The question is looming large......if Ohio State does not lose before the NCAA tourney will you pick them to win it all? My answer is most likely no.......I think a loss in the tourney is 80% likely if they enter it unbeaten. If they lose before the tourney then I pick them with an 80% probability of winning it all.
Dave, A mixed bag of worms! We are approaching an almost unknown territority with the exception of the 1960 team. If we should be fortunate enough to go undefeated in the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament, the next hurdle becomes a bit more intense. One loss and its all over. I think I would say that your prognosis is very realistic.
Sure enough....I have started to see to see some articles about this cropping up. If OSU beats Wisky I think the subject will be full bore.
Already I'm fully bored... Look, it gets a little harder maybe because of expectation, because of "will they do it?"...etc. Because one loss puts an end to it. But wait a minute...one loss ALWAYS puts an end to the tourney run. The expectations will be there in the early rounds whether we have one loss or none. Should we get deep in the tourney against a Duke or Kansas, it will be tough and they will play us hard...whether we have a loss or not. I am NOT a believer that having that loss takes any of the monkees off your back and necessarily makes you less likely to choke. It's not like there is a million dollar bonus for going undefeated. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UgyZCgw6kdw" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Think when ND had to beat a lousy Stanford team a few years back to make the BCS....and they blew it. Think W Va blowing it to Pitt to let a 2 loss LSU in to the title game. Big games made bigger.....much bigger by the stakes. Sure the pressure is huge in the NCAA tourney but equal for all teams. I think to add a "team of the century" unbeaten moniker to that natural pressure is too much.
Yawn...bored. These things are intangibles...can't be quantified...so why try? It's been done before...will be done again regardless of whether or not the Buckeyes accomplish it. Might make the B10 early games and NCAA early game a little harder...but...so what? Me, I'd be happy for an upset of the Buckeyes by You-Know-Who. 8)
Bo Ryan is 5-0 against OSU at home.....remember that name BO this Oct Buck fans....... :twisted: :lol:
Now that the Buckeyes have ended that unbeaten jinx possibility I can comfortably select them in any pool as NCAA Champion.....
"I am NOT a believer that having that loss takes any of the monkees off your back and necessarily makes you less likely to choke." Stu has it right. It doesn't make any difference whether you're undefeated or whether you've lost one game. Your pregame status or record has nothing to do with "choking" or pressure during the competition. Each and every game is a unique environment with special challenges. That's what makes going undefeated or winning championships so difficult. Winning yesterday doesn't help you today... :wink:
I say hype = pressure + distraction = greater possibility of choke/underperfoming. No question that the hype would have been enormous if the Buckeyes entered the tourney unbeaten. Now they can concentrate on just being the Buckeyes.
Our friend would have us believe that losing yesterday will help us today. It might, from the standpoint of the fact that Wiscy used a different strategy on Sully that someone in the future might try...and maybe we can learn from that. Actually, though, I thought they countered it pretty well (mostly just with patience) until all of a sudden Wisconsin had a pretty incredible run of three point shooting (most of them not uncontested). But I think that when you are in a tournament situation, and a loss sends you home for the season, there is no more pressure added because you want to stay undefeated. You want to keep playing...and so does the other guy.
The odds of going undefeated today are astronomical. Who was the last team to do it? Indiana in 1976?
I watched yesterday's game. It was a classic IMO. It's living proof that the home floor and the home crowd DOES make a difference. Both are excellent teams and will be heard from in the NCAA tournament.
Instead of a horde of rabid reporters ignoring everyone else and crowding Ohio State's space so they can get the scoop on the marvelous, stupendous undefeated Buckeyes there will be just the usual gaggle of reporters following tourney #1 seed OSU but no more so than will be following Texas, Ks, etc. I think that is a better scenario for the Buckeyes.....much better.
I haven't seen the new ratings, but if Kansas is #1, it's a joke. They were beaten soundly by Texas in their own gym. On the other hand, OSU lost a close away game to a highly ranked opponent. OSU should remain #1. No question.