The Beilein special in the Big Ten Tournament has generally been win the first game, lose the second. Last year was an exception and the 2014 year was an exception, but other than that the results have been pretty consistent.
Could be wrong here, but outside of Indiana last year, all the BTT Wâs were as the favorites?
Lots of 8/9 games in there but I believe we were still favorites in those. Just alluding to the fact that the results have correlated to no upsets but taking care of business when favored.
I canât recall if we were favored in the MSU championship game we lost. Have a feeling we were so that was one favored loss.
MSU was a 3.5 point favorite
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Ah didnât know that. Thanks for digging that up and confirming.
Makes an even stronger case that we havenât lost a BTT game we were favored but only won one as an underdog. Mayyy have been a slight underdog two years ago against Illinois but we get the picture ha
UM raised a banner when the team won the inaugural B1G Tourney (it have subsequently come down when the wins were vacated).
And any game Michigan plays Iâm going to root for it to win ---- just saying I wouldnât be too disappointed with a loss in the semis and extra day to rest
Ah, yes. We beat Purdue for the championship and ended up getting a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament. Then we ran into Baron Davis in the 2nd round.
I was there. Rupp Arena.
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Getting hammered and going to class is one thing. Playing 3 or 4 intense games in a row, then traveling, then playing on 4 days rest is not as easy as you think. In the last few years only two teams have made the ncaa championship game on 4 days rest or more than 3 conference tournament games. If you are not a top seed and get hot during the conference tournament, your luck (and legs) will run out. Barring some upsets above us weâll have to win 4 games to win the B1G tournament at which point we will be awarded with a middling seed in the NCAA and 4-5 days rest.
2016 - Villanova - 3 games - 6 days / N Carolina - 3 games - 5 days
2015 - Duke - 2 games - 7 days / Wisconsin - 3 games - 5 days
2014 - Connecticut - 3 games - 5 days / Kentucky - 3 games - 5 days
2013 - Louisville - 3 games - 5 days / Michigan - 2 games - 6 days
2012 - Kentucky - 3 games - 4 days / Kansas - 2 games - 7 days
2011 - UConn - 5 games - 5 days / Butler - 2 games - 9 days
2010 - Duke - 3 games - 5 days / Butler - 2 games - 9 days
2009 - N Carolina - 2 games - 5 days / MSU - 2 games - 6 days
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That team was so good. Davis was such a stud
I just donât think correlation equals causation in this case. Or rather, I donât think short rest after a bunch of games is the main factor. I think the reason we donât see more teams make the NCAA championship game after playing in more than 3 conference tournament games is the fact that those teams just probably arenât great teams in the first place. If youâre playing more than 3 conference tournament games, it means you werenât one of the top 4 seeds in your conference tournament. If you finish 5th or worse in your conference, youâre likely not going to get a great seed in the NCAA tournament and wouldnât be expected to make the championship game. 10 of those 16 championship game teams were either a 1 or a 2 seed. Two more were a 3 or 4 seed (Michigan was actually the 5th seed in the conference tournament that year).
As far as the 4 days rest factorâmost major conferences play their conference championship games on Saturday now (ACC, PAC 10, Big 12, Big East). Iâm not sure when they started doing that. It could be a recent thing. But that could also be a reason why you donât see more teams make the championship game on just 4 days rest after a conference tournament.
Although Iâd love to see it, I donât realistically think Michigan will make the championship game this year. I do think we can make the sweet 16, and I think it would be easier as a 6, even though thatâs a real long shot, than as a 9. I donât think we can get a 6 unless we run the table and win the conference tournament.
I do agree with your premise that short rest after playing a bunch of games is not ideal. More likely to lead to injuries, less recovery time, etc. Maybe the B10 should move its tournament up a day? I doubt Delaney would want to do that, though.
Baron Davis actually tore his ACL early in the game and barely played, which made that loss even more painful.
Bullock was awful that game too (went something like 7 for 30 from the floor).
I wonder what most of you guys think about the IU at Purdue game tonight. Strictly in UMâs best interest and putting personal feelings aside, who do we want to win? I can see the case of wanting IU to go up in RPI, but also the case of our Purdue win to mean as much as it can (our Wisconsin win is losing more and more value as they lose for example). So I want to understand this tradeoff by the numbers a little better.
A last gasp of life for Tom Crean might serve Michigan best since U-M swept them.
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Ok thanks Dylan. I guess as long as we donât see Purdue out of the RPI top 50, it shouldnât hurt too much, right? We would rather make these two IU wins matter more.
Iâm hoping Indiana gets hot suddenly and wins out plus a few in the tourney. If they play themselves back on the bubble or into the field that sweep looks great. Either way Purdue will be a top 20 or top 15 win.
I really hope the committee examines not just who we beat but how we beat them. Lots of close losses and questionable called games in addition to us demolishing good teams. A 25 point win over smu on a neutral floor is just very impressive.
@ghostofstjohnarena Whatâs the feeling on Thad Matta? Canât believe this is the first year heâll finish below .500 in league at OSU, but these last two days have been pretty flat to say the least.
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Big one for Illinois tonight⌠can they keep their tourney hopes alive?
Illinois wins and I think they are in if they can beat Rutgers this weekend.
So you think the Big 10 gets 8 teams in and maybe the highest seed is Purdue at a 4?
We really need to take care of business against Nebraska and not leave anything to chance. Looks like a 7/10 matchup against OSU in the BTT is real possibility. Would like another shot at them I think.
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Big Ten Coach of the Year⌠has to be Pitino right? Would have never imagined typing this before.