big 10 – Rush The Court

Ten Questions to Consider: First Weekend of December

Matt Eisenberg — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 20:01:30 +0000

The first weekend of games in December is upon us. Here are 10 things to consider throughout the weekend.

Xavier (USA Today Images)

Will Cincinnati get a win at Xavier? Cincinnati has lost their last six true road games at Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout, and this will be the first true road game of the season for the Bearcats. Xavier will be the second Cincinnati opponent with a top 100 KenPom rating and the first within the top 50. Will Wichita State make a statement against the Big 12? A weekend trip to Baylor starts a stretch for Wichita State in which three of [...]

NCAA Regional Reset: Midwest Region

Tommy Lemoine — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:04:47 +0000

Rush the Court is providing comprehensive coverage of the NCAA Tournament from start to finish over the next three weeks.

New Favorite: #1 Kansas (30-4). Despite receiving a 30-minute test from #9 Michigan State on Sunday, Kansas remains the favorite to win the Midwest Region. The Jayhawks smashed #16 UC Davis 100-62 before dominating the last 10 minutes against the Spartans in the Round of 32 — a hard-fought victory that should prepare them well for an even stronger Big Ten opponent, #4 Purdue, on Thursday. If you buy into advanced metrics, this appears to be a fairly even matchup: Kansas [...]

You’re Not Mistaken: Conference Races Are Tighter This Season

Will Ezekowitz — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 16:01:48 +0000

We are quickly approaching March and that means the regular season is almost over. Usually by this point in the season there are a few teams running away with the crowns in the power conferences, but it hasn’t quite gone that way this year. Analysts have described the level of parity this year in college basketball as unprecedented, but we decided to look into it ourselves. Exactly how close are the conference races this season as opposed to in previous years? Here’s a look at the last six years of the power conference races three weeks from the end of the regular season.

A [...]

RTC Big Ten Preseason Rankings: #12 to #9

Brendan Brody — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 23:20:04 +0000

With just a couple days before the regular season tips off, it’s time to get down to how the five of us on the microsite feel that the 12 teams will shake out once the season gets rolling. What follows are the teams that we picked to finish in the bottom third of the league. Before the games tip off for real on Friday, we will show you teams #8-#5, and then close it out with teams #4-#1. Feel free to let the debates, arguments and discussions about how much or little we know what we’re talking about.

12. Nebraska

What they [...]

It’s A Love/Hate Relationship: Volume VI

jbaumgartner — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:45:50 +0000

Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC columnist. His Love/Hate column will publish each week throughout the season. In this piece he’ll review the five things he loved and hated about the previous seven days of college basketball.

Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED…. the magic of an intrastate rivalry in a basketball crazy state with Butler/Indiana. There are some games that seem like they’re just meant to take place in March, with all of those final consequences, and this sure seemed like one of those contests. What a treat of a game this early in the year, with all the back-and-forth [...]

Maryland Secedes From the ACC, Will Join Big Ten in 2014

mpatton — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:05:42 +0000

Maryland is leaving the ACC to join the Big Ten along with Rutgers. Unsurprisingly the move sparked mixed opinions from all sides. Maryland’s move is the first time since South Carolina left in 1971 that a charter member of the ACC has joined another conference, which says a lot about the current state of college athletics. Objectively–at least in the long run — Maryland’s administration made the obvious decision. The Terrapin athletic department has financially struggled mightily the last few years, and the Big Ten offers significantly more television revenue than the ACC. The caveat is the ACC’s recently negotiated [...]

Big East M5: 11.14.12 Edition

Dan Lyons — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:45:51 +0000

The first Naismith Award watch list, comprised of 50 players, was released yesterday. While it is difficult to take a ton of stock in a list that is so long and backed by so little in terms of on-court results, it’s always interesting to see who is highlighted. Seven current Big East players have been chosen for this first watch list. Louisville has three players included, with guard Peyton Siva, center Gorgui Dieng, and forward Chane Behanan all named. Syracuse point guard Michael Carter Williams, Notre Dame center Jack Cooley, Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick, and Georgetown forward Otto Porter were [...]

Florida State, Conference Realignment, and the ACC…

mpatton — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:22:52 +0000

Florida State president Eric Barron released a statement Monday with his response to conference realignment rumors — specifically focused on Florida State Board of Trustees chair Andy Haggard‘s comments from last week. To summarize, Haggard wants out of the ACC. He pointed out that the conference’s attachment to Tobacco Road and basketball in general represents a fundamental chasm between the Seminoles and their current conference. He also pointed to the ACC’s new television deal, which reportedly will eventually pay the schools an extra $4 million dollars per school but still lags behind the Pac-12, Big 12, the Big Ten and [...]

It’s A Love/Hate Relationship: Volume XII

jbaumgartner — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:48:55 +0000

Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED….Kansas and Missouri making a play for Game of the Year. I still think you can’t top the North Carolina/Duke game, but for momentum swings and quality, Saturday’s game in Lawrence was right up there. I don’t know if I’m more impressed with how well Missouri played in a ridiculously hostile environment, or that Kansas found a way to [...]

ATB: No Road Blues, Pennsylvania Hoops Doldrums, and a Celebration of Buzz Williams’ Sport Coat…

rtmsf — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:01:54 +0000

Tonight’s Lede. It wasn’t as crazy as Tuesday’s action, but Wednesday night around the college basketball landscape held plenty of interest in the form of a number of ranked teams going on the road, a near-complete meltdown among the major teams in the Keystone State, and a career night from a Marquette sophomore and its coach’s sport coat. Let’s jump into it…

Michigan's Celebration Means Yet Another Northwestern Disappointment (DFP)

Your Watercooler Moment. Northwestern Can’t Win For Losing. Poor Northwestern. It’s probably only a weird mind trick that the Wildcats seem to have lost about a dozen games like this [...]

ATB: Wisconsin — Center of the Sporting Universe?

rtmsf — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:31:30 +0000

The Lede. Who knew that a medium-sized flyover state known more for its brats and cheese could become the center of the American sports universe, even if just for a bit? But with the top ten seasons of both the Wisconsin Badger football and basketball teams (now including victories over #1 Ohio State in both sports), plus a little Super Bowl-winning team a couple hours to the northeast in Green Bay, a fair argument could be made, couldn’t it? This too shall pass, but what will not is that Bo Ryan is an unbelievable coach and we should [...]

ATB: Shouldn’t We Just Call a Jumper a “Jimmer” From Now On?

rtmsf — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:39:16 +0000

The Lede. It’s really been a great week of college hoops, and tonight’s slate was no different. We were thrilled and bedazzled with another 40-point performance from the modern-day JJ/Chris Jackson/Steph Curry, depending on whom you ask; a Big East team that seems to have nine lives this season finding another one hanging around at the top of the backboard; and, an emotional evening in Oklahoma centering on a tragedy from a decade ago that people in that area still feel heavily in their hearts.

SDSU: Not the First, Nor the Last (Deseret News/S. Johnson)

Your [...]

All in the Family: Episode 2

rtmsf — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:40:32 +0000

We’re back with the second episode of AITF, a semi-regular piece that will take a closer look at each of the six power conferences to see what interesting tidbits relating to the national picture might be occurring. And yes, for those of you asking, we’re still classifying the SEC as a power conference (even if KenPom has the Mountain West ahead of it).

Power Conference Rankings

1. Big East.

Everyone in the Big East has now played between six to nine conference games, so we have a somewhat decent sense as to how the pecking order in this league looks [...]

RTC Top 25: Week 9

rtmsf — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:26:56 +0000

With all the ranked teams losing over the weekend, there was quite a bit of movement after the top six teams in this week’s poll. QnD analysis after the jump…

(ed. note: we revised the original Top 25 after a data entry error surfaced)

QnD Analysis.

The Top Six Remain Steady. Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse, Pitt and San Diego State remained steady at the top of the poll, with only a single loss among the six of them all season long. Pitt plays reeling Georgetown in Washington later this week, and SDSU hosts UNLV, but other than that, there are no imminent major [...]

Vegas Odds to Win the Super Six Conferences

rtmsf — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:00:11 +0000

Last week we took a look at the Vegas odds for the 60 or so teams that sportsbooks offer futures wagers on to win the 2011 national championship. In a complete surprise to nobody, Duke was at the very top of the list, but there were several mild eyebrow-raisers in the slots after the Blue Devils — Kentucky at #2, Memphis at #5, UNC at #7. This week we thought it might be interesting to take a look at another futures bet that is offered: the odds for each team to win its conference regular season title. Again, these odds [...]