Comments on: Give the guys in Bristol some credit

By: SpartanDan

SpartanDan — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:02:07 +0000

>> Not to be picky, but North Carolina showed itself much better that year.

Only because the NCAA apparently legalized the infamous Sean May “elbow, elbow, hey where’d those guys guarding me go, DUNK!” move.

By: Ryan (collegefastbreak)

Ryan (collegefastbreak) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:14:32 +0000

I think your off base with the Lion’s wide receiver tip– remember, we have the league’s smallest center and most overpaid tackle protecting the NFC’s best QB… quite a recipe for success.

By: DP99

DP99 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:14:10 +0000

“Moreover, in 2005, they did not win the big ten because Illinois was the best team in the country.”

Not to be picky, but North Carolina showed itself much better that year. Still, point is there was a nice little gap between Illinois and the next team.

As conference play goes, this year may MSU have an (more) experienced play-making true point-guard, a novelty since year 2000. So conference-foe familiarity issues they’ve since then may not be as much an issue this year. I think the conference performance should catch up to tourney performance this year.

By: hubert

hubert — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:39:26 +0000

Ben,

Granted that Izzo’s teams peak late in the season, for whatever reason. Nonetheless, it is hard to see how the same team that could not win a pretty mediocre Big ten this coming year would also be in so many people’s final four list. Moreover, in 2005, they did not win the big ten because Illinois was the best team in the country. I just don’t think Purdue is that great a team, and if MSU can’t win the league in a down year, why expect them to make a run in march?

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:18:44 +0000

Hubert — I don’t see that same disjunction. Since 2002-ish, our NCAA tournament performance has far exceeded our success in the conference, nor do I think (off the top of my head) one has had any meaningful correlation with the other. (Probably because we have to play Wisconsin at least twice in B10 play, and we haven’t in the NCAA tournament — gah.)

I guess what I’m saying is that I wouldn’t be surprised if we made the Final Four even if our conference performance is comparatively crappy. It certainly wouldn’t be without recent precedent (2005, and we’ve also made decent tournament runs — 2003, 2008 — in years when we’ve missed the mark in conference play).

By: (AMENDED) Move right along, nothing to see here . . . « Up With The Colors

(AMENDED) Move right along, nothing to see here . . . « Up With The Colors — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:07:23 +0000

[...] . . Jump to Comments (UPDATED 8/11): I’m going to put this up top here, as a result of kj’s link to this page today. As can be seen in my comments below, I’ve regretted this post from [...]

By: hubert

hubert — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:30:35 +0000

Hmmm. There is a real disjuncture between all the final four talk around MSU (see ESPN Katz’s hopeful take) and this idea that they will come in second in the Big Ten. I’m not sure I’m on the Purdue band wagon quite yet. They had a great middle third of the season last year, but started poorly and ended in a slump. Hummel is fun to watch, particularly when his outside shot is falling. But… they are small, not very deep and lack an experienced point guard. And yet, they are in everyone’s top ten. I’m just not convinced yet.

So who wins it? On paper, there is no doubt MSU has the most talent, and they have more experience than last year. If MSU finally wins a couple away games, they really should. Everyone has Wisconsin in the top 3, basically on the basis of Ryan’s sheer genius. Again, I’m not convinced, because I think he’s had more talent in the past than observers give him credit for. I think they’ll miss Flowers and Butch. Where are the points going to come from? Finally, Ohio State is really under the radar screen, but they have a lot of talent, again, and a bit more experience in the back court. My prediction?

1. MSU
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Wisconsin