Mar 15th 2011, 18:30:49
The Big 10 teams in general got more credit than I expected. Some of that has to be attributed to the conference being really strong this year (I think it's hard to argue that anyone other than the Big 10 or the Big East was the strongest overall conference this year) but I still was a little surprised to see 7 teams make it in AND all of them get decent seeds. I thought 2 of PSU, MSU and Illinois would make it in and would get 10-12 seeds, but instead, Illinois at a 9 and PSU and MSU both at 10s (if my memory serves) is quite impressive.
Having said that, I see MSU as a team that could make a run. Izzo is a great tournament coach (I would imagine if you rated tournament success vs. seeding is concerned, he'd probably be the top coach over his tenure). Also, getting a 10 seed means no #1 seed to play, and they get one of the #2 seeds that I think is weaker--although they do play in Florida, which concerns me.
I think MSU is a decent Sweet 16 pick. I'd have thought the same about Illinois as well, but as a 9 seed, they've got Kansas lurking if they make it past UNLV, and I don't see that happening.
On a sidenote, one thing I noticed that I thought was kinda cool. If Illinois wins their first game and Kansas avoids a historic upset, Illinois will end up playing their last two coaches (Kruger, Self) in the first two games. Makes for an interesting storyline, doesn't it?