Here are the items pertaining to the B1G.
Eric: Does Iowa still have a chance to host? Would going 2-1 vs. Washington, Oregon State, and Oregon plus a final 4 appearance in the conference tournament do it?
Kendall Rogers: Eric — Really good club and Cade Obermueller is someone who is going to give a team fits in the NCAA tournament, but with an RPI of 61, the Needs Report (which CAN change week by week), says the. Hawkeyes pretty much have to win out the rest of the regular season just to be in the Top 32. That means no host. But that’s going to be a hell of a two seed for someone.
The Duckster: Oregon fan here wondering what it would take to potentially host a regional, especially after the momentum gained from sweeping Oregon State in Eugene.
Kendall Rogers: The needs report says that Oregon will need to win out to finish in the Top 16. Is that doable with one more game against OSU, three against Mich. State, two against SMC, three vs. UW and three at Iowa? I will say this — if the Ducks can up shop against that schedule the rest of the way, they would’ve made a BOLD statement to host, that’s for damned sure.
Mikey: Rivalry week in Los Angeles this week, with UCLA playing at USC. Both are 6-1 in Big 10 series this season. Do you think a host for UCLA and a bid for USC are on the line this week?
Kendall Rogers: I think UCLA needs to win that series to still in a solid spot to host. Right now, the RPI is in a good spot at 17, but the overall metrics aren’t overly impressive outside of a strong NSOS. As for USC, the Trojans went up 11 spots in the RPI to 38 after the weekend. At 14-7 in the league and with 13 wins vs. Q1/Q2, I actually feel like the Trojans are pretty safe as of today.
FittsMagic: What does the success of the former Pac-12 teams in the B1G and lack of success in the ACC say about that former conference in general?
Aaron Fitt: A couple things: (1) It is just really hard to be one of the two West Coast teams in a conference that has 14 other teams on the other side of the country — traveling east is taxing, and Cal and Stanford have to do it a lot. At least the Big Ten has four teams in the West, which helps cushion the demanding travel a little bit. (2) The ACC is an elite league, and the Big Ten is not. We already knew that, and I think this year has reinforced it. I think if you put Cal and Stanford in the Big Ten this year, they’d be in the mix just as USC and Washington are. But if you put USC and Washington in the ACC this year, I have a feeling they’d be toward the bottom, as Cal and Stanford are. Part of that is travel, and part of that is the ACC is just a better league. In recent years (NOT historically, of course), the ACC was also clearly better than the Pac-12 — which was clearly better than the Big Ten.
Hawkeye: Troy is still ranked because they keep winning series 2/3 even against bad teams. Iowa is unranked despite winning every series and sweeping relatively better teams than Troy’s recent opponents. Yet Troy is still ranked just because they started the year ranked? Doesn’t that seem a bit unfair?
Kendall Rogers: First of all, I really like Iowa’s club. Dangerous team. But no, it’s not unfair. Why? Troy has yet to lose a series this season and at least has a series wins over a Top 20 team in Coastal Carolina. Iowa, for as good as it has been in league play to date, does not have a single series win over a team that will be in the NCAA tournament. That, of course, changes in the next few weeks with dates against Oregon State AND Oregon.
Ryan: How much if the Big 10 tournament looming as a potential killer for UCLA and Oregon’s regional host hopes? Making your #1 seed play two bad teams that could act as an anchor on the RPI if they have a bad day or two, when there is no realistic upside because the conference is never going to have it’s 7 or 8 seed (let alone the 12) get an at-large bid is malpractice. They have to change the format for next season, right?
Kendall Rogers: If someone like UCLA is in a position to host entering the Big Ten tournament I would be floored if the committee knocks them out of the mix because of one loss to a bottom feeder in the tourney.
Eric: Does Iowa still have a chance to host? Would going 2-1 vs. Washington, Oregon State, and Oregon plus a final 4 appearance in the conference tournament do it?
Kendall Rogers: Eric — Really good club and Cade Obermueller is someone who is going to give a team fits in the NCAA tournament, but with an RPI of 61, the Needs Report (which CAN change week by week), says the. Hawkeyes pretty much have to win out the rest of the regular season just to be in the Top 32. That means no host. But that’s going to be a hell of a two seed for someone.
The Duckster: Oregon fan here wondering what it would take to potentially host a regional, especially after the momentum gained from sweeping Oregon State in Eugene.
Kendall Rogers: The needs report says that Oregon will need to win out to finish in the Top 16. Is that doable with one more game against OSU, three against Mich. State, two against SMC, three vs. UW and three at Iowa? I will say this — if the Ducks can up shop against that schedule the rest of the way, they would’ve made a BOLD statement to host, that’s for damned sure.
Mikey: Rivalry week in Los Angeles this week, with UCLA playing at USC. Both are 6-1 in Big 10 series this season. Do you think a host for UCLA and a bid for USC are on the line this week?
Kendall Rogers: I think UCLA needs to win that series to still in a solid spot to host. Right now, the RPI is in a good spot at 17, but the overall metrics aren’t overly impressive outside of a strong NSOS. As for USC, the Trojans went up 11 spots in the RPI to 38 after the weekend. At 14-7 in the league and with 13 wins vs. Q1/Q2, I actually feel like the Trojans are pretty safe as of today.
FittsMagic: What does the success of the former Pac-12 teams in the B1G and lack of success in the ACC say about that former conference in general?
Aaron Fitt: A couple things: (1) It is just really hard to be one of the two West Coast teams in a conference that has 14 other teams on the other side of the country — traveling east is taxing, and Cal and Stanford have to do it a lot. At least the Big Ten has four teams in the West, which helps cushion the demanding travel a little bit. (2) The ACC is an elite league, and the Big Ten is not. We already knew that, and I think this year has reinforced it. I think if you put Cal and Stanford in the Big Ten this year, they’d be in the mix just as USC and Washington are. But if you put USC and Washington in the ACC this year, I have a feeling they’d be toward the bottom, as Cal and Stanford are. Part of that is travel, and part of that is the ACC is just a better league. In recent years (NOT historically, of course), the ACC was also clearly better than the Pac-12 — which was clearly better than the Big Ten.
Hawkeye: Troy is still ranked because they keep winning series 2/3 even against bad teams. Iowa is unranked despite winning every series and sweeping relatively better teams than Troy’s recent opponents. Yet Troy is still ranked just because they started the year ranked? Doesn’t that seem a bit unfair?
Kendall Rogers: First of all, I really like Iowa’s club. Dangerous team. But no, it’s not unfair. Why? Troy has yet to lose a series this season and at least has a series wins over a Top 20 team in Coastal Carolina. Iowa, for as good as it has been in league play to date, does not have a single series win over a team that will be in the NCAA tournament. That, of course, changes in the next few weeks with dates against Oregon State AND Oregon.
Ryan: How much if the Big 10 tournament looming as a potential killer for UCLA and Oregon’s regional host hopes? Making your #1 seed play two bad teams that could act as an anchor on the RPI if they have a bad day or two, when there is no realistic upside because the conference is never going to have it’s 7 or 8 seed (let alone the 12) get an at-large bid is malpractice. They have to change the format for next season, right?
Kendall Rogers: If someone like UCLA is in a position to host entering the Big Ten tournament I would be floored if the committee knocks them out of the mix because of one loss to a bottom feeder in the tourney.
