The conference has been much maligned in recent years, yet has a tremendous opportunity to assert itself with a strong first round performance. All the Big Ten needs to do is the exact opposite of what the Big East did yesterday.

The mighty Big East, renowned as the best conference in the nation, saw purported powerhouse Georgetown, along with Notre Dame and Marquette, go down in first round Thursday action. The conference’s lone winner, Villanova, needed some friendly officiating to escape being only the fifth #2 seed in history to lose in the first round.

The Big East still has teams like Syracuse and Pitt to play today, but a strong showing by the Big Ten’s Big Five today would obviously help the conference look much better in comparison.

Let’s quickly break down the schedule, assess what Big Ten fans should expect their conference today, and analyze why this is yet another day for Indiana fans to pull their hair out and lament what was…and what could have been.

#11 Minnesota v #6 Xavier

• Xavier-Minnesota Tip Time: 12:25 PM ET
• Xavier-Minnesota Location: Milwaukee, WI
• Xavier-Minnesota Announcers: Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel

This is a winnable game for the Golden Gophers, and they should have a tremendous amount of confidence coming off of their strong run in the Big Ten Tournament, plus the fact that both #11 seeds that played yesterday beat their 6th seeded opponents.

The Gophers should have the edge down low, where Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson give Minnesota a pair of twin towers that can rotate, stay fresh, and mitigate foul issues. Where Minnesota will need to really excel is in the backcourt. Xavier has guys in Terrell Holloway and Jordan Crawford who are very good all around players and will need to be contained.

Tubby Smith is an experienced tournament coach and I think he’ll have Minnesota ready to go. They just may not be talented or consistent enough to pull off the W.

My Minnesota-Xavier prediction: Xavier wins, but Minnesota gives them a rough go of it.

#4 Purdue v #13 Siena

• Siena-Purdue Tip Time: 2:30 PM ET
• Siena-Purdue Location: Spokane, WA
• Siena-Purdue Announcers: Tim Brando and Mike Gminski

This is one of the more enigmatic games of the day. Amazingly, I do not think many people would consider it an upset if 13th seeded Siena beat the Boilermakers. Siena has been a trendy upset pick all week as people cannot shake the Boilermakers’ awful showing in the Big Tournament out of their heads.

I say shake it out because I think we will see a much better team today. While Purdue is no longer a Final Four threat without Robbie Hummel, this is still a team that has many of the fundamentals for tournament success in place: experienced guards, a big man who controls the paint, a defensive-oriented approach, the ability hit open shots, previous tournament success, etc.

Yes, Siena has won games in the last two tournaments, and yes it could be argued that they are seeded too low and Purdue is seeded too high. Still, despite my Hoosier devotion, I have a lot of faith in Matt Painter as a coach and I have seen too many gritty performances from this Purdue team to count them out this easily.

My Purdue-Siena prediction: Led by E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, Purdue survives and advances.

#4 Wisconsin v #13 Wofford

• Wofford-Wisconsin Tip Time: 2:50 PM ET
• Wofford-Wisconsin Location: Jacksonville, FL
• Wofford-Wisconsin Announcers: Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg

I don’t know a whole lot about Wofford, but I do know a lot about Bo Ryan; and if you don’t know much about Ryan, just know that he is perhaps the most underrated basketball coach in America.

Also know this, before you start thinking that this will be another 13 over 4 upset: Ryan has taken Wisconsin to the tournament eight straight years. Only once (2006) has he failed to make it out of the first round.

While the Badgers play a plodding, slow-tempo style that can allow teams to hang around if they make shots, the Badgers also do not beat themselves and, as usual, have very good guards and tough, physical inside presences.

My Wisconsin-Wofford prediction: Pick against Bo Ryan in the first round at your peril; I won’t do. Wisconsin wins with relative ease.

#5 Michigan State v #12 New Mexico State

• New Mexico State-Michigan State Tip Time: 7:20 PM ET
• New Mexico State-Michigan State Location: Spokane, WA
• New Mexico State-Michigan State Announcers: Tim Brando and Mike Gminski

A lot of people who have watched Michigan State stumble after an undefeated start to the conference season are very interested to see how they play today.

Tom Izzo is as consistently good a tournament coach as there is in America, and this year’s Spartan team features players like Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, and others who were big parts of last year’s run to the NCAA title game. Unfortunately for Sparty, this year’s team has also been wrought with internal issues, chemistry concerns, and the recent suspension of sharp-shooting guard Chris Allen.

I would not be surprised to see Michigan State win by 20, nor would I be surprised to see New Mexico State pick them off in another 12-5 upset. This game is truly like a box of chocolates…because, where Michigan State is concerned, we have no idea what we’re going to get.

My Michigan State-New Mexico State prediction: I have too much faith in Tom Izzo not to pick the Spartans here. It won’t be pretty, but they’ll win.

#2 Ohio State v #15 UC Santa Barbara

• UC Santa Barbara-Ohio State Tip Time: 9:35 PM ET
• UC Santa Barbara-Ohio State Location: Milwaukee, WI
• UC Santa Barbara-Ohio State Announcers: Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel

Ohio State won the Big Ten regular season, won the tournament, has one of the top two finalists for the Wooden Award, and a strong case could have been made that the Buckeyes deserved a #1 seed. So this should be a cake walk, right?

Yes, but…

What if Dallas Lauderdale gets in foul trouble? Ohio State is not a deep team and he is their main source of size. And what if guys like Jom Diebler don’t shoot well? UCSB would then be able to pay even more attention to Evan Turner.

These are legit question that Ohio State will have to face as the tournament progresses, but not today. When you have a player as dynamic as Turner, and surround him with diverse players who understand their roles, you have a damn good team and a good chance of advancing deep in the tournament.

My Ohio State-UC Santa Barbara prediction: The Buckeyes have some fatal flaws that will prevent them from winning it all, but they’ll dominate today.

Final Thoughts

If all of these predictions come to pass, the Big Ten will end up 4-1 in the first round and 80% of their tournament entrants into the Round of 32. All things considered, that would be a great first day for the conference. If Minnesota can somehow sneak past Xavier, and the chalk dictates the other matchups, it is not inconceivable that the Big Ten could have a 5-0 day.

Although, even if that happens, the conference cannot really be considered a undefeated winner. The reason, I am sad to say, is that Indiana fans like myself will have to spend another day being reminded of the collapse of our once proud program.

Did you see Ben Allen playing well for Saint Mary’s yesterday? He was once a Hoosier.

Did you catch that Ohio upset over Georgetown? You know little Armon Bassett, the guy with ice water in his veins knocking down shot after shot? He was once doing that in Bloomington.

The backcourt that powered Xavier to a 6th seed? Jordan Crawford was Armon Bassett’s teammate and Terrell Holloway was headed to IU before Kelvin Sampson got the boot.

The versatile inside-outside forward that complements Da’Sean Butler for West Virginia? Yeah, Devin Ebans was supposed to join Holloway at IU.

How do you think IU would have done this year with a lineup that looked like this:

• PG Terrell Holloway
• SG Armon Bassett
• SF Jordan Crawford
• PG Devin Ebanks
• C Ben Allen

Assuming, for the sake of discussion, that Maurice Creek and Christian Watford still chose IU, that would have created a pretty strong 7-man rotation. And if Tom Pritchard could have come off the bench in more of a reserve role, he would probably be a much more confident player. And…

Oh, to hell with it. The truth is that Bassett and Crawford were, by most accounts, both knuckleheads who needed to be jettisoned for IU to return to its more traditional program culture of, you know, actually going to class and not being a screw off. Holloway and Ebanks rightfully jumped ship when the coach that recruited them was fired ignominiously.

And while we have had to suffer through two rough seasons, Tom Crean is rebuilding the program the way it should be rebuilt: with hard working, high character guys who appreciate and understand what it means to be an Indiana basketball player. Bassett and Crawford never really understood this, which is why I wish them both well at their new schools. It’s not their fault that they never really should have been in Bloomington in the first place…at least not playing for a coach who demanded no accountability.

With all that said, it doesn’t mean it was 100% enjoyable seeing Bassett play so well for someone else last night. We IU fans can only hope that Jordan Hulls and Mo Creek are doing that to someone in the NCAA Tournament next year.

But this is this year, and it’s a very important day for the Big Ten. Hoosier fans everywhere should be getting behind their Big Ten brethren today because a strong showing by the conference makes IU look better by association. Anything that can help on the recruiting trail should be welcomed at this point. As they say, when the water rises, all the boats rise with it.

So go Gophers, Badgers, Buckeyes, Spartans, and…yes…even Boilers. If I can’t root for the Cream and Crimson, I can at least spread my rooting interests throughout the Big Ten family.

**********

* – Bo Ryan photo credit: AP Photo/Brian Kersey

* – Ralph Sampson III photo credit: AP photo via InfoForum.com

“I am sure you agree with me that this year has more inconsistency logic than I can ever remember in terms of seedings.”

Indeed I do.

To be fair, in sports, few have harder short-term jobs than the NCAA tournament committee. So when I pen the words below, realize I understand the difficult logistics of so-called “bracketology,” yet still think improvements can be made.

There are a myriad of areas to grouse about, but for me, the so-called bubble teams are unnecessary to cry over since 80% of those teams consistently don’t make it out of the first round, and well over 90% don’t make the Sweet 16 or deeper. This year, as commented upon by many, they are weaker than ever.

However, an area I do feel is botched year after year is how the committee treats conference tournaments.

I am personally for abolishing them completely as it only hurts good mid-majors who’ve played well all season and rewards mediocrity from the BCS conferences. But I am also cognizant that these events are necessary evils — just like bowl games — since they make money; therefore, as long as they exist, let’s at least be consistent about how they’re judged, as far too many schools are rewarded or punished injudiciously. This year was really, really bad.

The following lists are not intended to be exhaustive:

These teams were rewarded for good conference tournament play

Georgetown:

The Hoyas are a very talented team that could lose in the first or second round or make the elite 8. They had a roller coaster year with some good wins and really bad losses. That said, they were an 8 seed in the Big East tourney, needing, in the minds of many, at least one win to solidify a spot in the Big Dance, yet they won two additional games and jumped all the way up to a three seed.

Minnesota:

Illinois was the Big Ten bubble team most of the season with the Gophers out of consideration prior to the conference tourney, yet a win over Michigan State followed by a thumping of Purdue and a blow out loss to Ohio State gets Tubby Smith’s team in with 13 losses and a .500 conference record. They also get to play in Milwaukee, just a 4 hour drive from campus.

Georgia Tech:

7-9 in a weak ACC, 12 losses overall, but apparently beating N.C., NC State, and Maryland over three days is good enough.

Notre Dame:

The Irish were rewarded for a flourish at season’s end – without their best player for most of those — and two wins in the conference tourney.

Yet these teams were not rewarded for good conference tournament play

Temple:

29-5 overall, 14-2 in a very good A-10, plus conference tourney title gets them just a 5 seed? And a matchup with a very good Cornell squad. Had they not won the A-10, would they have been a 7 or 8? New Mexico lost in their tourney semis and still got a 3.

San Diego State:

At worst the Mountain West is the 6th best conference and the Aztecs (25-8) won the tourney, yet got an 11 seed and will play 3,500 miles from home.  UNLV, who they beat in the finals, and had an identical record to, grabbed an 8.

Butler:

They did everything the tourney asked and more all season, including being the only team to go undefeated in conference, having ZERO bad losses, yet they are given a five seed. Four years running the committee has screwed over the Bulldogs in seeding or draw.

Illinois:

They beat Wisconsin and took one of the best teams to overtime in the conference tourney, but that did not help their cause.

Ohio State:

Arguably the hottest team in the land, wins the conference tourney, yet still cannot crack the one line. Look at their resume vs. Duke’s.

West Virginia:

See OSU, including a comparison with Duke. Why did the Mountaineers give their all in the Big East tourney when it didn’t help their seed one bit?

These teams were punished for subpar conference tournament play

Purdue:

Even with the semifinal loss to Minnesota, Purdue has the resume of a 2 seed at worst: 27-5, a slew of high quality wins, a Big Ten regular season title, ranked top 5 most of the season, etc. They’re being punished for one game and the “potential” to lose early. They also play the best 13 seed in years (Siena).

Virginia Tech:

10-6 in conference yet lost early and are out completely. What’s three games difference in the ACC? A one seed and the easiest path to the final 4 (Duke) vs. out completely (Hokies).

Michigan State:

Apparently, the past means nothing, which is fine. But MSU won the Big Ten, then lost in OT early in the conference tourney, therefore they fall to a 5 seed — and are sent to Spokane.

Gonzaga:

An overrated team to be sure, but they went from a 4 to an 8 with one bad loss — in the WCC finals to a very strong team. Pretty punitive.

Tennessee:

Third place in the SEC, yet a blowout loss in conference semis to a one seed (UK) drops them to a 6? Mystifying.

Yet these schools were not punished for poor conference tournament play

Vanderbilt:

Lost to a non-tourney team in conference semis, yet still keeps the 4 seed.

Maryland:

Like Duke, Maryland has precious few impressive wins, and they lost in the ACC first round, yet still got a 4? When you have a large fan base with money to travel…

Villanova:

I think they still deserve a 2, but they didn’t even win one Big East tourney game.

Pitt:

See Villanova. There is no punishment for some teams when they fail in the conference tourneys.

Clemson:

A bubble team (9-7 in conference) who lost to one of the conference’s worst teams in the ACC tourney’s first rounds, yet gets a 7 seed. A 7 seed? Above Gonzaga and 28-4 Northern Iowa, four above SDSU, five above 27-4 Cornell, just one below Tennessee, two below Temple and Butler…. gosh, imagine had the Tigers won a game or two. Maybe a 3 or 4 seed?

Wake Forest:

See Clemson. Apparently a 21 point opening round loss to the conference doormat (Miami) does not affect seeding when you’re Wake.

Wisconsin:

Lost first game of big ten tourney, yet unlike MSU, the committee ignored it.

MISC

Then there’s Duke, who I calmly noted last week did not deserve a one seed based upon their paucity of road victories, but there are so many more reasons. Not all are sold on Coach K’s squad either.

Not only did the Blue Devils somehow get a one seed, but they got the best and easiest road to Indianapolis. Amazing for a team without a signature win who struggled to beat ACC bottom feeders all year.

As Jerod noted in his preview last night:

“If my bracket comes to fruition, Duke will have to beat a #16 seed, a #8 seed that many people felt should be a bubble team, a #4 seed playing without its best player, and an unheralded #7 seed to make the Final Four.”

{It’s indeed good to be Duke — who has only played two good teams the past two months and lost to them both —  or anyone from the overrated ACC in 2010…unless you’re Virginia Tech, who seems to be one of the last teams out every March.}

Lastly, on the whole, sure it’s an open tournament, but Kansas is clearly the best team. They have been dominant all year, moreso than even Kentucky and Syracuse. They’re not UNC of 2009, but they are the favorite, so ignore the mainstream media blabbering on about how “it’s anyone’s to win.” Yes, it always is, but KU is the clear-cut favorite. Too bad the Committee feels Duke is, as KU somehow has to go through arguably the best two seed (Ohio State) to reach Lucas Oil Stadium April 3.

Dan Guerrero, this year’s Committee Chair, did say yesterday that his group wouldn’t weigh teams’ performances in their last 12 games as heavily as in the past. Wake Forest benefited from that decision, but others did not: Mississippi State, Illinois, Rhode Island, etc. (Not to mention all the aforementioned that were punished for subpar conference tournament performance)

Andy Katz, in his column for ESPN this morning, pondered: “How closely the committee toed that line, however, was still in question.”

I agree. It’s not just in question, it’s a matter of selectivity, which is worse than inconsistency. Coaches will apparently have to guess year by year not only whom to schedule non-conference (unless you’re Duke or Kentucky, which means schedule 98% home games against nobody, win a neutral site game versus a mediocre team or two, and lose your 1-2 road tilts, and no one will notice), but how hard to play in the conference tourney. Apparently, a win or loss during Championship Week only matters for some, not all.

(And lastly, no, please do not expand the tournament. Let me be very clear that I am surely NOT arguing for that in this essay.)

**********

* – Tubby Smith photo credit: Double the Post

* – Coack K photo credit: TalkingProud.com

Royce White, a highly recruited basketball player from Minnetonka who chose to stay home and play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, has announced via YouTube that he is quitting the Minnesota basketball team.

White has been suspended for the entire start of the 2009 season after having an altercation with a mall security guard, and then his name later came up in a dorm theft investigation.

White maintains his innocence but says in the video that he is quitting to keep his family, Tubby Smith, and his Golden Gopher teammates from having to deal with the distractions.

To which I, and many others who have watched the video, are responding, huh?

Here it is. Watch for yourself. He doesn’t start talking until a few minutes into it.

It sounds to be like he is just a very confused kid who is frustrated at how his college career has started. And with outlets like YouTube and Twitter now available for immature and frustrated young athletes to broadcast their frustration, I imagine that we’ll see more and more things like this in the future.

According to an SI.com article on Royce White’s YouTube announcement that he is quitting, White has informed no one at the university of his supposed plans.

Something tells me that older, wiser mentors will be able to talk some sense into him and help him realize that quitting the basketball team is probably the worst thing he can do right now.

Whether White’s legal troubles are justified or not (and I don’t know his story well enough to judge one way or the other), he’s a college freshman who is obviously in need of some direction or perhaps just a little time, perspective, and maturity to deal what I’m sure has been a pretty difficult first semester on campus.

Hopefully justice is served, whatever it may be, and then White can can learn from this whole situation. Assuming that is the case, then perhaps he can actually suit up someday for Tubby and the Gophers like he was supposed to do all along.

And I guess if his basketball career never pans out as expected, White could always go into movie production or theater. He certainly seems to have a flair for the dramatic.

Freshman Royce White and senior Devron Bostick have been suspended indefinitely from the Gophers men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules, coach Tubby Smith said Tuesday morning. Smith provided no additional details about the disciplinary action.

The Gophers’ exhibition slate begins Thursday night as Tubby Smith and the team looks to build on last season’s 22-11 record and appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Most prognosticators have the Gophers rated as the 6th best team in the Big Ten.

Bostick averaged just over four points per game last season as a junior. Royce White was a four-star recruit who was rated as the #10 PF in the class of 2009.

Virtually identical, I couldn’t find any serious differences in numbers and percentages while I scoped the official Minnesota Wisconsin box score from last night. I read up on the game, watched the highlights and still couldn’t find a serious statistic or problem that would point to how Wisconsin fell to the Gophers at home, after taking an 11 point lead before the half. It had to exist in the intangibles, and it does.

Since he left Kentucky, the SEC has suffered, but the Big Ten has added one of college basketball’s best minds to match Tom Izzo. There’s a reason that he will be in the Hall of Fame one day. Tubby Smith knows how to create a team that wins. He has done that in Minnesota and we can look towards the Wisconsin game for why.

Every good coach has to “sell his system”, when the W’s come, the troops get on board. Tubby Smith has his entire team on board with his system. Not just his assistants, not just starters, not just the sixth man; I mean the whole team. That’s because everyone is involved.

Bo Ryan worked a rotation of primarily 7 players, maxing out starters with each one close to 40 minutes for the Badgers last night. While some of the best squads in the country are primarily looking at 7 player rotations – Duke, Wake Forest, Michigan State, UConn. The minutes lean heavily on 5 starters and two players coming off the bench, for the most part.

7 players came off the bench last night for Tubby Smith. That means 12 players got minutes in a hard fought, OT battle, in the heat of conference play. 9 players saw more than 15 minutes in the game. The whole team got a win. Not just 7 guys and there’s value in a having a long bench in college basketball and it extends beyond conventional sports thinking

Putting guys on the floor, and having a deep bench doesn’t just keep legs fresh and defense active, it creates intangibles. It creates a new definition for team game. Tubby Smith has 9 players averaging 15 minutes, more than 5 points and 2 rebounds. No those numbers aren’t staggering but at the minimum everyone is contributing, positively. To have accountability and 9 players that you can trust on the floor isn’t something every coach in the country has or wants to risk.

That’s a decision by the coach, to get every member of his squad on board, to get every man minutes, to create a culture of belief around your program. Taking risks on young players in college, at the peak of their development breeds confidence and hunger in a team and a locker room. When virtually every player on Minnesota’s team has contributed something to their start, players are all in. It shows, too. They’ve won 16 games and they are 4 wins away from the magic 20 and gaining that invitation to dance in March.

We all know that college basketball is an emotional game. One that champions a team game played with commitment, toughness, and a never-die attitude. The Gophers showed that last night overcoming a huge second half deficit. They showed swagger and depth on the road. They showed that their record is not a fluke, and that they have the moxie to challenge Tom Izzo’s team for the Big Ten title. (By the way, Feb. 4 is the date when the two see each other again in East Lansing.) All this, thanks to a new face on the sidelines. Tubby Smith has created a team in the Barn that is enjoying unseen success, and challenging the hockey team for headlines due to selling his brand of team basketball.

Far-fetched? Maybe, if you’re a numbers guy, or one that just believes in talent. Though, for those who have been part of a scrappy locker room, jumped around in warm-ups as part of confident bench, or get a little choked up during “Rudy”, it makes sense. When your coach calls your number more often than not, you’re that much more willing to fight for that team, that fight will win games in college basketball.

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