Big Ten
Ohio State (21-3, 9-2) hosts Michigan State (19-5, 8-3) today, with the Spartans sitting alone in second place in the Big Ten standings. If the Buckeyes hold serve in Columbus today, as expected, they'll have a solid two-game lead on Izzo's crew entering the final six-game stretch. At that point, I'd like to think my future wager on Ohio State winning the Big Ten ($250/200) is in decent shape. A big road win by Sparty and you've got a tie at the top, with Michigan and Wisconsin just one game back in the standings. In other words, the conference title would still be nearly wide open and up for grabs.
SEC
Vanderbilt (17-7, 6-3) isn't exactly sitting pretty for a shot at the SEC title, given that they have to travel to Rupp Arena after this weekend's home contest, but they can certainly do both Florida (19-5, 7-2) and Mississippi State (19-5, 6-3) a big favor by knocking off top-ranked Kentucky (24-1, 10-0). The Wildcats are favored by 4.5 points today, but it wouldn't exactly shock anyone to see an upset ... somewhat similar to the IU game in December. ESPN's Gameday is in the house, and Memorial Magic will be in full effect with those damn benches underneath the baskets, which is a big advantage when you're playing a young team. Kentucky has played in a few hostile environments this season, so it's not like the crowd will bother them ... the concern is not having a coach for half the game. You'll see a lot of overreaction to a potential loss here, but given the circumstances I just cited, it means next to nothing in the long run, in my opinion.
Big 12
Baylor (21-3, 8-3) did themselves no favors for the conference title or a potential number one seed with a home loss earlier in the week to Kansas 19-5, 9-2). Now, they travel to Missouri (22-2, 9-2), where the Tigers already boast a win over the Jayhawks, who are undoubtedly hoping Baylor regroups in time to come out of Columbia with a W. It's a very tight race at the top of the Big 12 right now, with three teams all fighting for a seed in the 1-3 range (and if the tourney started today, I think you'd see one of each). Today won't really separate much in this conference, but it is very meaningful to the teams' positioning for the tournament.
3 comments:
So much for that "Memorial Magic" crap, huh?
Oh, and Digger Phelps is probably on suicide watch. Hasn't anyone realized yet that when he picks you to win, it's the kiss of death?!? UK is safe because he never picks us, since UK owned him while he was at ND and he's never forgiven us for it.
Digger's rant was embarrassing; chastising UK fans for showing up to College GameDay and filling the upper deck? Does he watch football's version of GameDay? It has fans from both schools, and then some. The video is out there, and Digger just looks like an angry old prick.
HA! I deleted my last line: "Once a prick, always a prick!!" But, since you said it, I'm putting it back in!!
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