For tonight, we dine in Detroit"As I've watched Big Ten basketball this year I don't think they're anywhere close to the Big East or the Atlantic Coast Conference. I think they're a long way from both of those conferences."
Those were the words of Bob Knight on Selection Sunday shortly after the Big Ten earned seven NCAA tournament bids. And he wasn’t the only one thinking that. Billy Packer mentioned the “tremendous disparity between the value” of the Big Ten and the Big East and ACC. A few days earlier, Digger Phelps went out of his way to point out how poor and low-scoring the conference was as he dismissed talk of the Spartans earning a one seed.
So it’s with such great pleasure that we turn to tonight’s matchup between the ACC’s best in North Carolina, and the Big Ten champ that just finished thumping two consecutive one seeds to get here. It’s only of minor importance that the aforementioned top seeds to get dispatched by the Spartans hailed from the mighty Big East, of course, or that Izzo's squad knocked off three of the top 13 teams in the nation per the final coaches poll.
Nor is it important that despite getting shafted with lower seeds (four teams ranked eighth or lower compared to one combined out of the Big East and ACC) and thus facing tougher roads, the conference saw its teams knock off two higher seeded ACC foes in the opening round, knock out the Pac-10 regular season and tournament champions and crush the Big 12 and Big East champs. And don't forget, the conference's 8th-best team knocked off Florida and Notre Dame on the way to the NIT championship. Scoffable, perhaps, but surely an indicator of depth.
No, all that is important is to watch a little basketball, observe the combination of hard, physical defense and manic officiating put on in the Midwest and declare the league overrated. Hey, it worked for ESPN and college football, didn't it? It's nothing short of lazy analysis by guys that should know better -- forgetting the fact that solid defense and rebounding can still win a game here and there.
This isn't to say that the conference is packed with teams as talented as the Spartans because it clearly isn't. And it's true, Wisconsin games are capable of permanently damaging your eyes. But unlike football, where you saw the warning signs building from the disastrous end of the 2006 campaign through the Appalachian State stunner to where we are today, the Big Ten has more than held it's own in college hoops this entire decade.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney has noticed, and although the last time he went to bat for the Big Ten, he earned some deserved criticism, he's 100% correct this time.
Comments
Well said.
Delany should have said:
"Suck it Bitches. Suck it."
good Lord, pryor looks like a defensive end, that dude is massive
also i'm glad to see Tressel still sporting the granny shades
I've never rooted for Michigan State so hard in my life
what is this post in reference to?
In the immortal words of Shaq to Kobe, me to Digger, Billy Packer, and all those honks at the 4letter: "How my ass taste?"
Yes I enjoyed the run MSU has put forward. I don't really cheer against these guys b/c they were head and shoulders better than the Bucks, and I think an example of what the Bucks could be b/c they beat them in the Big Ten Tourney. Izzo is awesome and I hope he's on the big show today b/c he called in before the sweet sixteen and final four, and he said he would keep talking to the Big Show until it stopped working so we will see.
My faith in the Big Ten and the specifically the Spartans has led me to victory in every single bracket pool I was in this year. The only thing that would make me happier is if tOSU could have at least won a damn game.
the spring camp pictures listed in the good shizzy
well, it's important to keep in mind that we weren't very good
I envy Izzo's teams. They are so GD fundamentally sound. They defend, they rebound and they can play any type of game they want. They enforce their will on the opposition. They can win scoring 60 and holding you to 50, or they can get up and down the court and put 80 on you.
OSU may have been their last loss of the season, so there is that caveat (although very, very small condolence), and the fact that 3 of their starters (I think, Walton, Roe & Morgan) are Ohio boys....
Damn Cookie remover...I am Anonymous!
How 'bout we get a comments section for Good Shizzy? I barely know how to log onto a computer, but figure it couldn't be that hard. I have this same issue as Baba Booey in that I ask myself WTF on some comments only to find out later that it was in reference to something linked elsewhere....just a my 2 cents....
Tell me Devier Posey doesn't look like David Boston reincarnated in that picture....
i could've been more clear about what i was talking about, but i'm lazy and said the hell with it
WOW! Pryor looks like a f'in beast.....
Posey sure packed on a few lbs. of muscle too
It's great to see the Spartans in the NCAA Championship. No one thought they could beat U Conn and now no one thinks they can beat UNC. It will be entertaining tonight.
dexter larimore looks like a scary grown ass man
"i'm a man..i'm 40!"
We would have won a game if I didn't suck as a coach. I should have called a timeout and told my troops to foul when we were up by three. Like I said I know I suck as a coach.
If Michigan State wins - OSU will be known as the last team to beat them - well it was a spanking. Game will be close tonight. If UNC hits the 3 ball its over very quickly.
enough of this bullshit please
DeVier Posey is headed to stardom.
One of the talking morons on ESPN radio admitted today that ESECBIGEASTPN has an affinity for the Big Least because of its close proximity and many employees who attended Big Least schools.
He compared it to the secretary at work you walk by everyday and start to think is a 10, although she may really be a 5 or 6. Its just the constant exposure develops an attraction. That was funny.
Why is MSU all the sudden portrayed as some kind of cinderella?? They won like 28 games, won the B10, and were ranked in the top 10 for most of the year. Its just how you finish in the last couple weeks that defines your team in the media.
FACT: 6 Big Least teams have reached the final 4 in the last 20 years, Buffal Bills of CBBall anyone???
Not only that, but Sparty won the Big Ten by a solid four games. That's impressive.
Buffalo fo sho LOL
http://www.dispatch.com/live/c...
show me.... show me..... and then I will believe it. Knock Navy and USC on their asses and I will believe it!!
Arkansas sports talk radio host (now there's a concept sure to make one's head explode) last friday refused ot discuss the MSU/UConn game "because the Big Ten is just irrelevant in every sport in every way".
Thank you Michigan State.
I'd tell the SEC to suck it but they stopped paying attention to basketball after the second round.
That's funny because the SEC really only plays about five to seven sports well. Granted, football is king, but where are their wrestling, ice hockey and lacrosse teams?
Just looking at these new guys i can tell they mean business. We lost a couple guys that weren't very good. You can plug Boren right at guard. Adams looks beast. This line will avg over 300lbs easy and they aren't just fat guys they are tall and can move. If they can gel quickly there should be plenty of running room for Pryor and co.
Posey looks like he stepped up in the off season. We should be explosive on offense, but your right SHOW ME SOMETHING. That should be the motto this year. SHOW ME!
Look in the toilet....right next to the steamer you left yesterday Jason LOL
Excellent post -- our sentiments exactly.
Lazy, lazy ESPN.
right,,,, Put up or shut up... this year should be a refernedum on Bollman... produce in line play and offensive prodution or be a man and step aside for someone who can. I still think the man has too much on his plate... be the line coach or the O-coordinator--not both.
Back off the Bills....
'specially when so many call tOSU the Buffalo Bills of college football (to which
I immediately point out we have a crystal football), but I digress....
Despite not having a ring, there is still no one who will ever win the AFC four years
in a row.