The Big 10 is overrated and it’s time we all recognized it.
But what about your favorite team amongst these [academic?] powerhouses? Glad you ask. Let’s take a Sherman’s March through Big 10 hoops.
Indiana: Last night’s upset at the hands of Minnesota exposed Indiana’s lack of anything resembling a frontcourt. If you’re an 8 seed with anyone over 6’9”, you have a good chance to take down Indiana. Yes, that means the Baylor women and Brittney Griner could give them a run. That being said, last night’s game shouldn’t be blown out of proportion, as Indiana remains a credibly dangerous team, but they will likely find it difficult to progress far into the tournament with Zeller holding down the paint.
Michigan: This is essentially a power conference team that plays like a mid-major: chuck that three-ball. If you have an impressive enough attention span that you are able to watch Michigan games in their entirety, you have likely witnessed that unless Michigan is knocking down their threes, their “hold the ball, stand still, and chuck a three” offensive scheme doesn’t take them far. Without Burke, Michigan would be garnering as much attention nationally as they did from their own student section in years past (cue footage of an empty Crisler Arena). And although a talented scoring and passing threat, Burke also falls victim to Beilein’s offensive three-ball paralysis. This is especially evident in last possession situations in which Michigan has repeatedly settled for off-balance and/or guarded three-point attempts, regardless of the score. Michigan has talent, but is ripe for a tournament upset when their offense falters behind the arc.
Michigan State: Unlike most of the B1G, MSU is more dangerous in the tournament than in the rankings. One reason for this is that also unlike the rest of the Big 10, MSU plays a balanced offense with both inside and outside threats, while maintaining a defensive emphasis. As usual MSU’s inside game includes a B1G classic: the undersized, over-proportioned, ground-dwelling center in Derrick Nix. MSU’s balanced offense, which doesn’t rely too heavily on one player’s performance, helps make the Spartans the B1G’s most viable tournament contender. Expect to see them in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8.
Ohio State: Addressing the Buckeyes hardly seems necessary, especially from a Kansas fan’s perspective. Over just the past calendar year KU has made clear what position OSU holds in college basketball (Alec Baldwin knows who's on top). This top-bottom dynamic is complemented by a lonely 1960 national championship banner draped from OSU’s spacious rafters, memorializing a brief flicker of dominance. 1960: Nearly a decade before we stepped onto the moon and a half century before mobile phone technology enabled Greg Oden to sext the world a picture of his junk. Nonetheless, I feel obliged to note that Craft can’t score (until a rule change awards points for falling over), OSU still has no inside game (“still” because they didn’t with Sullinger either), and Thomas (their only viable scoring threat) is a glorified spot-up shooter. It is doubtful that you’ll be looking at a Buckeye jersey very late into March. That is, unless you’re a tattoo artist willing to barter.
Wisconsin: If you like Michigan’s offensive scheme, you must love Wisconsin’s. The difference: Wisconsin is somehow even worse at shooting, but also plays something that resembles defense, which is a marked improvement over Michigan. Still, it’s difficult to take Wisconsin seriously as a contender despite their relative dominance of the B1G. Yes, Bo Ryan finds a way to slow the game down and take talent out of the equation most nights. That’s why he’s able to populate the team with players who might have been that awkward, uncoordinated kid in PE class handball just a few years before and still consistently succeed in the conference. But in the NCAA tournament, everybody collectively decides to play defense, and Wisconsin’s fragile ability to even put up 45 points a night is suddenly in jeopardy. Don’t believe me? Consider that Wisconsin has been in the top ten in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings going into the NCAA tournament five out of the last six years. Not once have they advanced past the Sweet 16. Just last year practically the same team (minus Jordan Taylor—the one legitimate player of the year candidate Wisconsin has had in recent years) lost to the underachieving mediocrity that is Syracuse. Wisconsin’s one hope of going past the Sweet 16 this year is if Mike Bruesewitz somehow out-charismas the other teams they play and if, somehow, charisma can decide a game. That, in all of its sadness, is their most potent offense.
I’ll do the rest of the B1G a favor and kindly skip over their even more glaring deficiencies.
Overall, the B1G is packed full of slightly above mediocre teams who all play roughly on the same level. Because they play each other closely, it is easy to over-appreciate the “talent” the conference has to offer. This self-referentiality happens every year (see the Big East practically every other year), but it is particularly bad this year in the B1G, where the media has effectively decided that losses are not real losses in the B1G. There is almost no way to lose respect among the media when the popular opinion is that the team that beat you, even if they aren’t ranked, is probably a legitimate national title contender. After all, some may react to last night’s upset of Indiana as proof that Minnesota is now a team to watch. Likewise, they’ll chalk up Indiana’s loss as just a hazard of playing in the “best conference in America” rather than as a symptom of a defensively challenged team that has not been tested with something on the line all year. Don’t let yourself be fooled. Come tournament time, like in most years, Big 10 fans will likely be served up B1G disappointments.
Photo via Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer