From: metzler@pablo.physics.lsa.umich.edu (Chris Metzler)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Re: Can IU go unbeaten?
Date: 24 Jan 1993 21:44:33 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan Department of Physics
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: pablo.physics.lsa.umich.edu

In article <1993Jan21.215455.27765@Csli.Stanford.EDU>, orourke@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Michael O'Rourke) writes:
|> In <1jmprpINN12s@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu> metzler@pablo.physics.lsa.umich.edu (Chris Metzler) writes:
|> 
|> >In article <1jkqvnINNr47@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, as232@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Lerner) writes:
|> >|> 
|> >|> Every other game or so, you hear Dickie Vitale commenting, "No one will ever
|> >|> go unbee-in in the Big 10 again."  Well, IU is an AMAZING 5-0 in Big 10
|> >|> play, with 13 (?) games to go.
|> >|> 
|> >|> Boy, you know it's a WEAKBig-10 when IU dominates THIS much! ;-)
|> >|> 
|> >|> Mike
|> >|> -- 
|> 
|> >They don't dominate that much.  Did you SEE the IU-UM game?  IU is
|> >a great team; right now, they deserve to be ranked #1 in the country
|> >and not Kansas (Did the AP sportswriters forget the drubbing they
|> >got from Michigan recently?).  But I wouldn't say they dominate
|> >the Big-10 THAT much, and I suspect they'll pick up at least one
|> >loss in the Big-10 -- hopefully on February 14 ;)
|> 
|> 
|> While you may be right about where IU belongs in the rankings, allow
|> me to make some excuses for Kansas.  First, the team that lost to
|> Michigan was the team that almost lost at home to East Tennessee State
|> and almost lost to Jackson State, not the team that is currently
|> ranked #1.  I think Kansas fans will agree that since the Michigan
|> loss, KU has been playing much better.  Second, KU played Michigan
|> without Greg Ostertag, their 7-2 center.  Now, Ostertag is no
|> All-American, but without him, Kansas has only two legitimate
|> frontcourt players and only one guy over 6-7.  In addition, Ostertag
|> has been playing pretty well of late.  Finally, let's not forget that
|> Kansas has done something Michigan failed to do -- defeat Indiana.
|> Granted, it was in an early season game, but if a December loss to
|> Michigan is allowed to influence Kansas' ranking, then a December loss
|> to Kansas ought to influence Indiana's.  (Still, IU has done some
|> impressive things lately.)
|> 
|> Rock Chalk
|> orourke@csli.stanford.edu
|> 

The Ostertag argument continues to carry no weight with me.  KU was
without Ostertag, but UM was without Ray Jackson, without question the
best defensive player on the team.

And it's very clever to refer to KU's victory over Indiana and UM's victory
over KU as "December losses," and thus worthy of equal weight, let's
be a bit more clear.  Kansas' victory over Indiana came at the beginning
of December.  Michigan's victory over Kansas came at the end of
December and only two weeks before the rankings came out which placed
Kansas at the top.  In the meantime, in the last month, what really strong
programs has Kansas beaten?  Please let me know if there have been any;
I can't think of any.  I can with IU.

Kansas beat IU at the beginning of the season; Duke beat Michigan at the
beginning of the season.  But it seems clear to me that RIGHT NOW both
IU and UM are playing better bball than those who beat them.

-- 
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