The 2nd day of the tournament is complete. There were no upsets for the quarterfinals, and all 4 top teams advanced. It was a day of career scoring performances.
MSU dominated Iowa for the second time this season. They couldn't do anything wrong, and looked like the team to beat in this tournament. Draymond Green had another double double, and looked like the player of the year in the conference for most of the game. Payne had a career high of 19 points, and looked like one of the most athletic big men in the nation and is starting to show off his McDonalds All-American status.
Wisconsin beat IU for the 10th straight time to give Jordan Taylor his first BTT win. Rod Wilson had a career night with 30 points (7-10 on threes). Wisconsin outshot IU out of the gym to win 79-72. It was one of the highest scoring games from the Badgers this season. If they continue to shoot that well, they will be a tough out moving forward. I doubt they will be able to shoot as well against MSU today.
Michigan started out the game shooting very poorly, and was carried by Trey Burke during the first half. Lucky Minnesota is so bad because the Wolverines should have had a chance to win the game like they did. Michigan missed 8 free throws for the game and should have put the victory away in regulation. Instead they needed a late 3 pointer to tie and a last second missed shot by the Gophers to take the game to OT. Once OT started a lot of shots began to fall and Michigan went on to a 73-69 victory. Burke finished with a career high 30 points, barely missed a shot (except for free throws).
Ohio had a very tough game with Purde for 30 minutes of the game last night, but then Purdue couldnt make a shot and Jared Sullinger had a 30 point 12 rebound game. OSU was able to sit their starters toward the end of the game, which should help them stay fresh for today. Hummel had a bad night offensively, and he needed to be in the 20s for OSU to win.
Todays games should be very exciting. The best 4 teams are left and most of them are playing very good basketball. Any combination of a finals game would be good for the conference. I think MSU will end up beating Wisconsin without much trouble today. I know both teams are good, but Wisconsin will not shoot as good as yesterday. And if Payne is going to play like yesterday, MSU wont be losing a game until New Orleans. That might be a big if, but I think he continues today. Michigan vs OSU rematch will be interesting. Which Michigan shows up for the game? Can Tim Hardaway continue his 2nd half yesterday and be a force to stop on offense? I think the extra 5 minutes of OT yesterday will come back to hurt us today, the shots will likely be a little off for some of the game. One thing though is Smot should have plenty of energy since he fouled out again yesterday. Also, the refs will play a big factor in this game as well, will they let Morgan battle Sullinger down low or will they coddle the 6'8" 260 big man? If its the latter, then it will be a long night.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Minnesota Preview
All of the games today are matchups of teams that only met once this season. Michigan beat Minnesota early in the year, in the 2nd game of the B1G schedule. The Wolverines controlled most of the game, but the Gophers made a run at the end of the game to make things interesting. Hardaway made one shot all day, and it was the one that put the game away.
Since that time, Michigan went on to be conference champions and Minnesota struggled without their best player (Mbakwe). They stumbled to the 10 seed in the conference, only ahead of PSU and Nebraska. Their only shot at making the NCAA tourney is to win the conference tournament Sunday. They began last night with an improbable win against Northwestern. I dont know if NW was looking forward to a rematch with Michigan to get their first NCAA bid ever, but they could never close out the Gophers and Minnesota was able to pull out an OT win for the first upset this weekend.
Minnesota is currently without one of their better players, Ralp Samson III. He was cleared to play yesterday, but didnt register any contributions to the win. They relied on an unusual hot shooting day from the 3 point line which I would be surprised to see happen again. Without Sampson, they do not have a very strong interior game. They have a couple athletic Hollins guys, and a high jumping Rodney Williams. As any Tubby Smith coached team, they want to force turnovers and get into the transition game.
Minnesota will likely switch into some 2-3 zone during the game to lure us into shooting 30+ threes again, but Michigan should have an advantage in the middle which they need to exploit. Look for Hardaway attacking the interior or a more focused attitude in getting Morgan the ball. Minnesota will struggle to defend Burke, which means they will have a hard time defending the pick and roll, which is our offense.
Defensively, Michigan will not be forced out of their standard man to man for most of the night. Rodney Williams will be a tough matchup, likely for Novak. Other than that, Minnesota has just an average offense. It might be a long night if they sniff 70 points.
I was more worried about this game thinking we would have to play Northwestern again, and although we might have a dud of a game, if we just play average we should win and advance to Saturday. I think we have more to play for than the Gophers. Michigan 63 Minnesota 55.
Go Blue!
Since that time, Michigan went on to be conference champions and Minnesota struggled without their best player (Mbakwe). They stumbled to the 10 seed in the conference, only ahead of PSU and Nebraska. Their only shot at making the NCAA tourney is to win the conference tournament Sunday. They began last night with an improbable win against Northwestern. I dont know if NW was looking forward to a rematch with Michigan to get their first NCAA bid ever, but they could never close out the Gophers and Minnesota was able to pull out an OT win for the first upset this weekend.
Minnesota is currently without one of their better players, Ralp Samson III. He was cleared to play yesterday, but didnt register any contributions to the win. They relied on an unusual hot shooting day from the 3 point line which I would be surprised to see happen again. Without Sampson, they do not have a very strong interior game. They have a couple athletic Hollins guys, and a high jumping Rodney Williams. As any Tubby Smith coached team, they want to force turnovers and get into the transition game.
Minnesota will likely switch into some 2-3 zone during the game to lure us into shooting 30+ threes again, but Michigan should have an advantage in the middle which they need to exploit. Look for Hardaway attacking the interior or a more focused attitude in getting Morgan the ball. Minnesota will struggle to defend Burke, which means they will have a hard time defending the pick and roll, which is our offense.
Defensively, Michigan will not be forced out of their standard man to man for most of the night. Rodney Williams will be a tough matchup, likely for Novak. Other than that, Minnesota has just an average offense. It might be a long night if they sniff 70 points.
I was more worried about this game thinking we would have to play Northwestern again, and although we might have a dud of a game, if we just play average we should win and advance to Saturday. I think we have more to play for than the Gophers. Michigan 63 Minnesota 55.
Go Blue!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
B1G Tourney Preview
The beginning of the best few weeks of the year started yesterday with the Big East tourney first round. Lets take a look into the best conference this year.
The B1G tourney starts with the Iowa vs Illinois game. Both teams will not make the NCAA tourney with out winning the 4 games in a row in Indianapolis. Illinois might be playing some of the worst basketball in the nation. Iowa is very over matched in terms of athleticism but I think they have a very good coach who motivates players to play extremely hard. I think Iowa has more to play for in this game and will likely wear down the fighting Weber's.
The game that I am looking forward to most in this years tournament is the rematch of IU and Wisconsin. Both teams are playing some of their best basketball here at the end of the season. Indiana could win this thing and secure a 3 seed, but it seems likely both teams are slated for the 4 line. I think the winner of this game will make the championship game on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see how MSU responds to the OSU loss to close the season. They are without one of their best players for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL. I think the Spartans will struggle with Iowa for most, if not all, of the game. They are so much more talented than the Hawkeyes, so I think they will escape their first game. Indiana dominated MSU when they played last week in Bloomington, but I think they would do a similar thing this time in Indy.
The bottom part of the bracket is just as exciting as the top. Will Northwestern beat Minnesota and Michigan and secure their first trip to the NCAA tournament ever? It will be very difficult for Michigan to beat the same team 3 times in one year, although the 2nd half of their last meeting was a pretty big blowout. Purdue has been playing some of its best basketball since they kicked off Barlow from the team. They could cause a lot of problems for OSU. The problem with them though is they are not very deep and will likely be pretty tired if they do pull the upset over the Buckeyes. In reality, no team on the bottom half of the bracket goes more than 7ish deep. No matter which team makes the finals, especially if its against IU or MSU will be at a pretty big disadvantage.
I think Iowa, IU, Northwestern, an Purdue all advance in their Thursday games. The second day will likely see at least one upset, not including the 5 seed (IU) over the 4 (Wisconsin). I wouldnt be too surprised to see Iowa, NW, or Purdue win a second game.
If Michigan is going to make a decent run in this conference tournament they will have to get some solid minutes from Smot in every game. If Michigan wins the championship, the likely MVP will be Trey Burke to the average basketball fan. But to the home town fans and coaching staff, this honor will be heading to Smot. You see how much he can stretch the defense when he stays on the floor and shoots the ball with confidence during the PSU game. Burke will be himself as NW cannot really stop him, OSU (and the defender of the year... what a joke) didn't have an answer for him in either of the first two games, IU just doesnt believe in defense, and MSU can just hope to contain him. Hardaway looks to be getting out of his slump, and he will need to build off of his last week of the season for Michigan to beat OSU again. At this point, I am expecting Tim to get 17+ points in these games. This is the clutch part of the season, and he has shown time and time again that he comes to play when the team most needs him. If this doesn't happen, well Michigan won't go very far. But for the Wolverines to be near unstoppable, and not just a decent team, Smot will need to score double figures and play more than 14 minutes.
Most people are picking IU to play OSU in the final with OSU winning, but I have seen the Buckeyes just lose focus too many times this year. Also, I dont want to see them or MSU win this thing. The upset of the tournament will likely be NW over Michigan, but since that is dumb I will pick Purdue over OSU. Since I am picking that as the upset to watch for, I will say Wisconsin vs Michigan in the final. At that point, I think Wisconsin would have the upper edge on the rematch... but I will reserve my final score prediction until the championship game is actually determined. It would be pretty enjoyable to see the real B1G coach of the year beat the angry leprechaun on a neutral floor, but I think the Izzo choke fest will continue this weekend and then be corected in time for the NCAA tourney.
Go Blue, beat the losers!
The B1G tourney starts with the Iowa vs Illinois game. Both teams will not make the NCAA tourney with out winning the 4 games in a row in Indianapolis. Illinois might be playing some of the worst basketball in the nation. Iowa is very over matched in terms of athleticism but I think they have a very good coach who motivates players to play extremely hard. I think Iowa has more to play for in this game and will likely wear down the fighting Weber's.
The game that I am looking forward to most in this years tournament is the rematch of IU and Wisconsin. Both teams are playing some of their best basketball here at the end of the season. Indiana could win this thing and secure a 3 seed, but it seems likely both teams are slated for the 4 line. I think the winner of this game will make the championship game on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see how MSU responds to the OSU loss to close the season. They are without one of their best players for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL. I think the Spartans will struggle with Iowa for most, if not all, of the game. They are so much more talented than the Hawkeyes, so I think they will escape their first game. Indiana dominated MSU when they played last week in Bloomington, but I think they would do a similar thing this time in Indy.
The bottom part of the bracket is just as exciting as the top. Will Northwestern beat Minnesota and Michigan and secure their first trip to the NCAA tournament ever? It will be very difficult for Michigan to beat the same team 3 times in one year, although the 2nd half of their last meeting was a pretty big blowout. Purdue has been playing some of its best basketball since they kicked off Barlow from the team. They could cause a lot of problems for OSU. The problem with them though is they are not very deep and will likely be pretty tired if they do pull the upset over the Buckeyes. In reality, no team on the bottom half of the bracket goes more than 7ish deep. No matter which team makes the finals, especially if its against IU or MSU will be at a pretty big disadvantage.
I think Iowa, IU, Northwestern, an Purdue all advance in their Thursday games. The second day will likely see at least one upset, not including the 5 seed (IU) over the 4 (Wisconsin). I wouldnt be too surprised to see Iowa, NW, or Purdue win a second game.
If Michigan is going to make a decent run in this conference tournament they will have to get some solid minutes from Smot in every game. If Michigan wins the championship, the likely MVP will be Trey Burke to the average basketball fan. But to the home town fans and coaching staff, this honor will be heading to Smot. You see how much he can stretch the defense when he stays on the floor and shoots the ball with confidence during the PSU game. Burke will be himself as NW cannot really stop him, OSU (and the defender of the year... what a joke) didn't have an answer for him in either of the first two games, IU just doesnt believe in defense, and MSU can just hope to contain him. Hardaway looks to be getting out of his slump, and he will need to build off of his last week of the season for Michigan to beat OSU again. At this point, I am expecting Tim to get 17+ points in these games. This is the clutch part of the season, and he has shown time and time again that he comes to play when the team most needs him. If this doesn't happen, well Michigan won't go very far. But for the Wolverines to be near unstoppable, and not just a decent team, Smot will need to score double figures and play more than 14 minutes.
Most people are picking IU to play OSU in the final with OSU winning, but I have seen the Buckeyes just lose focus too many times this year. Also, I dont want to see them or MSU win this thing. The upset of the tournament will likely be NW over Michigan, but since that is dumb I will pick Purdue over OSU. Since I am picking that as the upset to watch for, I will say Wisconsin vs Michigan in the final. At that point, I think Wisconsin would have the upper edge on the rematch... but I will reserve my final score prediction until the championship game is actually determined. It would be pretty enjoyable to see the real B1G coach of the year beat the angry leprechaun on a neutral floor, but I think the Izzo choke fest will continue this weekend and then be corected in time for the NCAA tourney.
Go Blue, beat the losers!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Crazy Week to end as Champions
So much has happened since the last time I have written in here, in my life and also with sports. Since sports is not as depressing, I will stick to that. The last week of the season saw Michigan’s B1G title hopes drop to near impossible, then back to a little hope, then pure ecstasy. I will combine the recaps of both the Illinois and PSU games here.
The Illinois game was pretty exciting for most of the night. We got a chance to listen to an actual Michigan fan calling the game in Jalen Rose. We saw Tim Hardaway have his best game of his career, Burke do his usual stuff, Smot set a new best for fouling out in 14 minutes, along with seeing our first win in Champaign since the 90s.
Lets start with the good, Tim Hardaway scored 24 points on 7 shots (yes you read that correctly). It might have been one of the best performances from anyone in the conference this season, but since it happened against a dead Illini team I guess it doesn’t count or something. He grabbed 11 rebounds, most of which he pulled down with force. He drew two charges, had 4 assists, and only 1 turnover. Not a bad night at all. He took some pressure off of Burke, but Trey still did his think. He took advantage of Illinois continued struggles with the pick and roll. He would take the long jumper when Leonard went under the screen, or just go right around him when he tried to hedge. These two carried the team to a much needed road win. Smot on the other hand had one of his standard games, fouling out after 14 minutes of playing time. His attempts to get a quick steal didn’t work out so well, and he found himself on the bench after 4 cheap stupid fouls. Defensively, Michigan struggled at times in this game. Since the OSU game a few weekends ago, this team has not put as much effort in on the defensive end. This will likely come back to bite them sooner rather than later. They will need to sure up the on ball defense, and for some reason Novak and Burke seem to get out of position more than I ever remember. Regardless, we put another nail in the Illini’s coffin and moved to 12-5 in the conference.
After MSU got man handled in Bloomington, it pulled Michigan within 1 game of a conference championship again. All we needed was one more win and an OSU win in East Lansing.
Fast forward to Sunday. Michigan came out playing their best offensive game of the season. They got up by double digits multiple times againt the Nittany Lions. Eventually they went up by 18 in the second half, and then they got bored. They allowed PSU to pull with a few possessions at the end, and needed a cold blooded jumper from Novak and an impressive drive from Burke to really finish this game off. Smot had his best game of the B1G season, scoring 17 points off the bench. The most important thing though is he didn’t force anything and let the game come to him. At one point he even gave a shot fake, and as the defender flew by him, he did a little side step dribble to knock down a three. If he can continue to shoot with that much confidence to finish the season, Michigan will be very tough to beat.
All that was left was to root for the Bucknuts to dethrone the angry leprechaun. It didn’t look good for a while. MSU was up by double digits for most of the first half, but then Branden Dawson tore his ACL and this allowed OSU back in the game. Buford finally showed up in the 2nd half and took over the game, eventually knocking down the game winning jumper with 1 second remaining. OSU relies on just letting Sullinger do what he wants on offense too much. It made them ineffective and predictable in the first half, and it restricts OSU’s talented wings from getting into a rhythm. This will likely be their demise in the NCAA tourney.
But in the aftermath… Michigan comes through as B1G champions! For the first time in my lifetime, the Wolverines have a banner year for winning the regular season conference. Wow! What a job Beilein has done in his 5 years. Looking back when Zack and Stu were freshman, who would have imagined they would be the anchors to a B1G championship team as seniors. I know I didn’t. what an amazing weekend and year for the boys in blue!
Go Blue, B1G champs!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Purdue recap
Well the 2011-2012 home finale was a bit of a disappointment. Must be all of AA had no energy Saturday night because the crowd was quiet and late getting to the game, and so were the players (they may have never arrived). The result was a 75-61 loss to the Boilermakers.
It might have been one of the Wolverines worst performances of the year. It was disheartening to watch. I fully expected to win, and I almost forgot to consider that they had a chance to actually lose. Well it seemed like most of the team felt the same way. Purdue started out on a 12-2 run, after Novak missed an easy 10 foot jumper and Hardaway missed THREE open looks from deep. The last one didn’t even hit the rim from straight away. It was a mess. For the next 20 minutes or so of the game, Michigan began to whittle away at the deficit eventually taking the lead 42-40 midway through the 2nd half. Things were looking up, even though it would be an ugly win, it seemed like Michigan was finally in a place to complete their dream undefeated home schedule. Then Michigan went back to the lazy basketball they showed during the first 8 minutes of the ball game.
Defensively, Michigan was pretty terrible. They continued its strategy from the Northwestern game to switch on every ball screen. This left Burke on Hummel a few times along with Morgan to cover wing players. The Purdue wings had career days, especially Johnson. He finished with a career high 22 points, on what seemed like nothing but layups. Michigan just did not adjust. Purdue went away from the inside out game for stretches and relied on Johnson and Jackson just attacking the rim. Burke continued to struggle against Jackson, and Novak had his hands full trying to cover a bigger, quicker guard. Purdue also only turned the ball over 5 times the entire game. Michigan is the 2nd best team in the B1G at forcing turnovers, but they had no opportunities to convert mistakes into transition buckets.
Offensively, Burke continued to struggle with a quicker, aggressive, guard on him. I would imagine that Illinois and PSU, along with any possible B1G tourney teams will be looking at this game film to figure out how to slow him down. The refs let the game get physical, which they should, it’s a B1G game. Burke seemed to wither away. Hummel would hedge out hard and Burke would try to draw the foul which resulted in multiple turnovers or just offensive disruption. Burke could not get into the lane at will, and our offense seemed handcuffed for most of the night. It is amazing to see the efficiency go up when they use Morgan in the middle, but for long stretches of Saturday’s game it looked like we were playing 4 vs 5 on the offensive end. Hardaway continued to struggle, and continued to get in his own head from the beginning. This resulted in multiple defensive lapses by the sophomore, along with forced shots and turnovers. Most of us thought he was slowly breaking out of his slump, but this game put him back a long ways in that progression. Novak couldn’t make anything for a 2nd straight game, and Douglass didn’t get many open looks.
After the game, I will admit, I was upset. Not by losing, but by the way they lost. This program has modeled itself about being a smart, passionate, high energy program with Novak and Douglass leading the way. But on Saturday there was no emotion, there was no passion, and there not too many smart plays. It is one thing to get beat by a better team, even if you keep your identity, but its another to just ignore what has made you successful in the first place. The basketball team did not appear to be mentally prepared for that game, which is absurd because of all they had to play for. They are fighting for a B1G championship, an undefeated home schedule, a win for Zack and Stu, a high 3 seed in the NCAA tourney, the list can go on. After the game the chances of the B1G championship and a 3 seed seemed very improbable. Now, looking at the situation on Thursday it seems Michigan is still fit for a 3 seed if they can win their next 3 games, and after an MSU beat down at IU, Michigan has another shot at a 3-way conference title. Hopefully the loss will light a fire under these guys so they can finish this week strong and have it carryover into the post season, where this season can be defined.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Purdue preview
For Michigan to continue their current winning streak, finish an undefeated home schedule, and beat Purdue on senior night the Wolverines will have to key on two players: Lewis Jackson and Robbie Hummel. Jackson is the catalyst that gets teammates good shots, and Hummel is the biggest threat to single handedly win a game for Purdue.
The first time these two teams met, Trey Burke struggled a lot with the speedy Jackson. He was unable to keep him in front of him consistently, and Jackson’s quickness halted a lot of dribble drives. For Michigan to control the tempo, they will need to find a way to control Jackson. It will be interesting to see Michigan’s game plan with Hummel. Will they try to switch on every ball screen like they did Tuesday night against Northwestern, or will they let Novak man up with the 5th year senior. I think Michigan will try a combination of both, possibly along with some 2-3 zone in there. Hummel will get his 15-20 points on most nights, the key here though is to keep him under 20. He cannot explode and keep an undermanned Purdue team in the game. Purdue has been lacking much of an inside presence all season, so Hummel will look to do some work on the blocks while Novak is matched up with him. Purdue also has Ryne Smith, their lone sniper from distance. He missed some open looks in the first game, but this should not be counted on. Hardaway and Stu will have to close out quickly when he gets the ball. Force him to drive inside as much as possible. You don’t want any part of this dude when he gets into a rhythm. He is as lethal as anyone from our team, but he does so by running off of screens not just set jumpers.
Offensively, Michigan should look to attack with Morgan as much as possible. Purdue is limited in big man depth. Hummel will need to guard Morgan during stretches of the game, and these times are essential for getting Morgan involved. Making Hummel play defense will tire him out, and possible get him into foul trouble. If that happens, Michigan should be able to expand their lead. Burke will have to play within himself tomorrow night and not force too many drives against the quicker defender. Since Jackson is so small, he has no chance of slowing down the pick and roll offense by switching onto the post player. Michigan will have to use this against the Boilers. Hummel will not be able to hedge out as far, knowing that Jackson is fun sized. Again, this is a game where Hardaway will have the athletic advantage. Will he play within himself like last weekend, or will he fall back into being a highly inefficient scorer? Purdue is consistently one of the best defensive teams in the league, but lately they have given up over 75 points to MSU and OSU. Michigan will be able to score the ball tomorrow with some good ball movement, and not relying on the 3 point shot like on Tuesday. Purdue will likely settle back into a 2-3 zone of its own during stretches of the game, and tempt Michigan to launch early threes.
Michigan is more talented of a team, they are playing with some confidence after 4 straight conference wins, and they are still playing for a B1G regular season title. The wolverines have more to play for tomorrow, but Robbie Hummel knows how to win ball games. I have a feeling this game will be closer than it needs to be during most of the game, but I think Big Blue has enough leadership and athletes to make enough plays to pull the game out. Plus, the seniors are going to want to go out on a high note. Michigan 71 Purdue 63
Go Blue!
A peek at the B1G standings
I wanted to take another look at the current B1G standings and look forward to the B1G tournament and possible matchups. Iowa had the biggest week of anyone so far, and if they wouldn’t have blown so many early non-conference games in December this team would likely be on the good side of the bubble. They knocked off Wisconsin for the second time this season behind the hot shooting of Gatens, and they smoked Indiana over the weekend. They currently sit at 7-8 in the conference, and would likely need to win out and then a game or two in the tourney to make the selection committee interested in the Hawkeyes.
The current standings:
MSU 12-3
OSU/ Michigan 11-4
Wisconsin 9-6
Indiana/ Purdue 8-7
Iowa 7-8
NW 6-9
Minnesota/ Illinois 5-10
Nebraska/ PSU 4-11
Michigan State controls its own fate on the road to a regular season championship. But, they still have 2 tough games left on the schedule. After they dispose of Nebraska, they have to go on the road to Indiana, and then finish at home against the Bucknuts. They could easily go 1-2 in this stretch and take themselves out of the title tie. If they lose next week to Indiana, the pressure builds exponentially for the season finale. As much as I would like to see State lose those last 2 games, I can’t really see them losing any. They are on another nice winning streak right now, and are playing some of the best basketball in the nation. OSU has the talent to beat them, but they have building a new tattoo parlor with all of their bricks in the last few games. IU is very tough at home, but it depends on which IU team shows up for the game. A win vs MSU will help their seeding for the tourney, but I see Tom Izzo taking care of his little buddy Tom Crean again.
We all know about Michigan’s schedule, it is the easiest of anyone in the top 3. They have senior night against Purdue tomorrow night, and then finish the season with 2 road games against Illinois and Penn St. Purdue is a different team away from Mackey Arena, but they are no slouch. They would like another quality win to end the season to solidify their tournament hopes. More of the preview later. Michigan has not won at Illinois since 1997. Even though they are in a free fall right now, and Bruce Weber looks about as lame duck as they get, winning in Assembly Hall is always tough. The Penn St finale is one of those must win games. Michigan will need to win out to keep pace with the two big dogs in the conference.
Ohio State hosts Wisconsin, goes to Northwestern and Michigan St to end the season. This might be the toughest remaining 3 games of anyone in the conference. Wisconsin seemed to sleep walk through most of the Iowa game, and when they did start playing Gatens wouldn’t miss a shot. It will be interesting to see which Wisconsin team shows up in C-bus this weekend. They are capable of pulling off the upset, but it is unlikely. Northwestern needs to win out to even have a hope for their first NCAA tourney bid. They will play tough at home, but Northwestern just does not have the big bodies to corral Sullinger. At Michigan St will be a great way to complete the conference season. OSU will be looking for revenge after getting physically dominated on their home floor, but Michigan St still has not lost at home. I think Draymond Green will make it very difficult for OSU to win this game and spoil his day.
Wisconsin should be able to finish off the year 2-1, since they go to OSU then are at home against Minnesota and Illinois. This will likely put them in 4th place by themselves. IU has to go to Minnesota who is still fighting for a tournament bid, and needs some quality wins. Then they are home against MSU and Purdue. They are capable of losing all 3 of these games, but will likely lose at least 1. It will be a battle with Purdue for that 5th seed. I think IU will finish 1-2, and 9-9 in the conference. Purdue has two very tough road games at Michigan and IU, so the Hoosier battle to end the season will likely decide the 5th place seed. I would rather play Wisconsin in the 2nd round than OSU/MSU/ U-M. Iowa could even win out this season with games at Illinois, Nebraska, and home against NW. They have a decent shot at pulling up with a 5th place tie in the conference. I am not sure who would own the tie breaker at that point.
It seems likely that the top 3 seeds will be (in some order) MSU, Michigan, and OSU. Then the 4th place race comes down to Wisconsin, IU, and Purdue, and to a lesser extent Iowa. Northwestern will likely be the 8th seed playing Minnesota or Illinois in the first round. I think they will get the chance to play MSU in the second, as the 1 seed. Michigan has a good chance at revenge against Iowa in the second round if they can get past Illinois. Then OSU will likely get to face Purdue again in the second round.
A lot can happen in the last 2 weeks of the regular season and B1G tourney, but all I can say is that I cannot wait for the events to unfold! J
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