Badger Bowl Update

1. Jack will not be playing.

2. As for who the Badgers will be playing we know that it will certainly not be the winner of Florida/Ark tonite and it will also probably not be LSU now that the Rose Bowl will have a 94 Wisconsin situation on its hand if they pick LSU. I dont even think Rudy would take ND over LSU right now either.

The probably opponent will be the loser of tonight's game, especially if that is Florida. So here is a percentage breakdown of the possible Jan 1 opponents:

LSU: Until the Rose Bowl makes it official anything is possible. 1%

Auburn: Only if the Gators win and the Cotton Bowl takes Arkansas (although I think the Cap One Bowl gets first pick) and if after all that they want Auburn to bore Central Florida for the second straight year: 10%

Tennessee: Florida wins, Arkansas goes to Dallas and they pick Tennessee over Auburn: 25%

Florida: Definite with a loss, but I bet they win tonight: 30%

Arkansas: Loses tonight and either the Cap Bowl picks them over Auburn and UT (I think they would) or the Cotton Bowl takes Auburn first (also think they would) and Arkansas makes everyone in Orlando forget they went 0-2 to end the season: 34%



Personally, I like Wisconsin's chances against anyone on this list. Tennessee actually scares me the most because they can score a lot of points in bunches (see the Georgia game). LSU would be the best game with Florida right behind. No one wants to see Auburn get their ass kicked again- oh wait EVERYONE wants to see Auburn and Tommy T get their assk kicked again except my friend Ginny who is a huge Tiger fan. Arkansas would be a great matchup for Wisconsin- they cant pass to save their lives, they can only run the ball, they play good defense, but they would be going in with 2 straight losses in a season where they had like 8 big games- and then you would ask them to get up for a noon game in Orlando- good luck with that one.

Power Rankings, football

A little bit different than the premise of the bball rankings. This year the Big 10 basically has 3 tiers. The 3 elite teams, the 4 mediocre bowl teams, and the 4 non bowl teams that are not bowl eligible because of their own ineptness.

I'm ranking the top 7 based on this year and the bottom 4 based on both this season and the status of their program and while I am at it I will point out their ineptness.


1. OSU: #1 team gets the #1 spot
2. Michigan: Beat Wisconsin so they go here
3. Wisconsin: because no other team is even in the team photo with these three

4. Penn State: Because they actually play defense
5. Minnesota: Because they flogged everyone down the stretch and are playing better than anyone in the bottom 8 right now
6. Purdue: Because they didnt go 2-6 in the Big 10
7. Iowa: Because they did

8. Illinois: Lost 33-0 to Rutgers and then closed with a loss to Northwestern. Nice work guys. But their defense can hit and Juice can get loose, and Zook can recruit, and this is a team that will play on or after Jan 1 in the next 3 years.

9. Indiana: If they would have beaten Southern Illinois they would be headed for the Motor City Bowl. On second thought, maybe that loss wasnt so bad afterall. On top of that, they shouldn't feel so bad, the basketball team would probably lose to SIU as well. Personally, I think over the next 3-5 years they will have better teams than Illinois and probably Minnesota. But I think the ceiling for Illinois is much higher than Indiana. While I can see Illinoi in the Outback Bowl in 2 years, I really can only see IU climbing to the #5 Bowl spot from the Big 10.

10. Mich State. They pissed away that ND game and lost at home to Illinois when Illinois really stunk. But getting rid of John L. Smth moves them ahead of NU.

11. They got blown out at home by New Hampshire and blew a 35-3 lead over Mich St. That's hard to do. While I want Northwestern to go 0-11 every year and burn down their ugly ass stadium I do want Pat to do well and I think the players deserved better after their coach died during the summer. That being said, an easy choice for #11

Power Rankings, Basketball

On my old blog I used to bore people with my Big 10 power rankings. So now, I guess I'll start boring people here.

If anyone wants to join in, please feel free. This rankings are based on what I have seen and heard so far and are for this season only:

1. Wisconsin: Until Greg Oden plays one minute, the Badgers are #1
2. Ohio St.: Impressive effort at UNC without the big man.
3. Indiana: Good effort at an overrated Duke. Sampson will find away to mess up even in a bad Big 10 this year
4. Mich State: Really thought they would win at BC. I think they are a little underrated. They remind me of the 01-02 team that struggled all season long but still made it to March
5. Illinois: This team is not very good. I'm wondering where they are going to get their non-3 point scoring punch from. If they get cold from behind the arc they will get run out the gym. They have 17-18 wins written all over them
6. Michigan: Terrible effort at NC State. Now that Monson is out, how long until Tommy finds the ax?
7: Penn State: I really wanted to put them higher. I think they could mount a run at an NCAA bid, especially if Illinois and Michigan are as overrated as I think they are
8. Purdue: The same as Penn State. I see anywhere from 15-19 wins. They way they crushed DePaul was very impressive
9. Iowa: Or does Alford jump Ammaker after this year in the "next bad Big 10 coach to go sweepstakes"?
10. Minnesota: Only because of the addition by subtraction of getting rid of a coach that parlayed 4 good games into 7 years of underachieving at a basketball school
11. Northwestern. Bad, bad, bad team. But, hey, at least they beat their ACC opponent.


Also, while we are at it, lets rate the coaches most likely to be gone by this time next year:

1. Molinari
2. Ammaker
3. Alford
4. Carmody
5. Weber
6. Motta (to another school)
7. Painter
8. DiChellis
9. Sampson (to an NCAA probe)
10. Izzo (to coach football)
11. Ryan

Bowl Opponent Remains a Mystery

Florida, Arkansas, LSU, and Tennessee are all in the running for a berth in the Capitol One Bowl opposite Wisconsin. This Saturday's SEC championship game between the first two teams should lend clarity to the picture. A Florida victory opens the door for LSU to join them in the BCS mix, leaving Orlando officials a choice between Tennessee and Arkansas. Given the Vols' tendency to travel and Arkansas' proximity to the Cotton Bowl, Tennesee is the most likely opponent. Auburn is also eligible with only two losses to the Vols' three, but bowl officials aren't interested in a rematch.

Go Ugly Early

It is safe to say that Wisconsin has gotten off to better starts than they did Tuesday night, missing their first five shots and not being able to establish any rhythm on offense. But luckily the Seminoles started even worse, not getting on the scoreboard until the 15 minute mark of the first half. The Seminoles also committed 14 turnovers in the 1st half.

Against a quality opponent, Wisconsin would have found themselves behind in the first half. In fact, the first half looked eerily reminiscent to the Badgers' offensive performance in the Missouri State game, except the Seminoles' guards could not play the part of Blake Ahern and the hot shooting MSU Bears. The Badgers will have to improve on the offensive end if they are going to hang with teams like Pitt and Marquette.

As Rick Majerus pointed out, the key to stopping Wisconsin on offense is to force them to make outside shots. FSU did a good job in the first half mixing in a 2-3 zone to the base man-to-man defense. Bo Ryan and the coaching staff should expect to see more opponents use zone defenses to disrupt their offensive flow. I still believe that Jason Bohannon could be the guard to join Kam Taylor legitimate three point threats.

The Badgers flexed their muscles in the second half and extended an 11 point lead at half to 20. The Badgers shot a blistering 57.7% (15 for 26) in the second half, when they had 11 assists. So as bad the Badgers were on offense in the 1st half, they more than made up for it in the 2nd half.

Upon Further Review...

While Michigan failed to overcome a 21-point deficit against NC State last night, the JS did a great job of analyzing the ACC's dominance over the Big Ten the past seven seasons. Mismatches at the top (see Indiana vs. Duke or UNC), teams not playing (OSU when they won the conference), and poor play by the Big Ten's bottom feeders are to blame for the 0-7 streak. The Big Ten often sends more teams to the dance, and trails the ACC only marginally in Final Four trips. Let's hope the Badgers take care of business against an ACC team picked to finish 5th and propel a season long push toward Atlanta.

First Class On and Off Court

Puff piece on Badger senior basketball player Alando Tucker. I know he's a tweener with a questionable midrange jumper and is inconsistent at the charity stripe, but there has to be an NBA team that needs an excellent finisher who plays through the final horn.

Sparty Hires Mark Dantonio

Cincinnati coach returns after serving as assisant under Saban and Williams. He also worked under Tressel at Youngstown St. and OSU, and began his coaching career with the Buckeyes under Earle Bruce.

Big Ten-ACC Challenge

Michigan kicks off the 8th annual non-conference tournament this evening, with the ACC winning the first seven. Herb Gould contends that the ACC is simply a better conference top to bottom, year in, year out. UNC and Duke are consistently superior to top Big Ten teams, and the ACC's bottom feeders are far better than Northwestern, Penn St., and Purdue.

Back in the Saddle Again

Solid win in the third-place game of the South Padre Island Invitational for the Badger basketball team. They jumped to an early lead, got excellent guard play (kudos to Taylor, Flowers, and Bohannon), and generally handled Auburn's pressure defense well. They made as many FT's (19) as Auburn attempted, and this was the difference in the ourcome, but still missed 11 and shot below 70%, a continued cause for concern. Pitt took care of FSU on Friday, so we should have a better indication of how the team stacks up against the best of the Big East (Marquette's in this company) come Tuesday evening.