Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Big Ten Basketball Macho Rankings

The Forces of Good are 2-0 in conference and sit atop the league along with three others. But, every coach in the league really is looking to impress the BS staff. Anyone can have Power Rankings...Only the greatest site in all of the land has Macho Rankings.

Here's how we think the league shakes out at this point.

Was there any doubt?
1. an Ohio State University
The gap has shrunk considerably between one and two as the Buckeyes showed some weakness v. the Hawkeyes...but until they lose, I'll have a hard time voting them lower than #1.
Only one could be higher
2. The Purdue University
Matty's squad seems to be hitting its stride. Everyone's getting to know their own. Choo choo, muthas.
Bad, bad dude
3. MSU
Izzo has righted the ship with wins over Minnesota and a close one v. the purple in Evanston. I'm looking forward to seeing how they play versus Wisconsin in two games.
Very few are more gritty, more macho
4. Illinois
A good win over Wisconsin and being 2-0 holds Weber's team among the early elite...but I don't think they'll be there for long.
The Macho King is not the King of Macho
5. Wisconsin
The Badgers dropped one earlier than I thought they would, but Leuer and Ryan will do big things in the next few weeks.
Don't hassle the Hoff...unless you've got a cheeseburger
6. Northwestern
Their record doesn't say it, but they're not horrible. Tough scheduling has put the 'Cats in a difficult situation. They really need to win the next three games if they want to make the dance. Is it possible that their contest v. Illinois is a must-win this early. It might be- they're in need of a confidence builder.
J was a huge Wham! fan
7. Minnesota
Two losses and a near loss to the worst team in the league aren't good signs of things to come for a team that thought it'd be near the top this season. Attrition is already killing them for multiple reasons...and they haven't even gotten into the meat grinder that is the BT schedule.
He's as big of a winner in the pros as he was in college
8. Penn State
They're playing much better ball than I thought they'd be this season. DeChellis has that fire in his eyes that brought home an NIT championship a few years ago. Oh yeah, and Talor Battle is still the truth. Can't wait until he graduates.
Martin is to Purdue as Shelly Long is to Cheers. (am I showing my age?)
9. Iowa
I actually think they're better than the 9th-best team in the league...and they play like it at times (case in point last night's contest).
We miss you already, Coach.
10. Michigan
I wasn't skerrrrred of the Wolverines before they pooped the bed at Crisler versus our Boilers...and they haven't shown me anything to improve my opinion of them. The really bad news for them is that their next three games are probably losses...Is it possible that Beilein goes the way of RichRod at the end of this season? Maybe they'll look outside of Morgantown for their next big hire.
Good at clapping...bad at coaching.
11. IU
Crean's club almost stole one in a very quite barn last night. The Forehead blamed the loss on Elston's illness via Twitter...I'd blame the loss on the Forehead. IU has too much talent to be in the position they're in. I don't care what IU fans tell me.

5 comments:

Erin said...

I didn't watch the game, but I saw somewhere this morning that there was some player for IU that was doing great in the first half (when they were winning) and then Crean took him out in second half to play someone more seasoned? So, maybe his coaching really is the problem. I mean, he is 1-18 or something like that in the Big Ten for road games. I am surprised the IU fans haven't said "off with head" yet.

zlionsfan said...

I thought it was great to read that Carolina will definitely take Luck if he declares for the draft. It makes sense, though ... they definitely need a QB.

Shelley Long, ugh. The Cheers-era Kirstie Alley was 100 times better.

There are definitely some IU fans that are not pleased with the progress Crean's made so far. I suppose you could draw a parallel between that and Rodriguez at Michigan: it seemed like a good idea at first, but at some point, you have to stop making excuses. Either he gets it done or you need to find someone else who will. (Not that I support quick firings - let's leave that to schools like Notre Dame - but when you're seeing multiple seasons with results below what you expect, it's hard to justify giving coaches 4-5 years to prove they can't handle the job.)

Plang said...

IU and Minny are head-scratchers to me. They really should be better, but both just seem to be deer in the headlights. I suppose both coaches are better recruiters than actual coaches. Not that I'm complaining. I'm more than happy to have someone like Matty that takes a mid-level kid and turn him into something great. Now, if he can just get one of our the young centers to see the light...

J Money said...

What do you mean I was a big Wham fan?

boilerdowd said...

I mean they don't make music anymore and are broken up...sadly it doesn't look like a reunion tour is on tap either :(.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, pal.