In part 1 we looked at the cause of death for each Big Ten team that made the NCAAs. These causes can range from a stunning upset, disappointing play, bad match ups, and questionable coaching, and maybe more. In part 2 we will look at a trio of teams that were .500 or better but couldn’t quite make the big dance.
Northwestern – 20-12 (8-10), Big Ten Tournament, COD: Disappointing Play
A 13-1 start showed a lot of promise for people (like me) that picked NU to make their first ever NCAAs. Unfortunately a brutal stretch of five straight losses led to a 3-6 start in league play and the Cats were playing catchup the rest of the way. In that stretch NU lost to Penn State and in overtime to Maryland. Flipping those two close-calls and this would be a 22-10 (10-8) squad, eerily similar to the Michigan team that made the dance. So what happened? Well, quite simply, the important pieces for Northwestern weren’t good enough in big games. The bench, despite experienced, wasn’t consistently there either. Alex Olah’s mid season injury didn’t help matters. Despite going 4-2 without him, his first game back was a rough affair playing just 7 minutes in that loss to Penn State. Northwestern showed enough flashes and won 20 games so the season wasn’t a complete waste but not making any form of post season with Tre Demps and Bryant McIntosh is jarring. Season Grade: C-
Ohio State – 21-14 (11-7), NIT second round, COD: Disappointing Play
Buckeyes were young but with Marc Loving as a talented junior there were expectations that OSU could be competitive. They were. Loving played well, they were above .500 in league, and knocked off Kentucky, Michigan, and Iowa. The problem was their disappointing play in the non conference outside the UK game doomed them. At one point they lost four straight to UT-Arlington, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, and Virginia. Three of those games put an albatross on the Buckeye’s RPI numbers the rest of the year. It would have taken a Herculean effort in the league to balance their numbers tanking so early on. OSU came close to digging out of that hole but in their second Big Ten tournament game against MSU, they came up short again – losing by 17. I had this team making the NCAAs and they were close but based on Matta’s record, this year is a tad disappointing. Season Grade: B-
Penn State – 16-16 (7-11), Big Ten Tournament, COD: Youth
I was dead on with my prediction for Penn State. I thought they would win 9 or 10 games in the non-con. They won 9. I thought they would be a bit under .500 in the league but wrap up right around .500 overall. They were dead on at 16-16. I said they would win six to eight league games. They won 7. Talk about dialed in. It isn’t sexy but this is the small, incremental, improvement a building program like Penn State needs. With such a young team, I think they can continue to develop and make even more strides next year. For that reason and performing to my expectations I’ll give them an average grade, Season Grade: C+
Big Ten and Counting 