Go Big Ten! I'm glad the experts on ESPN didn't think longer than 5 seconds to conclude Louisville would win this one..

Those offensive boards killed Lousville. That's got to be game.

I think this might be it!!!!!!!!!!

grats MSU ppl. Here's hoping for a rematch in the finals ;)

Haha, stupid fucking experts!!!!

Tom Izzo is a great coach.

Congrats Schmidty! Definitely rooting for you guys the rest of the way.

Woooohooo!!

GO STATE!!!!!!

Yes.

Thanks man. :)

Go UNC!!!!!

ACC Pride!!!

no doubt about it. Izzo outcoached Pitino by a mile in the second half and with adjustments made at halftime.

<3

So Michigan State plays Connecticut. Why don't they set it up so that the two teams that play on Saturday play each other, instead of giving one team an extra day of rest in each game?

I would think they'll put the Mich St. game 2nd on Sat. Usually I think it might be the first game on Sat, but I can't see them wanting to have thousands of MSU fans sitting there pissed off (or worse yet more empty seats). Normally, I think TV makes those decisions purely with the TV audience in mind but here I think they'll think about the crowd (because it will hurt the TV presentation if they don't).

+1

Welp, I guess the Big Ten doesn't suck after all (duh). This game was a Big Ten game, and I guarantee that teams like Louisville would never have been as successful if they play'd in the B10.

Dola.

Watching the press conference, and I can't imagine how hard it would be to have to go through that when you lose. That's rough.

That would be like me saying the PAC-10 didn't suck one of the years USC won the title. One good team is not a barometer of conference strength.

Is there really a huge difference between 6 or 7 days rest when dealing with 19 year old kids?

Arizona rolling over for Louisville didn't do them any favors

Are you insane? The Big 10 absolutely does suck. Except for MSU, which is an excellent team with one of the best coaches in the country.

It's just one game...

I would think not, but I don't see the reason to do it this way. Why screw around with it at all?

By that logic, you'd think MSU would have completely dominated the Big Ten.

HOLY SHIT!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!! :D

Seriously, I think the conference has a style that makes every team look bad when they play each other. The B10 plays for the tourney, not to look pretty.

Just my opinion.

I'm really excited about the next game, but I have a bad feeling that it will be a UNC victory. Griffin is going to need a one maybe two players to step up in order to pull off the upset.

Same sentiments here, duckman

SI

Then what the hell happened to the rest of the teams in the tourney?
You know I love MSU and Izzo (despite the shit I used to give you) but your conference was really bad THIS year.

Eh, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

I just want to have you come around more often.

Ohio State - lost in first round. Expected: 1-1, Actual: 0-1
Michigan State - in Final Four. Expected: 3-1, Actual: 4-0
Purdue - lost in Sweet 16. Expected: 1-1, Actual: 2-1
Wisconsin - lost in Round of 32. Expected: 0-1, Actual: 1-1
Minnesota - lost in first round. Expected: 0-1, Actual: 1-1
Illinois - lost in first round. Expected: 1-1, Actual: 0-1
Michigan - lost in second round. Expected: 0-1, Actual: 1-1


So, Big Ten is 9-6 in tournament (5-6 without MSU). They have already won three more games, as a conference, than they were slated to based upon their seeds. Add to it that Purdue had to win a near-home game against Washington.

It has been a strong postseason for the Big Ten. You don't have to like the teams or the conference, but the results should speak for themselves if you are viewing them without an agenda.

I hope you didn't waste a lot of time on that. So, for instance, Michigan as a 10 seed, beat a 7, so we should be proud of the Big10? Purdue had a nice tournament. MSU had a sensational one. If you are not playing the second weekend, you didn't have a good tournament, regardless of your seed.

It probably took him five minutes. Yeah, I think it says something if the 7th best team in one conference beats the 5th best team in another.

The Big 10 was the second or third best conference this year and IMHO they'll be the top one or two next year.

FYI, the Big 10 won the overall Big 10/ACC Challenge this year.

Not looking good so far for Oklahoma...

Time out taken and that means on the first dead ball there will be a stupid media timeout for another four minutes. So if you need to take a shit, now's the time to do so.

So was Conference USA one of the best leagues in college basketball last year?

OBV! I MEAN THEY HAD A TEAM MAKING THE TITAL GAMEEE!

Not getting into the Big 10 thing. Just that I think the truth is somewhere in the middle (not nearly as bad as people thought, but not nearly as good as the B10 fans in this thread want to think they are).

But the initial suggestion that the #1 team in the Big East (and country)--a conference which put up three tourney #1 seeds, five teams in the Sweet Sixteen, and four in the Elite Eigh, and two in the Final Four--would not have dominated the B10 is patently ridiculous, and anyone suggesting that frankly needs to remove themselves from this discussion for bias purposes.

It's amazing that OU is only down by 9.

Any team from the Big 10 other then MSU and Purdue and MAYBE OSU would have double digit losses in the Big East or ACC.

Try running a similar chart for the ACC.

No sane fan is going to argue about any conference being better than the Big East this year. The Big 12 put three teams in the S16 and two in the Elite Eight, but righgt now it looks like they will be shut out of the Final Four. Any way you want to measure it, the Big Ten has had a good postseason after taking abuse all long about their style of play. The low point totals seemed to distract from any reasonable discussion about the quality of play.

Honestly, I hate the whole conference discussion. I root for my team (Illinois) and not their conference. In fact, many of my least favorite teams are in the Big Ten as a by-product of heated rivalries. I'm not very good at putting those aside in the interests of conference pride. I understand the financial impact of conference discussions but I think it often tends to obscure good conversation about the quality of individual teams.

I really love the way Carolina is playing. They've got a huge depth advantage so they can afford to be aggressive, 11 fouls in the half but as long as Lawson doesn't get in big foul trouble it really doesn't matter at all. The number of airballs UNC put up was a bit embarrassing, and god i'm starting to dislike Deon Thompson, Ed Davis is simply superior at this point on both ends of the floor.

As poorly as Oklahoma played they're only down 9 so I'm not sure what that will mean for the second half, it could have easily been a 15 point game.

Yeah, it's very noticeable too. Oh well...

I actually disagree with this, the game is not being played at Carolina pace, I think they are leaving a puncher with a potent arsenal in the fight. They should have run Oklahoma off the court in the first half, they might regret not doing so.

Those missed shots killed us.. still... excellent year for the program!

I'm just going to say it- this is like watching paint dry. Time to play some Fallout 3 and leave this on in the background.

SI

Ouch. That 3 hurts.

I like UNC, but I sorta want Oklahoma to win, just because I like watching Blake Griffin play.

That's definitely a concern(even now still with a 14 point lead). But I am pleased that they didn't try to force things.

Have I mentioned somewhere in this thread that I love Ty Lawson?

You've got a one man team going up against the best team in college basketball. I find that somewhat interesting.