Big Ten Country

Ohio State Survives; Road Test Looms

Ohio State and Michigan State gave the nation a great show on Saturday night. It was a tale of two halves, with the Spartans staging an amazing rally from twenty points down. They actually got a couple clean looks at three-pointers that could have won it, but both of Drew Neitzel's tries--one at the buzzer--didn't go down. That was about the only thing that didn't go down for Neitzel all night though, as he poured in 29 points to key the comeback.

This loss realistically ended any hopes Michigan State had of getting into the championship picture. The race seems to boil down to two questions now--can Ohio State hold serve on its home floor when Wisconsin comes to town on February 25? The Badgers' home win in the first installment of the series is the only difference in the league race right now. And perhaps more importantly, which of the two contenders will have the first unexpected stumble?

Ohio State has a road trip to Purdue on Wednesday that looms large. The difference in the Boilermakers' home/road performance is easily the biggest in the league, and that was much to Illinois' misfortune. Purdue put a seventeen-point smackdown on the Illini, and with all due respect to Neitzel's show, David Teague might have been the star of the weekend, ringing up 28 points and grabbing nine boards to boot. The loss dropped Illinois to 3-5 in the conference as they hit the halfway point, and the Boilermakers are still in the mix for an NCAA bid. They need a road win and they could use a signature home victory on top of it--and an opportunity for the latter will never be better then on Wednesday night.

Indiana continues to lurk below the surface. An easy win over Michigan kept them at 5-2. This was a game of contrasts, as the Hoosiers lit it up from beyond the arc, while the Wolverines had a huge edge at the foul line. To Kelvin Sampson's great credit, he did not blame the officials for the big gap in the number of free throws each team attempted.

Quite frankly, I have never understood the logic behind fans and coaches who act as though a wide disparity in the number of fouls called each way is somehow prima facie evidence of bad officiating. It's not the job of the referee to make sure everything comes up even. It's his job to call the fouls that take place, and given IU spent more time on the perimeter while the Wolverines went inside, it only makes sense that Michigan drew more fouls. Kudos to Sampson for not whining. His statesmanship was no doubt made easier by his team's 34-24 rebounding edge on the way to the win.

Indiana joins archrival Purdue in playing host to a heavweight on Wednesday. The first-place Badgers, who ran their record to 7-0 in Iowa City on Sunday, will come to Assembly Hall on Wednesday. Bloomington is not an easy place to win, but Wisconsin's proven themselves tough enough all season long. This should be a great one.

What a Neitzel in Columbus!

Whew! A sigh of relief from many here in Columbus last night. The Buckeyes staved off a second half rally by the Spartans, namely Drew Neitzel, to beat Michigan State 66-64 before a National TV audience on ESPN and to stay a game within Wisconsin atop the Big Ten standings.

If you tuned into this game in the first half, you would have seen why many people think this Buckeye team is a legitimate Final Four contender. If you tuned into this game in the second half, you not only see why Tom Izzo is one of the finest coaches in all of college basketball, but also why there are still some question marks with this young OSU team. You also would have witnessed one of the better single game performances so far this season, Big Ten or not, by Drew Neitzel. He single handedly put the Spartans on his back and into this game by pouring in 29 points, 24 of them in the second half. He entered the game quietly averaging over 18 points per game, but showed he has morphed from a third and fourth option, to the Spartans go to guy and unquestioned leader on the court. He is a perfect Izzo player and showed the fire of his head coach last night. The next 9 games however will show whether MSU can really put themselves into a decent seed in the tournament, or whether the 17 wins from a rather ok schedule is indicative of what this team is. Is it the first half team we saw that was manhandled by the Buckeyes, or the second half version, which looked like Spartan teams of the last few years.

Which brings up another question. Which Ohio State team is which? I think it is somewhere in between the incredible first half version, and the dreadful second half version. Close road losses at North Carolina (minus Oden) and Wisconsin, and hanging with Florida for about 25 minutes shows they can play with anyone. These are the current #1, #3 and #4 teams in the country. However, they only have one win against a top 25 team, which was a nail-biter at home against Tennessee. A plus is that Greg Oden is still just getting into playing shape and has been playing with one hand most of the season. He still is shooting with his left hand on free throws and is still wearing a brace on his wrist. They are extremely young and have played in hostile environments which will be invaluable come March. They are 18-5 and have a shot at the Big Ten outright title.

With all of that said, there are some question marks that I consistently keep seeing game after game. First, Oden tends to disappear at times. After he started the game with 4-5 shooting, he didn't have another FG the rest of the game. He got beaten several times back on defense which the Spartans converted with easy lay-ups. I noticed he breathes heavily when heading into TV timeouts, and he never seems to call or WANT the ball. A big man with Oden's size and skill should be screaming out like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors "Feed Me, FEED ME!" He doesn't do that which might be his inexperience, but partly I think his timid nature. He is like Tim Duncan personality wise, not Alonzo Mourning. I think he needs to develop some edge (especially if these are his last 9 games before going to the NBA.) This to me glaringly also shows up in the rebounding stats. The Buckeyes were out rebounded 30-24, 10-5 on the offensive glass. Idong Ibok played 14 minutes and had as many offensive boards as Oden who played the entire game, minus two 2 minute spells. MSU's swingman and emerging star, Raymar Morgan, who is all of 6 ft 7, had as many boards (six) and one more offensive (three) than Oden did. 

The other problem is the Buckeyes can't seem to figure out who the MAN is at crunch time. Is it Oden? Is it Cook? Is it Lewis or Butler? I think they are in the process of figuring this out, as last night there was no Neitzel wearing the scarlet and gray. Ron Lewis typically would be that person, but he only had 6 points and the past few games has not played like he is capable of. Jamar Butler needs to shoot it more, but not 3 pointers that are flying in from Zanesville, when ahead by 11 points. Lewis should be that person in clutch time (especially if he can play like he did in Chapel Hill), until Oden can step it up consistently as previously mentioned. 

Ohio State and Michigan State both have big weeks upcoming. The Buckeyes go on the road to West Lafayette and up to play the Spartans in less than a week. Purdue is 14-0 at home this season, and has one of the best players in the Big Ten no one has heard of nationally in Carl Landry. This is a huge sleeper team with wins over Oklahoma, Virginia, Missouri and DePaul and close losses on the road to top ranked teams in Butler and Wisconsin. Michigan State will play at Illinois, who isn't as good as previous Illini teams, but are still very tough at home. Then comes the rematch in East Lansing against Ohio State. That game Saturday night will really tell a lot about where each team is headed into February, and which version we can expect come March.

Looking For A Third Wheel

After the midweek games, if a third conference championship contender is going to emerge to join Wisconsin & Ohio State, we have not seen them yet. On Tuesday night, Indiana went to Champaign and lost 51-43. The Hoosiers look to be the basketball version of what Penn State was this past football season--the first one to score wins.

As for Illinois, this was a game they desperately had to have. And they played like it--especially Shawn Pruitt who posted his second straight double-double. The Indiana-Illinois rivalry has always been intense. But this game had the marginal additional drama of putting the two states on a collision course less then forty-eight hours after they knew they'd be paired up in the Super Bowl. And on a more substantive level, Indiana's successful recruitment of high school senior Eric Gordon after he'd verbally committed to the Illini, remains a sore spot with Bruce Weber and the fan base. Jay Bilas at ESPN.com echoes my sentiments in telling them that it's time to get over it (subscription required for article).

Ohio State had to struggle past Northwestern. They escaped with the W thanks to an overpowering rebounding advantage of 38-15, leaning heavily on Greg Oden. Now that Northwestern has pushed both OSU and Wisconsin to the brink, it's time to circle Evanston as the place to watch for a trap game somewhere down the line. Indiana, Illinois and Purdue both have road games with NU still ahead. If the Wildcats play as well in those games as they have against the two heavyweights, there's a chance to do serious damage to an NCAA Tournament push.

The Buckeyes now stand in sole possession of second after both Indiana's loss, as well as that Michigan was beaten at Wisconsin. The tough Badger defense held Dion Harris to nine points, and the Wolverines join Indiana in licking their wounds and putting any conference title hopes on the backburner.

So if we're looking for a possible third contender, Michigan State is next up on the board. The Spartans rolled past Minnesota for their fourth straight win. None of the four wins have been eyepopping, but Tom Izzo's club will have plenty of chances to validate themselves in the coming weeks. They play Ohio State twice in the next seven days, sandwiched around a road game at Illinois. Two games with Wisconsin are still on the docket. We'll find out in a hurry if they can play or not. The testing starts in prime time on Saturday night when they go to Columbus (9 EST, ESPN).

Michigan Moves Up

Michigan is quietly setting themselves up to make some noise in the conference race. The Wolverines hammered Purdue, avenging a loss from just a week ago (not sure why both Purdue-UM games were scheduled so close this early in the year). Guard Dion Harris has been the key for Tommy Amaker, and he put in another 21 on Saturday.

The Wolverines are now 4-1 and set for a big Wednesday date at Wisconsin. The Badgers showed some mettle this weekend down at Illinois. Having struggled through two lackluster wins, playing on the road and against a team that really needed a win, it was a situation ripe for an upset. But Wisconsin got out of town with a seven-point win, thanks to Alando Tucker. Michael Hunt of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel makes the case for Tucker is the best hoops player ever at Madison.

Indiana won at UConn on Saturday, but this is a game that should get mixed reviews from the Hoosier faithful. UConn is not what they've been in recent years, coming into the game very young and unranked. Indiana was uncharacteristically destroyed on the boards, the reason an early 14-point lead evaporated in the blink of an eye. D.J. White was productive offensively, but non-existent on the glass. But give Kelvin Sampson's kids their due. It was still an environment that a team not really accustomed to closing out big wins could have folded in, but they made plays. No one made more then Roderick Wilmont, who poured in 23. Terry Hutchens of The Indianapolis Star tells us that Wilmont has no fear of failure.

IU and Michigan are each 4-1 in league play and lead the short list of possible dark horses to upset the Wisconsin-Ohio State applecart in the race for the championship. The Wolverines visit IU this weekend to cap off their critical week on the road.

Taking a look south to check up on the exiled General, Bob Knight's Texas Tech team upended fifth-ranked Kansas on Saturday. Tech is now 3-1 in the Big 12, good for a three-way tie for second. At 14-5 overall they are in the hunt for an NCAA bid. The Red Raiders did suffer a bad loss to Baylor recently that will stay up on the board and haunt them, but the win over the Jayhawks significantly advanced the cause for Knight to get his 28th NCAA Tournament appearance and move ahead of Dean Smith on the all-time list.

Intro from another Big Ten insider

Hello Big Ten Country!

I just wanted to do a quick introduction of myself. I will be doing some blogs here from time to time, and figured I would give a brief background about me and what I like from the sports world standpoint. Since everyone already knows about Dan's allegiance to the Baaaadgers and General Knight, it would be only fair to know mine.

Please note that sports is my life, literally. I majored in sports management in college, have a sports card and memorabilia business currently (which would be the DMJ Sports Cards link found on this page, thanks for the shout out Dan) and recently have gotten an itch to talk about what I think is quite a knowledge that is unparalled, from a non-talking head on TV or in any column. Dan invited me to join in, and when I can, I will definitely try and do so. Yes my name is also Dan, so I will go by Daniel on here to separate the two of us. 

I am in the heart of Big Ten Country, Columbus OH, and yes I am a Buckeye Fan. Please leave your Gator Chomps to a minimum por favor. A little know fact was that I was a big Penn State fan growing up in Philadelphia, but having lived in CBus for 20 years...the beautiful scarlet and gray takes over, and I did like Keith Byars in the Rose Bowl, circa 1985 so maybe it was naturally there. I am not a fan of PSU anymore, and dislike Michigan and Notre Dame much, much more. I was here through the dreadful Cooper years, and it has been quite a wonderful change during the Tressel era...yes even with the result of the game 2 weeks ago. More on that in another blog. College football is my love so I am coming in after the season, but maybe with the basketball Bucks looking like potential Final Four contenders, I can add some insight from that front. I do enjoy college hoops, but it isn't the same to me as football. However, OSU football is a 12 month story here in Columbus, so maybe I can provide what that is like from an actual Buckeye fan living in it. I feel I am not the typical fan that most probably feel we are like (i.e calling for Tressel's head after one bad game, throwing Troy Smith under the bus.) This happens everywhere at each major school, and from my perspective growing up, it is Notre Dame fans that I liken to this mentality. Yes as you can tell, I am not a fan of the Domers...and I also am both Irish and Catholic, so you can leave that stereotypical Irish fan out the door. I will leave that for a future post as well, as to why Notre Dame thinks they are bigger and better than everyone, should NEVER have dissed the Big 10's invite to join a decade ago, and why they actually are as overrated as most outside of South Bend agree on. However, I digress.

On the professional level, baseball and football are by far my favorites. Since I have a business directly related to pro sports, I don't really have a favorite team as I used to...whoever sells the best, I am happy with. However, Brett Favre is still by far my favorite current player. The Steelers are my favorite team if I had to pick one. Being in Ohio, I can't stand the Browns (even living in PA as a kid) and the Jailbirds, errrr the Bengals (today a 9th player, Jonathan Joseph was arrested for marijuana possession) are not a team I would be proud to be a fan of. As Dan alluded to, we have a Big Ten Super Bowl this year and I think it will be a great game. My dad is actually a big Bears fan, so I will be pulling for them. I also think they have a very good shot at winning. I am glad that Peyton finally made it to the big one...but he had to go through the Pats to do so in my opinion (like Michael did with the Pistons, and the Red Sox did in 2004 with NY.) With all of that said, I still would say that baseball is my first love. I really don't have a favorite team any longer, as noted above, but also because I just really like baseball as a whole. I must mention that the 1980 Phillies are still my favorite team and why I probably am doing what I am doing for a living nowadays. I will get more into baseball as the season approaches, and that isn't too far off, as pitchers and catchers report in about a month!

So that is a little bit about me and I am glad to be a part of the Big Ten Country. I welcome and and all comments and look forward to adding what I can to an already great blog. Daniel

A Big Ten Country Super Bowl

The celebration is underway in both Illinois and Indiana, as the AFC championship game has just ended and the Colts-Bears Super Bowl matchup is set. It's the latest in what has been a good year for the American heartland in sports, coming on top of the St. Louis-Detroit World Series and of course Ohio State reaching the national championship game.

In watching Indy rally from a 21-3 deficit in the second quarter, I couldn't help but think back to the Ohio State-Florida game. Tony Dungy did what Jim Tressel did not do in Arizona. Dungy stuck with his running game, and Joseph Addai shredded a Patriot defensive line that just wore down. If a coach with one of history's most prolific quarterbacks can stay patient and stick with the run, surely Big Ten programs should be taking note.

Peyton Manning and Indy learned what the Boston Red Sox learned in 2004--if you want to exorcise your demons, it ain't going to be easy, but it's a lot more satisfying then if it came in a blowout.

And the rest of us learned something about Manning's critics, the ones who said he couldn't win the big one. We learned they are morons. Manning rallied his team in spite of playing the fourth quarter with a bad thumb. He got the chance to do so because New England committed a stupid 12-men in the huddle penalty, preventing them from killing most of the last four minutes. Had the Patriots not committed that penalty, would Manning still be a loser? No. The only losers are the sportswriters who fail to appreciate what a fine line exists between winning and losing and how many factors beyond any one person's control--including plain old luck--exist.

What the morons learned tonight is that Manning never was a loser. And neither is Marty Schottenheimer. And neither are a lot of good men who never got over the hump, including heroes of Big Ten Country such as Gene Keady and Bo Schembecler. Maybe the losers are the elements of sports fandom that hurl these ridiculous charges about.

Congrats to Indy and Chicago!

What The Bowls Give

Of all the sporting events and institutions that dot the American landscape, none face as many challenges to their very existence as do the bowl games. From media who are unable to write about anything but their desire for a playoff, to fans who often fail to see what is at stake in all but the national championship game, the bowl game is under constant assault. I made my first visit to a live bowl game this past January 1, as Big Ten Country was on hand to cover the Wisconsin-Arkansas matchup in the Capital One Bowl. I left as someone who is essentially supportive of the bowl system and I returned even more strongly so...read more...

Iowa Struggling

Since the Big Ten started playing a postseason basketball tournament in 1998, Iowa has the event's second-best winning percentage. They are one of three schools to have won the event twice and are its defending champions. Which is worth noting, because it looks increasingly like the automatic bid given out at the United Center this March is going to the Hawks only path to the Big Dance.

Iowa fell at Indiana on Tuesday night in a 71-64 game that was not nearly as close as the score made it look. Adam Haluska gave his team 21 points, but it was a microcosm of the season--Haluska doesn't have the support to carry him any further. The Hawkeyes are at 10-8 overall (2-2 in conference play). And life isn't going to get easier. Looking down the road they have two games with Wisconsin remaining. They have yet to win on the road, and are going to need to find a way to get at least two--and perhaps three--wins away from Carver-Hawkeye in their final five conference chances. So who's up next? Ohio State, in Columbus this weekend. No, life isn't getting any easier as Steve Alford tries to right the ship in time. On top of it all, Alford is catching heat from the local press for supposedly being unfair to point guard Mike Henderson.

The Buckeyes easily rolled over Northwestern. Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch reports that Thad Matta surprised even his players when he went to a zone. It's a move that will undoubtedly be seen again, as the coach tries to prevent opposing big men from stepping outside and drawing Greg Oden away from the basket.

Illinois got a must-win game in Minnesota, starting out fast and winning easily. The win moved the Illini to 2-3 in the conference and set the stage for Saturday's big home date with Wisconsin (2 PM EST, ESPN). For their part, the Badgers struggled past Purdue. This was the second straight game since their Ohio State win that UW has labored past a beatable team. Given the Boilermakers' road problems, Wisconsin's struggles here are as noteworthy as their escape at Northwestern last weekend.

Simplifying The BCS

Throughout the whole debate regarding who should have played in the BCS National Championship Game, I tried to steer clear of arguing about what the postseason system ought to be. Such arguments have their place, but I think the media spends so much time endlessly bemoaning the flaws of the system and expounding their own agenda, that they lose sight of the primary task of simply shedding light and opinions on the system as it is. Which is a long drawn-out way of saying that I'm sick and tired of listening to them whine all season long for the last twenty years. If the system bothers you that much, go watch something else.

I would like to see changes in the postseason format, though for the most part I can be classified as a "pro-BCS" person. That's an oversimplification, but it's close enough. I would strongly like to see New Year's Day return to its place as the centerpiece of the sport, and have conference tie-ins restored. There was something unique about the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls when it was the pride and joy of one conference (or two in the case of the Rose) to get to that bowl game and win it. However, I have also liked the drama and buildup that comes with a guaranteed 1 vs. 2 game. For me, the best way to combine these two would be to return to having the major bowls on January 1, with all the conference tie-ins. And then to pick the 1 vs. 2 matchup after the bowls rather then before, with the title game played on the off week before the Super Bowl.

Such a system would combine the best of the game's tradition with the need for a national title game. It would avoid spilling playoff games into December, where they would disappear amidst the end of the NFL season, people's Christmas committments and also put the last dagger into the heart of the minor bowl games. And having the title game situated where I suggest would provide us all needed relief from the innocous Super Bowl hype.

But that's the big picture. In the meantime, there's one change the BCS should immediately adopt and save itself a heap of trouble. Declare the national championship game off-limits to any team that does not win a conference title. From a competitive standpoint, this move is irrefutable. Playoff proponents have endlessly (usually with great self-righteousness) intoned how the championship must be "settled on the field." If they somehow decide that an 8-9 game conference slate is not sufficient time on the field to eliminate all but the champion, let them cease to use this argument forevermore.

Under such a system, things get easy in a hurry. Six teams won major conference titles--Ohio State, Florida, USC, Louisville, Wake Forest and Oklahoma. Of the latter four, is there anyone who didn't honestly play themselves out of the running? Remove Michigan from the equation by law, and the argument ends. Three of the recent BCS public relations crises (2001, '03, '06) would have disappeared with this single change. At ESPN.com, Mark Schlabach doesn't share my enthusiasm for the bowl system, but this article recognizes the value in saying you need to win your conference before aspiring to greater things.

Well, I guess I did push my own agenda a little bit here. But I promise not to harp on it to the exclusion of all else come next fall.

The Reeling Illini

It's a good thing the Bears won yesterday, otherwise folks in Illinois might have to think about college basketball. And at least for the time being, Bruce Weber would surely prefer the spotlight land elsewhere. Because his Illini are reeling right now.

Illinois gave up an 11-point halftime lead in East Lansing yesterday, falling to Michigan State. It's the third loss in four conference games for Weber's team. After a 2005 campaign where they came within a possession of an undefeated regular season and a solid '06 where they earned a #4 seed in the NCAAs, the Illini have turned into a squad that would not--at least as of today, according to ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi--make it to the tournament.

What makes the 1-3 conference mark seem like more then just a little bump in the road is that two of the losses really can't be explained away. The Ohio State game you can overlook. But then losing by ten to Michigan and again yesterday to Michigan State...well, it's not horrendous since both games were on the road, but an NCAA Tournament team doesn't lose in double-digits in Ann Arbor and let a similiar-sized lead slip away in the second half. Weber takes his team to Minnesota on Wednesday night--a beatable team, but a tough environment. With Wisconsin around the corner on the weekend, there is no slack.

Speaking of Michigan, they lost their first conference game at Purdue this weekend. The Wolverines are another club that ESPN's Lunardi pegs as narrowly missing the March field. The Boilermakers are given similiar standing, and their ability to dominate at home while being inept on the road, ensure the Purdue faithful will have a lot of ups and downs this year.