I know I wont be the first person to bring this up and I know there's a lot of reasons to not say this, but I hope some Big Ten fans (of which I am one) finally realize how weak the Big Ten is. It's not that teams like Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana (Go Hoosiers) etc. aren't good, but there is a serious need for the Big Ten to transform some of the trends in their coaching and recruiting in order for some championships to start coming back to the conference. AWESOME win by Davidson, they don't look like their lucky, they look like one of the 8 best teams in the country with one of the best players in the country. What an Elite 8!
badyear for the big 10, but then again what conference has been dominating- maybe the big 12.?? Michigan state handled the big east tourney champ and Davidson whipped the regular season champ. The Southeatern was worse than the big 10, the Pac 10 down to the one team which was head and shoulders above the rest. This year seems to be the great one team entries - NC, Davidson,Memphis, UCLA, Xavier. They dominated their conferenes all year. Throw in a peaking Louisville and the two Big 12 teams. I really don't think you can say 1 great team MAKES OR BREAKS A CONFERENCE. I do agree the big 10 needs some better atheletes- I'm not convinced the coaching isn't top notch. A huge turnover the last couple of years, all to the better . SEE Iowa, Purdue, Minnesota. Michigan. Wisconsin, M.ST., Ohio St- All excellent. Only Indiana, which cut its own throat , and Illinois are in significantly worse shape.. ( The Lions and the Cats don't take it seriously anyhow)
We had two in the 16 something only Big East, Pac 10 and SEC had. Only B-12 has more than one team in 8.. You cna't hate on b-10 for going 5-4 in tourny only b-12 and big east having bragging rights.
Michigan State "upset" Pitt (if you can call that an upset), but I honestly think the best Big Ten team is in the NIT. Ohio State had an average season, but they know how to dance. They are one of the best tourney teams. I would look out for them over the next couple years.
First things first, what's a Big Ten fan doing with a Texas emblem! lol. Seriously though, everyone is underestimating Wisconsin's injury early in the game. That was there second leading scorer and their best perimeter defender. I believe you've got the Big Ten all wrong. Don't forget about the BUckeyes here! They were in the Final last year, how can they be left out. They are in the Final Four of the NIT in a "off" year. They are not in the NCAA this year because their talent is so good it leaves early to be the #1 pick in the draft. Next year they have arguably the best recruiting class in the country. A 7' 1" 260 lb giant who was sought after by a lot of teams. In football, State got the prize there too. Picked the consensus best QB coming into the college football next year. The Big Ten has never been aas dominate in BB as they are in football. Your Hoosiers were actually one of the best teams this year, until internal issues sent things plummeting. That's not recruiting. If your Hoosiers fan you'll either love or hate this....There's one reason the Big Ten isn't as dominate as it used to be. Bob Knight. THink about it. COunt the BIg TEn national champions, then count how many times his name repeats itself as you count. He had to be fired, that's not my point. He was out of control, and that fact kept him from getting the talent to come to IU. But Ohio State should not be representing the Big Ten in basketball. THey are the football team. Indiana has always been the dominate force in the conference and they're just not anymore. They need a coach who can marry the present to the past heritage and draw some talent in. Two of the greatest champions ever are the 76 and 87 Hoosiers. THe 76 team is always remembered as the great single season team. UCLA may have been the dynasty, but that team could have beat anybody. THe 87 team was COach Knight's legacy. THere wasn't a lot of talent on that team. Just a lot of roll players, and a coach who always had them in the proper roll for their oponent. That was a championship won by coaching. The star was a JC transfer who stepped up for one big half of basketball. So don't question Davidson either. One player can take a game(s) over and determine the outcome. Seriously though, give the Big Ten some slack here. If they recruit like everyone else, who will send those big bodied, well balanced players to the pros. I mean is a terrible thing if a kid has to function in man-to-man based D before he hits the pros. And I'm not saying the stars come from the Big Ten. I mean your meat and potatoes career guys. PLus don't over look that it's more diversified now. Meaning no conference dominates. It changes every year. Kids leave early, and a lot of smaller schools have really raised their stock with tournament runs. I'm sure some of the talent that now goes to Xavier, Cincinnati, Miami(OH), ILL St., W. Kentucky, etc. used all go to OSU, IND, ILL, Mich, Mich ST, UK & Louisville,etc.
i understand some of what ure saying about the big ten being weak, but how many other confrences sent a team to the finals last year? and this year they had the best record in the tournament until thursday. i think the only problem is recruiting. other schools have went for speed while the big ten thinks they can still win with size. its hard to play defence when half the players are on the other end of the court sucking air.
I do think talent and "great teams" are spread out more than they have been in the past. Despite some of the laughably biased postings I've seen here, no conference was really dominant this year, and some, like the SEC, were absolutely putrid, with a few mediocre-to-good teams but no great ones. In past years, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, or SEC have had 3-4 really good teams capable of making the Final Four or winning it all--that's just not the case this year.
That said, I agree with the original poster's point about the Big 10 and recruiting. In past years, the Big 10 seemed always to have AT LEAST its share of great athletes; watching the tournament this year, and last night's games in particular, I was struck by how un-athletic the Big 10 teams looked. In the Memphis-MSU game in particular, it was a flat-out mismatch athletically.
Early losses to the NBA have hurt the Big 10, for sure, but not any more so than other conferences. They need a couple of good recruiting years to get "back up to snuff ". . .
I agree the Big 10 was down this year. That happens. It does seem when the Big 10 has a down year, everybody is quick to point it out, even moreso than other conferences. &nbs p; Keep in mind that prior to this year, the Big 10 placed a team in the National Championship game two of the last three years (Illinois and Ohio State)
The reason why people say the Big 10 is down is not because of their top teams like Wisconsin, Mich. St, and IU, it is that after those 4 or 5 top teams the rest of the conference is down right horrible!
The Big 10 fans fail to realize that the critics are pointing out the overall strength of the conference not the strength of individual teams. Those top 4 or 5 are good and can compete with any other conference.
It is those mid and bottom feeders of the conference that just are not as good as other conference's mid to bottom teams.
Plus having your two best teams get blown out in the Sweet 16 doesn't look good for the conference either.
The Big Ten had a pretty good year. Four pretty good teams, four average to better than average, Iowa down year, Mich. improved, and NW academic institution. I thought the Big Ten was very good athletically. The Big Tens problem is offense. All of its teams have had trouble scoring at 1 time or another.
Part of the reason Wisconsin got beat is that they are one of those gimicky teams. You know like Temple's zone. Any team with offensive talent can break down their scheme. They are a system team.
