All your Big Ten Tourneys are belong to Cheezburger

March 13th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Not to pick on the Sun-Times too much today, but this headline is hilarious:

I know it’s a play on Tom Izzo’s name, but I, for one, graciously applaud the Sun-Times for edging our major metropolitan newspapers toward the adoption of Cheezburger-speak.

A new day is dawning.

Case of the Mondays: College basketball fiesta

February 26th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Quite a weekend for college hoops, huh?

So our Hoosiers suffered a massive meltdown in Lansing - so what? We didn’t expect them to win anyway, and those Spartans are a dangerous, dangerous squad, provided they don’t turn the ball over. Oh well, right?

No, the main action to be seen was elsewhere in the Big Ten, as I mentioned Friday. That game didn’t disappoint one bit, as the Badgers put up a great second half fight even after they lost criminally underrated center Brian Butch. The big man’s bum elbow will definitely damage the Badgers’ chances of overtaking Ohio State in the Big Ten tourney, or of making a huge NCAA push … but if any team can weather an injury, it’s Wisconsin. They’ll be imperfect, but tough nonetheless.

Elsewhere, we can shake our heads dismissively at Florida today. Luke Winn’s question from Saturday’s letdown to undermanned LSU rings true: Are the Gators good enough to flip the proverbial switch whenever necessary? Are they the Shaq-and-Kobe-era Lakers, capable of huge regular season relaxation periods as well as playoff success? We’ll see in the next few weeks.

Also partially interesting: Maryland takes down UNC in College Park. Are the Terps making a surge here or what? That’s five in a row for a suddenly dangerous tournament team.

Georgetown tops Pittsburgh. Speaking of surging, the Hoyas are playing as well as anyone in the country right now. They’re certainly playing better than Florida and UNC, and even maybe better than Wisconsin.

Weekend Fun: Scarlet vs., um, Red

February 23rd, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

A quick Weekend Fun today, because this weekend is about one thing: college basketball. More specifically, this weekend is about the Big Ten, which, as they say, is poppin’ off this weekend. The top four teams in the conference - skill-wise, at least - face off against each other this week, games that could have a big say in how the Big Ten tourney is seeded … and how these teams will fare on Selection Sunday.

The first of the two is Indiana at Michigan State at 9 p.m. on Saturday - I’ll be there; say hi! - a game which will most likely fall to the Spartans unless the Hoosiers both kill MSU on the boards and force 15 or 16 turnovers, at least. Without fiesty guard Earl Calloway, that’s probably not going to happen.

The second is a match up of two worthy future No. 1 seeds, the Wisconsin Badgers, who were taken down in East Lansing just after earning their No. 1 ranking Tuesday, and Ohio State, who is likely to become the next No. 1 team if North Carolina is passed over for the honor. As Jeff Shelman writes over at ESPN, the NCAA Tournament implications are the really story here. Bottom line: a Wisconsin loss might jeopardize their No. 1 chances, while an Ohio State win could seal their fate, regardless of what happens in the Big Ten tourney.

Interesting, and applicable, stat of the weekend: Big Ten teams have only won 21 games on the road this year, and 11 of them - over half, for you math majors - have been won by either Ohio State or Wisconsin. What happens when Wisconsin, who is responsible for half of those road wins, goes to Ohio State, who is undefeated at home. What’s gonna give?

I guess we’ll see Sunday. Enjoy this: it’s meaningful college hoops, or as meaningful as college hoops can be in February. Tune in, and we’ll see you Monday.