Well I guess this is long over due, but

Who is on top this year?

61 responses total.

This response has been erased.

At first I thought that the defending champs would be this year, but not after
the loss they had to UMASS I am not quite sure.  Honestly, the way things look
right now, I think the only team that will be on top will be the last team
left in March.

The Hogs will be there in April.  Woooo Pig Sooie!!!

I agree with you on that.  However, if they did not learn their lesson from
the UMASS game, I personally think that those dreaded teams from the Carolinas
will sneak in and take their glory.  But I think that the Hogs have learned
after they beat up on Missouri two days ago.

hey, being from Kentucky, I am pulling for God's team, the WILDCATS.
Like'em or not they're good and will be even better in March.  I
expect them to be in the final four and make a run for the glory.

I agree Kentucky will be even better in March. The SEC is finally 
getting respect in more than football. You also have to think
Florida and Alabama will be good, and who knows what LSU will do
now that they have Livingston back (and if Caesar gets eligible).

I agree with you Sean, the SEC deserves respect and now everyone will realize
how good the conference really is. The SEC will make a good show in the 
NCAA tournament and one SEC team will win.  Will it be Arkansas or Kentucky?
I hope Kentucky.  What does everyone else think?

Ball State all the way in a big upset

        In most years I pick the top team in the Big Ten to at least make it
to the Final Four.  After watching Michigan State in an on the road
comeback win over Iowa, then a flat Michigan State in an incredible
comeback that ended in a loss at Indiana, which has been over for about 10
minutes now, I have to think the top team in the Big Ten is likely to be
Michigan State.  Indiana has won 50 straight at home, and fully dominated
this game for most of the way, but Michigan State caught up to within 4
after being down 21 with 9 minutes left.  They were completely outscored
in the first 5 minutes of each half, but played brilliantly for most of
the last 10 minutes of the game.  Against Indiana, always the best coached
team in the Big Ten, it was an incredible performance.  No team which can
do what State did tonight will lose many games.  State is not up to
Arkansas standards on an ordinary night for both teams, but they are very,
*very* good; they should win the Big Ten, and they should go far in the
NCAA tournament.
        This has been a disappointing year for the Big Ten; they have lost
many non-conference games.  But these teams are still good.  Indiana and
Iowa can both play with Michigan State.  So can Illinois and Minnesota.
Michigan is wild but wildly talented; they will lose a lot of games this
year, but they will win some, too.  I'm anxious to se them in a year or
two.  Only Ohio State is really bad this year (only 8 players; they can
only wait until next year).  Even Northwestern has a legitimate team; they
should at least make the NIT tournament.

I must admit jep that your previous comment about the Big Ten is the most
complete explanation of why the Big Ten is struggling this year.  I personally
believe that the Big Ten is suffering from the same thing that the Big East
was suffering from a few years ago...respect.  And in some ways this is shown
in the recruiting that has taken place in the Big Ten over the last couple 
years.  I 
   It seems as since Michigan could not win it with the 'FAB 5', blue chippers
have opted for the ACC, Big East, and the SEC.  It is sad to say but it looks
as if it were not for the 'General', the Big Ten would be ordinary.

        This is the first time since I began watching college basketball, in
Earvin Johnson's freshman year at Michigan State, that the Big Ten hasn't
had a team in the Top Ten, and that they've only had 2 in the Top 25.
It's amusing that nearly the whole Big Ten is still listed in the honorable
mention section.  Several of those teams will end the season in the Top
25, I'll bet.
        The Big Ten isn't the top conference this year, there are several
others which are better.  I've never said that about the Big Ten before.
I don't expect to be saying it next year.  But this is this year.
        I still enjoy watching the Big Ten.  It's fortunate for me, this
year, that I'm a Michigan State fan first and foremost; the other teams
are doing worse and don't look that interesting in the national picture.
I am a fan of the entire conference, though.  I've seen such wonderful
basketball come out of the Big Ten for several years now.  I can take one
bad year.  And I still predict someone from the conference will make it
into the Final Four, even this year.

I agree with Tony.  Kentucky RULES! 

I would like to know what you all think of the freshman Allen Iverson of the
MIGHTY Georgetown Hoyas?

        I haven't seen him play.  I always root against Georgetown, because
John Thompson coaches his players to injure those on the other team if
they can, and I cannot respect that kind of basketball.  Go all out for
the basketball, that's fine, but go for someone else's knee, that's not
sports.  Not basketball, anyway.  It might be fine in karate.

        I was flabbergasted to notice that Michigan State dropped a place in
the polls this week, to #12, after soundly beating Northwestern and weakly
beating Michigan (at Crisler!).  This was just purely a sign of the lack of
respect for the Big Ten this year.  The lack of respect is deserved, the
Big Ten is weak overall, but I expected MSU to crack the top 10 this
week.  I mean, come on, Georgetown got nabbed by unranked Villanova and
remained at #10 (same place as last week)?
        Well, admittedly Georgetown is playing a tougher schedule than MSU,
and has a better record.

Right again, jep.  AP Poll:  10. Michigan State (!)

Shawn Respert is God.  That's all I have to say.

        Hmm.  I wouldn't go quite that far.  However, his ability to turn on
his talent, and dominate a game when necessary, does make him the best
shooting guard in college basketball this year.  His willingness to pass
the ball to teammates, even in clutch situations when everyone *expects*
him to shoot it himself (Eric Snow at the end of one game, Damon Beathea
at the end of the next one) show him as an extremely strong team player,
as well.  Though MSU is only ranked #12 (or #10) at this time, if Eric
Snow continues to be a good scorer, and if Jamie Feick can continue his
strong play, I think State will be ranked quite a bit higher by the end
of the season, and could do very well in the NCAA tournament.

Okay, he's not God.  But he's definitely worth all the praise that's been 
heaped on him lately.  When he came out in the 2nd half against Michigan
after scoring only 3 points in the whole 1st half, and then proceeded to 
turn in an all-universe performance, I know of quite a few people who were
filled with a sort of humble awe, including myself.

jep, I must totally disagree with you on your comment about Georgetown
basketball.  Although I am only 23, I have been a faithly fan of John Thompson
and his coaching style since 1982 (Patrick Ewing's freshman year).  I
personally think that you have done like a lot of individuals that only hear
about the negative about the Hoyas.  I think you have confussed a stingy
defense with thuggish play.  And it is not surprising to hear the previous
comment about Mr. Thompson,but it stuns me even more that people never mention
that John Thompson has the highest graduating rating of any active coach when
it comes to him graduating his seniors.  However, people will continue to only
look at the Hoya's 'D' as dirty play.  That's a shame. Maybe people do not
understand or are they just ignorant?

        John Thompson is a tireless supporter of inner city kids, and an
opponent of academic standards for athletes because it hurts disadvantaged
kids.  I admire his principles, though I don't agree with his stand.  I
don't think it helps overall to admit kids to college when they cannot
handle the workload, or to give students degrees they haven't earned.  But
John Thompson has a different perspective than my own.  I respect his
views.
        He's also one of the 10 most knowledgeable college basketball coaches,
in my opinion, which is really saying something.  He's a really great
teacher.  He helps a lot of inner city kids.
        It's as a basketball coach that I don't like him.  I've seen opposing
players get hurt because they were playing Georgetown, hurt because it's
Georgetown's style of play to try to injure other players.  I like
physical basketball; the Big Ten plays strong physical basketball, more so
than the average conference, with plenty of bumping and pushing and diving
for the ball.  That's legitimate.  Going for someone's knee to take him
out of the game -- I've seen it happen, but I've never heard another coach
but John Thompson defend it.  It's not legitimate basketball.

John Thompson has been a winner, but he's the last US coach to not win the
olympics with college players, and coupled with Georgetown's "attitude" made
him my most despised coach, until John Chaney came along and tried to beat
U-M in the NCAA's with deliberate thuggery.  Thankfully U-M terminated
Temple's mediocre teams - why were they even in the tournament?! - 2 years
in a row, and Indiana did us that favor last year.

I am sorry that you feel that Georgetown's "attitutde" make Coach Thompson
despised by you.  But if you think about it or used some common senese about 
Georgetown's attitude, it is the exact same attitude of the American people.
So it may be that you despise yourself.  Further more, although Coach
Thompson was the last coach to lose in the Olympics, you must remember or 
have forgotten that it was our boys (college players) competing against their
men (the world's professional players).  Charles Barkley himself was quoted as
saying that our college players are noot experienced enough to compete on the
level that the other world professionals compete on.  So should we blame
Coach Thompson, I THINK NOT!!!

        Huh.  Well.  Quoting Charles Barkley is certainly a *unique* way to
support an argument.  Or perhaps I should describe it as quaint.  Charles
Barkley, who intends to go into politics when he finishes his NBA career,
was quoted as saying he thought it was an easier way to steal more money
than to go into business.
        For myself, I don't fault Thompson for losing the Olympics.  He
played the game on even terms.  Sending the NBA to face the rest of the
world has turned Olympic basketball into a farce.  An entertaining farce,
but certainly not a sports contest.
        As far as John Thompson being a captain of the industry of college
basketball... at it's best, college basketball is a game of immense skill
and beauty, with very good athletes competing against one another for the
joy of performing their skills against one another.  At it's worst, it is
coached by John Thompson, and is neither fun nor beautiful.

I knew something(one) was missing:  What became of Olivier Saint-Jean on the
U-M basketball team?  He had some kind of pre-season knee injury, but
surprised coaches by pushing his rehabilitation to the point where he
appeared in some early-season games in Hawaii.  Since those games, I've
neither seen nor heard hide nor hair of him.  Did he reinjure his knee?
Is he therefore out for the season?  Did he transfer?  Was he released from
the team for some other reason?  Especially with the injury to freshman
Jerrod Ward, they could use Olivier's rebounding & hustle... 

he did transfer. I'd read that in the Ann Arbor News at some time. 
Unfortunately, I can't remember off-hand where he was transferring
too.

The reason had something to do with playing time.

        Saint-Jean transferred to San Jose State.

It's old news, but where did Leon Derricks transfer to?

Minnesota should be ashamed of themselves, losing to this year's Ohio State
team!  (even if it *was* in Columbus)

        Yes they should.  What a disastrous loss for Minnesota.

        Dick Vitale thinks 6 Big Ten teams will make it to the NCAA
championship.  I'm not so sure.  Michigan State is in there, of course,
and so is Purdue.  Minnesota should still make it, though they will, of
course, drop out of the Top 25 this week.  Michigan will make it if they
win the rest of their games -- they looked pretty good against Illinois
today, except for a tendency to give up turnovers which kind of has to be
expected on a team with so much riding on freshmen, and so little 
discipline enforced by the coach.  I'm afraid I haven't watched the
standings closely for the last week.  Who else is expected to make it from
among Illinois, Iowa and Indiana?  Or has Penn State pulled together
enough to have a shot?
        Before the Big Ten season, I picked Michigan for the NIT title.  If
Duke gets an invitation, I believe I'd pick them now, though surely some
Big Ten team is going to have a shot at winning the also-ran title.

        I still pick MSU to drop out of the NCAA tournament in the round of
8, but I'm not as sure as I was a few weeks ago.  Shawn Respert has played
poorly at times, and State has still won.  Quenton Brooks and Eric Snow
both played wonderfully against Northwestern, and Brooks has been a big
factor in several recent games.  If he can keep that up, it's not a
one-man show, and State could get into the Final Four.  I'd love to see
Michigan State play Kansas!

State gets a nice long rest before they face Indiana, which is good. They've
been playing a lot of games lately, and they need a break.  As for the 
tournament, I'd like to see them in the Final Four, but I don't realistically
know if that'll happen.  In a perfect world, we'd see the Spartans win it all!

well, no. In a perfect world, Michigan would meet Michigan State in the
National Semifinal and hand them their head en route to the final... :)

(j/k)

No, in a perfect world, Michigan wouldn't even make it to the NIT, and they'd
be forced to sit at home and watch the Spartans go all the way! :)

in a perfect world well wait a minute that would defeat the point of having
this conference <G>

        In a perfect world, Jud Heathcote would be 10 years younger and would
realize he needs me to play for his team.  He'd offer me a 4 year
scholarship, I'd play brilliantly, join the baseball team when the
basketball season ended with 4 NCAA championships after undefeated
seasons, and then turn around the Detroit Tigers with my Hall of Fame
career.
        But since I'm 6 feet tall, 33 years old, overweight, and with no
discernable athletic ability, and also a college dropout, I don't really
expect that.

If Michigan wins at Iowa, they would be 11-5 in the Big 10, 17-11 overall,
and in good shape coming home to face Penn State.  If they lose at Iowa,
that will put mucho pressure on 'em to beat Penn State, which would be their
only hope of reaching the NCAA's.  I don't see them winning at Purdue in any
case.

What about Leon Derricks?  :-)

MSU will go exactly as far as Shawn Respert can take them, and no farther.
I see him exactly in the role that Glen Robinson played last year for Purdue.
The big dawg had a bit of an off game in the semis (injured or Grant Hilled)
and the Boilers weren't able to overcome Duke without him.  I see the
Spartans in the same predicament - if Respert has an off night, which is a
distinct possibility against good teams playing good perimiter defense - I
don't see enough supporting talent to get them by.

BTW, Duke now has a 13-17 record, and so will finish under .500, making them
ineligible for even the NIT.

Today Florida International won the post season tournament of the rinky-dink
conference they're in.  Their overall record is 11-18 or 12-18, and will be
the first team since George Washington in 1961 to go to the NCAA with [no
more than] 12 wins, and the first in 20? years to go with a losing record.

All this because their conference gets an automatic berth in the tourney.
I think the NCAA should have a rule that if a conference's post season
tournament yields a team with a losing record, the conference's regular
season champ should go instead.  After all, what do you play all those
games for anyhow?!

Then why have a conference tournament?
Also, there are more teams in the world then just the big 10.
How about Kansas or North Carolina?

Why have a conference tournament?  Why, for the TV moolah it generates.
That's what even ameture sports is all about these days, isn't it?
Thankfully, the Big 10 and Pac 10 have resisted them so far.  But some day...

A very mediocre U-M team 17-13 overall, 11-7 in the Big 10, made it to the
NCAA tourney as a 9th seed in the Midwest region.  They play this Thursday,
March 16, in the afternoon, at Dayton, against 8th seed Western Kentucky.

The Big 10 conference was supposedly down this year.  However, 6 teams were
given berths in the NCAA tourney:  Purdue, MSU, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois,
and Minnesota.  Iowa did not make it, even with 18 overall wins, probably
because of a 9-9 conference record.  OTOH, even the Big 10 champs - Purdue -
didn't rate higher than a 3rd seed.  MSU was also seeded 3rd in another
region.

        Michigan State is the 3rd seed in the Southeast bracket.  If the
seedings go correctly, after they play their relaively easy first round,
they'll play Georgetown (Alan Iverson), North Carolina (who will win the
NCAA championship -- you read it here first), and (assuming I'm wrong),
Kentucky, then Kansas (boy would I like to see that game -- MSU's speed
vs. Greg Ostertag and the other trees of Kansas!) in the semi-final, and
UCLA, UConn, UMass or Wake Forest in the championship.  The Southeast is
the toughest bracket.  I don't really expect State to go past North
Carolina.
        Michigan will lose in the first round, to Western Kentucky, who will
then lose to Kansas.
        I think Purdue will get past U. Wisconsin Green Bay and Memphis, and
will then play a close one with either Syracuse or Arkansas.  Though
Syracuse is the #7 seed, I think they have a good chance against Purdue,
and also a good chance against Arkansas.  Arkansas should be much better
than they are.  They've disappointed me all year.  Maybe they'll be
tougher in the tournament.  I don't think anyone in the Midwest has a
prayer against Kansas.
        Wake Forest, #1 in the East, is a surprise to me.  If Minnesota makes
it past St. Louis, they could give Wake Forest a tough game.  I really
expect Villanova to beat Massachusetts, and I think they'll nab Wake
Forest, too.
        Connecticut has played great all year, against better competition
than anything UCLA has faced this year.  If they beat Maryland, they can
beat UCLA.  They will go past Villanova, I think, and face North Carolina
in the NCAA championship.
        This is going to be a great tournament.  There are a lot of
monstrously good teams out there.  After the first round, every game 
should be a good one!
        I can't believe Michigan got the nod over Iowa.  19 wins for Iowa and
they couldn't get into the NCAA tournament.  Shocking.  I pick Iowa for
the NIT tournament, though, which is some consolation for them.

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