Re: College Basketball 2008-2009

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

If anything, the BT/ACC challenge this year shows how deep the Big Ten really is, except for IU. Also, the Big Ten has no really great teams, just a lot of decent to good teams. Purdue and MSU are likely better than they played (although MSU has looked bad twice already this year), but it should be an interesting year in conference with 10 competitive teams.

 

 

I agree. Michigan State has been pretty bad although they are playing without Suton which is kind of big. Purdue lost two games though to two very good teams. I agree though U of I has impressed me so far along with Penn State. I thought Wisconsin would be decent along with Ohio State. Even Northwestern is looking decent, but My god IU is bad.

 

MSU will come around when it matters. Izzo's teams always improve as the year goes on. Roe is not at full strength and they are missing Suton so they will get better. Purdue has one big game left against Davidson. It's disappointing that they couldn't get it done against either OU or Duke, but I think they will start to turn it on in Big Ten play. However, I think with the Big Ten being down both those losses will hurt their seeding come tourney time. That said I wish that Gordon hadn't screwed us, and that E'Twuan Moore was wearing Orange and Blue.

[rchap24]

If anything, the BT/ACC challenge this year shows how deep the Big Ten really is, except for IU. Also, the Big Ten has no really great teams, just a lot of decent to good teams. Purdue and MSU are likely better than they played (although MSU has looked bad twice already this year), but it should be an interesting year in conference with 10 competitive teams.

 

 

I agree. Michigan State has been pretty bad although they are playing without Suton which is kind of big. Purdue lost two games though to two very good teams. I agree though U of I has impressed me so far along with Penn State. I thought Wisconsin would be decent along with Ohio State. Even Northwestern is looking decent, but My god IU is bad.

 

MSU will come around when it matters. Izzo's teams always improve as the year goes on. Roe is not at full strength and they are missing Suton so they will get better. Purdue has one big game left against Davidson. It's disappointing that they couldn't get it done against either OU or Duke, but I think they will start to turn it on in Big Ten play. However, I think with the Big Ten being down both those losses will hurt their seeding come tourney time. That said I wish that Gordon hadn't screwed us, and that E'Twuan Moore was wearing Orange and Blue.

 

haha about the Gordon thing I would still be bitter to if I were a U of I fan. Also agree with it hurting the seeding with those two losses and not to mention it will probably hurt the rest of the Big Ten and hurt teams like U of I or Penn State that might be on the cusp.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

If U of I can take care of Mizzou and Georgia then I think we have the out of conference wins that the committee will look for. I am still not sure where we end up in the Big 10 though, if we can start the Big 10 3-1 going into the run of @MSU, OSU, Wisconsin then I think we have a real shot at getting above .500 in the conference. The game at Crisler will be a major key to our season IMO.

 

As for Gordon, that is in the past now and there are much better things on the horizon for this program.

[illiniguy]

If U of I can take care of Mizzou and Georgia then I think we have the out of conference wins that the committee will look for. I am still not sure where we end up in the Big 10 though, if we can start the Big 10 3-1 going into the run of @MSU, OSU, Wisconsin then I think we have a real shot at getting above .500 in the conference. The game at Crisler will be a major key to our season IMO.

 

As for Gordon, that is in the past now and there are much better things on the horizon for this program.

Georgia isn't very good, they have a 5-2 record but they haven't beat anyone that's anykind of good. We need to win that one by ten plus.

[bukie]

I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of teams between 8-10 and 10-8 in the Big Ten this year. Could be the kind of year where nobody has fewer than 5-6 losses in conference.

[rchap24]

If U of I can take care of Mizzou and Georgia then I think we have the out of conference wins that the committee will look for. I am still not sure where we end up in the Big 10 though, if we can start the Big 10 3-1 going into the run of @MSU, OSU, Wisconsin then I think we have a real shot at getting above .500 in the conference. The game at Crisler will be a major key to our season IMO.

 

As for Gordon, that is in the past now and there are much better things on the horizon for this program.

 

Georgia won't be that big of an out of conference...yeah they won the SEC tourney last year, but that's the only reason they made the tourney. They already lost to Loyola by 25 early this year.

Edited December 4, 2008 by rchap24

[TruffleShuffle]

Penn State's schedule shows that they should be 12-1 or 11-2 at the start of the Big Ten schedule. Can they go 8-8 in conference? Would 19 or 20 wins get them into the Dance?

 

First off, the Big Ten plays 18 conference games. Secondly, unless you have a bear of a non-conference(Michigan), it's gonna take at least 22 wins to make it from the Big Ten this year.

 

right, so 9-9 would put them at 21 or 22 wins with an ACC road victory. Their B10 schedule isn't easy (they have to play Purdue and Mich St. twice) so 9-9 is probably a stretch anyways.

 

i don't think it's hard to see them making the tourney at all. say they win all of their next 6 games.

 

they should sweep indiana; they're terrible.

 

they've also got:

 

northwestern at home

wisconsin home & away

purdue home & away

michigan st home & away

michigan home & away

iowa home & away

minnesota home & away

illinois home & away

ohio st away

 

they should be able to split the ohio st/northwestern games. they should also be able to at least split with michigan, iowa, minnesota and illinois. that's 7-5, with 6 games against purdue, wisconsin and michigan st. if they can beat, say, wisconsin and michigan st at home, that's 9-9. even if they win only 1 of those games, they're 8-10 in conference to go with 13-1 OOC so they'll end up at either 21-11 or 22-10 in those situations, and have a pretty good shot at the tourney. they really should win the next 6 games though. temple isn't playing well right now and the other teams are just lousy.

[bukie]

The biggest thing that will hurt middle Big Ten teams like Illinois, Penn State, Northwestern, Minnesota, and even Michigan is the perception of weakness in the conference.

 

The BT/ACC challenge is technically meaningless in terms of overall conference strength, but winning that challenge this year would've meant a lot for the public perception of the conference.

 

Stupid Illini.

[illiniguy]

I like our chances a bunch as I think we will add our best player in about 10 days. Winning without Legion is huge for us. But, if Weber is a fool and doesn't play Legion a ton from the get go it might not make us a lot better.

[rchap24]

The biggest thing that will hurt middle Big Ten teams like Illinois, Penn State, Northwestern, Minnesota, and even Michigan is the perception of weakness in the conference.

 

The BT/ACC challenge is technically meaningless in terms of overall conference strength, but winning that challenge this year would've meant a lot for the public perception of the conference.

 

Stupid Illini.

 

Stupid Purdue...If we could have made a shot we could have made it a game at least.

[Keener98]

Illini fans here is an article about Richmond. Pretty good read, and definatley sounds like hes matured. I cant wait till he signs on the dotted line...

 

http://blogs.suntimes.com/illinois/2008/12/jereme_richmond_the_key_to_fut.html

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Illinois plays Georgia in the non-conference too? That's strange.

 

With the B10/ACC challenge done, it's now time for the Big XII/Pac 10 challenge. Here's this year's lineup.

 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Oklahoma State at Washington

UCLA at Texas

USC at Oklahoma

 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Arizona at Texas A&M

 

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Baylor at Washington State

Oregon State at Iowa State

 

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Kansas State at Oregon

Nebraska at Arizona State

California at Missouri

 

Outside the four-day series window

Colorado at Stanford (Sat., Nov. 29, 2008)

Kansas at Arizona (Tue., Dec. 23, 2008)

Texas Tech at Stanford (Sun., Dec. 28, 2008)

 

Lots of strong matchups there. For a prognostication, I'll go with:

 

Washington, Texas, OU, Zona, Baylor, Oregon State, Oregon, ASU, Mizzou(homer pick, please don't let them make 40 threes), Stanford, kansas, and Tech. That would make it 6-6, and 5-4 Pac 10 after the initial 4 days.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

I like our chances a bunch as I think we will add our best player in about 10 days. Winning without Legion is huge for us. But, if Weber is a fool and doesn't play Legion a ton from the get go it might not make us a lot better.

 

My buddy is a manager for the team, and he told me that Legion has not looked to good on defense in practice. We knew Legion wasn't great on defense when we got him, but poor defense is the quickest way to get yourself benched by Bruce. Getting Legion on the court is going to be huge at the end of a shot clock, and it will also send Meach to the bench where I believe he can be much more effective in Big Ten play.

[illiniguy]

I like our chances a bunch as I think we will add our best player in about 10 days. Winning without Legion is huge for us. But, if Weber is a fool and doesn't play Legion a ton from the get go it might not make us a lot better.

 

My buddy is a manager for the team, and he told me that Legion has not looked to good on defense in practice. We knew Legion wasn't great on defense when we got him, but poor defense is the quickest way to get yourself benched by Bruce. Getting Legion on the court is going to be huge at the end of a shot clock, and it will also send Meach to the bench where I believe he can be much more effective in Big Ten play.

Yep, this is pretty much what I was afraid of. He has to play.

[Hosak8]

Two groups of morons:

 

1. The people who decided to play the UNC-MSU game in Ford Field. That place was an absolute ghost town.

 

2. Anyone who has voted Michigan State in their Top 20. UNC will pants alot of schools this year, but MSU has no business baing ranked in the Top 20.

[Guest]

Illinois plays Georgia in the non-conference too? That's strange.

 

With the B10/ACC challenge done, it's now time for the Big XII/Pac 10 challenge. Here's this year's lineup.

 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Oklahoma State at Washington

UCLA at Texas

USC at Oklahoma

 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Arizona at Texas A&M

 

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Baylor at Washington State

Oregon State at Iowa State

 

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Kansas State at Oregon

Nebraska at Arizona State

California at Missouri

 

Outside the four-day series window

Colorado at Stanford (Sat., Nov. 29, 2008)

Kansas at Arizona (Tue., Dec. 23, 2008)

Texas Tech at Stanford (Sun., Dec. 28, 2008)

 

Lots of strong matchups there. For a prognostication, I'll go with:

 

Washington, Texas, OU, Zona, Baylor, Oregon State, Oregon, ASU, Mizzou(homer pick, please don't let them make 40 threes), Stanford, kansas, and Tech. That would make it 6-6, and 5-4 Pac 10 after the initial 4 days.

 

 

Washington

Texas

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Washington State

Iowa State

Oregon

Arizona State

Missouri

Colorado

Kansas

Texas Tech

 

I have the Pac-10 going 4-8. Hopefully I'm wrong about UCLA-Texas.

[bcl412]

Two groups of morons:

 

1. The people who decided to play the UNC-MSU game in Ford Field. That place was an absolute ghost town.

 

2. Anyone who has voted Michigan State in their Top 20. UNC will pants alot of schools this year, but MSU has no business baing ranked in the Top 20.

 

I agree on MSU. When they were ranked 5 or whatever it was to start the year I was shocked. Any team a year removed from losing to a team as bad as Iowa (especially Iowa, they were terrible) and Penn State were last year shouldn't be in the top ten the next year. On top of that they've struggled against some teams they shouldn't be struggling against, IPFW and Witchita State, and got smoked by Maryland on a neutral floor, a team in which the much inferior Wolverines only lost to by five on their court.

 

So, yeah, Michigan State is overrated and they have been since 2005. I think they are still ranking high in the rankings to start the year because of Izzo and being really good in the late 90's early 2000's.

[bukie]

Two groups of morons:

 

1. The people who decided to play the UNC-MSU game in Ford Field. That place was an absolute ghost town.

 

2. Anyone who has voted Michigan State in their Top 20. UNC will pants alot of schools this year, but MSU has no business baing ranked in the Top 20.

 

I agree on MSU. When they were ranked 5 or whatever it was to start the year I was shocked. Any team a year removed from losing to a team as bad as Iowa (especially Iowa, they were terrible) and Penn State were last year shouldn't be in the top ten the next year. On top of that they've struggled against some teams they shouldn't be struggling against, IPFW and Witchita State, and got smoked by Maryland on a neutral floor, a team in which the much inferior Wolverines only lost to by five on their court.

 

So, yeah, Michigan State is overrated and they have been since 2005. I think they are still ranking high in the rankings to start the year because of Izzo and being really good in the late 90's early 2000's.

According to today's Pomeroy ratings, 7 of the 11 Big Ten teams (Illinois, MSU, PSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin) are between the 40th and 68th best teams in the country. Granted, it also indicates that Northwestern is the 29th best team in the country and the third best in the Big Ten, so take it all in perspective.

 

As Sagarin goes:

20. Ohio State

21. Purdue

36. Illinois

39. Michigan State

41. Wisconsin

42. Northwestern

64. Michigan

67. Penn State

70. Iowa

86. Minnesota

184. Indiana

[imb]

OU vs. USC tonight, I wish I was at this game. I want to see Derozan.

[Guest]

OU vs. USC tonight, I wish I was at this game. I want to see Derozan.

 

So far he's been a disappointment.

 

Taj vs Blake will be fun.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Illinois plays Georgia in the non-conference too? That's strange.

 

With the B10/ACC challenge done, it's now time for the Big XII/Pac 10 challenge. Here's this year's lineup.

 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Oklahoma State at Washington

UCLA at Texas

USC at Oklahoma

 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Arizona at Texas A&M

 

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Baylor at Washington State

Oregon State at Iowa State

 

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Kansas State at Oregon

Nebraska at Arizona State

California at Missouri

 

Outside the four-day series window

Colorado at Stanford (Sat., Nov. 29, 2008)

Kansas at Arizona (Tue., Dec. 23, 2008)

Texas Tech at Stanford (Sun., Dec. 28, 2008)

 

Lots of strong matchups there. For a prognostication, I'll go with:

 

Washington, Texas, OU, Zona, Baylor, Oregon State, Oregon, ASU, Mizzou(homer pick, please don't let them make 40 threes), Stanford, kansas, and Tech. That would make it 6-6, and 5-4 Pac 10 after the initial 4 days.

 

 

Washington

Texas

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Washington State

Iowa State

Oregon

Arizona State

Missouri

Colorado

Kansas

Texas Tech

 

I have the Pac-10 going 4-8. Hopefully I'm wrong about UCLA-Texas.

 

Colorado already lost to Stanford by 14.

[imb]

OU vs. USC tonight, I wish I was at this game. I want to see Derozan.

 

So far he's been a disappointment.

 

Taj vs Blake will be fun.

 

I've learned my lesson about writing off highly-touted USC freshman guards after Mayo last year.

[snoodmonger]

KU could easily lose that game to Zona. I know Zona's not great, but this KU team is gonna lose (and win) some it shouldn't. Could be a fun game, though. Don't know who's gonna guard Budinger.

 

Also, for all of you looking at UNC and wondering how they'll lose. Roy's teams are always lights out in Nov/Dec. they'll come back to Earth. They're still the best team, but they'll regress (or everyone else will catch up).

[Derwood]

since Penn State is in good shape to win 19-21 games this year, i'm fully expecting Talor Battle to get arrested and Jamell Cornely to fall down an elevator shaft in the next few days

[Guest]

Illinois plays Georgia in the non-conference too? That's strange.

 

With the B10/ACC challenge done, it's now time for the Big XII/Pac 10 challenge. Here's this year's lineup.

 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Oklahoma State at Washington

UCLA at Texas

USC at Oklahoma

 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Arizona at Texas A&M

 

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Baylor at Washington State

Oregon State at Iowa State

 

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Kansas State at Oregon

Nebraska at Arizona State

California at Missouri

 

Outside the four-day series window

Colorado at Stanford (Sat., Nov. 29, 2008)

Kansas at Arizona (Tue., Dec. 23, 2008)

Texas Tech at Stanford (Sun., Dec. 28, 2008)

 

Lots of strong matchups there. For a prognostication, I'll go with:

 

Washington, Texas, OU, Zona, Baylor, Oregon State, Oregon, ASU, Mizzou(homer pick, please don't let them make 40 threes), Stanford, kansas, and Tech. That would make it 6-6, and 5-4 Pac 10 after the initial 4 days.

 

 

Washington

Texas

Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Washington State

Iowa State

Oregon

Arizona State

Missouri

Colorado

Kansas

Texas Tech

 

I have the Pac-10 going 4-8. Hopefully I'm wrong about UCLA-Texas.

 

Colorado already lost to Stanford by 14.

 

Holy hell, Stanford is BAD.