they lost a player for the season, but with everyone else on the roster, I thought they would figure things out.

If the Terps win the Rutgers and Wisconsin games at home, they're in the tournament. Currently their SOS is 3rd in the country.

PSU has an issue with turnovers. They commit way too many. But their personnel is solid.

 

[cancontent]

If the Terps win the Rutgers and Wisconsin games at home, they're in the tournament. Currently their SOS is 3rd in the country.

PSU has an issue with turnovers. They commit way too many. But their personnel is solid.

Very surprised by that. Would not have thought PSU was that turnover prone.

 

[JellyBean]

Ohio State controls its own destiny for a share of the Big Ten, which is a good thing because there are few situations I’d want to be in less than playing Iowa on the road, in the final regular season game of Clark’s career, with a conference title on the line.

Pretty much. Ohio controls their destiny. Four games left between Ohio State, Iowa, and Indiana, who just happens to be in the mix. But I agree, Ohio State controls their destiny.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Uh oh Indiana. I've never really bought into this team all year. Do they have a signature win? Tennessee...nah. Princeton? They are 4-0 against Michigan, Michigan St., Nebraska and Maryland, but they've lost all the really big games on their schedule.

If this holds it will help Illinois a lot more than it hurts Indiana, but I wonder about their seeding for the NCAA Tourney. Despite the record, I'm not really sure they've earned a top 4 seed.

 

[cancontent]

Uh oh Indiana. I've never really bought into this team all year. Do they have a signature win? Tennessee...nah. Princeton? They are 4-0 against Michigan, Michigan St., Nebraska and Maryland, but they've lost all the really big games on their schedule.

If this holds it will help Illinois a lot more than it hurts Indiana, but I wonder about their seeding for the NCAA Tourney. Despite the record, I'm not really sure they've earned a top 4 seed.

The score held up! Does this mean the jinx streak is over??!!??

 

[nwhoopfan]

The score held up! Does this mean the jinx streak is over??!!??

That would be monumental!

Probably need more than one outcome to prove the jinx is broken though.