Buckeyes meet Boilermakers in Big Ten battle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will try to keep sole possession of first place in the Big Ten Conference as they welcome the Purdue Boilermakers to Value City Arena for a league battle.

This will be the 166th meeting in the all-time series. Purdue holds an 83-82 lead in the rivalry after each team defended its home floor in last season's home and home series.

Head coach Matt Painter's Purdue team is 15-8 overall, and 5-5 in league play after a 78-61 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. The Boilermakers' lost for the third time in four tries as they shot an unimpressive 29.6 percent from the floor. Purdue has averaged only 68.5 points per game in Big Ten action so far, and it has allowed its league rivals to net 68.5 ppg. The Boilermakers have gone 0-4 against ranked opponents this season.

Robbie Hummel is pacing Purdue this season as he is the sixth leading scorer in the Big Ten with an averages of 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Hummel recorded a double-double his last time out, as he scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked five shots in the loss to Indiana. Lewis Jackson is the second leading scorer for the Boilermakers with an average of 9.9 ppg, and leads the team with 3.9 assists per game. Ryne Smith, Kelsey Barlow, and Terone Johnson are all solid contributors for Painter's squad.

Thad Matta's Buckeyes come in with an impressive 20-3 record after a crucial 58-52 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers their last time out. The victory improved the team's Big Ten record to 8-2. Ohio State has won five straight games, with all but one of the victories coming by double-digit margins. The Buckeyes have been sharp at both ends of the floor this season and exhibited their talents against Wisconsin by shooting 43.1 percent from the field and holding the Badgers to 40.0 percent shooting. Ohio State leads the Big Ten with a +21.0 scoring margin in league action.

Jared Sullinger leads the charge for Ohio State with averages of 17.4 ppg and 9.1 rpg. The star sophomore recorded a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds versus Wisconsin. Sullinger has now recorded 10 double-doubles this season. William Buford and Deshaun Thomas are both quality players for the Buckeyes as they each have averages just under 15 ppg. Buford has scored in double figures in six straight contests. Thomas has averaged 14 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the floor over his last two outings. Aaron Craft leads the Buckeyes in both assists (4.9) and steals (2.3).

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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