Michigan Basketball: 5 Toughest Games on Wolverines’ 2013-14 Big Ten Schedule
Now that the Big Ten Conference has announced the single plays for the 2013-14 season, the Michigan basketball program knows exactly how many times it will play each league team. The Wolverines drew one-time matchups with Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern and Penn State for their upcoming campaign.
The former half of that quartet will be road games, while the latter two are going to be at the Crisler Center.
No dates have been announced for the Big Ten schedule, but with the unveiling of the single plays, it is time to rank Michigan’s toughest league contests.
Expectations will be high in Ann Arbor once again with Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary back for their sophomore seasons. Michigan will be looking to take home a second Big Ten title in three seasons. These five games could prevent the Wolverines from hanging another banner from the rafters.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Is Realignment Good or Bad for College Basketball?
If conference realignment has had you confused and in a tizzy the last few years, just wait until next season. It’s mostly over; now we just have to learn who is where.
A quick rundown of some of the big basketball-related changes:
- Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame are off to the ACC.
- Louisville gets to play one season in something called the American Athletic Conference with the likes of Houston and Central Florida before also jetting to the ACC.
- Creighton, a school in Omaha (still in the middle of the country last I checked), and Butler (also very much in the Midwest), now play in what is the Big East, only it’s not that Big East that you know but a new one.
- Memphis and Temple are in the league that (as of now) they’re calling the American Athletic Conference, which includes Connecticut and Cincinnati.
It’s like someone decided to mix up the alphabet without any rhyme or reason, mostly just so we could relearn it and get angry in process.
(A big thank you to Chris Dobbertean over at Blogging the Bracket for putting together this handy list of the changes. It’s actually something you can follow.)
The question that was rarely (if ever) asked during all this mess: Do any of these changes make sense for basketball?
The answer is frustrating for basketball fans. No. The motivating factors behind conference realignment have been well-documented: football and money.
Geography, rivalries and history, the realigners simply don’t care about you.
Syracuse and Georgetown, that rivalry was fun, but there’s no need for it. The Border War between Kansas and Missouri, a lot of hatred there, but let’s leave those battles to the message boards. The backyard brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, it made sense for those two to be in the same conference, but not as much sense as West Virginia traveling to Lubbock, Texas every year!
I live in Kansas City, and when Missouri left for the SEC, I had a lot of MU fans tell me that they were happy about the move. It made sense for their school. They needed stability.
I can understand the fear that realignment caused. If Missouri had been patient, the school would have been just fine in the Big 12. Some of those fans have even admitted to me since that they wish they would have stuck around. But I understand what felt like an impending implosion of the Big 12—thanks Dan Beebe—motivated MU to be proactive.
Proactive is a nice way of explaining the motivation for athletic directors and conference commissioners. At least it sounds a lot better than “money grab.”
What has been refreshing in the last year is that some moves are finally being made because of basketball; anything the Atlantic 10 does, for instance.
The new Big East is a basketball league and every acquisition was made because of basketball. But it would not have been necessary for those schools to join forces if the old Big East had been able to stick together.
And that’s what the basketball coaches in that league would have preferred. Ask Jim Boeheim, whose team ended up just fine in the ACC, what he thinks of all the movement, and his answer would still probably be the same as it was last November (via Syracuse.com):
Maybe they should just have a draft. Each conference just draft teams because it doesn’t make any sense who they’re getting anyway. So they might as well just have a draft, except then they’d have to make a decision and they probably wouldn’t be able to figure that out.
… It’s like I said, If these guys were running the United States in Colonial times, Brazil and Argentina would be states. Because they have something we need.
It’s hopefully finished now, as Dennis Dodd from CBSSports.com explained in this piece last month. The ACC joined the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 by its members agreeing to a grant of rights, meaning you leave now and you cost yourself a lot of money. There might be a few moves here and there, but for the power conferences, it should be at a standstill.
Everyone’s needs have finally been met. Everyone is going to get paid. But everyone was going to eventually get paid whether teams realigned.
Was speeding up the process really worth it? Not for college basketball.
Read more College Basketball news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Ranking the 10 Best NCAA Basketball Backcourts for 2013-14 Season
Last season was the year of the guards.
The best backcourt in the country, Michigan’s Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., carried their team to the national championship game. You could argue the second-best backcourt ended up winning the national title.
So if you’re trying to predict what will happen in 2014, it’s a good idea to take a look at the backcourts. These are the best 10.
All advanced stats used in this piece come from KenPom.com (subscription needed).
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Syracuse Basketball: ACC Teams Orange Should Be Most Worried About
Syracuse will finally makes its move from the Big East to the ACC this season, making the ACC arguably the top conference in college basketball.
The Orange will be moving with fellow Big East school Pittsburgh, and will be followed by Notre Dame and Louisville in due time.
Jim Boeheim’s bunch will be entering into brand new rivalries with some of the best programs in the country. However, there are three schools that the Orange should fear in their new conference in the 2013-14 season.
Let’s take a look at each of those three teams.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Duke Basketball: Ranking the 5 Most Dominant Scorers in Blue Devils History
Throughout the course of history, the Duke Blue Devils have hosted many of the greatest scorers in college basketball. So many, in fact, that narrowing it down to single out the five most prolific is a daunting task.
Fortunately, through an extensive year-by-year recollection of those offensively-gifted performers, the construction of such a list became much clearer.
Of the players selected, each has compiled a highly-decorated series of scoring achievements during their days donning the royal blue and white, that have separated themselves into the upper echelon of elite scorers.
Here are the five Blue Devils that are considered to be the most dominant scorers in the illustrious history of the Duke basketball program.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Ohio State Basketball: 5 Burning Questions for Buckeyes’ Offseason
The never-ending dog days of summer for the Ohio State basketball offseason are about to begin, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some questions that need to be answered before the ball is tipped.
The Buckeyes are coming off a strong campaign that saw them make the Elite Eight and win the loaded Big Ten tournament in Chicago. Deshaun Thomas declared for the NBA draft and Evan Ravenel graduated, but the rest of the key pieces are back for a run at a conference crown.
Read on to see five questions for the Ohio State offseason that will have an impact on how the year plays out.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Michigan State Basketball: 5 Burning Questions for Spartans’ Offseason
The obvious question facing the Michigan State Spartans is this: How far will they go in March?
While there are certainly droves of other factors that will play into Tom Izzo’s methodology in 2013-14, the focus is always on The Big Dance—and shuffling along long enough to see the Final Four.
Without Derrick Nix, the Spartans are in need of another tough guy.
Sophomore Gary Harris was an absolute gem during his first year in the Big Ten. He could blossom into a national-level star, so tracking his progress during the offseason is a must.
Adreian Payne will get consideration for player of the year honors if he exceeds what he did as a junior for Izzo this past season.
This slideshow will touch on those issues, among others, as it addresses five of the biggest questions as Michigan State prepares for next season.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Duke Basketball: 5 Biggest Reasons Blue Devils Will Be ACC Favorites in 2014
The past two seasons of ACC basketball have seen new teams emerge as competitors in the battle for conference supremacy. Duke finished second in the regular-season standings in each of the last two years, and Florida State and Miami have won the past two conference titles.
Considering the importance Mike Krzyzewski places on winning the ACC, he will be hungry to bring a conference title back to Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2014.
In looking at the way Duke’s roster has been put together, it’s easy to see why the Blue Devils have a good chance at returning to the top of the league.
Let’s take a look at the five biggest reasons Duke will be the favorite to win the conference in 2014.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Predicting the 10 Most Exciting Alley-Oop Combos in NCAA Basketball for 2014
As much as the alley-oop is a flashy, look-at-me play, it’s also a great demonstration of teamwork. It takes both a terrific pass and a great finish to make a highlight-reel alley-oop, and there are going to be plenty of them in college basketball next season.
One pairing that few thought they’d see in the college ranks again is Oklahoma State’s backcourt of Marcus Smart and Markel Brown. But, with both standout guards back for another year, Stillwater will once again be a prime site for top-notch alley-oops.
Herein, a closer look at the Cowboys’ skywalking potential and nine more of the most electrifying passer/dunker duos in the country for 2013-14.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
10 College Basketball Teams Most Likely to Overachieve in 2013-14 Season
Every year there are a handful of teams that make those of us who make preseason polls look really dumb.
So in an effort to allow ourselves the ability to say “we told you so,” this is a prediction of those teams that we shouldn’t be overlooking.
You’ll notice a trend. Most of these programs are coached by men who have made a career of turning preseason rankings into confetti.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
