Week of 1/29 Games Thread

[the national]

Ohio state up 2 at the half at Iowa 38-36.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

Are seats behind the announcers reserved exclusively for douchebags?

 

[mysterio2525]

\
This dude looks like he's in his 30's

His kids are in their 30s

 

[jumpingjack]

Franny Boy is warming up his yelling pipes.

 

[skyIdub]

No Ohio State/Iowa chatter? What, do you people have lives or something? This is a good game at halftime.

Flipping. NHL All Star Skills! So....no.

 

[battle]

No Ohio State/Iowa chatter? What, do you people have lives or something? This is a good game at halftime.

Good game. Rooting against Iowa.

Would love to win out or 9-1 and win title but my rooting in various games over next 5 weeks, not just big 10, is to land a 2/3 seed. Will root for Purdue over wi

 

[illiniguy24]

Updated EM after last night's game:

View attachment 30793

Notes:
- Last night's game was actually Wisconsin's worst offensive efficiency of the conference season. Nebraska showed up for a half (and OT) and pulled something out of nothing. After Sunday's game, Nebraska is done with Purdue/Illinois/Wisconsin for the season.
- Northwestern is already done with Purdue/Illinois/Wisconsin on the season, having gone 2-3 against them.
- Michigan and Rutgers are a special level of bad, and they play each other this weekend to see who is the worst.
- Ohio State isn't far ahead of either of them right now, the three of them all serious favorites for play-in day in the BTT. Which seems crazy to me, as PSU and Minnesota looked by far like the worst teams in the B1G coming into the conference season.
- Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin are heavy favorites for a double bye in the BTT.
- It feels wild to me that we're just halfway through the B1G season, and already just 7 teams have any realistic chance of making a run for the NCAA tournament. I guess you could squint and see Iowa or IU or even Ohio State running the table and making it, but that doesn't seem overly realistic.

B1G Weekly Power Rankings:
1. Purdue - Would have to lose a couple straight to be in danger of falling here.
2. Illinois - Haven't looked awesome for a couple weeks, and still have won 4 of 5 with their only loss being an OT road loss.
3. Wisconsin - Similar OT road loss, weaker overall efficiency numbers.
4. Michigan State - There's a huge gap here between 3 and 4. MSU may not be the top 10 team we initially thought, but they're a solid 6-7 seed in the NCAA tourney that is going to make life miserable for some 2/3 seed.
5. Northwestern - Came oh-so-close to establishing themselves in the top 4, especially with their closing schedule. A safer and safer bet for a tourney spot, as long as they don't take a dive.
6. Nebraska - Huge comeback to salvage a much-needed Q1 win. Their game at Illinois Sunday will be their last game against a top 40 opponent all season.
7. Maryland - Still can't score, but they do defend better than anyone right now.
8. Iowa - Possibly the most irrelevant Iowa team I can remember. Not good, not bad, just not relevant.
9. Indiana - Another uninspiring team that's just hanging around the middle of the conference.
10. Minnesota - A bad team, but there are too many worse teams in this league to make them look too bad.
11. Penn State - How these guys are not the worst team in the league will forever remain a mystery to me.
12. Ohio State - They just look like they've given up.
13. Michigan - I'm not convinced they win another B1G game this season. We'll see this weekend.
14. Rutgers - At least Jeremiah Williams is cleared to play, and they host Michigan this weekend so maybe they can win?

Great stuff here. Question for the masses, would you guys be ok with NW winning the regular season conf title if it meant we got to the sweet 16 and lost? I think we have to say yes

 

[Chief1976]

Great stuff here. Question for the masses, would you guys be ok with NW winning the regular season conf title if it meant we got to the sweet 16 and lost? I think we have to say yes

Illini need to move beyond Sweet 16, so I’m not ok with either tbh. I could care less about BT titles. The only thing that matters is to win the whole dang thing!

 

[Coop70]

Unbelievable brain fart on OSU. Dribble with both hands.

 

[JSpence]

OSU took Iowa to the wire. Not quite over, but make-or-die for the Buckeyes.

Iowa fouls in regular bonus, up three.

OSU had a chance to take the lead in the last minute... called for a double dribble.

 

[illiniguy24]

Illini need to move beyond Sweet 16, so I’m not ok with either tbh. I could care less about BT titles. The only thing that matters is to win the whole dang thing!

I see your point. But I personally would love to see us play in the second weekend no matter what happens

 

[Piotyr]

Iowa beat Ohio State 79-77 in a game that was always within 5 points, but no one really cared because both teams are 13-9 overall and going nowhere.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

Great stuff here. Question for the masses, would you guys be ok with NW winning the regular season conf title if it meant we got to the sweet 16 and lost? I think we have to say yes

In my proprietary, totally not made up ranking system, I have a conference title being more valuable than a Sweet 16 and roughly equal to an Elite 8. 16 teams make a sweet 16 each year (shocking, I know) but only like 6 - 10 win a P6 conference. So to me, it's just more impressive to win a P6 conference.

But would I trade them a conference title for an Elite 8 and a shot at the Final Four? Absotively.

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

The fighting John Groce's of Akron are hosting Toledo right now on ESPN2. Game is for sole possession of 1st in the MAC.

 

[illinifan1987]

His kids are in their 30s

 

[jumpingjack]

C'mon Butler - this would be a delightful loss for Creighton

 

[jumpingjack]

Iowa beat Ohio State 79-77 in a game that was always within 5 points, but no one really cared because both teams are 13-9 overall and going nowhere.

Ohio State found four different ways to lose in the last 30 seconds. Both those teams are so mediocre.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Good game. Rooting against Iowa.

Would love to win out or 9-1 and win title but my rooting in various games over next 5 weeks, not just big 10, is to land a 2/3 seed. Will root for Purdue over wi

Nah, I’m confident that we sweep the Hawkeyes and QUITE excited for it … and I want those to be Quad 2 and Quad 1 wins, respectively, so I’m passively glad they won.

 

[IlliniwekKDR]

View attachment 30794

Are seats behind the announcers reserved exclusively for douchebags?

Well, the game is at Iowa, so the odds were pretty high

 

[illiniguy24]

In my proprietary, totally not made up ranking system, I have a conference title being more valuable than a Sweet 16 and roughly equal to an Elite 8. 16 teams make a sweet 16 each year (shocking, I know) but only like 6 - 10 win a P6 conference. So to me, it's just more impressive to win a P6 conference.

But would I trade them a conference title for an Elite 8 and a shot at the Final Four? Absotively.

Fair. But I’m not saying the alternative is we win the conference in this hypothetical

 

[jumpingjack]

Creighton getting cute with the last possession and Butler nailing a 3 to end the half anyway was nice.

 

[jumpingjack]

Well, the game is at Iowa, so the odds were pretty high

I believe that is what is referred to in gambling circles as a stone cold lock.

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

Huskers always beat Wisconsin when we need them too

 

[GetAWin]

Is John Groce really as squeaky clean in real life as he likes his image to be?

 

[jumpingjack]

This Butler-Creighton game is worth a watch. #13 in serious danger of losing at home.