This is a fantastic conference, as evidenced by a pretty good day yesterday and a phenomenal day on tap today. Honestly, this year’s Big Ten is one of the best conferences I can remember.
With the opening round quadruple-header in the books, Gersh, Lil Lohse, and Scoot all remain perfect here in the Big Ten, going 4-for-4 yesterday. They will try and continue to runs today with the top 4 seeds getting involved.
#1 Michigan St. vs. #8 Iowa
Congrats to Fran McCaffery on his first Big Ten tournament win yesterday, ending the Bruce Weber Era at Illinois. Now, he will have to match wits with Tom Izzo (wits probably isn’t the biggest issue here, it’s more the players…). But, honestly, what another incredible job by Izzo this year. Just sensational.
All 20 entries took Michigan State in this game, but only 4 (Gersh, Scoot, Stri, Waters) have them winning this title.
#4 Wisconsin vs. #5 Indiana
Yesterday I said that Mike Montgomery is the most underrated coach in America. Well, I will stick to that, but only because I think that Bo Ryan is starting to get more of his just due. This guy wins – and wins big – every year, despite have a serious lack of talent. How many Badgers are in the NBA? And, yet, Ryan’s teams are Top 15 every, single year. They earned another bye with one of their least talented teams in a long time. And, they will open with an immensely talented IU team coming off a big second half against PSU.
Indiana is a very popular upset pick here, as only 5 people (Bry, Gross, Rikey, RDoc, Waters) have the Badgers winning this game. Gross (the huge Michigan St. fan) is the only one that has the Badgers beating Michigan St. in the semis. On the other hand, 7 people have IU going to the finals (Dave, Doogan, Lil Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Primm, RSmith), with Lynch and RSmith picking them to win it all.
#2 Michigan vs. #10 Minnesota
Tubby’s Gophers looked pretty good yesterday in the heartless elimination of Northwestern in overtime. Now, they get a Michigan team that looks as ready for March as any Wolverine team in a long time.
J is the only one with the huge upset pick of Minnesota here. Alexi, Dave, Gross, Lohse, RSmith, and Waters all thought this was a good spot for an upset pick, but went with Northwestern to get that upset, so they can’t get any points here. The other 13 people all have Michigan, including Lil Lohse, who has the Wolverines winning this tournament.
#3 Ohio St. vs. #6 Purdue
The Boilermakers welcomed Nebraska to the Big Ten tournament rudely yesterday, by hammering them in the nightcap. Now, they get to take their shot at OSU. Ohio St., the #3-seed, is though, by some, to be in the top 3 in the nation, let alone the Big Ten. But, that remains to be seen.
KA and Stri are the only two with the Purdue upset here; everyone else has OSU. Stri has the Boilers in the finals; KA has them winning it.
