Michigan realized, with a win, that they would at
least assure themselves of a share of the B1G Championship with a victory over
the Gophers. And from that moment on,
while there would be rallies and Gopher comebacks, I think everyone watching
kind of knew it was over. Spike Albrecht
sank a long three and saw to it that the Gophers were not going to come into
his house and do anything silly. With
lots of help from GRIII literally invoking his will on people and Jordan Morgan
there to assist, those guys and the rest of the Woverines took care of business.
If you are Michigan fan and you aren’t or haven’t
been watching for the last three seasons, I believe that we are witnessing
something that is truly incredible.
Coach JB has brought something to the Men’s Basketball Team that
Michigan used to have in Football:
Consistency, Excellence and an attitude that “Losing is simply
unacceptable.” Three years, a B1G Shared
Championship – A trip to the Final Four and Championship Game and now, chances
for a B1G Championship OUTRIGHT!
When that finally sunk in Saturday, my thoughts, and
I hope the thoughts of some more “Mature” fans, went back to the last time
Michigan had won a Big 10 Championship outright.
DATELINE 1986
Ronald Regan is the president of the United
States. Pixar Animation Studios is
established by Steve Jobs and others….The Space Shuttle Challenger launched and
explodes less than 73 seconds after lift-off taking the lives of all 7
astronauts, including Christy McAuliffe.. “Out Of Africa” was the year’s Best
Picture...Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone’s Vault. Shia LeBouf and Lindsay Lohan are born and Cary
Grant died… And there was this group of 4 High School Seniors two years earlier in 1984 (Thanks for the blast from the past CK!!)
Not to mention a group of Sky-Divers out in
Tecumseh…(BTW – The young looking female to the right of the young-looking MMPG
is actually my mom! The three guys to the left are all Knights - Back when they had hair and a guy name KB in the middle) - Again - Thanks CK!
Something else happened in 1986: The UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN Men’s Basketball Team wins the Big 10 Regular Season
Championship OUTRIGHT!
Over a quarter of a century ago, a team wearing the
Maize and Blue won the Big 10 Championship.
That’s way too long, but in some ways, it’s fitting in that an outright
Big 10 Championship should be something that is prized, cherished and
celebrated. It’s not an easy thing to
come by and to do it solo, well, it just doesn’t happen that often.
Yeah, Michigan shared it 2 years ago and should
have probably shared it last year. But, that’s the way the little orange
leather ball bounces. And Michigan is
now one victory away from an outright Title.
It won’t be easy.
The Illini, a proud basketball school, really don’t want to let that
happen on THEIR court come Tuesday. And
the Hoosiers seem to be racking up wins over ranked opponents like they still
have some sort of shot at the NCAA tournament or something. They aren’t going to come into Ann Arbor and
lay down for anyone…
So, while some big hurdles have been overcome,
there’s still one hurdle left. Win one
of the last two and the banner is Michigan’s alone. Figure out a way to steal on in Champaign or
keep the Hoosiers in check at Crysler.
Just one more.
It’s close….
REST OF THE B1G
Wiscy: With Sparty’s
loss, will probably get 2nd place solo if they take care of business
this week. Michigan’s biggest threat to
win the B1G championship will be the Cheeseheads. Is there a Michigan – Wiscy Rubber game coming
in the B1G Tourney?
Sparty: SOS….Same
Ole’ Sparty. I know that Spartan fans
don’t want to hear that, but what other excuse is possibly left? I watched the game against the Illini. Get off the zebras’ backs. There were not any “terrible” calls that didn’t
go your way. If anything, you got a
couple of calls you probably shouldn’t have got. The game was there for the taking, albeit the
Illini played well enough to win, Sparty just couldn’t figure out a way, or
worse, simply didn’t have the will to win.
Apple and Payne missing free throws at the end in the final minutes are
a bad omen for things to come with this team…IF THEY DON’T FIX THEIR SH!#$^%
RIGHT NOW!
Sparty is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma shrouded
in a mystery. THEY SHOULD be in the
driver’s seat of the B1G. Senior
leadership, court presence, excellent coach…what gives? Everyone is healthy, right? OR as healthy as they can be, I guess. I really don’t want to write Sparty off at
this point as we know that Izzo-Troll can make very special things happen in
March. But, as I stated earlier, Izzo
finds a way to win that game they just played in Breslin. At this point…unless there are literally “miracles”
performed between now and the NCAA’s…Well, Sparty is toast. You know, SOS…SH!@#$ Onna' Shingle.
But, if there is one coach that can do it, it’s the
Izzo-Troll. So the MMPG isn’t going to
count them out, not yet.
Iowa: Stops the losing streak at three games, but its
hard to believe that this team is going to get the bye come the B1G Tourney….
NEBRAKSA: How weird
is the B1G this year? With a win in the
regular season that’s left, Nebraska could be looking AT A BYE in the B1G
Conference Tourney (1st through 4th spots) where they could really use an additional game to pad their
resume for the NCAA’S!!!! It’s totally, completely insane what is happening in
the B1G this year. If Nebraska DOESN’T
make the NCAA’s, someone should call the police and file charges with the NCAA….
ohio: Talk about a team limping sideways into March…They
looked simply awful in Dis-Assembly Hall and they are not taking charge like
the Suckeyes of last year. I hate to say
that this could be a 1 and done team come the NCAA’s, but right now…I got
nothing else. Except, well, I hate to go
here..But if you could show up against Sparty, I might, MIGHT root for
you! Either way, I’ll watch cause
somebody I hate is gonna lose next Sunday!
Minnesota: RPI and big
wins against non-conference opponents in the pre-season is going to let
Minnesota more than likely be the last B1G school into the NCAA’s…and they will
have a LOSING B1G record to go with it!
Sad….
Indiana: As the
Hoosier fans keep saying – you keep ranking them and we’ll keep beating
them. I bet the Hoosier’s really wish
they had a couple of those losses to Northwestern and Illinois back. Can they make a run in the B1G tourney? Could they win it and get into the NCAA’s?
NCAA Tournament
Locks:
Michigan, Wiscy, Sparty, ohio, Iowa,
SHOULD BE Locked
up, avoiding Dayton and needing a couple of wins: NEBRASKA
Last B1G Teams In: Minnesota
– with a B1G losing record…
Wishing they had
one or two more victories right now or hoping for a final 3-4 game run or B1G Tournament Victory: NO ONE!!!
Roaming around
waiting for any other sport to start: PSU, NWU, IU, Illinois and Purdue
Bracketology
Big Shake Ups this week in the ole top lines of the
brackets!
Right now, the 4
number 1 seeds will be:
- Florida (My new “first 1 seed to lose in
the tournament” team)
- Wichita State (Haven’t lost since last
year’s Final Four)
- Arizona – Another 1 seed that might
not make it out of the first weekend to the Sweet 16….
- Kansas (Who else???)
The 2-4 seeds, in particular order because it DOES
matter as we get closer:
2 Seeds: Dook, Wiscy,
Syracuse(1-3 in last 4 loses you the 1 seed – And Maryland should have beat you),
Louisville
3 Seeds: Virginia (I don’t know how you keep ACC
reg-Season Champ off the three seed line), Creighton, San Diego State, Michigan
4 Seeds: St. Louis, Villanova, sparty, Kentucky
Others:
Cincin, ISU, UNC (as a 4) and U-Mass
So, a LOT of movement this week. Syracuse is out of the 1 seed. I moved Kansas up, even with the loss, simply
because they haven’t lost the last 3 out of 4 like someone else (ORANGE). I moved Virginia up and finally introduced
Wiscy into the top 4 and based on their RPI (which someone is REALLY GOING TO
HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO ME ONE DAY!) makes them a higher seed than Michigan. Michigan up to a 2 seed, also with Creighton
and SDSU down to the three line. I left
St. Louis up on the 4 seed, but when everyone loses, well, its tough to make a
move of someone lower to a higher seed.
Kentucky drops to a 4 seed (and maybe lower later) and Sparty is tight
at a 4 right now. IF they win out, I move
them back up to a 3 and probably knock down SDSU. But B1G overall weakness at the moment difficult
to ignore…ohio losing to Hoosier’s yesterday hurt the B1G a lot.
The State of the Game
I hope that all Collegiate level AD’s and
administrators are watching what is happening at Kentucky right now. For those that are not as in tune with
College Hoops and the shenanigans surrounding it: Kentucky Basketball and its aura are kind of
like Michigan, ohio, and Alabama Football and their auras - BUT ALL ROLLED INTO ONE! The fanbase that calls themselves “Kentucky
Wildcat Basketball Fans” is one strange and whacky group. And not just on the fringes, but in the big
time donor area, also. They pull the
strings and make things happen, for real.
Pitino tried there and got canned. Tubby Smith was in this blogger’s opinion,
relatively successful. But the Kentucky
faithful simply said, “No – Not good enough.”
Which, when you ask any of them, “Well,
what is a successful season and coaching goal?”
The answer you get is that the only thing good enough is an undefeated
season with an NCAA Title….EVERY SEASON!
Now, even the realists who are Super Fans at other
schools know that there’s no way you can win the NCCA Title in this day and age
every year (Alabama in Football is finally figuring this out). One and dones – Freshmen who come in and
leave for the NBA after a single season, parody, the three point line and overall balance in the game of college
hoops has made a “dynasty” difficult to maintain. There’s always going to be someone who’s
going to come in and light someone up from the 3-point line and shoot 60% from
the field. It happens. It happens in the tourney, too. And, more than anything…It’s College Basketball!
So, why the diatribe on expectations? Coach Calipari was the “Self-Proclaimed King”
of recruiting the 1 and done specialists out of high school. These are the next LeBron James type players
that think they can forego college and head right to the pro’s. Calipari’s 2011 team was of the 1 and done
variety. And that season it worked.
This year, Kentucky’s freshmen are playing like,
well….Freshmen. Even after Calipari
stated that he thought a 40-0 season was possible!! Granted….They’re good, but they are not a
cohesive unit. And they lost to a very
bad South Carolina team over the weekend.
That prompted ole John to opt out of the press conference and send in
his assistant with some players.
So, is Calipari a good coach or a snake oil
salesman that simply knows how to pan to the lowest common denominator of young
men and say, “Hey, come play for me and you are following guys just like you
that won an NCAA and then went pro!” And
if you’re the young kid that buys into that, just don’t expect to get a lot of
help from your head coach. He’ll put all
of you together and throw you to the wolves…You are going to have to figure the
winning part out buy yourselves…even though he’s making $5.2 million annually
to watch you lose!
GAMES TO WATCH
TODAY
Domers @ North Carolina (7:00)
SUPER TUESDAY
ISU @ Baylor (7:00)Michigan @ Illinois (7:00)
Florida @ South Carolina (7:00)
GTU @ Syracuse (7:00)
Alabama @ Kentucky (9:00)
WEDNESDAY
Louisville @ SMU (7:00)
Texas Tech @ Kansas (8:00)
THURSDAY
Memphis @ Cincinatti
IOWA @ Sparty (9:00)FRIDAY
Rest and get ready for the Conference Tourneys!
SATURDAY
Kentucky @ Florida
ISU @ Okie State
Indiana @ Michigan (6:00)
Illinois @ Iowa (8:30)
SUNDAY
Sparty @ OSU (4:30)
Wiscy @ Nebraska (7:30)
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