2K Sports Classic: Preview and Prediction of SuperNOVA

If you read my preseason post, you know that I predicted this could be a game that the Boilers lose.  Not because I'm buying into ESPN's Big East is better than all forever mentality, but because Painter teams tend to struggle on neutral courts, not to mention the Boilers are one of the youngest teams in basketball.

Here is what Nova brings to the table, other than the ESPN east coast attitude.

They have a great freshman guard in Ryan Arcidiacona. Arcidiacona has more to hope for than just a chance at the strangest name in college basketball this season.  He is averaging 18 points and 5 assists this season.  It does seem as though he might have trouble with turning over the ball... sound familiar?

Arcidiacona will be a good match-up for the Boilermakers.  His youth might get the best of him, but if not contained he could drop a load on the Boilers. [Uhhh, do what, now? -Ed.]

James Bell is another guy that could give the Boilers some trouble.  Bell is a taller guard at 6-6, not quite Kelsey Barlow lanky, but this guy can shoot the rock.  This season he is averaging 14 points per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field.

Bell's size could cause some issues for Purdue with the lack of size at the guard position, but Terone or Byrd should be able to contain him.

If you take a glance at their roster on ESPN, they are freakishly similar to our team right now -- young and in rebuilding mode.

The weakest part about this squad has to be the big men. During their last game they played JayVaughn Pinkston at forward along with Mouphatao Yarou and Maurice Sutton at the center spot. These guys are not huge by any means. In fact, dare I say it, Purdue might actually have the size advantage in this game. Shocker, I know.

Sutton is the one I'm most concerned about in this one.  He is a senior with plenty of experience.  Being a role player his first three years, he's now expected to jump up and provide some very productive scoring.

This team is a squad that is going to grow each game, very similar to Purdue, they are still searching for an identity and are hoping to find it in the Big Apple.

I have to believe this is going to be a very close game.  It's time to see what the freshman can really do in crunch time.  It will be their first chance to really play on the national stage.  Also this will be the first chance for some of you who haven't been to Mackey to see these guys play.

I think Purdue wins this game.  It will be close throughout, but if the Boilermakers can finally get in a rhythm they will pull this one out.  I'm not sure if Byrd will be as productive as he is expected to be yet, but I think the game will depend on him and Terone.

Purdue 78 Nova 73

Can We Call Time of Death on UND's Season?

If you're like me (or B-dowd), you've got ESPN on an awful lot at home. So much so, in fact, that it's amazing we're still married. (Not to each other, mind you.)

But what you learn is what constant themes are drummed into the heads of the SportsCenter anchors and other shows "experts." I can't tell you how many times in the past month or so I've heard that Notre Dame "can't afford another loss," or "This might be the crushing blow..."

Might be? Another loss?

Look, UND's basketball season flatlined somewhere during that abomination of a seven-game losing streak that began in late January. And even if you think it didn't, do you know their record since that streak? 6-4. So in their last 17 games, they went 6-11. Wow, impressive.

I don't care if you even really think the Big East is that good -- after their embarrassing performance against WVU last night, they're an 18-14 team with an 8-10 conference record who deserves not a sniff at the NCAA tourney.

Go wake up the echos, yo. In the NIT.

Have fun, Scott.

Seth Davis is a Jack

Sure, PSU and IllinoiS did the Big Ten no favors last night with their awesome display of awesomeness in Champagne (maybe I caused this by bashing women's basketball last week?), but I'm still tired of the Big Ten taking shots from people who should know better.

This morning, Seth Davis was on the Dan Patrick Show and he was first asked about the 38-33 Naismith-esque game between the Kittens and the Illini. His response? Why, to take a shot at the Big Ten in general, of course:

"When I saw that, I wondered if they had gone back to the old rules where you had to have a jump ball at center court after every basket. Although that would have maybe been an improvement in the Big Ten this year."

The hell? Frick you, Seth Davis. You and your haughty, ACC-leaning self. He also went on to talk about how those in "lesser" conferences are sometimes in better position for the tourney because they're not grinding out tough games like those teams "in the ACC and Big East."

One of the things I recently discussed with Boilerdowd was how the mass media don't have any clue WHY the scores are generally lower in the Big Ten. It's not that it's weaker -- it's that our conference does this little thing called DEFENSE.

Did anyone watch Duke-UNC last week? There wasn't any defense in that game. They just ran up and down the court, nobody was even getting their hands up on defense, and when you have two teams full of all-American shooters, well, you KNOW they're going to score. And then -- presto! -- you've got a 90-80 kind of game. It's not rocket science.

Oh, and if you still think (and I know none of you do) the Big Ten is "weak," let's take a look at the conference RPI ratings.

Huh. That's funny. It looks to me -- and I'm no Seth Davis-level genius -- like the Big Ten is ranked the #2 conference... ahead of the Big (L)East and mere thousands of a point behind the ACC.

Do you know how long it took me to do that research? Four seconds. Sure, I'm biased, too, but I don't get paid to be knowledgeable on the subject.

Purdue Moves Up, And Other Rankings Hijinks

The Boilermakers will have to wait a little while longer to be #1 in the nation, as Duke squeaked by them for the top spot, garnering 30 first place votes to Purdue's zero.

The Boilers did move up a spot to #17 after beating a ranked team on the road. Hmmm, let's see what else happened in the top 25.

It's interesting to us the undeserved respect that the Big East continues to get. For example, Syracuse got run out of the gym by Pitt and followed that with another double-digit loss to Louisville and yet only fell seven spots to 15. In more egregious name-recognition voting, Notre Dame got beat at home by admittedly very good UConn, yet is still ranked 22. They only fell three slots, yet they have a 12-6 record. 12-6? Seriously? Michigan is 14-6 and they beat Duke and UCLA, yet they don't even get a sniff at the top 25 this week. Yeah, that Big Ten sure is a down conference.

How about Georgetown? Another sterling 12-6 record, and do you know what they did last week? They lost by 17 to unranked West Virginia and by five to..... Seton freaking Hall. But by all means, let's keep them in the top 25. They've earned it.

Just more proof that the rankings are complete silliness.

Todd McShay Is A Handsome Man

I never had much of an opinion on Todd McShay, except that I was glad he was kind of challenging idiot extraordinaire Mel Kiper, Jr. for supremacy in evaluating college football talent.

But this morning McShay was co-hosting on ESPN Radio (filling into for the fat man / gay man combo) and he was asked to rank the college football conferences in terms of strongest to weakest. And despite the constant bashing of the Big Ten by ESPN and others, McShay actually referred to the Big Ten as "underrated," which made me want to hug him. McShay's rankings went as follows:

1. SEC (which would be #1 even if they weren't thanks to ESPN making sweet, sweet love to the SEC)

2. Big 12 (which I might argue with since yes they have some great teams but also a lot of lousy programs)

3. Big Ten

4. Pac Ten

5. Big East

6. ACC ("ha ha!" -- insert Simpsons sound effect here)

I think this is the most fair representation of the various conferences I've seen in a long time. Of course, I'm sure ACC supporters wouldn't agree, and I could possibly see flip-flopping them with the Big (L)East, but again, I can't argue too much.

Mark Schlabach Still Hates the Big Ten

Just a quick hit to point out that Mark Schlabach continues to irrationally hate the Big Ten. This is not the first time I've tried to find some logic in Schlabach's anti-Big Ten comments.

Buried in this "College GameDay Final" article, we find this nugget from Schlabach:

WINNER: Big Ten. Frankly, the conference isn't very good. But five weeks into the season, Ohio State is ranked No. 4 and Wisconsin is No. 5. With a stingy defense and improving offense (as well as a soft schedule), the Buckeyes are 5-0. The Badgers have struggled to win their past four games. The Buckeyes and Badgers play Nov. 3 at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.

So let's look at this carefully.

WINNER: Big Ten.

Cool! Some props for the Big Ten!

Frankly, the conference isn't very good.

Oh. Then why are we "winners"?

But five weeks into the season, Ohio State is ranked No. 4 and Wisconsin is No. 5.

Ah, yes, disproving your previous sentence... I mean, how is it that a conference that "isn't very good" has two of the top 5 teams in all the land?

With a stingy defense and improving offense (as well as a soft schedule), the Buckeyes are 5-0.

So is Mark complimenting or bashing OSU in this comment? Is he fence-sitting?

The Badgers have struggled to win their past four games.

What's your point? Wisconsin is never flashy yet always seems to wind up with a solid record.

The Buckeyes and Badgers play Nov. 3 at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.

And that's it. That's his last line. Great reporting, Mark! Thanks for regurgitating what a refrigerator magnet schedule can tell us!

Did a fourth-grader from Madison, Wisconsin file this report for Mark? Maybe the rough draft looked like this:

"Wisconsin plays hard and wins. Ohio State is scoring lots and wins. These teams play each other."

And one more point on all this "The Big Ten isn't very good" baloney. What would make a conference good in Mark Schlabach's world? The Big Ten has two teams in the Top Ten. Here's how other major conferences break down:

Big Ten: 2 (OSU, Wisc)
Pac Ten: 2 (USC, Cal)
SEC: 3 (LSU, Fla, UK)
Big East: 2 (South Fla, BC)
Big 12: 1 (OK)

So, again, I ask what makes a conference better than "not very good"? You don't have to love the Big Ten, but we do ask that you show some damned respect. Does anybody meet your expectations, Mark?

My guess as to what makes a good conference in Mark Schlabach's world is one where Notre Dame is the charter member and wins the conference with an unblemished record every season, while Charlie Weis wears a toga and sways in a hammock while Schlabach feeds him grapes and pork rinds.