HuskerFever

Alright alright. I'm okay with the finish. Fix the three point miracle defense and backdoors and we're right in this.

#2 3PT FG defense?

Our offense looks flustered.

Just need to get out of this slump. Our defense is playing well, but the shots are falling for Illinois. Once they start getting cold we should start to shine.

Got just a little breathing room with the Vermont loss.

The ball is falling Illini's way right now.

Update: Ohio State/Michigan 62-74 Final DePaul/Seton Hall 77-82 Final Hartford/Vermont 46-47 13:41 2nd Houston/Temple 3 p.m. CST Loyola-Chicago/Evansville 4 p.m. CST Pittsburgh/Florida State 5 p.m. CST Penn State/Purdue 7 p.m. CST

Quick check-in: Ohio State/Michigan 28-33 Halftime DePaul/Seton Hall 38-42 18:56 2nd Hartford/Vermont 4-0 19:05 1st Houston/Temple 3 p.m. CST Loyola-Chicago/Evansville 4 p.m. CST Pittsburgh/Florida State 5 p.m. CST Penn State/Purdue 7 p.m. CST

I don't mind that mentality...

All I can think about while watching this Ohio State/Michigan game is:

That's right. Challenge the assumptions, not the computers! (that is, until they take over the world...)

We're at that time of year when some teams go hot and other teams cool down. Just out of curiosity, I took a look at the teams with at least a W5 streak or a L5 streak. Here's the results: Team Conference Winning Streak Vermont Am East W15 Grambling SWAC W11 Michigan State Big Ten W10 Charleston Colonial W10 Weber State Big Sky W9 Middle Tennessee C-USA W9 Rider MAAC W9 Murray State Ohio Valley W9 Gonzaga WCC W9 St. Bonaventure A10 W8 Idaho Big Sky W6 Nebraska Big Ten W6 Canisius MAAC W6 Lehigh Patriot W6 South Dakota Summit W6 South Dakota State Summit W6 North Carolina ACC W5 Baylor Big 12 W5 Northeastern Colonial W5 Marshall C-USA W5 Old Dominion C-USA W5 Harvard Ivy W5 Hampton MEAC W5 Mercer Southern W5 Nicholls Southland W5 SE Louisiana Southland W5 Team Conference Losing Streak Chicago State WAC L22 Delaware State MEAC L21 Northwestern State Southland L17 Incarnate Word Southland L16 Pittsburgh ACC L14 San Jose State MWC L14 Charlotte C-USA L12 Longwood Big South L9 Alabama A&M SWAC L9 Minnesota Big Ten L8 Morehead State Ohio Valley L8 Ole Miss SEC L7 Pepperdine WCC L7 South Florida AAC L6 Northern Arizona Big Sky L6 Sacramento State Big Sky L6 Rice C-USA L6 Princeton Ivy L6 Texas State Sun Belt L6 SMU AAC L5 Tulane AAC L5 Georgia Tech ACC L5 Oklahoma Big 12 L5 Iowa Big Ten L5 Boston University Patriot L5

Yeah it could go either way for multiple reasons. What's tough is if we drop any of these final 3 games, that semifinal matchup becomes ever more important. If we do win the final 3, then it shouldn't matter much. Penn State is making a deep run at the end. Doesn't seem likely they'll win out, but if they do then it puts us in a real tough spot.

Last night's games really really stung. It's almost like our wins now count as half a point improvement and other bubble teams are 2-3 times more valuable. We've got our work cut out for us. Really the most important games I see today are all in the Big Ten. Ours, of course. Most people are looking for Ohio State to get that #1 Big Ten seed for a more favorable matchup in the tournament. And Penn State has a chance we to make some noise and catch up or pass us on the bubble. Let's just focus on Illinois today, drown out the noise from the other games, then move on to the next one as other teams knock each other out.

Sorry, Penn State.

Already done.

Sunday's Games of Interest: Ohio State/Michigan - toss up for multiple reasons; going with OSU for the #1 spot DePaul/Seton Hall - knock off Seton Hall Hartford/Vermont - stop the Vermont conversations Nebraska/Illinois - no brainer Houston/Temple - tough one, but going with Temple here Loyola-Chigalo/Evansville - knock off L-C Pittsburgh/Florida State - knock off FSU Penn State/Purdue - going with Purdue since PSU is encroaching on us Monday's Games of Interest: Miami/Notre Dame - not sure how I feel about this one, lets go with Notre Dame Maryland/Northwestern - looking for Maryland to move up a Tier Coppin State/Delaware State - the broken record is playing 'JUST WIN AT LEAST ONE MORE GAME!' Oklahoma/Kansas - not only will OU go 0-5, but KU will help the RPI Tuesday's Games of Interest: Illinois/Michigan State - played Illinois twice and also keeping MSU out of #1 Rutgers/Ohio State - looking to get OSU in the #1 spot West Virginia/Baylor - need to knock off Baylor Mississippi State/Texas A&M - going with A&M here Boston College/NC State - win/win game Creighton/Butler - another win/win game The Citadel/East Tennessee State - need to quiet ETSU Buffalo/Miami (OH) - need to quiet Buffalo as well Indiana/Nebraska - no brainer Ole Miss/Missouri - need Ole Miss here Kentucky/Arkansas - thinking I'll go with Kentucky here Vanderbilt/LSU - going with Vandy New Mexico/Wyoming - need to quiet Wyoming

That wraps up the night. So many opportunities and we couldn't catch a break. Only two more huge Saturday slates to take advantage of.

Updated.

e.g. 1. He was giving the other commentator a lecture because he didn't know each Pac-12 team doesn't play each other twice anymore and just couldn''t let it go. 2. He was talking at length about Mark Zuckerberg. 3. Kevin Love showed up on the mic for a bit and then Walton started singing "Love is all you need. Ba-ba-ba-bababaran." (can't make that up) 4. Walton kept telling the other commentator "I know what they called on the court, but what do you believe?" at the very end of the game and kept pushing the envelope to the point where the other commentator said "I don't know what you're talking about" and "I'm not talking for the rest of this game."

I really wanted this UCLA/Oregon game not to go to overtime. I can't deal with Bill Walton anymore tonight.

But I'll add... all can be corrected tonight if UCLA and USC both lose tonight. That would help us out a lot!

It looks to me that we won in the "teams we've played" and "stretch bubble/nice to lose" teams categories today. Horrible day for us otherwise.

Final push for the busy Saturday slate: North Carolina/Louisville 72-62 7:35 2nd Ole Miss/Mississippi State 50-70 7:47 2nd Utah/Washington State 9 p.m. CST Marquette/Creighton 9 p.m. CST Oregon/UCLA 9:15 p.m. CST Oregon State/USC 10 p.m. CST Other St Mary's/Portland 9 p.m. CST