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If there is a time for the Big Ten to exert their dominance in basketball, this is it! The conference has just suffered another poor football season, has been hit by scandal, and its teams continue to lose bowl games (2-5 in bowls this season). It is time for Big Ten basketball to rise to new heights; it’s time for the Big Ten to produce a national champion.
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At the beginning of the season we gave a quarterly review of the performance of each Big Ten team and graded them based on how they did compared to pre-season expectations. As the season progressed, so did the quarterly reviews. About a month ago, we gave our third quarter review. Now, with the regular season over, we conclude the series with our season in review. Each school’s grade is based on its overall / conference record, and how the team improved or declined throughout the season based on their expectations.
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Earlier in the season we gave a quarterly review of the performance of each Big Ten team and graded them based on how they did compared to pre-season expectations. About a month ago, we gave our mid-season review. Now, three-quarters of the season is over, and each school’s grade is based on its overall/ conference record, and how the team has improved or declined since the first half of the season.
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Tom Crean’s restoration project of Indiana University basketball has pretty much come full-circle.
After being crippled by NCAA sanctions stemming from former coach Kelvin Sampson’s violations, struggling through six-, 10- and 12-win seasons his first three years in Bloomington, and leading a remarkable turnaround in 2012-13 that resulted in a Sweet 16 appearance, Crean has his Hoosiers sitting atop the USA Today Coaches preseason poll, released today.
With key returnees in Player of the Year Candidate Cody Zeller, senior Christian Watford and juniors Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey — plus a loaded freshman class dubbed “The Movement” — Indiana appears poised for a run at a sixth NCAA championship, which is remarkable given all the program has been through in recent years.
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About a month ago we gave a quarterly review of the performance of each Big Ten team and graded them based on how they did, compared to how they should have done according to pre-season expectations. Now, we have our mid-season review in which each school’s grade is based on its overall/ conference record, and how the team has improved or declined since the first quarter of the season.
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If there was ever a time for the Boilermakers to seize the moment, this is, most definitely, the season to do it! This may seem like “old news,” and that I am working toward an incredibly obvious conclusion, but a new factor has been added to the equation: Wisconsin is not nearly as good as they were believed to be.
As the season began, the assumption was that since Ohio State and Penn State would be ineligible for the Big Ten Championship game, the Leaders division already belonged to the Badgers. However, Wisconsin’s poor play and slow start have left the division wide open. Indiana and Illinois have practically taken themselves out of the running, as if either of them had a chance to begin with. But Purdue is in the position to challenge the underperforming Badgers.
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Believe it or not, the college football season is a quarter over, and we are only a week away from the kick-off of Big Ten conference play! With only three games played this season, it may seem a bit soon to be handing out letter grades, but these first three weeks can be very telling as to what may be in store for the rest of the season.
Each team will receive a letter grade based on the level at which they have performed compared to what has been expected of them.
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For about half the conference last Saturday, week two could not have been much worse. Penn State lost a second straight nail-biter with a 17-16 defeat at the hands of Virginia, which ended with Sam Ficken missing his fourth field goal of the day! The Nebraska defense gave up 653 yards to UCLA in their 36-30 loss. Iowa could only muster six points in their 9-6 defeat by Iowa State. Wisconsin had a dismal 35 yards rushing in their upsetting loss to Oregon State. And Purdue lost their fifth straight game in a 20-17 heartbreaker to Notre Dame.
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The Indiana Pacers are staring the end of the Larry Bird era in the eyes right now.
The 2011-12 NBA Executive of the Year announced his decision to step down as team president Thursday, but he’s not quite done yet.
Bird will conduct the Pacers’ draft alongside Donnie Walsh, who returns to Indiana as president, and newly promoted GM Kevin Pritchard.
The trio could go several different directions, including standing pat with their No. 26 overall pick or wheeling and dealing to move up.
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In the end — after so many twists and turns that changed a lot of opinions — the result of this Eastern Conference Semifinal series was what many expected.
The Miami Heat closed out the Indiana Pacers 105-93 Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to win the series in six games and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.
The Pacers opened eyes during this series, both on the national stage and within their own community. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade ultimately proved too much.
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The Indiana Pacers attained a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the Miami Heat largely by playing their game.
Feed the post (center Roy Hibbert, power forward David West) on offense; deny the post and the rim and play aggressive man defense.
The Pacers fell 101-93 to the Heat in Game 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday because they didn’t play that game.
Now they have to notch another win in Miami if they are to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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The defense looked shaky and Ohio State continued to struggle in the passing game, but the Buckeyes outlasted Indiana to sneak by at home 34-20. It went down to the wire, but the OSU run game was dominant, and the defense came up with a late interception to shut down Indiana’s hopes of an upset. The Hoosiers showed some flashes of great play, but have still yet to win against an FBS opponent this season. [Read more…]
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