be serious, THIS YEAR, Rutgers and Minnesota have no shot at the title. Nor do teams like OSU, Penn State, Northwestern, Illinois, or Michigan. Purdue will win it in a nail-biter. MSU will be the next closest to winning it, then Maryland & Iowa & Indiana. The rest of the big-ten save Michigan is pretty sad.
IU at least Co-B1G Champs
- Thread starter ZvilleGary
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I understand what you are saying but I do think the conference is making an effort to move to making the tournament the big deal championship. The move to having the tournament in NYC and D.C. IMO is part of that. Why not have the championship games in the middle of big ten country? How many fans from Nebraska, etc are going to travel to NYC? Plus those are two very expensive venues for fans so why are they doing this? Also, tv coverage switches from BT Network and ESPN to a network where having cable is not necessary with more money being paid by network to show tournament. Do they still even give a trophy for winning the regular season championship?
First: Unqualified congratulations to IU! You guys pulled it off. Something I and others did not envision at the start of the year. You did it by playing hard, beating the better teams, and just finding ways to win. We all wanted the Indiana-Purdue rivalry to heat up up, which doesn't happen unless IU becomes really good. Now we have our bar set for next year, and I won't be surprised if we run over IU in the B IGT.
I figured MSU, Maryland, and Purdue to be the top 3 strongest teams in the BIG. Some of the talking heads pegged Indiana, certainly, but after the Duke game, I thought they would fold in the BIG season. Eating crow as I type.
Bryant played well enough for a freshman, but it was the play of the Yogi, OG, and RoJo that made the difference. They played defense pretty well, and shot the hell ot of the basket in most games.
Well I can say that I fully expected IU to contend for Big Ten title and finish 13-5 or 14-4. It's not that I think they are the best teams in the Big Ten. I don't. But if you just start going down their schedule, there aren't that many losses on there. I predicted an undefeated December/January (they dropped the game at Wisconsin and went 8-1), 5-2 in February (exactly what they got although I had them losing at Michigan instead of at Penn State), and 1-1 in March (think they will lose at Iowa). If they had to play all teams home and away it would be a different story but when you actually look at the schedule, they just didn't have many potential losses and they beat the teams they were scheduled to play. It's exactly why that in spite of the Big Ten standings there are 3 conference teams ranked ahead of them and 4 teams ahead of them in RPI.
Home and Away Opponents: Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa
Home only: Ohio State, Northwestern, Purdue, Maryland
Away only: Rutgers, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State
It' true. They deserve the ranking they have. Why would you even question MSU being ahead of them. MSU throttled IU by 19 and it wasn't even that close. Iowa is fading but is a much better team than IU top to bottom and there is little question about that. Maryland is clearly WAY deeper than Indiana and Indiana has zero chance to win at home vs. maryland. Purdue is a no brainer against IU on a neutral court or at Purdue (another no brainer), and then you have michigan who could beat IU on n court, northwestern could beat then on a n court, wisky for sure, and the list goes on and on.
They'll probably jump Iowa today. Maybe an outside shot at jumping Maryland. I can tell you for sure that they are still 5th in the Big Ten in RPI and have the lowest conference SOS in the conference, barely in the top 100 nationally as things stand today.
haha wtf^
you must have missed the michigan and northwestern games, bub. the other stuff is mostly nonsense too, but good grief, if you can't concede the michigan and northwestern games you are too insane to deal with
northwestern was a home game for IU, i said neutral court. also, michigan was without Caris LeVert, or did you forget that? (LeVert is arguably the best player in the B1G), save Valentine.
haha no i remember... i watched those games...
i guess i overlooked that caris lavert is worth about 30 points in total game differential
When your best player is on the bench, matching runs is extremely difficult---- it's a game of momentum and IU's 25-0 run wasn't met with any resistance. LeVert would TOTALLY change that and therefore change the entire complexion of the game.
I would not pay too much attention to our friend Honey Badger. He has made a habit out of bad-mouthing every team in the BIG, and does not represent the opinions of the general Purdue fan population, as far as I am concerned. If an opponent of Purdue ever wanted bulletin Board material, all they need to do is read his postings before any game.
I am just glad IU is not a punching bag anymore. I sincerely hope we meet IU in the BIG T, on a neutral court, because I think the result will cut down on the trolling over here.
as much as I'd love to take a dump on this, I said something of that exact effect to my fiance the other night. I love how IU is playing right now, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't. I can't take away what Crean did this year. He stopped his bullsh*t defense, he's sitting our dummies when they play as such, etc.
However, I can't help but think that he's coaching his way into another contract (by Glass's standards anyway)..... and that sucks
exactly. I keep telling people this and they just don't get how bad they are at defense, turnovers, and inexplicable coaching decisions and line-ups. IZZO, McCaffery, Sturgeon, Beilein, Matta, Painter, Gard, Collins are all on genius level if you compare them one on one to clappy. clappy gets his players injured too. If he would have called a time-out when he should have, Johnson wouldn't be injured. Watch the replay and tell me different.
You are comical at the least, and outrageous to be sure. But that's your nature and it's all good IMO. My opinions speak for myself and no one else. Since you like to bandwagon your opinions to match that of your cohorts you will continue to post foggy dribble. But that's ok, you are satisfied with that.I would not pay too much attention to our friend Honey Badger. He has made a habit out of bad-mouthing every team in the BIG, and does not represent the opinions of the general Purdue fan population, as far as I am concerned. If an opponent of Purdue ever wanted bulletin Board material, all they need to do is read his postings before any game.
I am just glad IU is not a punching bag anymore. I sincerely hope we meet IU in the BIG T, on a neutral court, because I think the result will cut down on the trolling over here.
Yes, it is all good, and you are certainly welcome to your opinions. However, the next time you celebrate the injury of an opposing player will be the last time I read any of your posts.
I predicted 10-8. I thought that with the B1G as weak as it appears (from 5th down) that 10-8 may not get them a tournament invite. This year had the same earmarks as the '13-'14 season did prior to the start. I am VOCAL in my opinion that Crean is not what IU needs over the long haul. That said, he's supposedly stopped with the driving the kids into the ground at the end of the season thing. His substitution patterns don't seem as head scratching. He's even used a stint on the bench as a teaching moment when someone like Troy Williams loses his way. As someone on the Peegs premie put it, it's almost like he's stopped believing he's the great basketball savant," Tommy Basketball" (Bo Ryan's nickname for him).
I have to grudgingly say that he's done far better with this team than I would have anticipated. I thought 10-8 and out the door.
He is just irritating (clappy). When Bo Ryan called him that, was he at Marquette at the time? And was he taking a shot at him? IU got a work-in-progress when they hired him. I didn't realize that anyone could have gotten that job because the AD (Glass) let him do OJT for the first four years and beyond. Amazing salary, benefits, cars, endorsements, etc. At least he didn't build a "Hooker Dorm" (good one rick)
Had you asked me 5 years ago, who was the better coach Painter or Crean, I wouldn't have blinked and said; "Painter, by a lot."
Not now, Honey my friend.
Crean has been the better coach the last 5 years and it ain't close.
Better recruiter, better finishes in the B1G 4 out of the last 5 years with 2 titles to Painter's ZIPPO. NADA. GOOSE EGG.
I am not a Crean fan.
He's better than Painter now.
The proof is in the pudding.
I respect your opinion. I just beg to differ on that. He just doesn't know how to coach defense like Painter does. If Painter had IU's talent over the last 4 to 5 years, final four for sure.
Bringing in talent is all part of the equation and IU's defense has been immensely better this season. I detest Crean and even I have to tip my hat to him in that regard.
Yes. Indiana has not beaten one of the top teams away from Assembly Hall yet this season. Iowa has been scuffling lately but I think they get IU on Tuesday and then IU beats Maryland back in Bloomington.
I'm on the record. Are you saying IU is going to win?
Crean has the same results with much more talent. No one does less with more. He has had more 5-start recruits than any other B1G team. It's why he is not in discussions for COY. The iu name brings in talent, but then they underachieve.
No, not the same results. Crean has better results than Painter, over the last 5 years. 2 B1G titles during that time.
......and EVERYBODY here, including me, expected Purdue to be better than IU this season. The front court you guys had, on paper, was SICK.
Didn't turn out that way though, at least not during the conference season.
Maybe the tourney will be different, we'll see.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/year/2015/sort/RPI/groupId/7
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/groupId/7
Check the CFSS column on each link.
Regarding the imbalanced schedule... It's worth noting there has not been a true home/home round robin in B10 hoops since 1990 when PSU joined. That's 25 seasons. Since PSU joined, Purdue has won 4 conference championships, including a 3-peat which I find to be one hell of an accomplishment. Are Purdue fans really suggesting that those big ten championships are somewhat tainted because they didn't play every team twice?
Yes, IU caught a break by not having to play Maryland at Maryland. But that's basically it in terms of road environments they didn't have to face for the upper part of the league. They didn't have to play at Mackey obviously, but in fairness, the casual observer is probably not going to put too much weight into IU not having to go on the road to play the 7th place team in the league. But you could argue it because it's a rivalry environment that's always hostile. Interestingly, Michigan St. didn't have to go to Maryland either, nor did they come to Bloomington this year. As far as road environments avoided among the top 5 teams, MSU dodged 2, but nobody is putting an asterisk next to their 2nd place standing like people are with IU at #1.
Purdue fans don't have to give IU any credit they don't want to (it's your choice), but the reality is IU took care of business against the inferior teams on the schedule and only lost 1 game it shouldn't have (Penn State) while beating IL, Minny, Rutgers, Michigan, and Nebraska on the road. We all know that is not something that would have happened the past couple years with Crean-led teams, and that is a BIG reason why IU controls their own fate right now. I'm not asking anyone to heap any praise on Crean/IU, but if Purdue could make the same claim about taking care of inferior teams on the road (UMich and IL), Purdue would be in sole possession of 2nd place, while IU still has to play 2 of the top teams in the league outside of itself.
Yes, IU caught a break by not having to play Maryland at Maryland. But that's basically it in terms of road environments they didn't have to face for the upper part of the league. They didn't have to play at Mackey obviously, but in fairness, the casual observer is probably not going to put too much weight into IU not having to go on the road to play the 7th place team in the league. But you could argue it because it's a rivalry environment that's always hostile. Interestingly, Michigan St. didn't have to go to Maryland either, nor did they come to Bloomington this year. As far as road environments avoided among the top 5 teams, MSU dodged 2, but nobody is putting an asterisk next to their 2nd place standing like people are with IU at #1.
Purdue fans don't have to give IU any credit they don't want to (it's your choice), but the reality is IU took care of business against the inferior teams on the schedule and only lost 1 game it shouldn't have (Penn State) while beating IL, Minny, Rutgers, Michigan, and Nebraska on the road. We all know that is not something that would have happened the past couple years with Crean-led teams, and that is a BIG reason why IU controls their own fate right now. I'm not asking anyone to heap any praise on Crean/IU, but if Purdue could make the same claim about taking care of inferior teams on the road (UMich and IL), Purdue would be in sole possession of 2nd place, while IU still has to play 2 of the top teams in the league outside of itself.
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Recruiting is half the battle. Who cares if he "does less with more", the bottom line is what has he accomplished and he is now more accomplished than our HC in less time in the same league. It's hypocritical to call him a bad or average coach and CMP a better one (I find them to both be pretty mediocre with Crean being slightly better).
I don't think anyone is saying that Purdue's play has been worthy of a conference championship. They let 3-4 games slip through their fingers and they needed to win most of those to be legitimately in the conversation.
IU took care of the business they needed to take care and they can rightfully celebrate their championship. Just don't expect people not to point out the obvious when you have some of your fans running over to this board to crow about it. The rest of the season will prove much as to whether IU is legitimate or not. For my money, MSU is the top team at this point in the season and I hate saying that far more than I would saying it about IU.
If you don't separate the coach from the institution then I guess it doesn't matter. IU has a brand advantage for recruiting and I think if you put Painter at IU his recruiting would be better than it is at Purdue and his results would be better than they are at Purdue (which haven't been bad).
I don't necessarily disagree with your first 2 statements, but do you really believe that the IU name just sells itself today to recruits? I can buy in to that if we're talking the 90's when Knight was one of the more revered coaches in the country and the program was regularly in the national contender conversation. Knight and IU earned that reputation.
But he's been gone for nearly 15 year, the program was held to together by duct tape with Mike Davis, then the administration made one of the dumbest moves ever in hiring a cheater, then Dakich/Crean cleaned house in advance of IU putting together one of the worst 3-yr stretches of college basketball from a team not named Grambling St., Zeller leads IU to 2 Sweet 16s before they fall apart and miss the NIT just 3 seasons ago, suffer a 1-st round exit last year after a .500 conference record... and oh yeah, Crean has sat near (or at) the top of practically ever coaches hotseat report for the past 2 years. I would actually argue that Crean has done an incredible job of recruiting in light of the circumstances (albeit much of the circumstances today he is responsible for). So I take the exact opposite view you do about IU recruiting itself, because there is actually pretty little about the program itself to do so compared to 20 years.
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