“Our effort was not up to standard tonight which i take very personally,” said Northwestern Coach Chris Collins after losing at home by 13 to a middle tier MAC team.
“I can’t explain it. If I had an answer for it I would tell you guys. We got out-everythinged,” he continued.
“We didn’t give them any resistance to start the game.”
Collins and the Wildcats getting dominated at home by Central Michigan is troubling, but it’s just one of many very bad losses that Big Ten basketball has suffered this non-conference season. Let’s break it down.
1. We’ll start with this one, so that we can then effectively put it to bed. Central Michigan has a double digit loss to Bradley on their resume this season. The Chippewas have a KenPom rating of 178, Strength Of Schedule of 350 (ouch!!) and RPI of 223 (it hurts!!) On top of it, this was supposed to be the easier of the two directional Michigan games.
Western Michigan is a lot better, and they’ll be here at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday to give Chris Collins and Northwestern fits! The Georgia Tech loss hurts a lot too, as the Yellow Jackets have lost SC Upstate and Marquette this year already
2. Michigan lost to Eastern Michigan and New Jersey Institute of Technology. This is supposed to be the “preseason,” it why you call it the “preconference season.” All high-major programs are expected to have a season winning percentage in the 80s or 90s right now. Or at least in the 70s. UM is just 6-4!
So much was expected from this team, so disappointing has been their failure thus far.
3. Everything I said above can be said about Nebraska too. Just sub Incarnate Word and Rhode Island for EMU and NJIT. The Creighton loss was brutal too.
4. Not much was expected of Rutgers, as almost everyone picked them to finish last. They lost almost 20 to George Washington and St. Peter’s. Then Seton Hall beat them by nearly 30.
5. We’ll take a break now to look at the signature wins Big ten basketball has produced thus far.
Maryland carries the flag for the league right now having beaten #13 Iowa State. Wisconsin beat #15 Oklahoma pretty handily. Iowa won at North Carolina, but UNC should not be ranked right now. They’re barley hanging on #24 in both polls. If they were named anyone else other than the Tar Heels they would have been dropped from the rankings by now.
And of course, credit Big Ten basketball for winning the challenge against the ACC this year. This despite losing almost all of the marquee games in the event. Therein lies the problem with Big Ten basketball through the first month and change of this season- the traditional banner programs have such few signature wins. Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue have beaten nobody.
6. The Illini have gotten in on this league wide failure by dropping a decision to a bad Oregon team at the United Center, the secondary home for Illini basketball. That’s a very bad Ducks team; who lost to Ole Miss. Yes, the University of Mississippi, who themselves lost at home to lowly Western Kentucky.
The Illini were 7.5 point favorites, but lost by 7 in that one. Illinois was absolutely man-handled inside, on both ends of the court, in that abysmal showing.
7. Purdue isn’t off the hook either. That North Florida loss is an eyesore. Especially when you consider that Northwestern has beaten NFU. The Kansas State loss will be a drag too. Bruce Weber’s side is 6-4 with an ugly to Long Beach State. Also, losing to any SEC team (Vanderbilt) not named Kentucky or Florida is usually a bad thing.
8. Syracuse is not a NCAA Tournament team this year. Sounds very weird to say that but the Orange are the worst 3 point shooting team in the nation…yet they still beat the Iowa Hawkeyes. The hits just keep piling up for Big Ten basketball. We’re still not done yet! Indiana‘s home to Eastern Washington was historical- for all the wrong reasons. Penn State’s only loss came at the hands of Charlotte, a 5-4 Conference USA team with losses to Davidson and George Washington on its resume.
In summation, we count Big Ten basketball has having 17 bad losses that will be a brick weighing down potential NCAA Tournament profiles. What’s even worse, 12 of those 17 losses came to mid-majors and low-majors.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2