Afternoon NCAA Games, and Do You Root for Non-Rival B10 Teams?
Mates,
Going to be a short day at work for me and have the games on right now on the computer. Watching Iowa v. Cincy. Question for you all though as you watch these games, do you pull for the other B10 teams that aren't rivals? For instance, it seems like a natural that we'd want Iowa to advance. If I can get over the Pitino factor, I'm good with Minny advancing yesterday. So setting aside ohio and sparty, do you pull for the other B10 teams?
Northern Lights tonight in most of the northern states, so don't forget to look outside if you can get away from clouds and too much light pollution. Have a great weekend and Go Blue, beat those gators!
XM
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
Not really. I dont owe them any allegiance just because we're in the same conference. Maybe if a non-MSU or OSU B1G team is playing Duke.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Iowa looking like dogshit
not anymore! 3 minutes left and they're up 3.
this is fun to watch. Let Cincy bust their balls trying to finish a game against the Hawkeyes. Better them than us again.
EDIT: HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!! IOWA WINS!!!!!!! SUCK IT CINCY!
Ohio is sad basketball land these days, especially if Ohio State goes out tonight. Cincinnati lost, Dayton lost in the NIT and of course there's the recurring pain of LeBron leaving. Xavier is still alive in the NIT, but their fans are disappointed that they're not at the Big Dance.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Yes I do. A lot of the time, if we beat them, it makes me feel like we're better by transitive property than all of the teams they beat. Naturally, because Iowa beat us, if Cincinnati wins, they're far and a way better than us. Or maybe not because we also beat Iowa.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
I'm relatively ambivalent when it comes to basketball. In football I would prefer the Big Ten win their nonconference games because conference perception can have impact on the playoff.
I picked Cincinnati in my bracket, so I am decidedly not rooting for Iowa in this one.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing for some reason. I feel like in basketball it really only matters how far you get. Everything else doesn't really impact end of season rankings.
In football, I think the overall strength of the conference during bowl season matters more for end of season and preseason rankings.
That may not be true, but that's kind of how I look at it.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
If I can get over the Pitino factor, I'm good with Minny advancing yesterday.
I'm good with Minny advancing tomorrow as well, because fuck Sparty.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
I usually root, somewhat, for Big Ten teams not named MSU or OSU. It makes Michigan look a little better if the league is strong. But I don't get too worked up about it.
My approach as well, with the caveat that I will root for MSU or OSU *if * a victory for them somehow benefits Michigan.
For example, if MSU is playing Duke in the Elite Eight and we're still in the tournament at that point, I'll probably root for MSU on the proposition that we'd have a better chance of beating Sparty than we would Zion & Co.
Since we're 0-3 against Sparty, I'd much rather try our luck against Duke, despite the fact that many people think they're unbeatable.
I'd much rather play Duke as a chance at 4 losses in one season, and that putting MSU in the Championship game makes me want to puke now.
I can understand that viewpoint. What's more likely: losing four in a row against MSU, or losing to Duke? I still think the latter, but there's no real way to prove it.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
Depends entirely on the team. Obviously, since I work for Iowa, I root for them. Typically, I fill out my bracket and based on who I think will win, make my selections, root for those teams, whether they're B1G teams or not.
However, after Izzo's meltdown yesterday, even though it will screw up my bracket big-time, I hope Sparty gets slaughtered tomorrow. The Hobgoblin deserves to wash out in the opening weekend once more.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
yeah, that was pretty unhinged, especially when he wigged out a 2nd time in the huddle and had to be held back again. i always thought bobby knight's outbursts were pure theatre, and like him or not, he wasn't out of control, he was performing. izzo looked completely unable to control himself yesterday, a little berzerker.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
This is kind of a tangent, but for some reason it reminded me of my little brother getting super mad at me but not being able to do anything about it.
McQuaid & Winston as in-huddle peacemakers was hilarious. Nothing like the players needing to calm the coach down. Not a good look.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
Always root for B1G teams. Iowa is embarrassing themselves.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
Iowa! What is you doing?
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
Corn mash.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
Cinci’s Coach needs a T. Get your fucking ass off the court during the game.
And get off my lawn while you’re at it.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
eyebrows, and-one!
EDIT: and cincy getting a boatload of offensive rebounds
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
Fun stuff
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
that was already assumed in the question. now how about the other 11 non-U of M schools.
EDIT: andi deleted some of his post, the part about his intense dislike for ohio and sparty. thus my response no longer made sense.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
14 teams total right?
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
right. 14 - ohio - sparty - us = 11 others.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
In b-ball I will never root for msu osu or iu. In football I will never root for osu msu or psu. Everyone else I will root for
Everyone else I will root for
So including Notre Dame?
The topic was Big Ten teams...so ND is N/A.
I will never root for ND! The question was regarding big ten teams only
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Iowa really needs to be stronger on the boards. Getting slaughtered by Cinci's ORBs.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
I always cheer for Big 10, in march madness and bowls, other than Sparty and OSU. The stronger the conference looks the better Michigan looks, plus in general, go Big 10.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
Seconded
Third'd. The stronger the conference looks (msu basketball notwithstanding, I hope they miss the tournament every year. Barring that, I hope they lose in the first round) the better it makes Michigan look. Part of this is probably residual PTSD from being a student during the Ellerbe and Amaker years when Michigan was fighting for one of the last slots and thinking if they were 7th in the Big Ten and the conference went 7-0 the previous year, that could help them sneak in.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
"Very little contact." lol. Dude, have you ever watched basketball? Depending on the refs, breathing on someone is enough contact for a foul.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
Unless you're getting cleared out by Nick Ward's elbow.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
Jenifer lighting up Hawkeyes, the indignity.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Chris Webber is doing the Cincinnati / Iowa game, and he is pretty good. I mean like one of the better color commentators I've heard.
March 22nd, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
I will root for the ones that voted to send us to the 1974 Rose Bowl. In other words, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. I feel no compulsion to root for the ones who voted to send Ohio to the Rose Bowl. In other words, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio and Moo. Sometimes I will root for Purdue and Northwestern and Illinois lately because they are pathetic.
As far as the others, the Paterno/Sandusky factor makes it difficult to root for Penn State. Nebraska, Maryland and Rutger haven't been around long enough to hate.
I realize the vote was 45 years ago but Tiebreaker lives on.
Wieskamp is the man...only a freshman.
Somehow Iowa only down 5. Wow. That somehow is Joe Wieskamp. Way too many Oreb by Cincy.
Also...there's always been something about Mick Cronin that, I dont know, baffles me. I just can't wrap my head around "him". His look, his personality and the fact he's a more or less high major coach (at Cincinnati no less), all wrapped into one bald package.
I don't feel any particular affinity for other B1G schools, mostly because I know way too many fans at these schools who actively root against Michigan in every way, shape, and form.
Jealousy
You know, I really only cheer for Michigan and whatever teams I picked in the bracket that I believe in the most, and of course the latter is a mild, very temporary fandom. It also doesn't extend to MSU and OSU and a few other teams - there are lines that cannot be crossed.
This is exactly where I come out on this. My rooting intest is:
1. I root for Michigan above all else. Obviously.
2. After that, I just root for my bracket. I have zero allegiance to any team other than Michigan.
3. I root against Sparty and OSU, even if I happen to pick them. I try to avoid picking them as long as the pick is reasonable (in my current bracket, I have them losing to the Fighting Zion Williamsons in the Elite 8).
4. Then I just root for teams that I have some fleeting interest in. My wife is a Buffalo alum, so I’ve adopted them as my second team in this tourney. I really like Ja Morant’s game, so I will root for Murrey St.
As far as rooting and brackets go in the tourney?
Since I enter most of them for VERY little payout, I find myself rooting for upsets over my brackets always -- except, of course, when it's a team I'm a fan of.
I mean, take last year, when the 16 seed Retrievers took out 1 seed Virginia in game 1. Yeah, NO ONE picked that game, but were you actually upset about that, at all, because of your bracket? If you were, damn...I just don't know what to say. That was truly awesome.
The big ten gets money from big ten teams advancing
With non-rival teams I root for whichever one helps my bracket. With msu I root for them to lose all day and everyday even though it would bone my bracket till the 8.
I usually do root for the other B1G teams but not sure I can do that with Furious Fran.