Big 10 Basketball is a Big Joke

As the season starts to wind down I had a chance to watch some Big 10 games courtesy of Espn 3 and CBS. Now that I have seen it first hand, I really want to gauge my eyes out with a KFC spork. I do not know why people are saying this is the best defenses in the country or why this conference is ranked #1 in the power rankings. Every one of those teams is overrated with the exception of maybe Michigan and Indiana. What the analyst are calling great defense is truly just horrid offense and shooting.

So anyone reading this that is skeptical, I am going to lay out the stats right here for you. First off let’s look at the latest Big 10 standings after the miserable game of Michigan and Ohio State.

Top 5 teams: 1. Michigan State (10-3) 21-5, 2.Ohio State (10-4) 22-5 and Michigan (10-4) 20-7. #4 Wisconsin (8-5) 19-7 #5. Indiana (8-6) 20-6

Bottom 5: #12 Penn State (4-10) 12-15 #11 Nebraska (4-10) 12-13 #10 Illinois (5-9) 16-11 #9 Minn (5-9) 17-10 #8 (5-8) 13-13

So let’s break this down by first looking at the defensive side of it all since I am hearing about these great defenses of the Big 10. MSU should reasonably have the best defense right since they are #1. So let’s take a peek at some of the more reasonable defensive stats.

Blocks Per Game

Great D right so someone from the Big 10 should be in the top ten nationally for blocks right? Wrong.

Your first contender for blocked shots comes ranked at #18 Minnesota. No not OSU or MSU or Michigan. That’s right the #9 team in the Big 10. So where are the top 5 Teams?

OSU- #223 MSU-#64 Michigan-#321 Wisconsin-#115 Indiana-#152

Well the Big 10 does block one thing well and that is media coverage for actual good basketball. Let’s give the benefit of the doubt here though and move on to another stat. I bet the Big 10 is good at steals.

Steals Per Game-

So great D once again…lemme look at the steal category I bet it is here. Crap I am 0-2 now.

Big Ten Leader SPG-#45 Iowa. 2nd Best Ohio State-#57

Top 5 Teams- OSU#57 MSU-#61 Wisconsin-#258 Indiana-#128 Michigan-#304

Wow scary numbers so far right? Well let’s take this a bit further.

Opponent’s Turnovers Per Game…(how many times the other team turns it over to sed team)…

Big Ten Leader-#18 Ohio State 2nd #149 IOWA

I am not even going to go into the top 5 etc. I think you see with that huge gap my point. So Ohio State makes people turn the ball over ok but is still not even in the top ten. Then the other Big ten schools don’t show up until #149.

Well, The Big 10 holds on to the ball longer than others so there is a less chance to turn it over. They slow things down.

Anyone trying to make that argument…shut up because it is not true. The only team that makes this true is Wisconsin. Here is the stat for Possessions Per Game…

Ohio State averages more possessions than Missouri . 68.5 to 68.1… Michigan State averages 67.7 pos…Indiana 69.1 poss per game…. So really is it because the pace is slower? Wisconsin does well with slowing it down they are last with 60.1 pos per games and Michigan does ok too. Looking at it all together though….if all these teams are having relatively the same Possessions per game then the time they hold the ball and posses it must be similar. Every game in NCAAB last the same amount. So why are the games so low scoring if the defense is not as good as we think?

Simply put the Offense is HORRIBLE!

So lets break it down in a nice chart for this since there are a lot of stats to compare.

The Chart will show the top 5 Big 10 teams and then the 1st and 2nd Big 10 team that shows up on the national list will have the ranking on there.

So looking at it the big 10 has one good offensive team…Indiana. Some are mid road and then some just no one knows where they are even at. Brings me back to the Ohio state Michigan Game. OSU FG% 38.8 Attempts 49 3 Pt % 18 Attempts-16, Michigan FG% 46.8 Attempts-47, 3 pt % 23.1 Attempts-13 Steals for OSU-7 Blocks for OSU-0 Steals for Mich-3 Blocks-0 Ohio State 56, Michigan 57

Let’s look at the top matchup today in the Big 12 #3 Missouri Vs Texas A&M

Missouri 71 A&M 62 Point difference between OSU and Mich 20.

Missouri Fg%-56.1% Attempts-41, 3 pt % 40% Attempts-20, A&M FG%-49 Attempts-49, 3 point % 29.4, Attempts 17. Mizzou Steals-5 Blocks 1. A&M Steals-9 Blocks 1.

Also I want to compare the Big 10 playing against the other Major Conferences…Their Records and The Scores to prove the Big 10 defense is not really all that it is cracked up to be.

Michigan State- Vs ACC (only non major conference opponents) 1-2…Loss to UNC 67-55 Loss to Duke 74-69 Won Vs Florida State- 65-49. So their great defense let UNC and Duke Score an Average of 70.5 points. Then of course Florida St got shut down so Kudos there but look at their Big 10 Losses…Mich St gave up 81 points to Northwestern. Loss 42-41 to Illinois, (MSU FG% 24% and Illinois 32.6%) Really!?

Ohio State- VS SEC 2-0 VS ACC 1-0 VS Big 12 0-1. SEC Wins vs Florida 81-74, South Carolina 74-66. ACC Duke 85-63 and Big 12 loss Kansas 78-67. So that stellar Big 10 defense strikes again. Not one team scored under 60 points. Hmmm. I wonder what would of happened if Ohio State was scoring like they are now what that record would look like.

Michigan- Losses to Virginia and Duke. Won vs Iowa State. Points allowed 82, 72, 66. The 66 was against Iowa State their only win vs Major Non Conference Teams.

Wisconsin-Losses to UNC and Marquette. No wins vs Major non conference teams. Points alloed 60, and 61. This is the only team that seems like it actually slows play up in the Big 10.

Indiana-Indiana has been impressive. Its offense is the best in the Big 10 and well against non-conference opponents Major and Mid major they are undefeated. Wins against UK, ND, and NCST but against its in conference rivals they have been lacking why I am still trying to figure this out. Maybe because partially when they pulled off an impressive win vs. UK they shot 60% from the 3 point line. That usually helps. So was it a fluke, probably.

Big 10 Vs Major Non-Conference Opponents this Season:

ACC-6-7

Big 12-1-4

SEC-4-3

Pac12-2-1

Big East-1-1

So only winning records against SEC and Pac…figures. Look at the fact the Big 12 has dominated this year against the Big 10.

So to conclude all of this….Big 10 is a decent conference and has some decent teams but just because they are so even as a conference and everyone is beating everyone is not even fair to judge it that way. The Big 10 does not block, steal or make baskets and the stats prove that. They are a great rebounding conference because well, when you shoot a game from only 28% from the field you have a ton of rebounding opportunities.

Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year Award this year should go to the actually basketball hoop itself. It obviously has found a kink in the Big 10’s play. Write your hate mail here….mizzounash@gmail .com or Hate Twit me @MizzouNash

My prediction for all Big 10 teams in the Tourney this year…None will get past the Sweet Sixteen and you all can take that to the bank. Look for Michigan State, and Wisconsin out First or Second Round. Indiana is the only team who may make it past the Sweet sixteen since they have done well in out of conference play.

OSU, MSU- Will be the two most overrated teams in the tourney.

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