Who's Hot?

Madison, according to the January 22nd issue of SI.

From page 29: "Wisconsin, Playboy's top party school in 2006, keeps getting more reasons to celebrate: After a 12-1 football season (the best in school history) the No. 3-ranked Badgers hoops team had won 13 straight games (make that 14)(longest streak since 1941) behind player of the year candidate Alando Tucker.

Famed football holder Mike Schneck also received special mention in a section devoted to athletes who sustained injuries as a result of excessive celebration ("Agony of Ecstasy," page 20). He tacked Matt "Money" Davenport after he kicked a game-winning FG against the Hoosier Daddies in 1997 and dislocated his elbow.

Bigger than the Beatles, Part I

I continue my conference breakdowns tonight with a breakdown of the Big East. Let's be honest here, the Big East is one good team and then a heaping pile of dog crap. "But TR," you might say, "ESPN said that the Big East would be the greatest college basketball conference ever, and that they could break the record of 7 for most teams in the NCAA tourney." Well, if I can take you away from Mike Tranghese's talking points for 5 minutes, think about the ACC in football.

Remember when the ACC expanded to 12 teams and we were told that the ACC would rule college football forever? I mean it was only like 3 years ago and we were told that a conference with Miami, FSU, Va Tech, Clemson, BC, and more would have to produce at least 2 BCS teams every year and be guaranteed a birth in the national title game every year. Yet three short garbage years later and the ACC was represented by Wake Freaking Forest in the Orange Bowl. Last year, they were represented by a 8-4 FSU team that was complete crap.
So what happened?
Well, first of all, Miami and Va Tech's constrant recruiting of thugs finally caught up with them. Bobby Bowden's hemmoraging of assistant coaches every year hurt FSU too, but still the ACC shouldn't be the worst BCS conference just because of that, right? The ACC has other issues however. First of all, the addition of 3 high profile teams and the addition of a conf title game brought the other programs more cash. Smart programs like Wake Forest and Maryland invested in their football programs. 8 years ago top ACC teams could count on an automatic win versus those teams, they certainly cannot anymore. In addition, adding 3 solid programs meant tougher conference schedules for everyone involved. Virginia and Clemson used to get to play Duke every year, now only one of them (and I dont know which) gets that game every year, the other has to play Miami or FSU every year and loses the Devils. Big difference. So the 5-8 teams got better at the expense of the 1-4 teams and the result is massive mediocrity in the ACC.

Re-wind to 2 years ago and the creation of the new Big East for basketball. Adding Louisville, Cincinatti, Marquette, and DePaul to go along with championship programs like Syracuse, Villanova, UConn, and Georgetown had to make this the mother of all megaconferences, right?

I mean, in my short lifetime, look at how many of these teams made final 4's or won titles, or had "top 5" programs over a short time:

Pitt: Top 5 program
Syracuse: Title
Gtown: Title
Nova: Title
St Johns: Final 4
UConn: 2 titles
Louisville: Title
Cincy: Final 4
MU: Final 4
Providence: Final 4
Seton Hall: Final 4
DePaul: Top 5 program (Early 80s people)

That is 12 of 16 teams. And the 4 I didnt mention:

Rutgers & S. Florida (duh)
West Virginia (a team minutes away from a Final 4 two years ago)
Notre Dame (one of the most known athletic programs in the nation)

So on paper this was a megaconference.

But then the same thing that plauged the ACC plauged the Big East. There have been fewer gimme wins for the 4-8 teams. Instead of getting to kick the snot out of Providence twice every year, Georgetown now has one game against Providence and one game at Louisville or at Cincy, or they have to welcome bi-polar DePaul to Washington. So in the past when the mediocre Big East teams that always scheduled 11 crap non-conf games and then the one game against a Pac-10 team where they would get slaughtered, and still knew that 8-8 in conference and a win in MSG would get them dancing now sees that 8-8 record become a 5-11 record and they dont even get a trip to the conference tourney. Some people might see that as a sign that the conference is strong 1-15. I see it as a conference mired in mediocrity, an overrated conference whose underlings constantly rode the coattails of the two best teams, now being devoid of those quality teams because everyone loses on the road and we get one good team and a load of 7 to 9 win teams that play Mount St. Mary's, Campbell, Rider, and Cornell for 3 months and show up to Midtown Manhattan in March with two good wins, three terrible losses and a need to win 2 games in New York just to stay off the bubble. These teams tend to be terribly overrated and get bounced early either in NY or the next week in primetime. If there ever was a poster child for this team it was Syracuse (or Pitt) last year. Syracuse went from bubble to a freaking 5 seed and an exit agains the Aggies. Pitt was the 6 seed at the Big East Tourney, lost to the Cuse and ended up getting a 5 seed and then getting flogged in the 2nd round by Bradley.

At least last year the Big East had some quality teams- mostly in the form of UConn, Villanova, and West Virginia. This year does any team other than Pitt scare anyone? And even that Pitt team got destroyed at Wisconsin and lost at Okie State.

The Big East of 2006-2007 is the basketball equivalent of the football ACC of 2006.

I hope to break down the 16 teams, the pretenders, the contenders, and Cincinatti with my next post which hopefully will be tomorrow. Stay Tuned.

Pollyanna or Half Empty?

Skip Myslenski continued with his gushing over the basketball Badgers despite their rather pedestrian performance against Purdue last evening. He contends that all that stands between the Badgers running the table is themselves. While he's probably right, the likelihood of this happening is slim and none from where I sit. Illinois almost accomplished the feat two years ago before losing their final game to OSU on the road. Indiana was the last team to do so in 1976. Here's why a 30-year drought will become 31 before February yields to March (January 20th and 31st are also potential pitfalls).

1. The Badgers aren't nearly as balanced or talented as the 2004-2005 Illini.

2. The league is more competitive top-to-bottom than it was in the mid-1970's. One need look no further than the resurgence of Wisconsin basketball.

3. The Badgers aren't a particularly strong shooting team, from the field or at the line. This lessens the margin for error, particularly on the road.

4. The Badgers will be lucky to win 1 of these 4 road games: Illinois, Indiana, MSU, and OSU. Wins at Penn St., Minnesota, and Iowa likely secure a conference championship, assuming 5 more wins at home.

Don't get me wrong, I hope Skip's on the mark. By weathering a miserable shooting performance by our top two scorers last evening, not to mention horrible FT shooting, Wisconsin still beat a NCAA tournament bubble team. They can't replicate this act on the road in any BT venue, however. Bo should have their eyes in practice today and tomorrow because Bucky won't be riding Jason Chappel's back to Atlanta.

Landry Times Two

Marcus and Carl Landry meet tonight for the first and probably only time as opponents as Bucky tries to improve to 4-0 in th BT for the 2nd straight season. Carl is competing with Tucker for conference player of the year, while Marcus is preparing to be #42's successor.

Both are products of Milwaukee Vincent, perhaps the top program in the state led by Tom Diener. I coached against him and also watched his teams from afar. They ran Bennett's motion offense and played his press/ pack man-to-man on the other end, but were able to adjust their tempo to each opponent. They made slower teams compete in a track meet and dragged more athletic teams through Bennett-ball's blocker-mover marathons.

Marcus has displayed this versatility in recent weeks as he's become the most valuable player off the bench and instrumental down the stretch of close games. His continued development is key to a deep run for Bucky, as the guard play has solidified, #42 continues to be his stellar self, and our bigs provide 35 fouls for the offing. A second scorer in the post completes the package.

More 2007 College Football Projections

Mark Schlabach has the Badgers at #5, beneath Michian (3), and ahead of OSU (9) and Penn St. (14). He points to a tougher schedule without NW and Purdue as OSU and MSU return.

Stewart Mandel of SI places Bucky at #7, once again below Michigan (6) and ahead of OSU (9). No mention of Joe Pa and Penn St.

Rock Over Paper and Scissors

The Chicago Sun-Times named Kam Taylor Big Ten Player of the week for his virtuoso performance against OSU and clutch play down the stretch against NW. They claim Bucky will be tough to beat with National Player of the Year candidate Tucker and Flowers shooting at a 62.5% clip in league play.

The balance of the article focuses on the tough road ahead for Tom Izzo and MSU, and also claims that with a #5 conference rating in the Sagarin poll, the BT will struggle to land dance cards for teams that lose at home and fail to steal a few on the road. Beyond UW, OSU, and IU, I think the remaining 8 teams will struggle in this respect.

The Big "O"

Skip Myslenski of the Chicago Tribune contends that Greg Oden is probably overrated at this point of the season. He points to the fact that Jason Chappel effectively shut him down last Tuesday, and despite his impressive performance against Tennessee on Saturday, he owns only one offensive move, the dunk.

Myslenski also points to the fact that the Badgers best floor unit contains neither Chapppel nor Butch. Landry and Krabbenhoff, when combined with Tucker, Taylor, and Flowers, make a formidable five on both ends of the floor. Landry can man the middle given his long arms and major ups. I'd like to see Stiemsma play more with this unit when Tucker takes a breath, as Landry can assume his role in the offense.

Watch the Badgers Beat the Boilers and other aliteration

Since I decided to have nappy time after the game yesterday and was not able to meet up with Shawn and Liz and since MLR and I had to leave too early on New Years Day we want to invite everyone to join us at Redmond's Wednesday night for Badger basketball action. We'll probably go somewhere on the 31st for the Indiana game as well.

Go Red!

Week Two Big Ten Rankings

This will become obvious over time as each team's conference record speaks for itself, but the league is still sorting itself out so such speculation seems worthwhile for the time being.

1. Wisconsin: Defended their home court, and avoided the usual in Evanston. 3-0.

2. OSU: Almost sent Bucky to OT at the Kohl Center, and first win against a ranked opponent yesterday as Oden lived up to his hype. 2-1.

3. Indiana: Destroyed Izzo's Spartans a week ago, nice road win at Penn State. 3-1

4. Purdue: Beat 2-1 Michigan handily, but struggled against rival Hoosiers. 2-2.

5. MSU: Needed to beat Illinois today on their home floor to stop the bleeding. Mission accomplished. NCAA bid still attainable. 2-2.

6. Michigan: Third place as we speak, but I see them fading down the stretch as the schedule stiffens. 2-1.

7. Iowa: Haluska makes them competitive, and FT shooting will made them tough to beat at Carver-Hawkeye. 1-1.

8. Penn State: Toss-up with UI, will fight for an NIT bid. 1-2.

9. Illinois: The season is spiraling out of control despite winning at home on Wednesday. 1-3.

10. Minnesota: Best player out for a month on a bad team to begin with. Worst uniforms and weakest mascot. At least they have hockey... 1-2.

11. Northwestern: Failed to knock off Bucky for the third straight year, lack playmakers on offense to win on the road. Will steal one or two in Evanston. 0-4.

Not This Year

The ingredients were in place for another Badger collapse at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Despite a decisively pro-Badger contingent eager to errupt, Northwestern mixed up their zones, trapped us in the corners, back-screened and cut to the basket, and turned 15 UW turnovers into 28 points while holding the Badgers to 2-12 behind the arc. Bo's boys refused to fold, however, as Alando Tucker shook off double and triple teams to will the team to a victory, with key contributions from Landry and Kam Taylor down the stretch. Coach Ryan improved to 2-3 at NW, but more importantly this year's team is now 17-1 and tied for the fewest losses in college basketball. A few observations from yesterday's 56-50 win.

1. While Butch scored early against NW, using his decisive size advantage, he clogged up the lane as the game proceeded and seems unable to catch a simple bounce pass. The team put the game away with #32 on the bench, opening alleys to the basket for Alando Tucker.

2. The zebras allowed NW to set moving screens at the top of the circle, particularly by #52. The Badgers didn't play poor defensively, chasing screens when possible and switching when necessary. A few backdoor cuts led to easy baskets, but overall, not a bad day at the office.

3. UW was forced to set up its offense too high. This led to errant perimeter passes, forced post entries, and ill-advised shots as the clock winded down. The team seems most vulnerable against any zone, particularly those that trap the sidelines.

4. Tucker passed Danny Jones as the #2 scorer in UW history. He's 290 points away from Finley with at least 15 games remaining (13 regular season, 1 BT Tournament, 1 NCAA). If he continues to average 20 points he'll break it at the end of the regular season or in Chicago.

5. #52's cheap shot at Landry was despicable, as were the three different shots delivered at him on the defensive possession that followed. He was actually whistled for the third elbow that he absorbed. The fact that he kept his composure and sealed the victory with two blocked 3 pointers is a credit to his maturity over the course of the last year.