Was the Big10 Exposed? I don't think so

[KFsdisciple]

Sure, after the lofty expectations, high seeds, and overall amount of teams the Big10 had in the tournament, its easy to look at things and say the Big10 was exposed or over valued. But I think if we look just a little deeper than wins and losses you're going to see the truth..

First remember the Big10/ACC challenge? Yeah that was a while ago, but it matters, and the BIG10 looked pretty darn strong.

Now, after 3 months of beating on each other and the Big10 tournament, the Big10 came limping into the NCAA tournament.

Key injuries to:

Lidell at Ohio State
Ayo at Illinois
Livers at Michigan
Wieskamp
Connor
CJF
Nunge

I am sure there are others who I can't think of at that moment...

There was a contending Big10 team in the tournament who came in at full strength.

 

[longliveCS40]

Injuries happen and I'm sure about half the teams in the field had key injuries.

You can't sugar coat things. The Big Ten underachieved big time! If it had happened to the ACC where they got that many high seeds and fell on their face, we would be saying how overrated they were and how the committee got it wrong.

 

[Fan In Black]

Its been exposed for 21 years. That is the last NC the league produced.

 

[blockm2]

Its been exposed for 21 years. That is the last NC the league produced.

is that final game the only measure of a conference? Big Ten has the most final four teams over that same time frame.

The national title streak is a media talking point. Nothing more, nothing less. A few bounces of luck here or there and it doesn't even exist.

 

[pink shizzle]

If it had happened to the ACC where they got that many high seeds and fell on their face, we would be saying how overrated they were and how the committee got it wrong.

This was my first thought.

 

[rfgiowa]

Sometimes you need to look in the mirror and be accountable. Making excuses for the Big Ten is ridiculous. The conference was grossly overrated and other teams exposed them...period.

 

[KFsdisciple]

Sometimes you need to look in the mirror and be accountable. Making excuses for the Big Ten is ridiculous. The conference was grossly overrated and other teams exposed them...period.

Sometimes legit reasons aren't excuses. If Iowa had played without Garza would that have been an excuse?

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Overrated. Big Ten takes its medicine and moves on to next year

 

[SDHawkDoc]

The conference was definitely exposed. Every league played a schedule and had to manage injuries.
The B1G was simply not as strong as they were getting credit for.
The tourney results speak for themselves. tosu, Iowa, illinois, purdue all significantly underperformed. Outside of michigan, that's the supposed best of the league falling flat.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Big12, ACC, & B1G were all terribly overrated.

big12 was absolute garbage for all of the hype they were getting. Kansas losing by 90 points was funny to watch though.

 

[ChiDoc]

This theory is complete nonsense. Oregon was without a sophomore 5 star McDonalds American center that tore his ACL mid-season. Every team has injuries and is banged up this time of year. Yet you propose the B1G was magically beat up more so than any other conference? What a joke...

 

[Fan In Black]

is that final game the only measure of a conference? Big Ten has the most final four teams over that same time frame.

The national title streak is a media talking point. Nothing more, nothing less. A few bounces of luck here or there and it doesn't even exist.

it is for me. The title game is the prize. not the final four. a bounce here or there explains 21 years? ok. If that work for you great. Its a long dry spell of not having good enough teams to me.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Good teams find a way to win.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Good teams find a way to win.

Try telling that to Flop. That dude has an excuse for everything.

Remember that game you guys lost 2 years ago to Troy (?) & Scott Flop said that your boys never play that well when it’s a sunny day.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

The fans and the media "rate" teams, league, players - when they fall short they were "overrated".

Obviously, the B1G was overrated.

That doesn't mean the B1G wasn't a good league.

 

[24 so far]

is that final game the only measure of a conference? Big Ten has the most final four teams over that same time frame.

The national title streak is a media talking point. Nothing more, nothing less. A few bounces of luck here or there and it doesn't even exist.

Agreed. It takes a good team and a lot of luck to be the last one standing most years. If the Big Ten has the most teams represented in the Final Four in that timeframe they're doing just fine.

 

[Titanhawk2]

We try to use objective metrics to measure people, then wonder why one game or two games don't follow our logic. KenPom, et al, are really meaningless for an individual game.

 

[blockm2]

it is for me. The title game is the prize. not the final four. a bounce here or there explains 21 years? ok. If that work for you great. Its a long dry spell of not having good enough teams to me.

350+ teams every year do not win a national title. Seems odd to primarily judge a 14 team conference based on whether or not the 1 team that won the title was a part of their conference. A bounce here or there doesn't explain why the Big Ten has not won 21 consecutive NCAA titles in basketball. It does explain why they haven't won 2 or 3 in that time frame.

 

[fezzador]

The fans and the media "rate" teams, league, players - when they fall short they were "overrated".

Obviously, the B1G was overrated.

That doesn't mean the B1G wasn't a good league.

And the B1G may still be the "best" league, but I think this year proves once again that the conference is chock-full of "very good" teams, but hardly any truly "elite" ones.

Long story short, compared to the other P5 conferences (with the possible exception of the Big 12), the B1G doesn't have the lottery-pick caliber players that the SEC (and especially) the ACC and PAC-12 have.

And truth be told, I'm not exactly sure how the PAC-12 is getting the athletes the B1G isn't. The western 1/3 of the country isn't nearly as talent-laden as the East Coast, Southeast, and Chicago/Rust Belt. (well, I have an idea but it probably involves a lot of under-the-table dealings)

 

[KFsdisciple]

Another theory is that the Big10 was dominated by big men, and its really a guard's game especially in the NCAA tournament. That theory has been floated.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

What's the deal with these Iowa fans continually making excuses for the big ten?

 

[kcgolfer]

The Big Ten reminds me of Kansas. Even Bill self said his team needed to get more athletic and longer. That is where the game is today.

 

[Eternal Return]

B10 was definitely overrated, but that's because the ACC is always overrated. The B10 won the ACC matchup and because there's always love for Duke and UNC, the national heads thought the B10 was great and so did everyone else east of the PAC12.

 

[hawkifann]

Good teams find a way to win.

I get the sentiment, but the corollary to that is that every game involves two teams and one team always loses and the implication is that a good team never just gets beat.

 

[hawkifann]

We try to use objective metrics to measure people, then wonder why one game or two games don't follow our logic. KenPom, et al, are really meaningless for an individual game.

This is exactly what makes March Madness so special. It’s 64 teams down to 1 over three weeks and a single bad game and you’re out. If this were playoffs, there would be much more chalk. How many times would Oral Roberts beat Ohio State in a 3-, 5-, 7-game series? Once, maybe twice? This year, they won game 1 in a 1-game series.

Gonzaga really seems like the prohibitive favorite right now, but all it takes is for some team to have a couple guys come out red-hot while they find some foul trouble and a couple guys that just don’t have it that night. If you look at it as a series, there aren’t many teams that could beat Gonzaga over a 5 or 7 game span, but there are a lot of teams that could take one game off them. Someone just has to do it in game 1 and they’re out.

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[spiderhawk]

Sure, after the lofty expectations, high seeds, and overall amount of teams the Big10 had in the tournament, its easy to look at things and say the Big10 was exposed or over valued. But I think if we look just a little deeper than wins and losses you're going to see the truth..

First remember the Big10/ACC challenge? Yeah that was a while ago, but it matters, and the BIG10 looked pretty darn strong.

Now, after 3 months of beating on each other and the Big10 tournament, the Big10 came limping into the NCAA tournament.

Key injuries to:

Lidell at Ohio State
Ayo at Illinois
Livers at Michigan
Wieskamp
Connor
CJF
Nunge

I am sure there are others who I can't think of at that moment...

There was a contending Big10 team in the tournament who came in at full strength.

What did Spencer Lee say about excuses? 😂

 

[BirdistheWord]

I think Illinois and OSU, and Purdue were shockers. If you would have told me all three lose in 1st/2nd round, i would call you nuts. Iowa had a poor matchup and shot terribly. No excuses, but Oregon played well and was a single digit seed. Illinois was red hot and just flat out shit the bed. OSU and Purdue, just terrible to lose to 15 and 13 seeds. Ugly. Purdue was overated, but still believe IL and OSU were really good teams.

 

[sober_teacher]

I think Illinois and OSU, and Purdue were shockers. If you would have told me all three lose in 1st/2nd round, i would call you nuts. Iowa had a poor matchup and shot terribly. No excuses, but Oregon played well and was a single digit seed. Illinois was red hot and just flat out shit the bed. OSU and Purdue, just terrible to lose to 15 and 13 seeds. Ugly. Purdue was overated, but still believe IL and OSU were really good teams.

agreed. There’s a whole host of factors that came into play IMO, from matchups to some injuries to simple bad luck. i tend to think the b10 just had a bad weekend, especially measured against expectations. Probably overrated, but still awfully good. also an odd year where our best players were big men and it’s hard to win in the tourney without good guard play.