time to be frank: The Big Ten teams are getting an unfair pass from the media

[pinecrestgator]

It's absolutley ridiculous that, according to the media, we have little to no chance of getting a 1 seed and must win out to get a high 2 yet Indiana has to lose at Michigan and in the 1st rouns of the B10 tourney to be "in danger" of not playing in Indianapolis in the regional.They could lose their last three games before the tourney and still play a regional in their backyard. We get vilified for losing short-handed at Tennessee and Missouri. Does the media not know that those are very tough road games? Do they not know both of those teams are playing their best basketball of the year? I seriously doubt the B10 darlings(Indiana, michigan, Mich. St ) come out alive after playing later tuesday night games in Knoxville and Columbia. Indiana gets a pass for losses at Illinois and Minnesota. Lets not forget that michigan lost to a very bad Penn State team.

I know some of you will say it doesn't matter come tourney time but it will matter if we get stuck in the Indy regional against a b10 team that will have 60-70K fans backing them. This is why it's irritating. I hope the committee has more brains than the media.

Also, let compare the Big Ten-SEC matchups this year:
Uf blows out Wisco
Indiana struggled to beat UGA
Illinois Struggled to beat Auburn
Mizzou beat Illinois
Wisco and Michigan beat Arkansas.

[CSpantheGatorFan]

7 loss Michigan State is ranked ahead of us in one poll. Guess which one.

[vaxcardinal]

sounds like when a big 10 team loses to another big 10 school thats not considered too bad. In football, when an SEC team loses to another SEC team...

[pinecrestgator]

Originally Posted by vaxcardinal

sounds like when a big 10 team loses to another big 10 school thats not considered too bad. In football, when an SEC team loses to another SEC team...

The SEC has won 7 national titles in a row in football. The B10 has won one NCAA title in the last 20 years.

[CSpantheGatorFan]

Originally Posted by vaxcardinal

sounds like when a big 10 team loses to another big 10 school thats not considered too bad. In football, when an SEC team loses to another SEC team...

Penn State is perhaps the worst major conference team. Michigan lost to them. Minnesota is a solid team that is going to have to win one more road game just to ensure a 500 record in conference. Indiana just lost to them and gets essentially a free pass. Every time we lose, we drop 3-4 spots.

[gator1986]

Originally Posted by pinecrestgator

The SEC has won 7 national titles in a row in football. The B10 has won one NCAA title in the last 20 years.

This this this this

[gatorjlm]

Originally Posted by pinecrestgator

The SEC has won 7 national titles in a row in football. The B10 has won one NCAA title in the last 20 years.

yep

[gator1986]

SEC has won 3 along with big east (3), ACC (4), big 12 (1) in the last 10 years... I would say the big 10 is 4th best conference, ACC #1, SEC and big east tied at 2 and big 12 is 3rd in basketball

[qwghlmgator]

Originally Posted by vaxcardinal

sounds like when a big 10 team loses multiple games to other big 10 schools that's not considered too bad. In football, when an SEC team loses multiple games to other SEC teams they're out of the race for the championship...

Fixed it for you

[NorthCaptivaGator]

There is no doubt that the Big 10 gets more credit than they deserve for beating each other and more respect than they deserve when they lose to each other, I kind of like it, let them get a lot of bids and we destroy them, better than facing a more deserving but less hyped mid-major who actually might have a shot at beating us, for instance, would you rather face Wisconsin or Ohio State in the sweet sixteen or VCU? I'll take the Big 10 opponent every time.

[gator1986]

The VCU's and co of this world don't have anything to lose, they're expected just to make it and lose.., they play like every game is their last... So rather not play them

[luciaboy]

the sec gets the same pass from the media during football season.

[HayGator]

Originally Posted by luciaboy

the sec gets the same pass from the media during football season.

As was said above, the SEC has proven they deserve it over the last 7 years. The big 10 has not. We'll see if they deserve it come tourney time.

[gator1986]

Lol that's because SEC has won 7 NCG's in a row.zz big 10 has won 1 basketball title in 20 years!!!!!

[luciaboy]

the sec will never be known as a bball conference. we will always be considered as uk and the rest regardless of our success. the sec has NO basketball tradition other than uk. the media's opinion will never change about sec basketball

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by luciaboy

the sec gets the same pass from the media during football season.

I kind of agree with this... I think the SEC Football gets a *little* bit of help because of this perception. I think the Big10 is getting *WAY* too much of a pass.

I really hope that 4 SEC teams get into the tournament this year. It will be interesting to see how they do.

[REM08]

Originally Posted by HayGator

As was said above, the SEC has proven they deserve it over the last 7 years. The big 10 has not. We'll see if they deserve it come tourney time.

This doesn't preclude the possibility that many of the top teams in the nation this year actually ARE from the Big10.

Their conference not producing titles recently is not conclusive evidence that they don't house many of the best teams in the nation this year.

As you suggest, phony conferences are exposed in post season play. Time will tell with the Big10, because there's nothing we can do about it otherwise and it can't be proven one way or another whether or not they're that good.

Can we honestly say that they dont' pass the eyeball test compared to other conferences though? I know some of them play a different brand, but they look far better than 13 of the 14 SEC teams for sure. The question remains just how much better I guess.

[themistocles]

Actually, the Big 10 has, since perhaps the 1930s, (along with Notre Dame), gotten a pass from the media with regards to just about everything.

A major reason for this is that all Big 10 teams are at AAU schools (although Nebraska dropped out a couple of years ago). Right now, the SEC boasts 4, thanks to the addition of Missou and Tex A&M, to go along with Vandy and UF. The ACC has Duke, UNC, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Virginia, all of whom are excellent academic institutions, but other than UNC & Duke in BB, not known for their football/basketball prowess (which the Big 10 has historically shown). The Big East has Pitt. The Big 12 has Texas and Iowa State. The Pac 12 has Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA and Oregon.

Although most may not realize this, it is the powerful connotations that associate with the High End Academic reputations that give the conference a lot of its media prowess.

And yes, it is not deserved in Basketball. And the number of national champions is an indicator, REM, albeit merely a single indicator. Interconference play should also be an indicator, which, as pinecrest showed, does not appear to give the Big 10 a dominant advantage over even a very weak SEC so far this year.

[ncbullgator]

Very good thread.

Michigan loses to suck ass PSU and loses ZERO ground in the polls. Complete nonsense.

tOSU finished #1 in 2007 AP final poll despite getting their ass whooped by us and the Gatorboys having the best back to back records in decades.

Of course, we smashed them in the final, but more conclusive evidence of the BIG 10 bias.

[gatordavisl]

We are witnessing the cumulative effect of the SEC weakness this year. Our conference is as bad as I can remember. As others have written, if the BIg 10 is overrated, it will be demonstrated in the tourney. Right now, though, it appears that Indy, Mich, MichSt are very good teams. OhiaSt, WI, MN are decent. The SEC only has one really good team, but has some decent teams in MZ, UK, UT. Bama, OleMiss, Arky fit into the "ehh" category.