Everybody on the board has been saying NU's NCAA chances are diminished because the BIG is really down this year, and yes, it certainly isn't as good as it was last year, BUT, as Lee Corso often says...Not so fast may friend. Maybe there is just more parity this year. Last night, Clemson beat Duke,the same Clemson that WOEFUL Minnesota beat in December. And lest you think it a fluke, Clemson is now 4-1 in the league. And we all know about Va Tech's upset of Virginia. Hopefully, this will all be in the mix if we indeed get to 9-9 or 10-8 in the BIG this year.
Is the BIG really so down...
- Thread starter Catreporter
- Start date
Half of the BIG looks weaker than normal. Generally 3/4 are pretty strong. Maybe it will shake out but for now, I would say it is weaker than normal.
I don't think the Big Ten is "down". I think it does not have 3 elite teams in the Top 10 like it sometimes has had in the past several years, but looking at the team records look like it is on target for 7, possible 8 teams in the NCAA tournament so I wouldn't call that down. Plus it beat the ACC for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and while it has had some disappointing nonconference losses (ex: Ohio State losing to Louisiana Tech and UT-Arlington), it also has some impressive non-conference wins (ex: Ohio State beating Kentucky).
The BT is fine. Heck Nebraska can beat any top five team in the country if that Kansas transfer is hot and lights up the scoreboard
If this isn't just about the ultimate example of that old "Any given day" adage, I don't know what is.
If the B1G is down, then doesn't NU have a greater potential for more wins? Doesn't more wins ultimately trump perceived conference quality when it comes to getting into the dance?
It could. If NU wins all of the remaining games in which it should be favored, it will beat Illinois, Minny, Nebraska, PSU twice, and RU twice, for at least 10 wins. Problem is, with their remaining schedules, MD, MSU, Iowa, Indiana, OSU, Purdue and Michigan could all win more than 10 games, leaving NU as at best #8 in the Big 10. NU needs to beat one of these teams to get to 11 wins, and avoid an upset in the must-win games against "down" teams to get serious consideration for the NCAA. The "down" teams are just so bad this season that all of the top 8 or 9 will feast on them and cancel each others wins out against the bottom dwellers.
That's really the big problem with the conference this year. The bottom of the conference is absolutely dreadful when it's usually just below average. That means that stacking Big Ten wins doesn't mean nearly as much as it usually does.
In tiers:
MSU Maryland Iowa
Purdue Indy
NU Mich OSU
Wiscy IL Neb
Minn PSU
Rutgers
The top 5 are in. The next 3, including us, are bubble teams. Wiscy and IL, and to some extent Nebraska are out but at least somewhat dangerous, Illinois mostly if they can get healthier. 9 wins if we take care of business against the lower tier. I suspect we'll drop one, which means we need to get 2 or more against the upper tier. There will be plenty of chances upcoming... Need to start by beating PSU tonight.
Have to pretty well agree with your rankings here, Ricko. Looking at this, it looks like beating Michigan would be HUGE.
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