In men’s college basketball action, the Big Ten and the Missouri Valley Conference each have three teams that are locks to make NCAA Tournament.
For the Big Ten, No. 2 and No. 3 Ohio State and Wisconsin are competing for top seeds. Indiana is also a lock and hoping to play itself to a better seed. The Hoosiers are likely a No. 5 or No. 6 seed now.
Kudos to Kelvin Sampson for IU’s resurgence. And to Armon Bassett for his recent play. IU recruit Eric Gordon played on Bassett’s high school court last Saturday.
Anticipation will be heightening for Bassett and Gordon working together in the Hoosiers’ backcourt next year. If D.J. White sticks around, the Hoosiers are a preseason favorite to contend for the 2008 national title.
As for 2007, the Big Ten has several clubs that will be considered bubble teams — Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan.
Illinois seems to be playing its best right now, but the Fighting Illini are 3-8 against the RPI top 50. That includes a win at Bradley — No. 50, according to www.realtimerpi.com. But Bruce Weber’s squad has a strength of schedule that ranks 16th. And at 18-7, the Illini have games left against Northwestern, Michigan — both at home — and at Penn State and at Iowa. They should win three out of four and lock up a bid.
Purdue (16-9) needs to bounce back to beat IU today to help its chances. The Boilermakers have quality wins against Virgina (RPI No. 34) and Illinois (No. 38). If Matt Painter’s squad wins three of the last five in the regular season, then they have a shot. But 20 wins is definitely no guarantee for a spot. The Boilers will need two wins in the Big Ten Tournament — in addition to at least three wins in these last five — to get serious consideration.
Michigan and Michigan State don’t deserve bids. Michigan’s only top 50 RPI wins are against Purdue and Illinois. Michigan State did beat Texas (47th in RPI) and Brigham Young (No. 24) early in the season. But the Spartans have lost four straight. If Michigan State (17-8, 4-6 Big Ten) does pull off a win at Wisconsin — not going to happen — in the regular-season finale, it might be worthy.
In the Valley, Southern Illinois, Creighton and Missouri State will be in the field.
Wichita State’s solid road wins early in the year — at George Mason, at LSU and at Syracuse — just don’t mean much anymore. Syracuse is the only one of those teams with a chance for an at-large berth. Northern Iowa’s non-conference schedule was too weak for them to get in the field.
Bradley’s strength of schedule is strong, but the Braves didn’t beat anyone of note in the non-conference.
Indiana State has more quality wins — Butler, Purdue, Creighton — than these MVC’s bubble teams. That’s a testament to ISU’s youth and inconsistency and to the depth and parity of the MVC.
The best scenario for the Valley getting four teams is a team like Wichita State, UNI, Bradley or Indiana State creating some Arch Madness in St. Louis next month by winning the MVC Tournament.
• Boeglin’s team vying for playoff berth — Former Terre Haute South and Indiana State standout Melanie Boeglin missed two games for Jamtland of the Swedish tendonitis in her Achilles.
Boeglin’s team, Jamtland, is now 9-9 and in sixth place in the league standings. The top eight make the playoffs. This weekend, Jamtland plays Marbo Boras, which is 8-10 and on a five-game winning streak.
On Feb. 10, Boeglin had 20 points, including 4 for 9 shooting from 3-point land in a 91-63 win against Eskilstuna.
On Feb. 7, she flirted with a triple double in an 84-77 win against Sundsvall. Boeglin’s line was 23 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Boeglin credited the confidence that her Swedish teammates are playing with for the team’s recent success.
“Hopefully we can continue winning games to get in a better position for the playoffs,” Boeglin wrote in an instant message.
Boeglin also played in the league’s All-Star game two weeks ago. She had nine points in a laid-back atmosphere. Statistics were not even kept.
Craig Pearson can be reached by phone after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4356 or by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com.
Given to Fly
February 13, 2007
Given to Fly: Big Ten, Missouri Valley teams in NCAA bubble machine
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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