B1G/NCAA basketball

[AlabamAlum]

And the ACC holds the record for highest percentage of teams with 6 of 9 in 1996 and 1997.

[iam416]

[AlabamAlum]

[Whitley]

First edition of bubble watch 2020.....clipped the big ten portion from the espn.com article
Should be in


Michigan State Spartans

Congratulations to the 16-6 Spartans, the most lockable of "should be in" teams listed in this first installment of Bubble Watch. Only the Watch's fear of what might transpire if Cassius Winston were lost for any period of time is keeping Michigan State out of "lock" territory at the outset. MSU is not likely to languish here in the land outside the locks for long.

Maryland Terrapins

In an otherwise tumultuous season nationally, Maryland's been an island of relative calm locally. The Terrapins have never been ranked higher than No. 3 nor lower than No. 17 in 2019-20. This kind of consistency comes from losing to only the very best opponents. Mark Turgeon's men are a perfect 16-0 against teams that are either in the bottom half of Quad 1 or in Quads 2, 3 or 4. The Terps are, however, 1-4 against the top half of Quad 1. Maryland appears to be on track for a spot on the No. 4 line or thereabouts, and past experience suggests you might not want to bet on the opponent in the round of 64.

Iowa Hawkeyes

The hoops nation as a whole understands that Luka Garza is pretty amazing, yet somehow this same appreciation has not filtered through with regard to the Iowa offense as a whole. Big mistake. The Hawkeyes are in the running for No. 1 offense in the nation honors. Put it this way: No Big Ten team comes close to what Fran McCaffery's offense has done in league play. (Michigan State is a distant second.) Garza is the foundation, of course, but CJ Fredrick shooting 47% on 3s certainly doesn't hurt. Iowa can torment opposing defenses in a way few teams can, which is why this team, so-so defense and all, is projected as a No. 5 seed.

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions have a shot at equaling or even exceeding the best NCAA tournament seed in program history. Penn State earned a spot on the No. 5 line in the 1996 tournament, and this season Lamar Stevens & Co. appear to be headed in that same general direction. Pat Chambers' men take very good care of the ball and then prevent opponents from doing the same thing. It's simple. It works. If this group can work around its iffy rebounding and frequent (by Big Ten standards) fouling, we might see Penn State in the second weekend for the first time since 2001.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Was it really just last month when this team was 8-4 after losing by seven on a neutral floor to Missouri? After that night, Illinois won eight of its next nine (the only loss came at Michigan State) while ascending from bracket afterthought to potential No. 6 seed. Kofi Cockburn and the Illini are forcing misses in the paint for the first time since the days of Mike Tisdale, and Ayo Dosunmu has suddenly become rather outstanding on offense. This latter development puts Illinois fans in something of an incentive quandary. The better the sophomore plays, the higher this team's potential -- yet the less likely it is he'll return as a junior. The seven-point loss at Iowa ended the run, but the Illini are still poised to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Welcome to Bubble Watch, Rutgers. It's been a while, or, possibly, never? We'll have to ask our archivist, Leopold "Pops" Von Ranke, to consult the Watch's back files. In the meantime, the Scarlet Knights are threatening to make this whole historic "We're in Bubble Watch!" celebration a short one. Steve Pikiell's team is already debuting in the heady realm of "should be in." If the men from Piscataway, New Jersey, keep performing at their current level in the deepest and strongest conference in the country, it's only a matter of time before this projected No. 7 seed is a lock. Yes, Rutgers is on a lock trajectory. What a time to be watching the bubble.

Wisconsin Badgers

You can't swing a cat in the Big Ten this February without seemingly knocking over 12 or so teams heading for Nos. 7 or 8 seeds. Yea, verily, the Badgers are another one of those squads, and Nate Reuvers continues to perform at a high level while carrying an increasingly large share of the workload on offense. In the Quad 1 conveyor belt that is this season's Big Ten schedule, the Badgers have already played no fewer than 13 contests in the NET's top quadrant while posting a 6-7 record. The nine-point loss to New Mexico on a neutral floor in November will never not be odd, but Wisconsin's profile is in exceptionally good shape for a team with a 13-9 overall record.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Laptops just won't give up on projected No. 8 seed Ohio State. Go ahead, lose four road games in a row by double digits (at Minnesota, Maryland, Indiana and Penn State). The best rating systems still insist on seeing this glass as half full. That's fine as far as it goes, though it does remind the Watch of Trae Young-era Oklahoma. When the best thing you can say about a team is, "Wow, these opponents you're losing to by consistently wide margins are really good," it's not a ringing endorsement. Note that, in a season where Division I is perimeter-challenged, both the Buckeyes and their Big Ten opponents have been really good at making 3s.

Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana is 1-5 in true road games this season, and the good news for Hoosiers fans is there are no true road games in the NCAA tournament. (Dayton's not exactly looking like First Four material.) A more durable concern for this particular projected No. 8 seed transcends mere geography: IU, by the lights of the ultra-low-turnover Big Ten, is giving the ball away with regularity. Since the entirety of Indiana's remaining schedule is made up of potential NCAA tournament teams (i.e., the Hoosiers have already banked their Northwestern and Nebraska wins), addressing this performance issue could nip any forthcoming bracket anxiety in the bud.

Work to do


Michigan Wolverines

Thank you, Michigan, for demonstrating how the seemingly straightforward "work to do" label can, in fact, contain several different meanings. The Wolverines would be in the tournament if the selection were held today, for example, and it's possible they would even receive a seed in the (high) single digits. Still, Juwan Howard and his men have work to do. Michigan is 13-8 overall and 4-6 in conference play in a league that can hand teams losses at every turn. The 18-point neutral-floor win over Gonzaga will always look magnificent on the profile, but a crucial two-game homestand against Ohio State and Michigan State now looms for the Wolverines.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Things could go either way with Minnesota, kind of like a year ago. In that case, the Golden Gophers ended up with a No. 10 seed, and, since that time, Daniel Oturu
Purdue Boilermakers

The version of Purdue that beat Michigan State by 29 in West Lafayette, Indiana, a few weeks back would be a tournament lock by now. Conversely, the Boilermakers that we saw lose to Nebraska by 14 in Lincoln would merit neither space nor mention in Bubble Watch. Somewhere in between those poles is the "real" Purdue, one that's holding on to a double-digit seed in many mock brackets despite having lost five of its past eight games. At 5-6 in the Big Ten and with a remaining schedule made up exclusively of at-large-caliber opponents, Purdue might test how far under .500 a team can go in conference play and still earn a bid.

[Whitley]

Lundari latest (2/4)


3 Michigan State (Midwest), Maryland (East, up)
5 Iowa (Midwest),
6 Penn State (South, down)
7 Rutgers (East), Illinois (South, down)
8 Wisconsin (South),Ohio State (East, up), Michigan (West, up)
10 Indiana (Midwest, down)
11 Purdue (West, Play in game)

Minnesota #2 First Four Out

[lineygoblue]

Izzo needs to seriously consider following Dantonio out the exit.

When what the fans are saying takes up more of your time than commenting on your own team, you've got your priorities wrong.

Very un-Izzo-like.

Maybe its time to hand off, Tom. Accept the gold watch, take a bow, and go enjoy life with your lovely wife and kids.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Purdue's beating the ever-loving snot out of Iowa tonight.

[hack]

Izzo knows his career should end in the very same ignominous way. Unlikely that it will, but he's one of those guys that talks a good game on the ethics front and knows he's failed at more than a few key moments.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[iam416]

Thirded.

[froot loops]

Never change hack

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[hack]

Maybe you wouldn't have worded it as I did, froot, but I know from your posts here that we often think the same things about choices made in your AD.

[froot loops]

I actually don't know what that means, it is way too opaque. You are out to lunch on that Izzo crap, always have been.

[hack]

You were willing to let both coaches go when the Nassar crisis peaked, when there were questions about what Dantonio and Izzo knew, and when each of their histories with players and sexual assault charges was being reviewed in media. You thought it was the right thing to do. I thought that was admirable.

My position on Izzo isn't based on anything other than what's publicly known. He's an extraordinary basketball coach who is not the good person his legacy will always suggest he is. You can disagree today with my sense of where the ethical line is and what constitutes crossing it, but you have agreed with it in the past.