So this is what it feels like to write a Monday Skull Session after a win.
Ohio State was limping towards the finish line and desperately needed to establish some momentum heading into tournament season. William Buford, the team's lone senior, led the charge in the second half, helping to erase a 25% outing for the team in the first half.
And then, with the game on the line, he shredded the net1.
While Sparty is feeling robbed2, Thad Matta now has a streak of three-straight regular season Big Ten championships going (five total in eight years in Columbus). The win does come at a cost: Michigan earned a share of the league championship for the first time since the 1985-86 season. If a tie is like kissing your sister, this is like kissing a sister with meningitis.
As the #3 seed in Indy, Ohio State will play the winner of #6 Purdue and #11 Nebraska on Friday night. CBS BTN has the game, which is scheduled to start 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 6:30pm game between #2 Michigan and the winner of #7 Northwestern and #10 Minnesota.
This is good news for the majority of us that do not have a television next to our desks at work. Just make sure you're free at 9pm on Friday night (we'll be live-blogging) and you're good.
Purdue and Nebraska tipoff around 8pm on Thursday night, if you want to do some last-minute scouting.
THAD MATTA, B1G TOURNAMENT WHISPERER. While an argument can be made that Matta's Ohio State teams have underachieved in the NCAA Tournament, you can't say the same about his teams in the Big Ten Tournament.
In seven prior B1G Tournaments, Matta's Buckeyes have advanced to the tournament championship game five times, winning three of them3. Those five championship game appearances correspond to five NCAA Tournament berths, which means that every time Matta has an NCAA tourney-caliber team, they make it to the final game of the Big Ten Tournament.
For his career, Matta has coached in 11 conference tournaments, making eight finals and winning six.
THE INGREDIENTS OF A THREE SEED. Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State all finished 13-5 in conference play. How are the seeds determined in this scenario?
The Big Ten's tiebreaking procedures for multiple teams:
1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular-season. a. When comparing records against the tied teams, the team with the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0).
b. After the top team among the tied teams is determined, the second team is ranked by its record among the original tied teams, not the head-to-head record vs. the remaining team(s).
Okay...
| vs Michigan State | Vs Michigan | vs Ohio State | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan state | -- | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Michigan | 1-1 | -- | 1-1 |
| Ohio state | 1-1 | 1-1 | -- |
Still tied. Now what?
2. If the remaining teams are still tied, then each tied team's record shall be compared to the team occupying the highest position in the final regular-season standings, continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.
a. When arriving at another pair of tied teams while comparing records, use each team's record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to their own tie-breaking procedures), rather than the performance against the individual tied teams.
b. When comparing records against a single team or group of teams, the higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than 3-1, but 2-0 is not better than 1-0).
Ah... Damn you, Bo Ryan.
| vs Michigan State | vs Michigan | vs Ohio State | vs Wisconsin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan state | -- | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| Michigan | 1-1 | -- | 1-1 | 1-0 |
| Ohio state | 1-1 | 1-1 | -- | 1-1 |
So there you have it. Michigan gets the edge having avoided a trip to Madison this season. A road loss for the Wolverines there isn't a given, but going to Wisconsin is a lot different than going to State College.
Shock at the Breslin Center (via MockSession.com)
LOOKING FOR NEW FORMS OF MOTIVATION. I'm hesitant to even bring this up here because arguing on a sports blog about whether society is too sensitive is ultimately rather unproductive, but an Ohio State law professor and student took issue with Mickey Marotti's use of lavender jerseys to motivate his players.
The professor, Douglas Whaley, sent this letter to the Dispatch:
So Ohio State football's new director of performance makes players who are loafers on the field, in the weight room, etc., wear a lavender shirt to embarrass them ["New strength coach a colorful motivator," Feb. 13, 2012]. Does he also use anti-gay slurs when referring to these slackers or is the shirt's color enough to send the same homophobic message?
Douglas Whaley
Dublin, Ohio
Ohio State law student Pete Olsen, in his Wide Rights blog on gay rights and the sports industry, drew a contrast between Meyer and his predecessor, who was the first FBS football coach to be interviewed by a LGBT magazine.
Meyer, did the smart thing (not to be confused with the right thing, depending on your own views on the matter) and quickly apologized to Scarlet and Gay, the Ohio State LGBT alumni group. In a letter to Tim Valentine, president of Scarlet and Gay, Meyer said the following:
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the purple mesh pullovers. The use if purple was never intended to offend anyone but since it has, we have taken steps to change the color.
Please accept our sincere apologies. We have core values of respect and honor within our program, and these are two principles that are central to my personal life, my coaching philosophy, and to Ohio State and its athletics programs. Bias has absolutely no role in how we think or operate.
The lesson from all of this? Just use maize and blue next time.
HIDE YO WIFE, HIDE YO KIDS. Brett Favre is twittering. His first tweet verified the account saying that he "finally found the time to join Twitter".
This was his second tweet:
@DangeRussWilsonGreat season this year! I'm looking forward to watching you shine in the NFL for a long time! #awesome QB
— Brett Favre(@BrettFavre4) March 3, 2012
DIVERSIONS: If the X-Men played football... Paternoville sign stolen... The College Football Hall of Fame ballot is out... Is Phil Fulmer worthy? LSU quarterback Zach Mettenberger is looking rather pornarific... In Soviet Russia, sexy brought you back... The monster for Cloverfield 2 revealed... Science!
- 1 Oh we got GIFs: Dagger, React.
- 2 Love the Delany controlling the refs for his "Michigan storyline" angle. Points for creativity. The truth is, this was just another example of a terribly officiated Big Ten basketball game. Bad calls went against each side.
- 3 Thanks in large part to Matta, Ohio State's three championships and 17-8 all-time conference tournament record are both B1G bests.
