There will be three Big Ten teams in the Final Four

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That would be crazy. I was thinking if any year for that to happen, this could be it. But it's definitely unlikely
 



Wiscy goes down in round 1. Yay.
 







If there is ever a year for it, this is it. Brackets shaped up well for the Big Ten, in my opinion. Only one Big Ten team in with Gonzaga. Eight others spread throughout the rest of the field. No dominate team as in year's past. Easily could see based on seedings and such something like six or seven Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16. At some point, they may be knocking each other out of the tourney.
 
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howeda7 said:
I like Illinois to make it. Michigan is too banged up. I don't think OSU is good enough and I refuse to root for Iowa to do so.
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The same OSU team that's gone toe-to-toe with Illinois and Michigan all season and beaten every team in the B1G isn't good enough? I disagree with you there.

Michigan I don't see happening... tough draw and no Livers is tough.
Illinois I absolutely see making the final four.
Iowa I could only see making it if Gonzaga gets bounced before they have to play them.
Ohio State I could see but hard to predict because of their wide range of play.

I'll go with 2.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
I'm with you. Think the Big East put 3 in once.
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Yeah Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's in the mid 80's. Villanova won it as an 8 or 9 seed. Georgetown was defending champion maybe with Patrick Ewing and St. John's had Chris Mullen.

BTW, I think ZERO B1G teams make the Final 4....but Illinois may make it....they look pretty good.
 



GameDay said:
The same OSU team that's gone toe-to-toe with Illinois and Michigan all season and beaten every team in the B1G isn't good enough? I disagree with you there.

Michigan I don't see happening... tough draw and no Livers is tough.
Illinois I absolutely see making the final four.
Iowa I could only see making it if Gonzaga gets bounced before they have to play them.
Ohio State I could see but hard to predict because of their wide range of play.

I'll go with 2.
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I think OSU will make the Sweet 16, they got a decent draw. They just don't wow me the way Illinois does game after game. Iowa could, but it's Fran, they'll slip up somewhere.
 


The Gonzaga region is weird.
Seems like they ALWAYS get an easy draw in my opinion.
Big Ten is toughest conference top to bottom this year.
Gonzaga has one Big Ten team in their region where a balance would have a minimum of two.
The team they draw is Iowa.
A team they easily handled early in the season.

#1. Why is that the region with only one Big Ten Team where there are two regions where the Big Ten is a #1 seed.

#2. Why do you schedule potential rematches? Switching Iowa and the 7th best team (3rd #2 seed) wouldn't have worked?
 


tjgopher said:
If there is ever a year for it, this is it. Brackets shaped up well for the Big Ten, in my opinion. Only one Big Ten team in with Gonzaga. Ten others spread throughout the rest of the field. No dominate team as in year's past. Easily could see based on seedings and such something like six or seven Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16. At some point, they may be knocking each other out of the tourney.
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Confused, i thought only 9 made it ?
 


60's Guy said:
Maybe the first year in history all three of the trio of Duke, Kentucky and Minnesota is not even in the field competing for the title?
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Not much different from when Duke and Kentucky weren’t in the field!

I mean, why include the Gophers?
 

howeda7 said:
I think OSU will make the Sweet 16, they got a decent draw. They just don't wow me the way Illinois does game after game. Iowa could, but it's Fran, they'll slip up somewhere.
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Fair. I personally think there is a wide range of outcomes for them. That being said, I'd love to see Iowa and Bucky get bounced early (even if it is bad for B1G), and hopefully the rest of the top teams + maybe a squad like Purdue can make deep runs and show well for the conference.
 


cjbfbp said:
1985 - Villanova, Georgetown, and St. John's. The coach of the 4th team, Memphis (then known as Memphis State) said that his team was in the tournament as the winner of the non-Catholic school championship.
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Keith Lee was a stud for Memphis State. Terrific talent in that Final Four, but that was the story of ‘80s basketball. Ewing won one title and lost two others by a total of 3 points. Georgetown was so close to being a dynasty.
 


WindyCityGopher said:
Keith Lee was a stud for Memphis State. Terrific talent in that Final Four, but that was the story of ‘80s basketball. Ewing won one title and lost two others by a total of 3 points. Georgetown was so close to being a dynasty.
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Yes, Keith Lee was a great college player. He averaged a double double in each of his first three years and just missed another one in his senior year. That Memphis team made the final 16 in each of his first three years but was knocked out by the Olajuwon led Houston in the last two. They finally made the final four in his senior year. Unfortunately, he only lasted 3 years in the NBA.

I think that period from 80-89 was the greatest stretch in the NCAA tournament finals history. If you take out Indiana's 15 point victory in 1981 and Georgetown's 9 point victory in 1984, the remaining 8 title games had an average margin of victory of 2.5 points. There were three 1 point games.

Georgetown was close to being a dynasty in that era. They played well enough to win the 1985 title game but Villanova just played a damn near perfect game. And, as you mentioned, they were one bucket from beating a North Carolina team that started James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Michael Jordan.
 

howeda7 said:
I think OSU will make the Sweet 16, they got a decent draw. They just don't wow me the way Illinois does game after game. Iowa could, but it's Fran, they'll slip up somewhere.
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I have no clue what to make of Ohio State. They seem like the kind of team that could go really far or bow out quickly. Sweet 16 or maybe even elite 8 feels like a good prediction for them.

If Michigan is fully healthy they have a shot but banged up I'm not sure.

I really like Illinois, so that probably guarantees they get eliminated early. I just think they have the kind of team makeup that could be really hard for teams to deal with. Cockburn is a beast down low and Ayo is amazing. That combo will be a nightmare for most teams to defend.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, Keith Lee was a great college player. He averaged a double double in each of his first three years and just missed another one in his senior year. That Memphis team made the final 16 in each of his first three years but was knocked out by the Olajuwon led Houston in the last two. They finally made the final four in his senior year. Unfortunately, he only lasted 3 years in the NBA.

I think that period from 80-89 was the greatest stretch in the NCAA tournament finals history. If you take out Indiana's 15 point victory in 1981 and Georgetown's 9 point victory in 1984, the remaining 8 title games had an average margin of victory of 2.5 points. There were three 1 point games.

Georgetown was close to being a dynasty in that era. They played well enough to win the 1985 title game but Villanova just played a damn near perfect game. And, as you mentioned, they were one bucket from beating a North Carolina team that started James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Michael Jordan.
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Even more, I believe the 80s were the greatest stretch in the history of college basketball. Great players that stayed 3-4 years, great teams, great conferences, great coaches, great rivalries, great tournaments with great finishes. It's when I fell madly in love with the sport.
 

Honestly except Gonzaga I am not sure there is much difference between the top teams and the 20th team. Which could lead to 2-3 or could lead to 0
 

Otis said:
Not much different from when Duke and Kentucky weren’t in the field!

I mean, why include the Gophers?
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Did you see the title of the message board? We are the Gophers. Sometimes you gotta laugh through the tears to cope.
 

ethomasp31 said:
Yeah Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's in the mid 80's. Villanova won it as an 8 or 9 seed. Georgetown was defending champion maybe with Patrick Ewing and St. John's had Chris Mullen.

BTW, I think ZERO B1G teams make the Final 4....but Illinois may make it....they look pretty good.
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And so it starts....so many on here said three teams from the B1G in the Final 4.....they will be lucky to get one....and that would be Illinois.
 

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