Friday:

Wisconsin vs. Michigan:

I didn’t see this one, but it looked like a typical example of Wisconsin’s Defense from the box score.  Nothing was really a surprise here.  Wisconsin has dominated almost everyone this year except Purdue.

Michigan State vs. Ohio State:

This could have just about guaranteed Ohio State a tournament berth with how all the bubble teams keep losing.  Michigan State had other plans and took them out and got revenge for a few days back.  Ohio State is still likely in good shape unless some teams pull off upsets in conference tournaments.

Illinois vs. Purdue:

I correctly said this was going to be a tough game, but I incorrectly had Purdue winning this close one.  The excuses on Gold and Black Illustrated bother me.

List of Gold and Black Illustrated Excuses:

• Excuse1: This team is tired --- Was that not the 33^rd game of the year for Illinois?  How about playing Johnson, Martin, or Green that Painter seemed to abandon in the 2^nd half.  Rotating those 3 players in would have helped keep the team more rested.
• Excuse2: We need a JUCO big man --- We got one of the highest ranked JUCO big men for this year.  He was the guy that I felt killed us down the stretch with taking poor shots and being nearly nonexistent rebounding the ball despite having the height and size. (Calasan)  Calasan played decent on defense, so I figure everyone is talking about the offensive end.  Guess what?  Our 6-10 and 6-8 guys that are decent on offense are both sitting the bench.  Get Johnson to gain 30 pounds for next season and he is the answer.  Martin has looked great in certain games only to disappear in others.  He will be a good player in the future.  The player that Purdue misses this year is Gordon Watt. (who got kicked off the team)
• Excuse3: Illinois wanted it more – They probably did, but that doesn’t excuse Purdue for not being motivated enough to help their seeding.  When you get matched up against a mid-major in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, who is going to want it more?  It’s obvious that a mid-major will want it much more over a major conference team unless you are someone like Northwestern.  Purdue will likely play a mid major and can’t keep playing the “they wanted it more” excuse.  Purdue got up by 10 and I immediately said they need to deliver the knockout blow.  They didn’t do it and it hurt them.
• Excuse4:  This doesn’t really change our seed --- It most definitely will.  The difference between a 14 seed and a 11 seed opponent is a big difference in the tournament.  If you statistically look at the number of wins, there’s quite a difference.  14 seeds average 0.18 wins per seed while an 11 seed averages 0.5 wins per seed.  These seeds correspond to Purdue’s first round opponent from what they would have gotten as a 3 seed and what they likely will get with a 6 seed.

I’m begging to draw someone like Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon, or Arizona State in the first round because losing to say the likes of Kentucky won’t look so bad in the eyes of an average fan as compared to losing in the first round to someone like Kent State.  Plus, mid-majors are usually better for their seed than the majors.

Minnesota vs. Indiana:

I had to watch things on gamecast thanks to Comcast and was wondering what the hell happened the last few seconds of that game. I figured it was a typical ending with the refs taking things out of the hands of the players. That was an understatement before the last shot.

Upon watching the video:
1st rebound --- That was a foul on White to get positioning to get that tying 2. I'm fine with them not calling this foul at this point in the game, so that isn't my complaint. My complaint comes when the Minnesota player grazes him (if even that) to give him the and one. They let the foul on White go, so there is no way the foul should be called on Minnesota if their officiating is consistent. I keep watching the video and I still can't see conclusive evidence that the Minnesota guy even touched White.

2nd rebound --- It was a scramble for a loose ball and looked like a flop on White. I wouldn't have too much of a problem with this call if not for the two questionable calls before it both going for IU.

The most telling part of this game was Tubby Smith on the camera staring at someone with some angry look on his face after IU got all those calls/non-calls to take the lead.  It likely was because he couldn’t do much else or the refs would have T-ed him up.  Tubby’s reaction when Minnesota won the game was classic.  You saw him there pumping his fist with some sort of happy and angry at the same time revenge look.  The revenge part is at the refs who single-handedly tried to take the game away from his team.

It’s sad that the calls at the end of this game will get overshadowed by the game-winning shot.  People will care less about the bad calls considering they didn’t change the outcome of the game.  The crew of this game should be held accountable and should be held out of the NCAA Tournament along with whatever crews called those 2 UCLA games and the crew that called that Villanova/Georgetown game earlier in the year where they called that phantom foul that let Georgetown win the game at the line with practically no time left.  None of the individual calls were that bad, but the fact that every single “judgement call” went IU’s way should throw up some sort of red flag.  You also had a likely foul on IU against the other Minnesota player on the winning shot.  The guy that didn’t catch the pass got dragged down by an IU player. 

I’m fine with most of these calls not getting called at the end of a game, but don’t call Minnesota for these nitpicking fouls and then let IU get away with significant fouls.

You would think the Big Ten would have wanted Minnesota to win anyway to possibly get another bid.

Saturday:

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin:

This game was blown by Michigan State down the stretch.  You can bet Izzo isn’t going to be happy about how they finished.  I guess the good news could be that it could help Purdue’s seed since MSU would have likely moved a seed ahead of Purdue with a win.  Now, there is still hope that the committee will take into account Purdue’s 2^nd place finish in the regular season and give them the highest seed out of the 3 between Purdue, IU, and MSU.  Another major problem about Wisconsin winning is that it likely will be tougher for Minnesota or Illinois to steal a bid to the tournament.  One of those teams will be playing for the BTT Championship and I feel both would have stood a much better chance against MSU.  Then again, I don’t know if I would want either one getting some 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and likely dragging down the Big Ten’s record in the NCAAs.