Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
- John 8:7
The
Big 10 Conference Tournament for men's basketball starts tomorrow in
Washington, DC. Every one of the thirty-two Division 1 conferences
holds such a tournament. The winner of each conference tournament
receives an automatic invitation to the NCAA Tournament, aka the "Big
Dance," regardless of where they finished in the conference standings
during the regular season. Any team not winning its conference
tournament is at the mercy of the Selection Committee for inclusion in
the NCAA tournament. The Committee will choose thirty-six "at large"
teams to fill in the sixty-eight team bracket.
With
the Gophers expected to make some noise in this year's conference
tournament, many Minnesota fans including me will pay more attention to
the entire tournament, not just the games featuring our lovable
rodents. Usually I will simply root for the underdog. But human nature
being what it is, other factors come into play, including a school's
head basketball coach -- thank goodness Jim Boeheim, Coach K, Coach Cal
and Rick Pitino are not Big 10 coaches -- their football program and
their fan base. It may seem strange that I would include a football
program as an element, but like it or not, college football is the make
it or break it revenue creator for any college athletic program which
hosts both football and basketball. It is hard for me to wish a
basketball team well if I have a problem with its school's football
team. My like or dislike of a school's basketball team sometimes has
less to do with roundball than it does with the pigskin. In other
instances, football is a non-factor.
What
follows, then, is my rooting interest ranking, in ascending order, of
the fourteen Big 10 basketball teams in their conference tournament. I
have conveniently sorted them into two categories, creatively labeled "Teams I Would Like To See Lose" and "Teams I Would Like To See Win." When two teams within the same category oppose each other, I root for the team closer to # 1.
I
can be very judgmental, but in the universe of sports-related blogging,
such behavior often comes with the territory. I am not without sin,
but I'm fine casting stones here. As the great philosopher Popeye used
to say, "I yam what I yam."
TEAMS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE LOSE:
14. Penn State:
Penn State should have received the death penalty in football for the
2011 Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal. The Nittany Lions'
fans feel no shame. The chances that Paterno knew nothing about what
his assistant coach was up to in the locker room showers hover around
0%. Yet the fans want to bring back a statue of the late Joe Pa which
the school removed, under immense public pressure, from grounds outside
the stadium. (I wonder, how is the view from the fiery furnace?) Hard
to cheer for a hoops team whose fan base is likely comprised of the
school's football fans. Saving grace: None.
13. Ohio State:
The Buckeyes are having a horrible basketball season, an anomaly for
them. The Buckeyes' football fans have a reputation of being the most
hostile hosts to visiting teams' fans of any major program in the
country. The head football coach, Urban Meyer, is known in some circles
as "The Poacher." Most coaches -- although certainly not new Minnesota
head coach P.J. Fleck, another poacher -- will stop recruiting a high
school prospect once that kid has given a verbal commitment to another
school. It's only if that committed kid later initiates contact
with another school, thus indicating that perhaps his commitment is not
on solid footing, that a coach will resume going after the high
schooler. Not so Urbie. A kid's verbal means nothing to him. It is
only after the kid has signed a national letter of intent that Meyer
will call off the dogs, and only then because to do otherwise would
invite an NCAA reprimand. I have nothing against the Buckeyes'
basketball coach, Thad Motta, except that he is willing to use "one and
done" athletes, the standard practice of John Calipari at Kentucky.
Saving grace: Throughout the season, Motta has suffered from severe back
pain. I've had my share of back pain too, so maybe I should cut him a
break.
12. Michigan:
For many years the Big 10 was known as "The Big 2 & The Little 8"
in football. The Big 2 were Michigan and Ohio State, especially in the
days when Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes were, respectively, their head
football coaches. The old Domers of my era never had a bone to pick
with Michigan when we were students. The Irish and the Wolverines did
not play each other in football from 1944 until 1978, nine years after I
graduated. However, the younger generation of Irish alums and subway
alums dislike Michigan even more than they do our arch rival, Southern
Cal. The Michigan football team has a kind of gangsta thugginess about
them, and many of their (especially younger) fans follow suit. They are
an easy team to mock. Certainly the "team up north" leads the league
in kinesiology majors. Since they have hired the rules-bending Jim
Harbaugh as their coach, Michigan's football fortunes will probably
rise. Similar to what I wrote about Penn State fans, how can I cheer
for their basketball team when I know Michigan's hoops fans are also
their football fans? Saving grace: I do like the Wolverines' head
basketball coach, John Beilein.
11. Maryland: Notre Dame fans refer to Boston College as "Fredo," the Corleone brother in The Godfather
who betrayed his family. ["Fredo, you are nothing to me now," scolded
younger brother Michael, who waited for their mother's passing before
ordering a henchman to give Fredo his just desserts.] BC, which was a
charter member of the Big East, deserted that conference to join the
Atlantic Coast Conference in 2005, at a time when the Big East was
highly successful. Maryland is the ACC's Fredo, opting in 2014 to
abandon its ACC charter membership for what it considered to be the
greener pastures of the Big Ten. Maryland is not a midwestern school,
rarely having midwestern kids on its roster. I would rather cheer for
schools that do. Saving grace: Unlike their football team, which
exemplifies gridiron mediocrity, the Terrapins have represented their
new conference well on the hardwood.
10. Michigan State:
When I attended ND in the sixties, two chants which we yelled the most
were "Hate State!" and "Screw Purdue." Michigan State (158 miles from
The Bend) and Purdue (109 miles) were practically neighbors of ours. We
played them every year in football, and those games were always no
holes barred. The most famous game in the ND-State series was the
classic 10-10 tie which I attended in East Lansing my sophomore year,
when we won the 1966 National Championship. Throughout the years I
have never considered the Spartans to be lacking class, but one
ignominious incident which occurred on September 17, 2005 is still
talked about every time the two schools meet. After beating the Irish
in overtime 44-41 at Notre Dame Stadium, several jubilant Spartan
players planted a Michigan State flag at the fifty yard line. That
addition of insult to injury was a sportsmanship no no and remains the
lowlight of the two schools' rivalry. As for hoops, Michigan State has
been the most successful Big 10 team since 1995 when current head coach
Tom Izzo was hired to fill that position. It's always gratifying for
opposing fans to see a perennial favorite stumble. Saving grace:
Although he can be a court side crybaby, Izzo runs a clean program and
is highly regarded.
9. Indiana:
Of all the Big 10 schools, the one having the biggest gap between
glorious basketball success and football ineptitude is Indiana.
Minnesota has christened itself the State Of Hockey. In Indiana they
have Hoosier Hysteria, which technically refers to the high school scene
but describes nicely the state's basketball atmosphere at every level.
This is the state of John "The Wizard Of Westwood" Wooden, Bobby Knight
and of course the 1986 film classic, Hoosiers. Indiana's 1976
National Championship team is the only team in NCAA Division 1 history
to achieve a perfect season. Like Izzo's Michigan State, Indiana can
usually be counted on to have a very good season, so a bump in the road
for them would be a pleasing change of circumstances for many of their
conference rivals' fans. Saving grace: Indiana has suffered more
injuries to key players this season than any other team in the league.
The result has been a dismal season. Cheering against them might be
piling on.
8. Rutgers: Rutgers does
not belong in the Big 10. It adds nothing to the conference's football
or basketball standing as a Power 6 Conference. Big 10 Commissioner Jim
Delaney, a self-serving empire builder, sold the notion that Rutgers
would bring the New York television market into the Big 10 Network.
Guess what, Jimbo? New York is a pro sports town which pays scant
attention to the Big 10. No sports fans are more provincial than New
Yorkers. They could not give two hoots what Rutgers is doing, much less
Iowa, Nebraska and their hinterland brethren. Saving grace: Unlike
Maryland, which came into the Big 10 at the same time as Rutgers, the
Scarlet Knights have not represented their new conference well, but they
are so weak as to be irrelevant. I would feel like a bully rooting
against them.
7. Purdue: Purdue has
always been a huge rival of Notre Dame. See the chant cited above. The
following short story reflects how I feel about the Boilermakers. In
the fall of 1996, Momma Cuandito and I were on our way home from Oxford,
Ohio where we had dropped off our daughter, Gina, at Miami University
for her freshman year. As a diversion from the long drive, we stopped
in West Lafayette, Indiana to walk around the Purdue campus. The
temperature was around twenty-five, and we were too lightly dressed.
Our first stop was the bookstore, where I bought MC a heavy Purdue
sweatshirt. She offered to buy me one in return. My response was, "I
would rather freeze my badoodskies off than wear a Purdue sweatshirt."
The main reason to root against the Boilers in the upcoming tourney:
They are the # 1 seed; upsets make for engrossing, dramatic theater.
Saving grace: The best player in the Big 10 this year is Boiler big guy
Caleb Swanigan. He has a most interesting bio, including overcoming
homelessness and obesity as a youth. I wish him well. I also like head
coach Matt Painter, a former Purdue hoopster.
6. Nebraska:
The main reason I have the Cornhuskers in this "Lose" category is that
I can't think of a reason why I should root for them (unless, of
course, they were playing one of the seven teams listed above them).
Maybe I am simply envious of their historic football success, although
since joining the Big 10 in 2011, they are not the powerhouse they once
were in the old Big 8 Conference. My observation is that Big Red
Country is all about football; basketball is just something to watch in
the offseason. I would rather see a team with a more vested interest
from its fan base achieve basketball success. Saving grace: I have
heard from many sources that the Nebraska football fans are among the
most gracious and hospitable sports enthusiasts in the nation, showing a
lot of class whether in Lincoln or on the road, i.e., the opposite of
Buckeye fans.
5. Iowa: I am
conflicted whether to put the Hawkeyes in the Win or Lose category. I
lived in Iowa for three years, yet have never claimed to be from that
state. When asked the question, I have always responded, with pride,
that I hail from Illinois or North Dakota. I have attended many
football and basketball games pitting Minnesota against either Iowa or
Wisconsin. Here is my observed comparison. When the Badgers win their
fans celebrate and have a party, right there in the stadium or arena.
Their band is excellent. "When you've said 'Wis-con-sin,' you've said
it all!" When the Hawkeyes win their fans feel a need to brag and
ridicule their vanquished opponent. They have failed to learn the wise
advice learned from a coach in my youth: When you lose say little, when
you win say less. Saving grace: As I wrote in my December 28, 2016
post, I enjoy Iowa's fiery head basketball coach, Fran McCaffrey, and
not just because he is married to former Notre Dame basketball star
Margaret Nowlin.
TEAMS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WIN:
4. Wisconsin.
The number of reasons to cheer on the Badgers is marginally greater
than the number on the opposite side of the ledger. It starts with my
favorable impression of the Wisconsin fans; see my comparison to Iowa's
above. Our family cabin is in the great Wisconsin North Woods, which
makes me a land owner and a tax payer. My daughter-in-law, Lindsey, is a
Badger alum, as are several of my kids' friends. And what better place
to spend a fun weekend than Mad City? I also appreciate the tradition
of the Badgers' players staying in school for the duration of their
eligibility, a practice which one might cynically attribute to a dearth
of NBA caliber talent. The Badgers' roster is not stocked with
McDonald's All Americans, but they've been to the Sweet 16 each of the
last three years. On the other hand: The Badgers are the Gophers' arch
rival, which causes some pangs of betrayal for those of us on the west
side of the St. Croix to pull for them when they're not facing
Minnesota. (Note: Although Wisconsin has had the upper hand lately in
football -- twelve straight wins over the Gophs -- the football series
is tied 59-59 plus 8 ties. The Maroon & Gold hold a razor thin
victory margin in the basketball series, 102-99.) There is also the
matter of recruiting wars, with both schools going after some of the
same high school phenoms.
3. Northwestern.
Northwestern,the highest ranked school academically in the Big 10, has
never participated in the NCAA tournament. Although the term "Mildcats"
originally was meant as a slur on the football team, the Wildcats
basketball team historically has also proved deserving of the label,
having almost always finished in the bottom half, if not the bottom
fourth, of the Big 10 standings. Not so this year; seeded sixth in the
Big 10 Tournament, they are a lock to be invited to the Big Dance as an
at-large team. Northwestern is this year's Cinderella of Power 6
teams. The icing on the cake for rooting interest purposes is that one
of their starting forwards is Sanjay Lumpkin, the pride of Benilde-St.
Margaret's High School. On the other hand: When I was a high school
senior, I applied to three colleges, Notre Dame, Marquette and Loyola.
When I was a college senior, I applied to three law schools, Minnesota,
Northwestern and DePaul. Of those six schools, Northwestern was the
only one to respond thumbs down. Should I be rooting for them anyway?
2. Illinois.
Illinois is my native state. (The rumors you've heard are true;
Hillary Clinton and I were born four days apart in Chicago.) In grade
school I developed a love of geography -- thank you Mrs. Foley, my fifth
grade teacher -- and studied the Prairie State quite thoroughly. Ever
since then I've held a fondness for the Land Of Lincoln. It is hard for
me to cheer against the Fighting Illini, even though I haven't lived
there since I was thirteen. No one can accuse me of being a front
running band wagon rider. Illinois finished ninth in the Big 10 and
would probably have to win the conference tournament to reach the Big
Dance. On the other hand: No basketball team wastes its location in
fertile recruiting grounds like Illinois. Illinois high school
basketball is among the best in the nation. If only Illini could
recruit two or three of the top players from the Chicago area each year,
they would have a leg up on their conference brethren.
1. Minnesota.
The reasons for placing the Gophers # 1 are obvious. The four biggest
are (i) Momma Cuandito is an alum, (ii) I have lived here since 1966,
(iii) my kids and grandkids were born here and live here, and (iv) to do
otherwise would incur the wrath of Gina, the Hot Italian Tomato and the
Gophers' # 1 fan. On the other hand: I am not a fan of the new
Gophers' football coach, PJ Fleck. (Here we go again, looking to
football in a basketball post.) It is my (old fashioned?) belief that
when a new head coach accepts the position, he should not recruit or
accept transfers from the program he is leaving. Such practice is
probably unethical, and if that's too harsh an accusation, let's just
say it does not pass the Smell Test. This coming season's football
roster will be stocked with former Western Michigan recruits and at
least one or two transfers. If you think he won't pull the same stunt
when he leaves Minny for greener pastures some day, you must also
believe in the Tooth Fairy.
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