In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.
In 2008, the Big Ten sent only four teams to the NCAA tournament. None reached the Elite Eight The Big Ten toiled down with mid-majors in conference RPI and were nationally maligned as the "Average 11." This past season, however, the league enjoyed a resurgence. It ranked only behind the ACC in conference RPI. Seven schools earned a berth into the NCAA tournament, and Penn State won the NIT. Michigan State toppled the defending national champions and two number one seeds en route to a national runner-up finish.
So you want to know what Wisconsin basketball is all about? Look no further than the second half of the 12th-seeded Badgers' 61-59 first-round overtime win over Florida State late on Friday night, a win culminated by Trevon Hughes' acrobatic three-point play with just two seconds left in the extra session.
Wisconsin trailed at the half, 31-19, after a 12-7 lead disintegrated amidst a cornucopia of missed shots and uncharacteristically shaky defense. So facing an uphill climb, Wisconsin got back to basics. And the second half was like a Bo Ryan instructional video.
For one half, the Michigan Wolverines were all but trying on their dancing shoes. One half later, they were all but watching Wisconsin waltz into the NCAA tournament.
Michigan's DeShawn Sims-Manny Harris combo did all it could to build on the Wolverines' win over Purdue Thursday, but Wisconsin turned the Wolverines away with their trademark physical defense in the second half. The pressure went up, and the Wolverines' offense went down, managing just 21 points in the second half.
So, can Wisconsin sleepwalk into March Madness and are the Wolverines done, just days after they were all but called a shoo-in?
With just over a month in the books and most teams having played about half their conference schedule, let's check out the big boys of the Midwest. We're seeing a slight upheaval when it comes to traditional powers, as Indiana and Wisconsin sit in the bottom third of the standings, Northwestern is respectable, and Penn State is in the mix toward the top.
At this point, the conference is very balanced, and much stronger than it has been in recent years. They have a shot at seven bids for the Big Dance, but six is the more likely number.
The disappointing 2009 Big Ten campaign for the Wisconsin Badgers continues, as they dropped their fifth straight game Tuesday night. This time, Purdue was the culprit. The Badgers now fall to 12-8 overall, and a terrible -- by Badgers' standards under Bo Ryan -- 3-5 mark in conference play.
Most disturbing to Wisconsin has to be the fact that they've lost two of these games at home. Followers of the Big Ten will remember that, heading into this season, you just don't go into the Kohl Center and win. It's now happened in two consecutive games.
Remember 1998? Mark McGwire was a national inspiration instead of a pariah. No one had ever heard of American Idol. Bobby Knight was still the coach at Indiana. Bill Clinton was our President. Oh, and Wisconsin's basketball team lost four straight games in Big Ten play.
Today, for the first time since then, it happened again. No, not McGwire inspiring the masses. Illinois took down Wisconsin, 64-57, meaning the Badgers have now lost four straight Big Ten games. Obviously, this has never happened during the Bo Ryan administration, one chock full of triumphs and a presence toward the top of the Big Ten standings.
This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.
Today, we have enlisted me, The Sportz Assassin, of FanHouse and SportzAssassin.com, to break down the Davidson Wildcats.
We all remember last season. Davidson began the season taking on top programs like North Carolina, UCLA and Duke, rolling through the Southern Conference schedule and then getting to the Elite Eight. Along the way, the Wildcats popped Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin and nearly beat eventual champion Kansas.
Stephen Curry became a superstar. Head coach Bob McKillop was finally getting his national recognition. The little school just outside of Charlotte is now big time.
Flipping through this week's Sports Illustrated, something caught my eye in the article wrapping up last weekend's NCAA Tournament action. Grant Wahl referred to Kansas head coach Bill Self as the Best Coach Never to Have Reached the Final Four. It makes a certain amount of sense. Four trips to the Elite Eight at three different schools and a .716 winning percentage over his career are laudable accomplishments. Why, then, did it seem like hyperbole in the extreme?
The first thing that came to my mind was the two first-round losses in 2005 and 2006. Kansas got bounced by Bucknell and Bradley, respectively, which is pretty shocking for a school that had last lost their first tourney game in 1978. They'd gone to six Final Fours and won a championship in the interim, which makes it all the more shocking to see such flameouts. Kansas is supposed to go deep in the tournament, that's their history, so those two losses stick out more, to me anyway, than the two Elite Eight trips.
If Kansas wins tonight, it will be Self's fifth time in the final eight, the same number as John Chaney.
College basketball coaches are a weird bunch. They are control freaks who are media savvy and live in an isolated world of hoopdom. But what if they weren't coaching? What would they do? Who would they be?
The blog CatsandBeer.com attempts to figure that out to hilarious results:
In 2008, the 
So you want to know what Wisconsin basketball is all about? Look no further than the second half of the 12th-seeded Badgers' 61-59 first-round overtime win over Florida State late on Friday night, a win culminated by 
For one half, the Michigan Wolverines were all but trying on their dancing shoes. One half later, they were all but watching Wisconsin waltz into the NCAA tournament.
With just over a month in the books and most teams having played about half their conference schedule, let's check out the big boys of the Midwest. We're seeing a slight upheaval when it comes to traditional powers, as Indiana and Wisconsin sit in the bottom third of the standings, Northwestern is respectable, and Penn State is in the mix toward the top. 
The disappointing 2009 Big Ten campaign for the Wisconsin Badgers continues, as they dropped their fifth straight game Tuesday night. This time, Purdue was the culprit. The Badgers now fall to 12-8 overall, and a terrible -- by Badgers' standards under 
Remember 1998? 
This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.
Flipping through this week's 
College basketball coaches are a weird bunch. They are control freaks who are media savvy and live in an isolated world of hoopdom. But what if they weren't coaching? What would they do? Who would they be?
