These will become even more sparse after the spring game, but I felt the need to jump in here and do a spring game week edition as there’s some housekeeping to do! Let’s get started with the good.
RumblinLet’s hear it for the group of frosh that came to school early and put themselves in a great position to earn some PT this coming fall. Let’s bear in mind that none of what these young men are doing now will necessarily translate into PT this fall, but a few have sent a clear message . . , they’re here to play.
Let’s start off with who will probably become the dynamic duo on offense in Curtis Samuel and Johnnie Dixon. Samuel for the most part has been the definitive play-maker during the spring after being given plenty of opportunity. I am pretty sure we can trust the hype around young Samuel since it’s been the head guy mentioning him so often.
Johnnie Dixon has made some noise during spring but has a large group of receivers in front of him that is improving their opportunities as well, but Coach Meyer has said this team needs multiple playmakers. The other frosh that several millions of people are excited to see is Raekwon McMillan and he has been working out pretty well so far. Look for him to be featured during the scrimmage Saturday as well. He is someone that could be a major addition to the fall defense at LB. Read More
The #3 Ohio State Buckeyes (15-0, 2-0) dusted off Nebraska on Saturday, but have a much tougher opponent on Tuesday. The team plays#5 Michigan State University (13-1, 2-0) at the Breslin Center, tipping off at 9:00 PM EST.
Here’s their Profile
We have an important game coming up on Tuesday (you knew that, that’s why you’re here) between #3 OSU vs #5 MSU that has conference and national rankings implications. I’m going to change up the usual “Pregame Glance” format, because we are fortunate enough to have my friend John stopping in for a brief Q&A. As a refresher, John and I go back, professionally and personally for close to 15 years, and I consider him a good friend. I also consider him a knowledgeable Spartan basketball fan, par excellence. Last season, John graced our little corner, and again, fortunately, he agreed to help us out in previewing this Michigan State team. So. let’s get started:
With basketball season rapidly approaching and a lot of information to digest from around the conference, I thought it was high time we here from bloggers representing them. We kick off a series in roundtables with our first five today and we are doing our very best to round up the rest of the B1G for you! We hope you enjoy the feature and give us plenty of feedback!
The B stands for Biggest and the Best Conference
We’re doing our best attempt at giving everyone a good picture of each team with a variety of questions. I want to take this opportunity to thank our first four panelist; Covering Purdue and a great video guy that you can catch here exclusively to tBBC at times, WCBI TV’s own Robby Donoho and his latest video ; covering Spartan Nation is one of the best in that state up north in Hondo Carpenter; taking care of the Hoosiers for us from Crimson Quarry is John M. featured blogger for them and very well respected in the state just west of us; getting us straight with Bucky Badger will be Andy from Mad Town Badgers a great blog for Wisconsin; and finally but certainly not least, my old writing partner here at tBBC and current Buckeye Empire member Joe Dexter.
Hondo S. Carpenter Sr.. Spartan Nation. Keith Appling (G) is a key player back for the Spartans. He is Tom Izzo’s “guy” on this team and with that comes a lot of minutes. Not a natural point, that is the only spot he could play at the next level and Izzo is committed to him playing there.
Adreian Payne (C) is a native of Ohio and if you are a Buckeye fan, you would think he is all world. Against the Buckeyes he lives up to the hype he had coming out of high school. Against every other team, he is a key role player.
Derrick Nix (C) is the best of the MSU big men. Not as athletic as Payne, he can bang with anyone and take the ball and the game to the rim.
Branden Dawson (F/G) is listed by MSU as a G, but he is a SF. He is the real deal. Arguably, Dawson is the best player on the team. He suffered a late season injury, but he will for sure be 100% by conference play. They say before that, but MSU in my opinion has a history of rushing players back too fast. He is too valuable with too much basketball ahead of him to rush it. He is a complete player. Read More
This afternoon, a true champion of the Big Ten Conference was crowned, as the Michigan State Spartans held on in the final minutes to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes 68-64 for their first conference tournament championship since 2000.
Back and forth, punch for punch, strength vs. strength. For everything Michigan State threw at Ohio State, the Buckeyes responded. Every ounce of heart left on the hardwood in scarlet was matched with a stain of green pride.
In the first ten and a half minutes, there were seven lead changes.
First it was the Michigan State Spartans imposing their will. Taking a 7-2 lead early off a three pointer in the far corner from Draymond Green. The Buckeyes would respond with three turnovers in the first two minutes and sinking only one field goal in their first seven tries.
Aaron Craft would change that with a solid iso drive to the right and into the paint for the one handed layup. Getting back on defense is the key in any close game, as Craft would stymie a drive to the hoop by poking away the basketball to William Buford on the opposing possession.
The senior would take the basketball coast to coast on a one handed jam. Jared Sullinger would follow that up with a turnaround hook from the mid-post to give Ohio State the lead on the 8-0 run.
In total in the first half, both teams would trade leads a total of 12 times.
The Izzone is brutal
| School: | Michigan State University |
| Location: | East Lansing,Michigan |
| Founded: | 1855 – The FIRST agricultural College in theU.S. Originally called the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan |
| Student Population: | 47,800 8th largest university in the country |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Stadium: | Breslin Center |
| Seating: | 14,759 |
| Built: | 1989 |
| Head Coach: | Tom Izzo –Northern Michigan1977 |
| Experience & Accomplishments | 17th Year – 407 wins and 167 losses .4 National COY awards, 6 Final Fours, 14 straight NCAA’s, 6 B1G Champs, 1 National Championship in 2000, More Final Four appearances than Williams and Krzyzewski since 1996(6-5-4 respectively) Graduates a staggering 81% of players that complete eligibility. |
| Program History | First season was 1898-99 and MSU’s all-time record is 1,507-1.022 with 25 NCAA appearances, 8 Final Four appearances, All-time tourney record of 52-24 and 2 National Championships in 1979 and 2000. 12 B1G Championships and 2 B1G tourney championships. |
