ESPN Predicts the conference

Donate To GopherHole
UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
14,163
Reaction score
12,439
Points
113
Big Ten

The middle of the Big Ten will be more interesting than the conference title race this season, as Michigan State enters as the heavy favorite. Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue all bring back most of their lineups, while Michigan, Maryland, Iowa and Wisconsin could also make a case to finish in the top four. Expect up to eight NCAA tournament bids for the league.

1. Michigan State Spartans
2. Minnesota Golden Gophers
3. Northwestern Wildcats
4. Purdue Boilermakers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Maryland Terrapins
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
8. Wisconsin Badgers
9. Indiana Hoosiers
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
11. Illinois Fighting Illini
12. Ohio State Buckeyes
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...erence-race-finish-college-basketball-2017-18
 

Everything tells me otherwise, but I wouldn't be one bit shocked if Wisconsin weasels into the double bye at the BTT
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Big Ten

The middle of the Big Ten will be more interesting than the conference title race this season, as Michigan State enters as the heavy favorite. Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue all bring back most of their lineups, while Michigan, Maryland, Iowa and Wisconsin could also make a case to finish in the top four. Expect up to eight NCAA tournament bids for the league.

1. Michigan State Spartans
2. Minnesota Golden Gophers
3. Northwestern Wildcats
4. Purdue Boilermakers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Maryland Terrapins
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
8. Wisconsin Badgers
9. Indiana Hoosiers
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
11. Illinois Fighting Illini
12. Ohio State Buckeyes
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...erence-race-finish-college-basketball-2017-18
Click to expand...

It must really suck to be a Rutgers fan. Why'd we let them into the Big10. If we want TV viewers we should have instead picked up Navy. Far more Navy vets than there are people that follow Rutgers.
 

It isn’t (wasn’t) about eyeballs but more about getting onto cable/dish packages. Add Rutgers and you get millions of subscribers that now have BTN. But the times they are a changing. We will see how that pans out with everyone moving to streaming


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

That is actually funny. Badgers have a team that is much better than last year. Happ and Van Vliet will hurt anyone they play and they have 4 guards who can really shoot it.
 


markiemark09 said:
It isn’t (wasn’t) about eyeballs but more about getting onto cable/dish packages. Add Rutgers and you get millions of subscribers that now have BTN. But the times they are a changing. We will see how that pans out with everyone moving to streaming


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I have the SEC network. I've never watched a second of it.
 






UpAndUnder43 said:
Big Ten

The middle of the Big Ten will be more interesting than the conference title race this season, as Michigan State enters as the heavy favorite. Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue all bring back most of their lineups, while Michigan, Maryland, Iowa and Wisconsin could also make a case to finish in the top four. Expect up to eight NCAA tournament bids for the league.

1. Michigan State Spartans
2. Minnesota Golden Gophers
3. Northwestern Wildcats
4. Purdue Boilermakers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Maryland Terrapins
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
8. Wisconsin Badgers
9. Indiana Hoosiers
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
11. Illinois Fighting Illini
12. Ohio State Buckeyes
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...erence-race-finish-college-basketball-2017-18
Click to expand...

If the season opener is any indication, they may be overrating Indiana.
 

builtbadgers said:
That is actually funny. Badgers have a team that is much better than last year. Happ and Van Vliet will hurt anyone they play and they have 4 guards who can really shoot it.
Click to expand...

Much better than last year?? No chance.
 

builtbadgers said:
That is actually funny. Badgers have a team that is much better than last year. Happ and Van Vliet will hurt anyone they play and they have 4 guards who can really shoot it.
Click to expand...

Homer alert!
 




Breakin' The Plane said:
Everything tells me otherwise, but I wouldn't be one bit shocked if Wisconsin weasels into the double bye at the BTT
Click to expand...

In the past I would agree but the new coach has not proven himself to be as good as Bo Ryan yet.

He could this year
 

Some guy said:
In the past I would agree but the new coach has not proven himself to be as good as Bo Ryan yet.
Click to expand...

Well, very few in history have. No matter what anyone thinks of Ryan personally, he very clearly is a Hall of Fame coach.
 

Some guy said:
In the past I would agree but the new coach has not proven himself to be as good as Bo Ryan yet.

He could this year
Click to expand...

Pretty good though. 2 sweet 16's in 2 tries. He was the lead recruiter as well, so in essence they are his guys. It doesn't really matter. The Gophers will be really good, It would not surprise me to see both the Gophs and the Badgers in the top 4 in conference play. Don't sleep on the Badgers though. Built is right based on early results and History.
 

Bigeddysprings said:
Pretty good though. 2 sweet 16's in 2 tries. He was the lead recruiter as well, so in essence they are his guys. It doesn't really matter. The Gophers will be really good, It would not surprise me to see both the Gophs and the Badgers in the top 4 in conference play. Don't sleep on the Badgers though. Built is right based on early results and History.
Click to expand...

Yup. He has shown when he has talent, depth, and experience he can get them to the second weekend.

When I said “as good as Bo Ryan” I was referring to his ability to be top 4 every year even the years without as much depth or experience.
 


I’m not sure that Gard will keep the top 4 streak going forever because the conference is larger and stronger but I’m afraid they’ll be competitive or good every year.
 

Not a homer. I have season tickets and support 4 programs. Follow college basketball very closely for 50 plus years. It has literally paid for my families life. I think that the Gophers have better talent this year but have tremendous respect for Coach Gard. He is a top level evaluator, tremendous teacher and as the opponent lead scout he prepares in extreme detail. They continue the tradition of making you beat yourself. My point was picking them in that 7-8 range is based on very poor assessment.
 

builtbadgers said:
Not a homer. I have season tickets and support 4 programs. Follow college basketball very closely for 50 plus years. It has literally paid for my families life. I think that the Gophers have better talent this year but have tremendous respect for Coach Gard. He is a top level evaluator, tremendous teacher and as the opponent lead scout he prepares in extreme detail. They continue the tradition of making you beat yourself. My point was picking them in that 7-8 range is based on very poor assessment.
Click to expand...

I would not be completely surprised by a 4th place finish for them. Their talent is better than others on this board give them credit. They have proven that a highly disciplined (albeit boring) approach is very effective.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

builtbadgers said:
Not a homer. I have season tickets and support 4 programs. Follow college basketball very closely for 50 plus years. It has literally paid for my families life. I think that the Gophers have better talent this year but have tremendous respect for Coach Gard. He is a top level evaluator, tremendous teacher and as the opponent lead scout he prepares in extreme detail. They continue the tradition of making you beat yourself. My point was picking them in that 7-8 range is based on very poor assessment.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why the thought of Wisconsin being predicted to finish in the middle of the conference is so hard to fathom for Badger fans. You have 3 returning rotation players and a bunch of unknowns. Nobody outside of Wisconsin's staff really knew who and what Van Vliet and Aleem Ford are or if Pritzl was going to be the lights out shooter he's been billed as or the hot and cold player that disappears for stretches he's been so far in his career. There's also Davison and King who no one knows whether they will be impact freshmen or inconsistent like most freshmen are.

It's like Tubby at Kentucky. He won a national title with Rick Pitino's guys but when those guys left things started to go down the drain. Gard has to prove himself with his own guys no matter how well thought of he is in Wisconsin circles. From the sounds of it Wisconsin's showed well early. What happens when Happ gets in foul trouble? How do your inexperienced guys handle a tough road environment? There's no way of knowing that yet. I expect Wisconsin to be solid but those guys have questions to answer as do the Gophers and everyone else.
 

I’ve seen enough of Gard to tell that he’ll keep similar momentum. Have we not learned anything watching their football program? Granted, Andersen may have changed them enough to start to move downward after a few years, but if they get guys that know their system and want to stay, they win.
 


Winasota Gopher said:
On paper Wisconsin isn’t a top 4 team.

We all know better.
Click to expand...

I know you are basically agreeing with me, but places like KenPom do predict this stuff almost every year. He’s got them ranked top 4 in the B10 right now.
 


builtbadgers said:
That is my point, they do not play the games on paper.
Click to expand...

To agree in principle but take it a step further again, the results do play themselves out on paper so to speak over time. Many of the years where we would say “they’re not that good” and then end up saying “oh crap, yeah they are,” it was usually reflected in KenPom and Sagarin.

I think KenPom himself would admit a wise degree of uncertainty for a team like this year’s wisconsin, but if the teams played right now on a neutral court, the badgers likely open up as favorites. Seriously. Might get bet the other way quickly but it likely would open that way.

I’m not saying I am terrified that they’re still as good or better than us, nor do I agree with the robots every time...but I am not surprised anymore because these things are a pretty good measure. I’d still bet on us this year but I’m not putting the badgers that low.

Case in point on uncertainty: we were ranked fairly low (not that low) to open KenPom last year, but also case in point, it generally is right about wisconsin due to their efficient style of play.
 

Who saw that Indiana got wolloped? Long year in Bloomington coming up
 

RickDornsby said:
To agree in principle but take it a step further again, the results do play themselves out on paper so to speak over time. Many of the years where we would say “they’re not that good” and then end up saying “oh crap, yeah they are,” it was usually reflected in KenPom and Sagarin.

I think KenPom himself would admit a wise degree of uncertainty for a team like this year’s wisconsin, but if the teams played right now on a neutral court, the badgers likely open up as favorites. Seriously. Might get bet the other way quickly but it likely would open that way.

I’m not saying I am terrified that they’re still as good or better than us, nor do I agree with the robots every time...but I am not surprised anymore because these things are a pretty good measure. I’d still bet on us this year but I’m not putting the badgers that low.

Case in point on uncertainty: we were ranked fairly low (not that low) to open KenPom last year, but also case in point, it generally is right about wisconsin due to their efficient style of play.
Click to expand...

I think the Gophers have the preferable roster. Simply think 7th for UW is a low probability, very low. Could it happen ? Of course but i love the wager that they beat 5th.
 

builtbadgers said:
I think the Gophers have the preferable roster. Simply think 7th for UW is a low probability, very low. Could it happen ? Of course but i love the wager that they beat 5th.
Click to expand...

I’m agreeing with you. I still like the Gophs but I think Wisconsin will be in the mix. The oddsmakers agree.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom