Big Ten Has Three National Title Contenders, but None are Among the Favorites

March 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Lots of college basketball pundits have deemed the Big Ten the strongest conference in the nation this season, and the numbers seen to verify this. From top to bottom, it’s the strongest conference in the country, but it’s strongest teams aren’t among the elite of the elite nationally.

The Big Ten has three teams, #6 Michigan State, #10 Michigan and #13 Purdue that have a legitimate shot of winning it all, but none are likely to earn a #1 seed on Selection Sunday. You won’t find any of that trio among the top favorites to be crowned kings of March Madness either. In short, the Midwestern based league, headquartered in Chicago, is just not top heavy enough.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, North Carolina Tar Heels, Purdue Boilermakers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Michigan vs. Louisville: 2013 National Championship drinking game

April 8, 2013 By 1 Comment

rick-pitino-national-championship

Welcome to the fifth annual NCAA Tournament National Championship Drinking Game, one of our favorite articles every year here at The Sports Bank.  If you missed our first four editions, you can check out the 2009 Michigan State vs. North Carolina version, the 2010 Butler vs. Duke edition, 2011’s UConn vs. Butler, and last year’s Kentucky vs. Kansas drinking game.

Even if you do not have a rooting interest in tonight’s National Championship between the Michigan Wolverines and Louisville Cardinals; invite some friends over, buy a heck of a lot of booze, follow our drinking rules, and it will be as much fun as if your own team was playing.

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Five non-NCAA Tournament teams likely to dance next year

April 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

kentucky-wildcats

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.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, Purdue Boilermakers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Deshaun Thomas leaves Ohio St, enters Draft, where does he fit?

April 5, 2013 By 2 Comments

Deshaun-Thomas

Deshaun Thomas was the NCAA Tournament’s scoring leader last March. Before the Buckeyes were eliminated in the Final Four, Deshaun Thomas really showed what he can do offensively, and improved his NBA draft stock. This year his NBA Draft stock plateaued, after jumping greatly his sophomore season. Deshaun Thomas will now enter the draft and see where his fortunes lie.

Thomas plans to finish the 2013 Ohio State Spring Semester while splitting time between Columbus and Indianapolis preparing for the NBA Draft. Also check out the interesting letter to the editor Deshaun Thomas placed in the school’s paper a couple days ago.

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2013 NCAA Tournament: South bracket breakdown

March 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

kansas-jayhawks-basketball

Warning: I will not be responsible if you copy this bracket and are out of your NCAA Tournament pool by Sunday.  However, if you do listen to my college basketball wisdom and win some money, I want 20% of the pot or at least a shout-out on your twitter or facebook page.

Kansas  earned the number one seed in the South Bracket and get a huge home court advantage playing their first two games in Kansas City.  Florida, Georgetown, and Michigan are the other top seed but there are a couple of dangerous teams lurking in this regional.

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2013 NCAA Tournament: West bracket breakdown

March 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

kelly olynyk

Warning: I will not be responsible if you copy this bracket and are out of your NCAA Tournament pool by Sunday.  However, if you do listen to my college basketball wisdom and win some money, I want 20% of the pot or at least a shout-out on your twitter or facebook page.

I don’t love the West Bracket. At. All. And by that I mean there is no stand out team who I want to pick going to the Final Four.  Of all the brackets, this seems to be the most likely one to see a darkhorse emerges since I’m not sold on the top seed Gonzaga or #2 Ohio State.

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Filed Under: College Basketball, Notre Dame, Ohio State Buckeyes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2013 NCAA Tournament: Midwest Regional bracket breakdown

March 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

louisville big east champs

Warning: I will not be responsible if you copy these brackets and are out of your NCAA Tournament pool by Sunday.  However, if you do listen to my college basketball wisdom and win some money, I want 20% of the pot or at least a shout-out on your twitter or facebook page.

Louisville earned the number one overall seed in the entire tourney and is the top seed in the Midwest Regional.  With Duke and Michigan State in the region as well, it won’t be an easy ride to the Final Four for the Cardinals.

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Is The NCAA Basketball Champion in The Big Ten?

January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

trey-Burke

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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Bradley Beal: The Next Ray Allen?

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Bradley Beal

NBA prospect Bradley Beal is earning some high praise, and he hasn’t even done anything to deserve it, yet. Beal is considered, by most NBA scouts and draft analysts, to be a top five pick in this year’s NBA draft.

The highly rated shooting guard from the University of Florida has drawn comparisons to current NBA players, most notably: Eric Gordon and Ray Allen. [Read more…]

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Who is UConn’s Andre Drummond gonna be in the NBA?

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Andre Drummond

The hardest thing to do is evaluate, compare, and predict how a player is going to pan-out at the next level. It’s especially difficult when the player extremely under-performed in his one season before turning pro. That’s the case with Connecticut’s Andre Drummond.

Here’s my take. [Read more…]

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How good might Harrison Barnes be in the NBA?

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Harrison Barnes

There wasn’t a more highly touted recruit coming out of high school, other than LeBron James, than Harrison Barnes. People thought so highly of him that college basketball tabbed him as a preseason first team All-American. But his first few months of his freshman season were anything but All-American-esque. [Read more…]

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Cody Zeller and Christian Watford returning to Indiana Hoosiers for 2012-13

April 10, 2012 By 1 Comment

Let the preseason No. 1 speculation officially begin for Indiana basketball.

The Hoosiers, widely expected to enter the 2012-13 season at or near the top of the polls, got huge news for their chances on that front as the university’s athletics department announced in a release that forwards Cody Zeller and Christian Watford would return for their sophomore and senior seasons, respectively, rather than declare for the NBA Draft.

Such was expected. I never thought Zeller would leave after one season of college basketball (although he could have been a lottery pick), and I didn’t get a hint of any current interest in Watford as a NBA prospect — his skill set is a bit lacking in areas and he isn’t being listed in any mock draft I see — so it’s not a surprise to see both guys announce their returns. It’s going to be truly fascinating to see this Indiana team next season. It will have the firepower to do great things.

This announcement does create one minor issue for the Hoosiers, though: They are oversigned by one scholarship heading into next season. Coach Tom Crean will have to show one guy the door to make enough room for his key returnees as well as for “The Movement” of 2012 signees.

Follow the jump for the release from Indiana University Athletics.

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