B10 a down year?

[Boiler Buck]

Perhaps the B10 is in a below average year? Most of the better teams already have 4 losses, with R having 3 @ nearly the half way point. Only 2 currently ranked teams......as compared to the last 2 years where we had 4-5 teams at this time in the top 25.

Either that or the B10 refs are so incredibly horrible, they are creating unexpected losses for good teams... Which given what I see nightly from refs is certainly possible. Lol

 

[boilermike1]

I saw a graphic yesterday that had the B10 with the most teams in at 9.

 

[Chi-Boiler]

I think yes, it's a down year, but it's also partly due to Purdue dominating the conference standings. Everyone else is beating each other up fairly evenly across the board.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

I saw a graphic yesterday that had the B10 with the most teams in at 9.

They will cannibalize to some extent, IMO.....been a roller coaster already with several projected tournament teams. Of course it also depends upon what the bubble looks like. There isn't a whole lot of depth in non P5 conferences this year either from what it appears.

 

[NVBoilerFan]

They will cannibalize to some extent, IMO.....been a roller coaster already with several projected tournament teams. Of course it also depends upon what the bubble looks like. There isn't a whole lot of depth in non P5 conferences this year either from what it appears.

Many of the non P5 conferences have lost their best players to free agency to the P5 teams. One example I will throw out is Xavier. They hired a complete dirtball for a coach, then he went out and bought several good players. It took them a while to figure out how to play together, but now they’re pretty good. Several teams were weakened by losing free agents to them. That team should have had to suffer for a few years for hiring a scumbag, just like Louisville is.

 

[BoilerDaddy]

Perhaps the B10 is in a below average year? Most of the better teams already have 4 losses, with R having 3 @ nearly the half way point. Only 2 currently ranked teams......as compared to the last 2 years where we had 4-5 teams at this time in the top 25.

Either that or the B10 refs are so incredibly horrible, they are creating unexpected losses for good teams... Which given what I see nightly from refs is certainly possible. Lol

I don’t think that the Big Ten is down, but it doesn’t have a lot of great teams. After Purdue, there isn’t a great deal of separation between 2 and 13, with Minnesota clearly at the bottom.

 

[BoilerAndy]

Team and conference rankings are so unreliable. The past few years the B10 was said to be the toughest conference, only to disappear in the tournament. In 2021 the B10 had a record 9 teams in the NCAA tournament and only one made it as far as the Elite 8. Last year, another 9 teams invited and zero teams in the Elite 8. In other years where the B10 was considered mediocre, they played great in the tournament. In 2005, the B10 was considered mediocre and had 5 teams invited. 3 made it to the Elite 8 and 2 in the FF. I wish there was a reliable formula.

 

[TX4GB]

On the B1G Basketball and Beyond show, they had a graphic where 15 games have been decided by 3 points or less compared to 8 games last year at this point. There is more parity this year. We have found ways to win those close games.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

On the B1G Basketball and Beyond show, they had a graphic where 15 games have been decided by 3 points or less compared to 8 games last year at this point. There is more parity this year. We have found ways to win those close games.

Nine conference games for Purdue, and five have gone down to the last possession:

@ Nebraska
Rutgers
@ Ohio State
@ Michigan State
Maryland

Purdue is 4-1, which is great, although eventually, that does catch up with teams at some point most of the time. They are better at it this year because they can get stops and are making FT's........still have to stop the second chances somehow.

I am still hoping to survive the season without bypass surgery.

 

[indyogb]

The Big Ten is like one of those low carb sandwich/wrap things - thin at the top and bottom but really packed in the middle.

 

[GoldandBlackintheSaddleAgain]

Really seems like the pundits say the B1G is "down" nearly every year. Idk, maybe due to no NCAA title in a long time but just seems they say that more years than not

 

[KentuckyBoiler]

I don’t think the BT is down. Purdue is the dominant team in the conference of course. However, with transfer and the NIL, it is like every other conference, there is a lot of parity, where any team can be beat on any given night. The days of it always being a Duke or UNC winning the NC every year is gone, which I like to see. Makes the tournament more interesting.

 

[BoilerFan#35]

Definitely a down year. I don't see a top 25 team outside of Purdue. Wisky was with Wahl healthy. IU, Rutgers, ILL, and MSU should be but they haven't put it together.

 

[IMSKRONG]

It is very down. But that's what happens when the league sticks so heavily to rugby basketball and talent doesn't want to come in. Conference is well behind the Big 12 and SEC.

 

[Wolegib]

What may seem like a down year is a down year throughout ncaa basketball this year.

They say it’s a down year for Duke and Gonzaga. Why? Because they lost to Purdue. So obviously it must be a down year for them.

Rather than praising Purdue or other teams for the success they are enjoying, because the blue bloods like msu and mich and uk and Louisville are losing, it must be a down year.

Rather than being a down year, what I see is parity.

 

[bonefish1]

Unfortunately, I think the B10 style during conference play hurts the leagues perception. Too many rock fights and games in the 50s.

 

[Boiler Buck]

Unfortunately, I think the B10 style during conference play hurts the leagues perception. Too many rock fights and games in the 50s.

Very unfortunate. Currently only 2 B10 teams in the top 50 in the nation in scoring....and none in top 18. Makes for some boring, uninteresting, low scoring basketball, unless you like foulfests, I mean "defense".

Of course there are more close endings this year.....but those are 39 minutes of unwatchable ball, followed by 1 minute of excitement. Thus I watch fewer non boiler games than I used to.

 

[proudopete]

Down year all across the board. Lots of parity.

 

[ImRonBurgandy?]

The door is wide open for Matt Painter and Purdue to take the reigns as one of college basketball's dominant programs.

 

[BoilerAndy]

It's all relative. What conference is considered strong this year? Big 12? SEC? The B10 has competed well with top teams in those conferences. I don't see a clear cut top conference.

 

[*4purdue*]

Perhaps the B10 is in a below average year? Most of the better teams already have 4 losses, with R having 3 @ nearly the half way point. Only 2 currently ranked teams......as compared to the last 2 years where we had 4-5 teams at this time in the top 25.

Either that or the B10 refs are so incredibly horrible, they are creating unexpected losses for good teams... Which given what I see nightly from refs is certainly possible. Lol

Purdue is at the top, Minny at the bottom and you can throw the rest of the teams in a hat & draw out 6 or 7 for the tourney. None of which will get out of the 1st weekend.

 

[*4purdue*]

It's all relative. What conference is considered strong this year? Big 12? SEC? The B10 has competed well with top teams in those conferences. I don't see a clear cut top conference.

B12 & P12 are the top conferences this year. All the others are down.

 

[BoilerAndy]

B12 & P12 are the top conferences this year. All the others are down.

B12 definitely stands out. Might throw SEC in that mix. 3 teams in the top 20 and 2 in the top 5.

 

[Chi-Boiler]

B12 & P12 are the top conferences this year. All the others are down.

P12 is top-heavy with Arizona and UCLA. The rest of the conference is average-to-weak.

 

[Boiler_HD]

I'm not sure I would call it a down year as much as less outliers and more teams closer to the mean. Unfortunately from a poll perspective, in conference 1 loss is much worse than 1 win. As teams trade blows week to week they are not able to maintain the poll positions. It will be interesting to see how many teams we have in March Madness, and how the league performs as a whole.

 

[bonefish1]

It's all relative. What conference is considered strong this year? Big 12? SEC? The B10 has competed well with top teams in those conferences. I don't see a clear cut top conference.

It'll be interesting to see how the B10 style does in the tourney this year. Obviously a lot depends on how the game is called. But, there's some really ugly ball being played in the B10 this year. I'll probably be taking the under in most Purdue games from here out.