Indiana Loses To IPFW - Fort Wayne

[EduNeerHawk]

#25 Michigan dropped by un-ranked South Carolina 61-46.

Another non-con loss for the B1G against a noteable opponent.

Per Big Blue's Rival Site:

"As good as Michigan was at Madison Square Garden last week, that’s how bad the Wolverines were Wednesday at South Carolina. U-M made two of 26 three-pointers – not a misprint – and lost 61-46 to the Gamecock in their first true road game.

The Wolverines didn’t do anything well. They were a step slow on defense, were outhustled and outrebounded 40-36. They did grab 18 offensive rebounds, but that will happen when you shoot 10-for-52 from the floor.

Despite the poor shooting, the Wolverines were in at the half, trailing 33-27. Free throws helped keep them close– they made 24 of 32 in the game – but they simply couldn’t hit a shot."

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Isn't this the same Indiana team that already knocked off a very good Kansas team? Going to Fort Wayne and losing is similar to us going to UNI and taking a L. It happens. I wouldn't worry too much about the strength of the conference. If anything, it appears to me that a number of teams picked to finish in the lower half are actually playing pretty well right now.

UNI is consistently a top 100 RPI team. There would be no shame in losing up there.

 

[And1Hawk]

Wisky dropped by UNC 71-56... arguably the top team in the B1G.

Another pre-season loss in a marquee game.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Wisky dropped by UNC 71-56... arguably the top team in the B1G.

Another pre-season loss in a marquee game.

The B1G really blows this year. Wis looked terrible tonight. Can't remember a Wis team that gave up so many wide open shots as I saw tonight.

 

[moondog24]

Tip of the hat to IU for traveling to Ft. Wayne to play the game. Wish bot Iowa and Iowa State would still do Home and Home with UNI and Drake. Much better than the Savanna States of the world.

 

[hawk-i bob]

Indiana must have lucked out when they beat Kansas....North Carolina (on November 24th is a much better team than Wisc) ???? wow what a revelation....doesn't mean anything...it will come March....but November? really?

The B1G will have its usual 1 or 2 Final 4 candidates...and 10 or so others that will be tough to beat.

......anytime you play North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke..you are playing seasonal Final 4 institutions...they are the elite of the elite. They get the best of the best every single year. No the B1G does not have a single school in the elite status like these 4. Indiana, MichSt may come close...but not every single year.

Wisconsin starts a former walk in.....the B1G isn't down unless you are comparing them to the Fantastic Four.

 

[Ronman]

The B1G really blows this year. Wis looked terrible tonight. Can't remember a Wis team that gave up so many wide open shots as I saw tonight.

Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig shot for a combined 4 for 24 and 1 for 12 from three. That kind of shooting from two of your senior starters will get you beat, especially when playing a team of UNC's caliber.

BTW, when is that NCAA hammer going to come down on the Tarheels? Ever?

 

[And1Hawk]

Indiana must have lucked out when they beat Kansas....North Carolina (on November 24th is a much better team than Wisc) ???? wow what a revelation....doesn't mean anything...it will come March....but November? really?

The B1G will have its usual 1 or 2 Final 4 candidates...and 10 or so others that will be tough to beat.

......anytime you play North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke..you are playing seasonal Final 4 institutions...they are the elite of the elite. They get the best of the best every single year. No the B1G does not have a single school in the elite status like these 4. Indiana, MichSt may come close...but not every single year.

Wisconsin starts a former walk in.....the B1G isn't down unless you are comparing them to the Fantastic Four.

Where this does potentially hurt is seeding in the tournament. These early games against fellow power 5/6 as well as bad losses against IPFW's shape conference RPI and national narrative which in turn impacts NCAA seeding. In general, the better the seeds the more likely a team is to advance deep in the tourney. Sure there are a few upsets here and there but when you get down to the final 4-8 it's like 80-90% high seeds most years.

When you get put in that 8-9 seeding hole because of conference perception/RPI you are facing a Kentucky type program in round 2 already and usually someone decent in the 8-9 matchup. Recipe for a quick out.

It also impacts bubble teams getting in which our best case scenario this season we are hoping to be one of those.

So, lots of you can overlook these early games but they have relevance.

The ACC challenge will be big to reverse these early failures.

 

[DanL53]

It is certainly an interesting year already. Here are the conference standings as of this moment in five conferences"

Big Ten: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/7/big-ten-conference

ACC: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/2/acc-conference

Big East: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/4/big-east-conference

Big Twelve: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/8/big-12-conference

Flipped a coin...SEC: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/23/sec-conference

About all one can say, imo, is the Big Ten has gotten off to a rough start.

 

[And1Hawk]

As posted Sparty goes down 73-58. Add another to the long list so far.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Indiana must have lucked out when they beat Kansas....North Carolina (on November 24th is a much better team than Wisc) ???? wow what a revelation....doesn't mean anything...it will come March....but November? really?

The B1G will have its usual 1 or 2 Final 4 candidates...and 10 or so others that will be tough to beat.

......anytime you play North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke..you are playing seasonal Final 4 institutions...they are the elite of the elite. They get the best of the best every single year. No the B1G does not have a single school in the elite status like these 4. Indiana, MichSt may come close...but not every single year.

Wisconsin starts a former walk in.....the B1G isn't down unless you are comparing them to the Fantastic Four.

The B1G blows this year, it's way down. LOL at the B1G having 2 final four teams this year (they'll be lucky to have 2 make it to the Elite 8), not a chance in hell and I'm one who usually overhypes the conference chances in the dance. Most of the good B1G teams are down this year compared to the previous couple years. Graduations and early exits of players to the pro has hurt the talent level of the conference.

I didn't say the Wis loss to NC was a bad loss, I said they looked terrible. Wis was never in that game. That I haven't seen in quite some time. Usually even when they lose they are scrapping along, kicking, grinding, and making it a tough game for their opponent. UNC was in cruise control for most of the night taking wide open 3's (again, something you NEVER see from a Wis defense).

 

[PhantomFlyer]

As posted Sparty goes down 73-58. Add another to the long list so far.

But the blind fools here will remain blind, and still send out a chorus that the B1G is so great this year. No, it's not. The conference sucks donkey doo this year which is probably good for Iowa as they might then have an outside shot of making the NCAA tournament. Do people bother to ever watch any games or do they see school names like Wis, MSU, and automatically say, "final four contender"? Maybe it's just the "The girls at our school are hotter than the ones at yours" bias.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig shot for a combined 4 for 24 and 1 for 12 from three. That kind of shooting from two of your senior starters will get you beat, especially when playing a team of UNC's caliber.

BTW, when is that NCAA hammer going to come down on the Tarheels? Ever?

No, they have protected status, like Duke. The NCAA refuses to penalize these darlings of college basketball for fear of losing ratings, so they will get a free pass. Everyone cheats in college basketball, but if you get caught you'll be severely penalized unless you are NC, Duke, etc, one of the chosen few who can do no wrong in the eyes of the NCAA.

 

[And1Hawk]

The hits just keep on coming.... West Virginia 89, Illinois 57

 

[skfboiler]

I told y'all IU sucks!

 

[hawk-i bob]

saying everyone cheats in basketball is unfounded by a blind fool.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

saying everyone cheats in basketball is unfounded by a blind fool.

Of course it's a bit of hyperbole but anyone who thinks most winning programs don't cheat is truly a blind fool. Knowing a school cheats and proving it are two entirely separate things.

 

[spbc7]

But the blind fools here will remain blind, and still send out a chorus that the B1G is so great this year. No, it's not. The conference sucks donkey doo this year which is probably good for Iowa as they might then have an outside shot of making the NCAA tournament. Do people bother to ever watch any games or do they see school names like Wis, MSU, and automatically say, "final four contender"? Maybe it's just the "The girls at our school are hotter than the ones at yours" bias.

The hot takes are always the best at this time of year. Nothing like a couple losses to get the people fired up. Remember two years ago when Wisconsin gave Rutgers their only conference win and MSU lost to Texas Southern at home? Both of those teams played in the final four.

The blind fools are the ones that spout off about how young the league is and how many players are being replaced, then claim the league is shit based on a bunch of non-con games not even two weeks into the season.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

The hot takes are always the best at this time of year. Nothing like a couple losses to get the people fired up. Remember two years ago when Wisconsin gave Rutgers their only conference win and MSU lost to Texas Southern at home? Both of those teams played in the final four.

The blind fools are the ones that spout off about how young the league is and how many players are being replaced, then claim the league is shit based on a bunch of non-con games not even two weeks into the season.

Yes, better to claim the league is really good, not based on actual results, but hope or "hey, it's the B1G, the conference has to be good this year, it can't ever have down a down year".

 

[hawk-i bob]

I told y'all IU sucks!

spoken like a true Boiler...went to the Purdue/Iowa FB this year...sat right in the middle of the student section which was a blast...anyway love the kick off "IU Sucks"...good luck this year...

 

[hawk-i bob]

The hot takes are always the best at this time of year. Nothing like a couple losses to get the people fired up. Remember two years ago when Wisconsin gave Rutgers their only conference win and MSU lost to Texas Southern at home? Both of those teams played in the final four.

The blind fools are the ones that spout off about how young the league is and how many players are being replaced, then claim the league is shit based on a bunch of non-con games not even two weeks into the season.

+1....
and find one single post on this thread that says the B1G is really good this year
...not one...
find one single post that says the B1G will have 2 final 4 teams....not one...what was said was the B1G will its usual final 4 "candidates".
...find one single reply to the fact Indiana beat Kansas ..

 

[spbc7]

Yes, better to claim the league is really good, not based on actual results, but hope or "hey, it's the B1G, the conference has to be good this year, it can't ever have down a down year".

Or you can watch the teams and realize there is still an incredible amount of talent in the league that is too good to not be competitive throughout the year. Lots of teams are just trying to figure their pieces out right now.

 

[EduNeerHawk]

The hot takes are always the best at this time of year. Nothing like a couple losses to get the people fired up. Remember two years ago when Wisconsin gave Rutgers their only conference win and MSU lost to Texas Southern at home? Both of those teams played in the final four.

The blind fools are the ones that spout off about how young the league is and how many players are being replaced, then claim the league is shit based on a bunch of non-con games not even two weeks into the season.

Thanks spbc for the reminder to remember because yes, I do remember this two years ago. We've just got a couple of posters who are hell bent on getting their dang point across by Thanksgiving and by god they are going to do it.

They may very well be correct but sorry guys we are going to have wait until March before we hand out any ribbons here. And I see what you are seeing currently with these games we are watching. It doesn't bother me in the least either seeing these B1G teams get beat up. We have to play them and I want to beat them too but these losses will probably end up making them all even better by the time Iowa plays them.

Though it did bother me a bit to listen to how one-sided Jay Bilas was rooting for NC to beat the Badgers...I am not that cold-hearted with our B1G competition.

Can't worry about their play either good or bad. I am only worried about Iowa and right now they have a huge task later today against UVirginia.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

B1G hasn't been impressive overall in early non-con play.
It's too big a step, though, to say the conference is terrible or even way down this year. Not nearly enough play yet to go that far.
The conference will most probably have anywhere from 5 to 7 NCAA tourney teams.
Right now, none of the top teams appear to be likely final four contenders but it's certainly possible that indy, pu, or wisky could put themselves in better position come March.
Not much different that a lot of other years.

 

[hawk-i bob]

B1G hasn't been impressive overall in early non-con play.
It's too big a step, though, to say the conference is terrible or even way down this year. Not nearly enough play yet to go that far.
The conference will most probably have anywhere from 5 to 7 NCAA tourney teams.
Right now, none of the top teams appear to be likely final four contenders but it's certainly possible that indy, pu, or wisky could put themselves in better position come March.
Not much different that a lot of other years.

don't count out MSU....they have loads of talent...ask Wichita St.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Or you can watch the teams and realize there is still an incredible amount of talent in the league that is too good to not be competitive throughout the year. Lots of teams are just trying to figure their pieces out right now.

There's a lot of talent in all the power conferences. But again, "B1G can't have a down season, it never happens, too much talent". LOL

 

[PhantomFlyer]

+1....
and find one single post on this thread that says the B1G is really good this year
...not one...
find one single post that says the B1G will have 2 final 4 teams....not one...what was said was the B1G will its usual final 4 "candidates".
...find one single reply to the fact Indiana beat Kansas ..

"The B1G will have its usual 1 or 2 Final 4 candidates"

LOL. No, they won't (yes, just my opinion, but I'm willing to back it up with a bet, no B1G team will reach the final 4). Hell, the ACC has 3 final 4 candidates alone. How the hell many teams do you think are "final 4 candidates"? Maybe you consider any team that makes the NCAA tournament "a final 4 candidate". If that's the case then I agree with you.

 

[spbc7]

There's a lot of talent in all the power conferences. But again, "B1G can't have a down season, it never happens, too much talent". LOL

The B1G can have a down season, I just don't believe it will be this year. I could break it down team by team for you, but that just sounds like a big waste of my time. It might just be that we have a differing opinion on the level of competition the B1G normally has.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

The B1G can have a down season, I just don't believe it will be this year. I could break it down team by team for you, but that just sounds like a big waste of my time. It might just be that we have a differing opinion on the level of competition the B1G normally has.

Yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. The B1G just continues to lose to teams in these non-conference games. Do they have good young players? Sure, but those players will probably need a year before they are ready to win at a national level. VA is the 3rd best team in the ACC and they absolutely annihilated Iowa. It was a apparent the talent level between teams is like the difference between the jv team and the varsity team. Iowa had no business being on the same court with VA. Yet, I doubt Iowa will get manhandled by any B1G team like that. I've seen all the upper level B1G teams play and none have the talent level that VA has. Again, this is likely the 3rd best team in the ACC. I would rank the B1G as the 4th toughest conference in the country (and I'm being very generous in ranking them that high). As the announcer tonight's game said, I rank toughness in how many teams have a real shot at winning the title. I don't think the B1G has one team that meets that standard the ACC has 3, and I think the Big East, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC all have at least 1 team that meet that criteria.

 

[spbc7]

Yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. The B1G just continues to lose to teams in these non-conference games. Do they have good young players? Sure, but those players will probably need a year before they are ready to win at a national level. VA is the 3rd best team in the ACC and they absolutely annihilated Iowa. It was a apparent the talent level between teams is like the difference between the jv team and the varsity team. Iowa had no business being on the same court with VA. Yet, I doubt Iowa will get manhandled by any B1G team like that. I've seen all the upper level B1G teams play and none have the talent level that VA has. Again, this is likely the 3rd best team in the ACC. I would rank the B1G as the 4th toughest conference in the country (and I'm being very generous in ranking them that high). As the announcer tonight's game said, I rank toughness in how many teams have a real shot at winning the title. I don't think the B1G has one team that meets that standard the ACC has 3, and I think the Big East, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC all have at least 1 team that meet that criteria.

Yeah I don't agree with much you said here. No point in continuing something that will go nowhere.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Yeah I don't agree with much you said here. No point in continuing something that will go nowhere.

Hey, you have every right to be wrong on the subject.

I don't know a person who thinks his wife is prettier than she really is and I don't know a B1G fan who doesn't overhype the conference (that rule actually applies to fans of every conference).