Adam, I know you said there was a strong likelihood of it happening, but I was still hoping it wouldn't be true. Jared Sullinger is coming back (so he says).
It's easy to say they won't be as good without Lighty, Diebler, and Lauderdale, but after the season Michigan just had with a team of freshman and sophomores, I'm not going to make that statement. They're still bringing back Sullinger, Craft, Buford, and Thomas, along with another solid Thad Matta recruiting class. But man, without Sullinger they would have been much less of a complete team.
Also, there are zero Big Ten teams left. That's kind of a bummer, but other than Purdue, I think all the teams represented themselves fairly well. The Big Ten lost a lot of close games. Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State lost by two in their final game. Illinois won a game, but lost to Kansas. Wisconsin made it to the Sweet 16, which is like getting to a National Championship for Bo Ryan (yes, that's a dig). Purdue was the only true embarrassment with their performance against VCU. So, disappointing performance by the conference considering the number of teams that were in and the level of talented players, or solid performance, and it being one of those years with tough matchups and bad breaks?
~Mikey D
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I disagree - I don't think Ohio State represented themselves well. The first time they faced a tough team, they lost. Sure, it was close, but they hardly looked like the most complete team in the tournament. One of my OSU friends said "well, we had a great season". Regular season, sure. But they should have made at least the Final Four.
They will be good next year, but I can't think that they will be any better than this year's team. Lighty and Diebler WON games for them. This team was certainly good, don't get me wrong - they only lost three times. But other Big 10 teams will be better and other national teams will be a LOT better.
I think this was an expected performance from the Big 10. Most of the conference was decent - in the #35-#15 range - but only one team was good. It was close at the end of OSU's game and could've gone the other way. But their gameplan was flawed and their players didn't execute. Only 5 minutes for Lauderdale allowed Harrellson to GO OFF. Buford goes 2-16? Craft puts in 36 mins. and goes 0-5 with 2 points? If you play 5 guys, 2 of them can't afford to have off nights. Unless you have Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb who put up 60 of UConn's 74 points.
I think I'm with you. A lot of people were saying that if OSU had an off night shooting from 3, they'd be in trouble. Well, 6-16 is an off night for them. But like you said, you can't play so few guys and have 2 of them have bad nights. I just didn't expect Kentucky to be able to match them on the interior.
You think other Big 10 teams will be better? I know it's hard to tell right now, but the only one I can obviously tell will be Michigan. Indiana and Iowa SHOULD be better, but Northwestern, Penn State, MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, and in some respects Minnesota, are all reloading. I agree with you that OSU will be good and not as great, but they could easily finish with another sub-5 loss season next year given the rebuilding a lot of Big Ten teams have to do.
Which teams do you think will be better nationally? Kentucky jumps to mind first and foremost. UNC maybe, but they're going to lose some guys this year to the draft (Barnes, Henson). Duke is reloading, but also losing Smith, Singler, and probably Irving. Kansas perhaps...Louisville maybe? Just curious who you're thinking.
Disappointing performance from the Big Ten in my book. We got seven teams in, and not one of them made the elite 8. I expected more from what was supposed to be the 2nd best conference in the nation.
I guess it is really hard to tell not knowing who is going to jump and who is going to stay.
Michigan will certainly be better. Indiana should be a lot better, assuming that they start to live up to some expectations for improvement.
You're probably right - OSU should probably expect another season of 5 or fewer losses.
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