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This year’s Big Ten ACC Challenge will be Dec. 3-4. It features a lot of college basketball teams from the ESPN.com early preseason top 25: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25 Iowa.
Three of the games will pit ranked teams against each other: No. 9 Michigan at No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina at No. 3 Michigan State and No. 20 Indiana at No. 8 Syracuse.
It’s never too early to start thinking ahead. Here is an a very early projection of the 2014 NCAA Tournament Bracketology.
UPDATED: 4/7/13
Yesterday, the Big Ten officially announced what we all knew for at least a week. However, for those who are oblivious I’ll reiterate: new realignment and division names starting in 2014 and nine-game conference schedules starting in 2016. Most important about this college football news nugget or tidbit if you will, the Big Ten has laid to rest the HORRIBLE division names: Legends and Leaders.
Thankfully we only suffered through that pathetic pablum masquerading as division names for just two years. With Rutgers and Maryland joining the conference, where’s Rebecca Martinson when you need here? I’d love to hear her SCREAM and CURSE LOUDLY IN ANGER at whoever came up with that Legends and Leaders garbage.
Moving on, the new division alignments are:
Our 2013 NFL mock draft is updated for the final time. Lots of changes. And we are a Chicago based website, so check out our latest analysis of the Bears draft prospects for all 7 rounds. And our Bears “Hindsight Draft.” By the way, Hollywood is filming a movie about the NFL Draft at this year’s draft in New York City. I guess they understand how much us sports bloggers obsess with this topic during the month of April.
Here’s our 2014 NFL mock draft
And go here for the top NFL Draft related Twitter hashtags, @mentions and search topics.
By the way, here’s our 7 round mock for 2013 And of course, our NBA mock drafts: 2013 and 2014. Yes, we’re nerrrrrrrrds. Your hunch is correct.
Happy NFL mock draft day!
This 2013 NFL mock draft is a reader submission from an author who wishes to remain anonymous. This is not my 2013 NFL mock draft, but this is a very comprehensive NFL mock draft as it covers all seven rounds. As always we encourage debate, and reader comments are very much welcome. Especially if you have a NFL mock draft of your own and would like to compare it up against this NFL mock draft.
Like I say on my own, detailed first round NFL mock draft. You’re free to say “this sucks because x, y, z,” but if your comment is simply “this sucks.”
Then I have to say “hey, thanks for coming!”
And check out our NFL mock draft of all 7 rounds for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Rose Bowl is hitting the century mark!
Like Dr. Dre and 2pac Shakur told us in “California Love:” “Pasadena. Pasadena, where ya at?”
The Rose Bowl will become the first college football bowl game to reach 100 this Jan 1. And the Rose Bowl is also hosting the next college football national title game on top of that. Late last night, the Tournament of Roses, the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences unveiled modifications to the champion’s trophy and a new logo to commemorate the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
The Big Ten was the best conference of all this past college basketball season. That will change as a lot of talent graduates and declares for the NBA Draft. In the past few days, we’ve already seen Deshaun Thomas of Ohio State and the Hoosiers’ Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller declare. Add in the fact that only one McDonald’s All-American is coming to the Big Ten- Noah Vonleh to IU.
Still, we have Michigan State ranked #2 in the nation in our way too early top 25. Ohio State is #3, the Hoosiers #8. Michigan is #14 and Wisconsin #15 rounding out the Big Ten representation in the top 25.
SB Nation’s Purdue site “Hammer and Rails” breaks down all the departures for every team and includes the scoring ppg averages:
Typical NCAA Tournament teams like Kentucky, Purdue, and Texas should have bounce back seasons next year and vie for a spot in the Big Dance. Here are five teams that missed out on the NCAA Tournament but should make a splash next season.
Here are five NCAA Tournament teams likely to regress next season.
Happy Selection Sunday!!! Here is an updated college basketball Bracketology previewing what the 2013 NCAA Tournament might look like when the brackets are revealed today.
UPDATED: 3/17/13
This could be the best Big Ten Tournament of all time. As it returns to its RIGHTFUL home, the United Center in Chicago, the league is as strong as it has ever been. So on paper it should be great. Indiana earned the season outright title for the first time since 1993 and the No. 1 seed for the first time in school history.
Ohio State, Michigan State and the Badgers also earned top-four seeds to secure first-round byes, as all four teams open play Friday. The tournament features 11 games over four days, beginning with four on Thursday. Six different programs have won the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State and Ohio State have won the title three times. The Illini, Hawkeyes and Badgers have each won the championship twice, and Purdue has won the tournament once.
Chicago hosted the inaugural event in 1998. The Big Ten tournament averaged 18,882 fans per session when the event was last held at the UC in 2007. It set attendance records while in Chicago in 2001 with an average of 21,954 patrons per session. And just standing-room only tickets remain for this Big Ten Tournament.
So let’s get to my snarky preview/predictions
During the Michigan State Spartans utter destruction of the Purdue Boilermakers today, you might have noticed a little punch thrown by State forward Branden Dawson on Purdue’s Travis Carroll. Tom Izzo coached players do not act like this; McDonald’s All-Americans do not like act like this. Watch the video to see the act for yourself. Of course, the Spartans deny it. Deny deny deny:
video h/t Hammer and Rails
Michigan State sports information director Matt Larson sent the following in an email to the BTN:
“The angle of Branden Dawson that BTN had during the broadcast certainly makes it look like there might have been a punch. However, I’ve viewed an angle from underneath the basket and that does not appear to be the case.”
Here’s the home of the Purdue Boilermakers in gingerbread! Yes college football venue Ross-Ade Stadium in the holiday spirit. Merry Christmas Eve!
click on the image for a larger view. source: Ben McDaniel Twitter
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