Cleveland Buck wrote:
Indiana beat Pittsburgh 74-64. Illinois stomps Vanderbilt. Without Turner, I don't think Ohio State has a chance of getting through the Big Ten with enough wins to make the NCAA.
OSU may struggle big time without Turner, but if he recovers near the expected 8 week period, he could play in 5-10 of the last Big Ten games. Also, I wouldn't base the strength of the Big Ten on two games. I think the Big Ten is a strong conference and these were two nice wins, especially for Indiana, maybe the biggest win so far for Crean. But Pitt isn't its typical powerhouse. The publications I've seen had them picked in the 8-10 range in the Big East. And Indiana has lost 4 games, one to Boston University. Iliinois has lost two and just struggled with Boise State in their previous win. I'm not saying the Bucks will definitely go 4-0 against these two teams (especially with ET likely missing 2-3 of those games), but I'm not putting them in the NIT just yet either. I think they definitely lost their chance of being a Top 5 seed when Turner went down, but I still think they can be in the 6-10 seed range even with Turner missing at least half the Big Ten season. Big Ten wins over Vandy and Pitt (not exactly Kentucky and Kansas here) didn't sway my opinion at all.
One of the more intriguing OOC games of the night. Two quality teams going at it and an early chance to get a quality win.
Pretty good match up. Both teams are solid and should make the NCAA tournament, but neither is really a threat to do anything come March in my opinion. Both mid-level seeds.
Indiana beat Pittsburgh 74-64. Illinois stomps Vanderbilt. Without Turner, I don't think Ohio State has a chance of getting through the Big Ten with enough wins to make the NCAA.