Sweet, 6 teams taken
OSU leads Big Ten's big field
Monday, March 13, 2006
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Indianapolis- A year ago, the Big Ten was defending its reputation at the start of the NCAA Tournament, then gloating after three teams made regional finals - when no other men's basketball conference had more than one - and Illinois and Michigan State reached the Final Four.
The Big Ten isn't forced to make excuses this year, even after an epically defensive Big Ten Tournament ended Sunday, with Ohio State losing to Iowa, 67-60, in the title game.
As Iowa coach Steve Alford joked to CBS commentator Billy Packer after his Hawkeyes beat back Michigan State in a semifinal on Saturday, "You don't see physicality like that in the ACC."
The league can embrace its ugliness because it is No. 1 in RPI and landed six NCAA Tournament bids Sunday, two fewer than the record-setting Big East. As noted by J.J. Sullinger after OSU earned a No. 2 seed and a game with Davidson on Friday in Dayton, the Big Ten was the only conference to get more than half its teams in the tourney.
"The Big East got eight, but they've got 19 teams [actually, it's 16], and we've got 11," Sullinger said. "All year long, people were calling us the top conference. We'll be rooting for the Big Ten right up to the point they come up against us."
The only question is whether Ohio State, No. 3 seed Iowa, No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 6 Indiana and No. 9 Wisconsin really did play great defense this weekend, or whether four days of disappearing offense is attributable to a more problematic notion.
In eight games over the final three days of the tournament, Big Ten teams shot 39.3 percent from the floor.
"Maybe Reggie Miller took the rims with him when he left," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said after Ohio State's 51-50 victory over Indiana on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the NBA's Pacers. "You've got great coaches, great players in the league, scouting is at an all-time high . . . I don't know the answer."
After making only one-third of their shots in their loss to Ohio State, the Hoosiers felt they were prepared for the tournament.
"This is a difficult, difficult tournament," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "Look at how low the scores are. Guys are really fighting, playing with emotion, and that's good for next week."
"We have some warriors on this team, and that had a tournament atmosphere out there," Hoosiers guard Marshall Strickland said. "That's going to help us next week."
The six bids for the Big Ten are the most since the league earned seven in 2001. The Big Ten doesn't have a great team such as Duke from the ACC or Villanova and UConn from the Big East. But there is depth at the top, its five teams seeded sixth or higher, matching the Big East.
A low of three bids two years ago started the questions about the strength of the Big Ten, questions that continued even while Illinois made a run at an undefeated season last year. In fact, the Illini's success made everyone wonder how tough the Big Ten really was.
Then the Big Ten went 12-5 in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the six Big Ten tournament teams were 13-6 in regular-season games against teams from the four other top conferences - the ACC, Big East, SEC and Big 12. The four ACC tournament teams, for instance, were 7-5 against the best conferences.
Though the ACC won the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for the seventh straight year, six games to five, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State and Iowa were among ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^the winners.
Big Ten teams gladly will trade a losing record in those regular-season matchups for a winning record over the next three weeks.
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