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Big 10 Tournament Preview: Iowa-Michigan
2008-03-13 04:30:00
When it comes to 8 and 9 seed matchups, especially in conference tournaments, teams are normally pretty well matched up in terms of records and even statistics. In the case of the Iowa Hawkeyes-Michigan Wolverines matchup, you can’t get much closer with two teams.
More About: Preview , College Basketball , Michigan Wolverines

Your Big Ten Women?s Conference Tournament Champions: Purdue
2008-03-10 17:36:00
Ohhhhhh the drama. While I had previously posted that I thought that Illinois would be outlasted by Purdue in the second half and end up in Purdue victory, I still underestimated the fight in the Fighting Illini. It took a last second putback by Lakisha Freeman to beat the feisty Illini and secure a spot ...
More About: Women , Champions , Conference , Tournament

Cinderella Illinois still wearing slipper
2008-03-09 21:33:00
Man, I love tourney time. And I love underdogs. So when a team like Illinois women’s basketball team, ranked #9 in the league, makes it to the finals of the conference tournament, I am almost giddy. Yes, I know, I need a life, but that’s beside the point. The Fighting Illini played the ...
More About: Cinderella , Slipper

Illini pull Big 10 Tourney Shocker
2008-03-08 19:07:00
The women’s Big 10 basketball season was pretty up and down. With two teams tied for first with 5 losses, it showed that the conference was either A) pretty lousy overall or B) Deeper than what most think. Now that the conference tournament is into the semifinals, I believe it’s more B than A.
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Big 10 Women?s Basketball: Thursday Thoughts
2008-03-07 05:18:00
The Big Ten tournament is not only a testament to the overall best team in the Big 10 playing in a bracketed format, but it also shows the intestinal fortitude of playing several games in a short amount of time. It definitely rewards those teams that have depth as one of their key ingredients. The teams ...
More About: Women , Basketball , Thoughts , Thursday

Wussconsin? Badgers back out of game with Hokies
2008-03-05 03:44:00
Ok, I know that division one teams like to get some conference tune up games versus what you would call cupcakes. That’s a given. It’s not like basketball where the trend has been for years that the nonconference schedule needs to be a little bit thicker for NCAA seeding, and well, competitiveness down the stretch. But for football, it has long been where scores like 73-10 in the first few weeks aren’t really much of a surprise due to the huge imbalance of these games. But for Wisconsin, they had scheduled Virginia Tech–a surefire top 25 and potential BCS team–on their schedule, but when the official schedule came out–poof–the Hokies were gone, replaced by powerhouse Cal Poly. Ummm…yeah….ok…. (more…)
More About: Game , Back

Big 10 Women’s Basketball Bracket Set
2008-03-04 03:48:00
For the 13th time, Indianapolis will host the Big 10 Women’s Basketball tournament. And for the 13th time, this should be a great tournament overall. Heading the pack is Ohio State as the number one seed, and it is the sixth straight year that the Buckeyes have had a first round bye–and the fourth straight year it has been #1, a first in the Big 10 tournament. (more…)

Whatever the lineup, Wisconsin delivers
2008-02-29 22:02:00
What makes a team these days? Well, duh. It’s the players. Of course it is…..isn’t it? Many college teams rise and fall with the incoming and outgoing players, and such words as “rebuilding” and “changing it up” seems to be a lot of coachspeak, but is this necessarily the case? In defense of it not just being about the players, I give you exhibit A: the Wisconsin Badgers. Over the years, the Badgers have had some solid teams, ones that have risen above speculation of not having talent like some other Big 10 teams have, and have consistently performed at a high level. Why is this? In two words, it is Bo Ryan. The coach that has more scowls than John Gruden has been a mainstay at Wisconsin for quite some period of time, and despite the fact that his teams don’t have flashy “Big 10 player of the year” candidates or even a ton of people that go on to the pros, every year they seem to be at the top of the conference and ranked...
More About: Lineup

Michigan Softball goes to OT again to beat UCF
2008-02-29 00:09:00
It’s expected that you will have to go into extra innings with baseball at least a few times a year. But for the Michigan Wolverines softball team, it did this two games in a row–against the same team. How’s that for an even matchup? For the 12th-ranked Wolverines, it was a little too close for comfort. But don’t be dismayed, Big 10 fans–Michigan defeated them both times. Frosh Dorian Shaw had a clutch single in the ninth to drive in the go ahead and winning runs to prevail over Central Florida 3-1.  The hit couldn’t have come at a better time after the Golden Knights limited Michigan to just five hits all day. Another freshman, Jordan Taylor, lead the way on the mound with 11 whiffs and one unearned run. She completed the game despite the extra innings and struck out the final two she faced to close out the victory. Michigan is 12-2 on the year and will be heading to the NCFA Leadoff Classic in Georgia. While they were playing on UCF’s ho...
More About: Softball , Beat

A game for pride: Penn State and Iowa to battle
2008-02-27 22:37:00
Ok, so Penn State has never been this prolific basketball team; even when they had some talent, they were never giant-killers. For Iowa , this year has been a building year; I don’t say rebuilding because technically with a new coach and a young roster, you can’t really rebuild much if you haven’t built it in the first place. With both of these teams at sub-.500, they don’t have much of a shot at making any tournament–but that still doesn’t mean they won’t play hard in tonight’s matchup in University Park, Pennsylvania. (more…)
More About: Game , Pride , Battle

Tate named Big 10 Player of the Week
2008-02-26 04:54:00
While this season has been a difficult one for the most part, the Iowa Hawkeyes got some good news when junior Cyrus Tate was named player of the week after averaging a double double in two games. (more…)
More About: Player , Week

Izzo reaches win number 300 at Michigan State
2008-02-25 01:59:00
Longevity in coaching used to be the rule, rather than the exception in the Big 10. With storied coaches such as Bobby Knight, Gene Keady, Lou Henson, Dr. Tom Davis, the list goes on and on, you could always count on a familiar face roaming the sidelines of a given team’s basketball team. However, over the past decade or so, we’ve seen so many new faces in Big 10 games calling the shots it is nearly dizzying. However, for Tom Izzo, he’s been anchored in East Lansing, Michigan now for 13 years–and there’s a reason why–rule number 1–he wins. And he got his 300th win at Michigan State this weekend, a testament to all that he has brought to the program as well as to the conference. Izzo is one of those guys that you ALWAYS want to represent your conference. He’s passionate, lovable, a class act, and his players are disciplined examples of what players should be like on and off the court. His personality is infectious, and he has continued...
More About: Michigan State , Number

The Big Ten version of the Apprentice: You’re Fired
2008-02-23 05:04:00
The Kelvin Sampson Era at Indiana is over.     After the allegations and NCAA violations continued to pile up, the university decided that enough was enough; stepping up for its no tolerance policy, Sampson was dismissed after agreeing to a 750,000 buyout of his five year contract. This means now that Dan Dakich, an assistant and former player for the Hoosiers, steps in as head coach; Dakich previously had head coaching experience at Bowling Green. (more…)
More About: The Apprentice , Fired , Version , Apprentice

I guess it doesn’t Matta
2008-02-21 04:05:00
Seriously? We’re 17-9? No…seriously? Ok, Ok…not one person on the planet would have thought the Ohio State Buckeyes would be as close as their national runner-up team was last year. Losing three players to the NBA can be devastating at any level, whether you are rebuilding or reloading. But…I guess I am missing something here…when a team goes from being outstanding to maybe not even making the NCAA playoffs, normally the focus returns to the coach and if it was more success based on the players alone and that the coaching ability maybe isn’t all gold. In Thad Matta ’s case, he has the pedigree and the experience, but this is Ohio State–I thought this was a university that demanded no less than excellence. (more…)
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Indiana-Purdue Big 10 Preview
2008-02-19 23:55:00
Ohhhh…the drama. Can we ask for anything more? In between Kelvin Sampson’s unknown status and NCAA debauchery, to the fact that both of these teams are ranked and fighting for a Big 10 title and just happen to be huge in-state rivals, it doesn’t get much better than this (my apologies to the #1-#2 matchup ...
More About: Preview , Indiana , Purdue

Why Tubby Smith is good for the Big 10
2008-02-19 03:23:00
There was a collective gasp when the announcement came out last year. Tubby Smith was leaving Kentucky. What? Seriously? Why would you leave one of the golden crowns of coaching? What?? WHAT? He’s going to Minnesota? Ummm….k……
More About: Good

Michigan shocks Buckeyes?in hoops
2008-02-18 19:22:00
Michigan fans knew at the beginning of the year that it was going to be a long season for the Wolverines–on the court. The football-crazy school has had several down years basketball-wise, and with Tommy Amaker not there any longer, new coach John Beilein knew he had a long road ahead of him. However, there is ...
More About: Hoops , Michigan , Buckeyes

Signing Day yields great results for Big Ten
2008-02-15 20:45:00
Ok, so no one is ever going to probably ever see Ohio State and Michigan not ranked in the top 25 every year for recruiting; obviously they are two of the nation’s powerhouses and the recent success of the Buckeyes as well Michigan’s change to hyped coach Rich Rodriguez will continue to reap dividends for ...
More About: Results , Great , Signing Day , Signing

Ring Ring: Sampson in hot water (again)
2008-02-14 00:32:00
Trouble just seems to follow Kelvin Sampson. The Indiana coach, who had several NCAA violations while he was a coach at Oklahoma, now faces some “major” issues with new violations, involving three-way calls that were inappropriately done to recruits. Of course, Sampson claims innocence, that he had no idea that it was going on, and the ...
More About: College Basketball , Water , Ring

Purdue-Michigan State Basketball Preview
2008-02-12 21:51:00
Wow, so here we are…deep into the Big 10 season, and of course, there’s always surprises, isn’t there? And the surprise this year is—Purdue . Sitting atop the Big 10 standings and boasting one of the more youthful teams in the nation, the Boilermakers are inching towards the championship, but they have a few obstacles in their ...
More About: Basketball , Preview , Michigan , State

Duke takes advantage of absent Lawson, cruises by UNC
2008-02-07 05:33:00
I know that everyone will probbbbbbbbbably think that one of the only reasons Duke was able to beat UNC in Chapel Hill was because of Ty Lawson ’s absence. And there is some truth to that, but let’s call a spade a spade: the Blue Devils marched into the Smith Center, dropped 89 points on the ...
More About: Cruises

Good Knight: Texas Tech Coach Retires
2008-02-05 04:08:00
It still kind of sounds weird for me to say that Bobby Knight is the Texas Tech coach, even though he’s been there quite a while. I still remember him in his bright red sweater, his cheeks just as rosy as his threads, yelling, screaming, pleading for his team to get a call here or ...
More About: Coach , Good

Mizzou: Will the real Tiger team stand up?
2008-02-03 00:37:00
Talk about a model of inconsistency. Sure, it’s wonderful that the Tiger s came back from a 10-point deficit in the first half against ranked Kansas St to win by three, but is this the real Tiger team? Let’s take a look at a couple of key things here about Missouri which make them one of ...
More About: Team , Real , Stand Up , Stand

Duke keeps chugging along
2008-02-02 03:37:00
I was perusing some of my older posts (since no one else seems to read them) and noticed that I really don’t talk too much about the ACC. And perhaps that is a subconscious thing going on because of having to hear years of Dicky V proclaiming the ACC the rulers of the college basketball ...
More About: Duke

Rumor Mill: Eric Gordon going pro
2008-01-30 04:17:00
Not that many people are really surprised by this rumor–but maybe the fact that we’re only 2/3 the way during the season is the most odd that this is being tossed around right now. When Eric Gordon first verbally committed to Illinois, Bruce Weber knew he had a special player on the way and based ...
More About: Rumor

Hold the Mayo: Floyd to Blame?
2008-01-25 21:01:00
USC Frosh O.J. Mayo asked his coach, Tim Floyd , if he could go to the Denver Nuggets and Lakers game. He had received tickets from Carmelo Anthony, a friend of his since seventh grade. And now the NCAA Men in Black are investigating it. Floyd is saying that Mayo shouldn’t be held liable for that ...
More About: College Basketball , Hold , Blame

IUPUI?s Hunter to go Shoeless
2008-01-24 05:10:00
  There are several coaches who have certain things that they believe in–Coaches for Cancer and the like. For IUPUI’s Ron Hunter , it has to do with something that normally is a subject that women are the authority on: shoes. IUPUI, which stands for Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, is not a huge team in the college ...

Should Georgia be preseason number 1?
2008-01-23 03:20:00
Ya gotta love college football. Not even 2 weeks removed from the national championship game where LSU upended the Ohio St. Buckeyes, the fever is on to start predicting the 2008 season. Numerous teams have had their stake in why they feel that they should be the preseason number 1 team, and while I believe ...
More About: College Football , Georgia , Preseason , Number

Memphis rises to number 1 and not looking back
2008-01-23 00:55:00
The Tigers are at the top of the heap and are not looking back. John Calipari’s Memphis team has been riding criticism all year that they don’t play in a strong enough league and have been overrated because of it. They said that when faced up against competition like the big boys do in the Big ...
More About: Back , Looking Back , Number

Is Baylor for real?
2008-01-18 21:00:00
Big 12 basketball usually gives the first thought to Kansas. The Jayhawks have long been the pride and joy of the conference, followed by up-and-down years from teams like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri.  When one looks at the current standings, a name sticks out like Vanilla Ice in….welll, anything. But here they are–at 14-2 and ...
More About: Real