TheWatShot

I bet one of the first things Crean talked about after the game was how much we missed Blackmon.

We've been easy to gameplan against for 17 years. Time to get a basketball mind back on our sideline.

How does the BPI predictor thing work? It gives Purdue a 70% chance of winning this game. I think they'll win, but that percentage seems awfully high.

I actually think Purdue wins tomorrow. They'd be 3 games out with 8 to play if they lost. That's a pretty big mountain to climb when you don't play either team in front of you again. Plus it feels like Maryland is due for a letdown.

I know it's been discussed, but how realistic would our chances be with Tony Bennett? He makes $2.1 million a year at Virginia, and they just upped his salary not long ago. Crean makes $3.5 million here. If we bumped that up to $4 million and offered to double Bennett's salary, would he take it?

It's probably easy for players to like Crean and say good things about him when they aren't subjected to his 4 hour practices and constant manic energy.

Well…the Colts just got even less interesting, if that was possible.

This guy was once excited about beating Kennesaw State at home after committing 22 turnovers and compared them to an SEC team. I think you underestimate him.

Wow, just looked on ncaa.com and their rankings show us at 84. Why are ESPN's higher?

ESPN says 68: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/year/2016/page/1/sort/RPI

It was 68. Their SOS was 39 and their NCSOS was 122.

As we get ready to ride the roller coaster known as the Tom Crean Tower of Terror for the next six weeks, I thought it would be interesting to look at our current numbers vs. two years ago when we made the tournament as our lowest seed in program history. RPI and SOS and NCSOS are usually included when discussing a team's postseason chances. Here are our numbers (pre-PSU). I'll try to update when I can. (Updated: 2/13/17) RPI: 93 SOS: 44 NCSOS: 159 Here is what our respective numbers were in 2014-15, when we earned a 10 seed: RPI: 61 SOS: 23 NCSOS: 97 As you can see, quite a way to go in all three categories, and not a favorable schedule for doing it. Some trivia: 1) Lowest RPI to earn an at-large bid: 72, by Syracuse last year. 2) Most losses to get an at-large bid: 14, by Arizona in 2008. We had 13 losses two years ago. KenPom is projecting us to go 18-13 pre-BTT. We would tie this record if we got an at-large in this case. 3) Fewest wins for an at-large: 17, by Alabama in 2006. Don't think this one will factor into anything, because if we have only 17 wins on Selection Sunday we're not anywhere near the discussion. So there you have it…9 years of Tom Crean and we're stuck comparing one crappy team to another. What fun!

Crean is probably wondering what he has to do to get fired. No matter how hard his team tries to choke, the other team either chokes harder or someone bails him out. Luckiest coach I've ever seen. From riding the coattails of a future NBA All-Star, to doing just enough to get by, to always having excuses and people always having his back…it's nuts.

Meanwhile, Purdue is manhandling Northwestern. Next week is going to be painful.

If this goes to OT, at least we'll cause Purdue fans to miss the first few minutes of their game.

It's like Chuck Pagano clapping and patting guys on the butt when they let a team go 75 yards in 6 plays.

We may still win, but collapses like this are usually a sign of a team that's given up on its coach.

Again…early second half of a conference game, and a walk-on is getting minutes over Grant Gelon. #RecruitingFailure

He has to be. I guarantee this is killing him.

I'm a horrible fan…I'm kind of hoping the game is close in the final minutes and PSU presses us so we can see Crean sweat bullets while his team panics and finishes the game with 3 timeouts.

You can't make this up…after scoring with 1:41 left in the first half, Illinois gave up 5 offensive rebounds and Wisconsin scored to end the half…they missed a shot with 1:42 left in the game, and Wisconsin got 3 offensive rebounds and ran out the clock.

LOL at Illinois rolling the ball across halfcourt every possession.

Illinois made a shot with 1:41 to go in the half. They never got the ball back. There was a graphic showing tomorrow night's games. Northwestern has a number by their name and we don't. Strange times.

Is that recruiting class that Groce somehow put together with his back to the wall going to be enough to overcome 4 straight years of no NCAA tourney? Getting absolutely throttled at home by Wisconsin.

Continuation is just silly now. That junk needs to go back to the NBA and stay there.