Yikes. Don't like that.It appears enough teams may have lost this week to push us back into the AP Top 10. Speculating we'll be right around #10 when we take the court in Evanston.
Yikes. Don't like that.It appears enough teams may have lost this week to push us back into the AP Top 10. Speculating we'll be right around #10 when we take the court in Evanston.
Just noticed that Michigan is favored at home by 9 pts over NW. So perhaps ILL by 4-5 on the road next Thursday?Trying to guess the line on this one..................hmmm.
I'll go with Illini by 2.
We win the next six and we are in the driver's seat when we play Iowa.We are half way through the easy half of our B10 season. I would love to see us win 4 of the next 5 (maybe 5), because the second half of the season looks brutal.
8-2 1st half - 6-4 2nd half = 14-6 may win it.
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If I’m the only one, I surely won’t be the last by the time the NCAA tourney roles around. And there’s plenty of gimmes in this league for true Final 4 teams.Congrats! You are the only person I've heard say B10 is overrated. Rutgers ? Michigan? Northwestern?...grind every night and no gimmes. Get used to it.
If it’s that small I’m betting the house, Ira, and whatever else I can scrap together on the Illini. I’m not buying Northwestern.
I think the Big 10 is overrated below the top 3 teams. I think Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa are the clear top 3 teams. 3 good to possibly great teams. Any of these teams could make a Final 4. But after that I see a sizeable gap.
NW overrated. Michigan State overrated. Minnesota overrated. Teams like Michigan/Ohio State/Rutgers decent but nobody I see in the sweet 16. Then you got just bad teams in Purdue, Indiana, Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland.
How many B10 fans are saying this about Illinois?Watching Northwestern, I feel they have a VERY good starting 5, maybe the most solid in the conference top to bottom. They also have 1-2 very good bench players but after that I think it falls off pretty steep.
I wonder why he didn't go off on Purdue. Was he trying to let the other guys find their places? He can pretty much always get his but might be smart to let the other guys figure out their places before we get to the tourney.Watch Ayo go off on NW in the game.
At this point, 60% FT would help me keep my hair.Watching Northwestern, I feel they have a VERY good starting 5, maybe the most solid in the conference top to bottom. They also have 1-2 very good bench players but after that I think it falls off pretty steep. Get some starters in foul trouble, attack the basket. Frustrate Nance and Buie on defense and we can win this handily. Oh, and shoot at least 75% from FT...
No you would still have a valid complaint of them not shooting 70%.At this point, 60% FT would help me keep my hair.
Probably a good fewHow many B10 fans are saying this about Illinois?
I totally agree.No you would still have a valid complaint of them not shooting 70%.
Yeah. A blowout. I was hoping it would be a tight game. They'll be itching for us on Thursday at home.Michigan killing Northwestern tonight.
This afternoon I was feeling a little better that (1) Michigan had played no one of stature yet; (2) Maryland and NW were 45 & 54 in Pomeroy's rankings going into this evening. Then again Michigan is #10 and cranking on NW the way they are tonight (up nearly 30 with six mins left) reinforces that ranking to me. They have an even more brutal Feb than we do, but you may end up being correct. Always hard to guess where a team like them will be in mid-Feb compared with early Jan.Not liking that we play Michigan once and that game is at Michigan in Mid-February....could be a game for the top spot in the league at that point
I was getting this really good feeling . . . and then . . .Watching Northwestern, I feel they have a VERY good starting 5, maybe the most solid in the conference top to bottom. They also have 1-2 very good bench players but after that I think it falls off pretty steep. Get some starters in foul trouble, attack the basket. Frustrate Nance and Buie on defense and we can win this handily. Oh, and shoot at least 75% from FT...
Just posted a similar thought on the Purdue game thread. Ayo scored 12 in the first half, but then passed the ball a least a couple of times when he had a good look or an opportunity to get to the rim during the second half. Think he is trying to get this team ready for a run come March.I wonder why he didn't go off on Purdue. Was he trying to let the other guys find their places? He can pretty much always get his but might be smart to let the other guys figure out their places before we get to the tourney.
I think there must have been other factors during the 19 -0 Purdue run (first 4 min of 2d half). DW 3p shots got us out of that funk. I think their D took Ayo out of his normal cycle and Ayo was more selective on shotsJust posted a similar thought on the Purdue game thread. Ayo scored 12 in the first half, but then passed the ball a least a couple of times when he had a good look or an opportunity to get to the rim during the second half. Think he is trying to get this team ready for a run come March.
Missouri also has a relatively low Kenpom score. Kenpom is heavily based on the margin of victory. I'm pretty sure that a team that wins all their games by 1pt, will be ranked significantly lower than a team that wins 1/2 their games by 10pts, and loses the other 1/2 of their games by 1pt. (Sagarin is similar.) Our high ratings are because when we win, we tend to win big.Northwestern is still a very young team, so them getting demoralized a bit by scUM isn't all that bad for us. They haven't had the experience of bouncing back.