Big Ten looks to get six bids to the Big Dance

The Big Ten has the opportunity to maybe push their tournament bids to six teams if Minnesota can play well enough versus Ohio State today.

Illinois punched a ticket in my eyes after beating Wisconsin for the second time and nearly pulling out an epic double-overtime game against Ohio State, who are in consideration for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Buckeyes and Fighting Illini will join Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin in the tournament. Minnesota needs some work to do after being on the bubble and losing some tough Big Ten games against opponents they should have defeated. But with a win against Michigan State and the beat-down handed to Purdue, the Golden Gophers are in a good position to make the field, especially since the Big Ten is a much better league than most believe.

Regardless of how bad an opponent has played, the Big Ten has three attributes – defense, protecting the ball and teamwork. The Badgers, lacking true NBA star power, are one of the best, but all Big Ten teams play tough.

If Penn State has a game where they don’t turn the ball over, they can get a big performance by Taylor Battle and win at Ohio State. The same goes for Indiana or Northwestern or Iowa. No team should be considered an easy win or a bad loss, because they can all win a game at any time.

Therefore, Minnesota can already be in. It wouldn’t hurt to beat Ohio State, however. A win would give an automatic berth, and the talk would be on Illinois to make the Big Ten a six-bid league.

Conference tourneys offer plenty of intensity, excitement

Just in case you can’t wait for the NCAA basketball tournament to start March 18 (March 16, if you’re obsessed with college ball enough to watch the play in game), there is plenty of good hoops action this week.

Conference tournaments offer nearly as much excitement because automatic bids are on the line and the teams are familiar with one another.

Already in conference tourney play, we’ve seen St. Mary College upset the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs to earn an auto-bid; top-seeded MAAC stalwart Siena survived a scare versus Fairfield, prevailing in overtime; and No. 12 Butler won its 20^th game in a row to win the Horizon conference.

This is the time of year when smaller conferences get some attention. As this piece is written, ESPN is covering the Robert Morris-Quinnipiac game – thanks for proving my point with your Northeast Conference coverage ESPN.

This week the large conferences tee off as well.

The Big East Conference is stacked and its tournament will be no-doubt be competitive. Already today, Marquette survived St. John’s scare. The Golden Eagles won 57-55. Georgetown likely eliminated Southern Florida from the NCAAs with a 69-49 win. The Hoyas reward? They play Syracuse tomorrow.

The Big 10 Conference tournament is intriguing with the top four teams (Ohio St., Purdue, Michigan St. and Wisconsin) looking fairly equal on paper.

The SEC tournament begins tomorrow with top-seeded Kentucky lineup across the bracket from the dangerous Vanderbilt.

With Duke, Maryland, Florida St. and Virginia Tech earning first-round byes, the ACC has several intriguing late matchups.

The point is people who enjoy the NCAA basketball tournament can get the same satisfaction a week earlier by watching conference tournaments. It gives small conferences a spotlight and it pits high-profile rivals against one another with post-season ramifications.

Enjoy.

Be sure to sign-up for the I Am Sportacus NCAA bracket contest. See if you can beat I Am Sportacus writers Anthony Iozzo and Josh Smith. Whoever, records the highest score will win the opportunity to contribute a post to the blog – sound off on whatever you’re passionate about or what’s on your mind. Check out the I Am Sportacus Facebook fanpage for more details, which will be posted soon.

Put on your straight jackets; the Madness has begun

March is a time when the frosty fog of Wisconsin’s winter melts into the morning dew of spring. It also marks the start of NCAA conference tournaments and the beginning of March Madness.

The Atlantic Sun, Big South, Horizon, Ohio Valley and Patriot League conference tournaments are already underway; with the Missouri Valley and Northeast tournaments starting tomorrow. The teams are playing for more than a conference championship, however. They are trying to obtain the punched ticket for the big dance starting on March 16.

Every upcoming day, there will be tournaments starting and progressing. Saturday will have three championships and the end to the Ivy League season, which awards the season winner with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

With only three days of March in, the madness is already beginning. In the Atlantic Sun, No. 1 Lipscomb was knocked off by No. 8 Kennesaw State. In the Ohio Valley, No. 3 Austin Peay was upset by No. 6 Tennessee Tech. And tonight, No. 7 Holy Cross upended No. 2 Bucknell in the Patriot League.

These one-bid conferences are only the beginning. Next week, the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC tournaments begin. Next week is dubbed championship week, because we will see 26 championship games from March 8 to March 14. There will be buzzer beaters, celebrations on the court and nets being torn down; there will be careers coming to an end and others just beginning; there will be tears, both for joy and sadness.

March Madness brings us some of the best stories of the year; the tale of the underdog or the player who was cut from one team only to thrive on another. The stories keep us enthralled; they attract us t our computers and televisions to dissect every aspect to write a research paper in our minds.

March is a time for budding trees, fresh air and the sunshine growing warm like a cup of tea in the microwave. March is a time for cabin fever to end and sports Madness to begin.

Illinois can celebrate tonight; Wisconsin can learn.

The Wisconsin Badgers came into tonight’s game against the Illinois Fighting Illini with the second seed in the Big Ten and a 51-0 record against unranked conference opponents under Bo Ryan. A win means they are 9-3 with only one game left against a winning team in the conference. However, the Badgers weren’t able to defend their court, losing 63-56 to Illinois.

“It is tremendous,” said Demetri McCamey about the win against Wisconsin in a post-game interview, “It gave us confidence… We are ready to win basketball games.”

The streak is over and, more importantly; they fell behind four teams in the loss column. Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State are the other teams; but the difference is, Wisconsin defended their home court against those teams. They now have to win at Illinois to complete the split in the season series. Another loss against the Fighting Illini and they will lose the tiebreaker, a tiebreaker that may mean either facing a lower seeded Big Ten team or team such as Purdue or Ohio State in the second round of the conference tournament.

When we think of this season, the loss tonight may stand out over any other one this season. In order for the Badgers to go deep in the NCAA tournament, they need a high seed and a favorable match up. Finishing fifth, which is where they stand now, in the conference and losing a second round game in the Big Ten tournament will not give them the second or third seed they may need to go past the Sweet Sixteen, or even the second round.

The only good news about the loss tonight, despite the 35 percent field goal shooting or the 2 for 14 shooting from downtown in the last ten minutes of the game, is that they do have a favorable schedule down the stretch. The Badgers can finish strong and still get a high seed for the Big Ten tournament. If Wisconsin takes the Illinois game like a learning experience, the one thing to take away is the end of the game. Illinois made the injury to Jon Leuer hurt with a 16-6 advantage in the paint. The Badgers are going to have to play better against the pick and roll against taller teams until Leuer gets back.

McCamey and Mike Tisdale combined for 46 points, helped by points in the paint and jump shots after a pick and roll play. They were outscored 22-16 in the paint in the loss at Ohio State, and they lost 22-14 in the paint in the loss at Michigan State, although Leuer wasn’t injured yet for the Spartan game. In both the conference and NCAA tournament, the Badgers must either shoot better or stop teams from getting easy buckets in the paint. Maybe a loss like this, at home where the Badgers are normally dominant, will give Wisconsin a wake up call. They mustn’t get away from their game, and they must be patient. Most importantly, they have to take care of business against the bottom of the Big Ten.

Regardless of the Badgers woes, tonight is a night to celebrate if you’re an Illinois fan. They now have back-to-back wins against two of the best teams in the conference and the nation. With losses against Bradley and Utah, these wins against top RPI teams are huge. Illinois may have punched their ticket for the Big Dance already, but they still have a tough schedule, with games at Ohio State and Purdue and a home game against Wisconsin. They can very easily lose all of these games and drop down in the standings (and the eyes of the selection committee). Regardless of the future, they can crack the corks in Champagne, Ill., for the moment. For now, they are 9-3 in the tough Big Ten and, if the season ended today, would be the second seed in the conference tournament. It should be a fun race down the stretch.

Badgers big win opens door for Big Ten race

In an effort to begin 2010 with the biggest understatement of the new decade, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team’s win over No. 5 Michigan State Tuesday night was big.

For starters, the No. 16 Badgers (17-5 overall, 7-3 conference) didn’t squeak out a win like they did against Michigan and Penn State. Rather Wisconsin poured it on, beating the Spartans (19-4, 9-1), who were previously undefeated in Big Ten play, by the final score 67-49. The Badgers shot slightly better than 50 percent overall from the floor and connected on nine 3s to the Spartans two.

Furthermore, Wisconsin dominated Michigan State without former-leading scorer, Jon Leuer, who is still recovering from a wrist injury. Keaton Nankivil stepped up again in Leuer’s absence to lead the team with 19 points and five rebounds.

Beyond that, Wisconsin whooped the Spartans early and took a 15-point lead into halftime with guard Trevon Hughes on the bench with two fouls. Jordan Taylor took over the game, scoring 17 points – including three 3s. He also chipped in four rebounds and four assists. Jason Bohannon did his part behind the arc also, shooting 3-for-9 from long range.

By far the most impressive stat was how few turnovers the Badgers committed. Wisconsin turned the ball over a mere five times compared to 13 Spartan turnovers. The ball control is a great demonstration of how the Badgers rise to task of important games – a good sign headed toward the tournament. Tuesday marked the third time this year Wisconsin has beat a top-10 team (Duke Dec. 2 and Purdue Jan. 9 were the others).

The best part of Tuesday’s win – at least in the eyes of other Big Ten teams – is Michigan State won’t run away with the conference season championship. The Spartans are just two games ahead of Wisconsin, and two and half games ahead of Ohio State, Illinois and Purdue who all play either Wednesday or Thursday. Michigan has to play Illinois again, Purdue twice and Ohio State once more – all while wearing a big target on their back. The Badgers, however, only have to play one team, Illinois, who has a winning conference record. Wisconsin will play them twice, though.

The Badgers’ win Tuesday night has guaranteed the Big Ten regular season race will be a good one coming down the home stretch.