Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
Could not agree more!Past tournament results are usually the worst way to gauge a team. It's like chasing patterns that are just scatterplots. How Purdue did in the tournament two years ago as a 4 seed against North Texas will have zero bearing on this year's team. Matt Painter doesn't suddenly forget how to coach basketball teams because it's the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for B1G teams in general, the past decade of struggles in the Tourney have dictated the narrative that there is a tangible reason that they underperform (and until they don't, expect them to continue to struggle).
There have been many underlying reasons floated around:
-General style of B1G play
-Officiating differences in B1G vs tournament
-Coaching, etc.
I am sure there may be some truth to this, but I personally do not like the narrative. The B1G gets a lot of teams in the tournament that are in seeds that make it difficult to make it to the second week, and when they are seeded high, it always seems that their matchups are against teams way under seeded (i.e., Illini playing Loyola). Also, neutral site games can always be a crap shoot (certain fans will always root for the underdog).
I just hope the B1G has a good run this year, so we can finally dispel this narrative that past performance in tournaments somehow impact future performance.
Last edited: