Rex Hudler

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 7, 2012 -> 02:03 PM) Shouldnt Wisconsin- MSU be one of the top 5, and that could be either the CCG or the regular season game (hail mary win for MSU). Likely Wisconsin has at least 3, if not 4 games on that list. Edited the bottom. Wisky - MSU (hail mary) was one of them. I had the OSU game, which is already on the list and not in the top 5.

ESPU replaying the Top 25 Games of 2011 this week. Games and times (central) listed below. There will be multiple showings of each in case you miss one or forget to set the DVR. 25. Clemson @ Maryland - Clemson won 56-45 Sun 7/8 11:30 am 24. Washington @ Baylor, Alamo Bowl Dec 29 - Baylor won 67-56 Sun 7/8 2:00 pm 23. Mississippi St @ Auburn - Auburn won 41-34 Sun 7/8 4:30 pm 22. Ohio State @ Michigan - Michigan won 40-34 Sun 7/8 9:30 pm 21. Missouri @ Arizona St - ASU won 37-30 OT Mon 7/9 Noon 20. South Carolina @ Georgia - South Carolina won 45-42 Mon 7/9 6:00 pm 19. Northern Illinois @ Toledo - NIU won 63-60 Mon 7/9 8:30 pm 18. Texas @ Texas A&M - Texas won 27-25 Tue 7/10 6:00 pm 17. Utah State @ Auburn - Auburn survived 42-38 Tue 7/10 8:30 pm 16. Ohio State@ Nebraska - Nebraksa won 34-27 Wed 7/11 6:00 pm 15. LSU @ Alabama - LSU won 9-6 OT Wed 7/11 8:30 pm 14. Texas A&M @ Kansas St - K State won 53-50 4OT Thurs 7/12 6:00 pm 13. Wisconsin @ Ohio St - OSU won 33-29 Thurs 8:30 pm 12. Texas A&M vs. Arkansas in Dallas - Arkansas won 42-38 Fri 7/13 6:00 pm 11. Oklahoma St @ Iowa St - ISU won 37-31 2OT busting up OSU's CG game dreams Fri 7/13 8:30 pm 10. Wisconsin vs. Oregon, Rose Bowl - Oregon won 45-38 Sat 7/14 Noon 9. Kansas State @ Oklahoma St - OSU won 52-45 Sat 7/14 3:00 pm 8. Michigan State vs. Georgia, Outback Bowl - MSU won 33-30 3OT Sat 7/14 6:00 pm 7. Oklahoma @ Baylor - Baylor won 45-38 SAt 7/14 8:30 pm 6. Stanford vs. Oklahoma St, Fiesta Bowl - OSU won 41-38 OT Sun 7/15 Noon 5. TBA Sun 7/15 3:00 pm 4. TBA Sun 7/15 6:00 pm 3. TBA Sun 7/15 8:30 pm 2. TBA Mon 7/16 6:00 pm 1. TBA Mon 7/16 8:30 pm The top 5 games will be voted on ESPN Sports Nation. I can't find the poll so I'm guessing it isn't up yet. ND - Michigan, USC Stanford, Baylor - TCU and Wisconsin - Michigan St are 4 of the 5 choices. Not sure about the 5th. ESPN messed up in their commercial and showed USC - Stanford twice.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 07:37 PM) It's not dead, 2 of the BCS games including the granddaddy is still there. It's less than what it was, but I almost prefer it this way, I can focus on both BCS games without others on at the same time. I just hope they keep it at about this level. I heard something today that said they were shooting for 3 big bowls dec 31 and 3 on jan 1. I wasn't sure if this included any of the playoff games. Dec. 31 can be a problem depending on what day of the week it is. Many people still have to work that day.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 10:39 PM) Only one I can think of that IU is in on is Clff Alexander (Curie...2014 I think). Maybe one more that's escaping my mind. Perhaps 2015 G Hyron Edwards? No clue if he is a top 50 type player or where he might rank.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 07:02 PM) New Year's has been dead for a while IMO. The most meaningful games are after the 1st now. IMO, you need every major game on the 1st except for the title game. It has been wounded, that's for sure

If they were ever to go to four 16 team conferences, then I would absolutely be for playing off with the 4 conference champions. Think about it. You would basically have a built in 8-team playoff beginning with those CG games.

I'm pretty much non-committal with an opinion on all of this, but have enjoyed reading the posts here. A few thoughts: 1. As Badger stated, there is no perfect method. With some conferences having CG's and others not, with imbalanced schedules and Notre Dame and BYU as independents, there are just a ton of scenarios that will be argued by many. 2. I see Badger's argument but can't back it 100%. I do think winning your conference should hold weight. I think strength of schedule should factor in. The reason going too heavy on requiring conference champions is no one wants to see a 7-5 or 8-4 team in the playoff. Last year UCLA could have gotten in at 7-5. 3. I do have a hard time with a team that gets to skip their CG because they "tied" for their division. In that sense it is an advantage to sit at home. Last year Michigan got a Sugar Bowl bid because they sat at home (among other reasons) while Michigan State lost in the CG. Bowl games are a different animal, but something doesn't sit right about it in a playoff. I know last year was an anomaly, but I would argue for a 11-1 conference champion with a reasonble SOS to get in ahead of a team that didn't win their division/conference. Of course conferences could combat this by getting rid of divisions, but then you could have 3-way ties. My take is I could care less what is done. Just don't f*ck up my New Year's Day or the meaning of the regular season. I know the NFL is popular, but college football is not the NFL and should ot model itself after it.

Indy Star is doing an online series rating the top 50 IU players of all-time. Sunday was #43. The next player is posted at 7 am each morning. So far the list includes: 50. Christian Watford 49. John Laskowski 48. Bracey Wright 47. Bill Menke 46. Michael Lewis 45. Keith Smart 44. Ralph Hamilton 43. Uwe Blab

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 24, 2012 -> 10:52 AM) I didn't watch all the way to the end of the video so I may have missed his final point. But I have always felt that HBO's announcers (and other networks sometimes) get too wrapped up in the favorite or who they want to win and call the action in a one-sided manner. Larry Merchant drives me freakin nuts and Lampley and Steward aren't too far behind. Strangely enough, I like Kellerman the best. There is truth to "you see what you want to see". All of that said, Pacquio still won the fight. I went back and watched it a 2nd time and gave a couple more rounds to Bradley, but 8-4 Pacquiao is the best I could give. The WBO asked five veteran international judges to score the fight and all scored for Pacquiao, ranging from 115-113 to 118-111. After the fight, Bradley didn't think he won. So if this video is trying to make an argument that Bradley won, I'm not buying. If it is pointing out that HBO announcers tend to show favoritism and the fight was closer than they described, then I'll buy that argument.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 20, 2012 -> 12:27 PM) He plays like Carmelo in that tape, at 16. I think the accolades thrown at Lyles are fair and in no way diminish Gary Harris' abilities. I'm far from an established talent evaluator of 15-17 yr olds, but what I have seen of him (and was confirmed in the linked video) is a unique set of skills for a player of any age, let alone one who is just 16 and has two years of HS left. He's 6'8 yet has the ability to handle the ball and distribute like a PG. He plays face up to the basket and can drive and finish or shoot from outside. How good his 3pt range is at this point I don't know, but I've seen video of him taking and making them. At the same time, he can play with his back to the basket and go either way, using both hands. Lastly, he appears to be a very strong rebounder averaging double digits in boards everywhere he goes. Could he stagnate and be one of those guys that peaked early? Possibly. But I haven't heard anything indicating that he isn't the type to continue to work daily to improve. He may not have the skills of a 7' dominant big man and may not be as good as the best 3pt shooters or the best PG's in the land, but very few would have his overall skill set. It most definitely has IU fans excited not only about this year, but the future as well.

IU commit and junior to be Trey Lyles chose to play for the Canadian (he was born there) U18 Junior National team rather than the US National U17 team. So far in three games, being played in Brazil, he is averaging 17 pts and 16 rebounds a game. Not bad for a kid playing up.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 15, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) Looked like Yogi had a good game in that KY vs Indiana all star game. Also looked like Gary Harris is about as good as I thought he would be. Anybody know where I can find box scores for the two games? There was a kid for both Indiana and Kentucky going to Evansville. I'd like to see how they did.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Jun 14, 2012 -> 09:16 PM) Crean is pushing full class loads and summer courses on the athletes that can handle it, which is a good idea since he'll be oversigning so much. Peegs is interviewing about 5 prospects a week it seems that have visited IU and it seems Oladipo is just on another level, along with Zeller (also heard great things about Sheehey). Couple top 20 prospects in 2013 and 2014 scrimmaged with the team and said there's just no way Vic and Cody will be back in 2013. Couple that with 5-6 NBA scouts that have made it into open gyms saying Oladipo looks like a first rounder, I'm interested to see just how unstoppable this kid has become. The last 6-8 games of the season he was one of the best players in the country at getting to the rim. I went back and watched the UK game in the NCAA tournament... He drove 9 times, and scored 7 times on Miller/Gilchrist and Davis. Should be a great, great year. From everything I hear, Victor and Sheehey are complete gym rats and the hardest workers on the team. I would not be surprised if Cody stays for his junior year. His talent and draft stock are not the question. But if you look at the family, I just don't see the urgency. They march to a different drum beat. I'm not saying he will, but it would not surprise me at all if he stays another year. He and his family apparently don't need the money and he just doesn't seem like a jump to the NBA kind of kid.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 15, 2012 -> 06:13 PM) High st just like every other main st in ohio, its weird like that. The girls are very good looking and for the most part VERY high maintenance. Its a really good time and great campus, I would recommend a visit to anyone who goes through southern ohio. I remember that night well although my babysitter had ordered that fight on my parents HBO. You old fart!! Yes I am!! Cool babysitter though!

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 15, 2012 -> 06:05 PM) Oladipo shooting 38% from three is simply laughable. Actually it's not. He has a decent shot. He just stopped taking 3's last year when he started handling the ball more. His ability to drive is so good there isn't a need to shoot from 3, especially with the other shooters we had. But his shot is better than you think. He just has to take it more consistently to shoot at that %. If teams adjust and lay back to keep him from driving you could see more shots. He shot 31% as a freshman.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 15, 2012 -> 10:17 AM) Miami University, so a lot less athletically focused than Big Ten caliber schools. Just shows you. And OSU is one of two big ten teams that was honored for their APR, so they are clearly doing something right or have really really good study tables. I was joking. Miami does bring back fond memories. Many good looking women there. Is it still like that? I spent a weekend there. Didn't see many 10's, but almost every one I saw was a 7-9. I saw as many ugly women in my first two hours back at Evansville than I did the whole weekend in Oxford. Made out with a cute chick on the dance floor at some bar on High St or Main St(?). Almost had her ready to take me back to her place when her friends came in and "rescued her". As a reference point, that was the night that Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson in Japan. Damn, I'm old!

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 15, 2012 -> 10:31 AM) If Oladipo can add even a decent outside shot (say, ~35-38% from 3-point) I have no doubt he'll be a first rounder, barring injury (which I always worry about with him given how he plays). My other wish for Victor is increased body control and learning a soft landing!

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 14, 2012 -> 01:54 PM) Nah, athletes in general get bulls*** classes and it pissed me off. One of the only science classes I took voluntarily was full of football and hockey players and I saw them the first day and last day and they all did better than me. They never even had to go to f***ing lab. Thats's OSU for you baby! jk I don't even know if you graduated from OSU. There is no doubt some majors are easier than others. Many athletes major in general studies, whatever the hell that means. I can give you a situation that I saw in college, many moons ago. I had three bball players in Econ 101. Their academic advisor required them to complete a study guide of 400 questions. She graded it and gave it back to them and made them correct all of the wrong answers until they had it all correct. Of course they were smart enough to each do 100 questions (I was the 4th) so they didn't have to do all of them. It typically took 2-3 rounds before all answers were correct. What ultimately happened (and we didn't know it the first time) was that the study guide was the test guide for that book, meaning of the 400 we had to do and study, 80 of those exact questions were the test. Needless to say we all did well, but at the same time the work had to be done and 400 questions had to be studied. I actually learned more that way and ended up tutoring economics as a senior. I did have an advantage other students didn't, but we weren't getting off without doing the work either.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 14, 2012 -> 09:20 AM) Are there any actual IU grads on here? How do you feel about those players graduating in ALOT less time than you did? Taking two terms of summer courses, I could have easily graduated in 3 years. To graduate you have to have a certain number of credit hours, so I don't get your point. The classes have to be taken. Plus, with advanced placement classes in HS now, its easy to walk in with credits if you are a good student in HS. Cody Zeller had 22 credits before starting due to advanced classes in HS. That's almost a full year. I think I entered with 6.

Here is a good video of Tom Crean speaking at an IU Tailgate tour in Southern IN outside of Louisville. He talks about all players on the team including the incoming freshmen. Also talks about academics, stating Jordan Hulls and Derek Elston have graduated in 3 years, Cody Zeller is on pace to graduate in 2 1/2, Will Sheehey in 3 and Victor Oladipo in 3 1/2. Tom Crean at Huber Farms

Have a friend in Chicago going to the Cubs game tonight. Anyone have any suggestions for restaurants near Wrigley?

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 10, 2012 -> 11:34 AM) The sport is going nowhere as long as it is on PPV put it on a network Boxing is routinely on ESPN, HBO, Showtime, some of the Fox networks and now EPIX and NBC Sports (or whatever they call the former VS). Only the major fights are on PPV. Boxing has many problems. There is a different commission and therefore ruling body in every state. Even the drug testing is different in every state. There are multiple sanctioning bodies who offer titles so it is confusing to fans as to who the real champions are unless you follow closely. Individual promoters sign and develop fighters and they often have personality conflicts that keep great fights from happening. There is no one to keep fighters from jumping from one promoter to another (other than contracts and sometimes those don't help) which just enhances the animosity. If boxing had a national commission and a national set of rules and guidelines, it would be much better off. Questionable judging is also a problem. But it goes back to every state having their own commision, therefore hiring and training their own judges. Judging is not easy. The judges are placed on three different sides of the ring so they don't all see the same things. Sometimes one or two is blocked by a fighter or the referee. It is also very objective. Some judges prefer a buisier or more aggressive fighter. Others put more weight into clean, effective, aka powerful punches. It does not have a scoring system like the Olympics that just tally every time a punch lands no matter how hard. Some judges may give more preference to punches to the head than the body. Punches to the head are more dramatic and cause greater crowd reaction. Subconciously they can be affected by the crowd just like in any sport. Lastly, they judge each round individually, which means once they give a round to a fighter, its in the bank and recorded. Each round is judged on its own, not looking at the bigger picture of the fight as fans do. It's possible for a judge to give a fighter several close rounds and the other fighter rounds in which he clearly won. Fans will have the impression the fight is one-sided, but it is closer to even. A 10-9 close round counts the same as a 10-9 round dominated by a fighter with no knockdowns. All of that said, there are still some very questionable scorecards, including a bout last year in Atlantic City where all three judges were suspended by the NJAC. Not for anything fishy, just due to obvious poor performance. I fell asleep last night in the 12th round. I woke up this morning early and started again in the 10th round to catch the end and fell asleep again. When I finally got my ass out of bed this morning, I was shocked to see the decision. This was certainly one of those ridiculous decisions. While not a boxing judge I do try to evaluate each round on its own and I still had it either 10-2 or 9-3 for Pacquaio. Decisions like these do give boxing a black eye. All of that said, boxing is alive and not dead. While it is not as main stream as it once was, the attendance and revenues are very high. None of UFC/MMA's gates and PPV revenues even compare to boxing. In fact, I think there is only one MMA gate in the top 65 ever in Las Vegas. Last night's fight will likely do around 1 million buys, maybe a little less. Pacquiao routinely surpasses a million. Mayweather did 1.5 million against Cotto. He also almost always draws more than a million. None of the UFC/MMA PPV's even approach those numbers. Part of that is boxing is strong worldwide, but the PPV numbers initially reported are just those in the US. That's why boxers make so much more money, because fans are paying to watch. Sorry for the long post, but hope it was at least helpful to some.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 6, 2012 -> 10:42 AM) You cant trust those star ratings. Rivals and Scout make a ton of money off of the SEC premium websites/boards. The Big 10 teams dont nearly spend as much. Its why you see a guy who is a 3* and then commits to LSU and becomes a 4* over night. There are some articles about conference distribution in the pros and I think the SEC has a slight edge, but not nearly as much as they do in recruiting. I don't buy that argument at all. I would counter that six straight national championships seem to support the numbers. Not all players become NFL'ers. It's possible that two teams could have the same number of guys who land in the NFL, but there be a great difference in the next level of players. The bottom line is if you sign that many top players, your margin for error is MUCH lower. There are now at least four ranking services and opinions vary greatly between them. Sure there are biases, just as there are anywhere in life. But the national guys who do the rankings are trying to get it right, not cowtow to subscription bases. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. But I have zero doubt that the scout guys would prefer to have more accurate rankings than Rivals and vice versa. And as far as your LSU example, that happens all the time with Big Ten schools too. Rankings are consistently updated. There is a definite slant early to the kids that camp as junors. They are seen more. Kids that don't are evaluated on their HS film. Time keeps them from evaluating every piece of film right away. Sometimes they don't get film on kids until they become known, which often means offers from big time programs.

It didn't, but it did surprise me that the SEC had almost double the number of 5* recruits than the next best conference and almost 3x as many as the Big Ten. The number differential of Top 100 players was huge too, but I couldn't be accurate because somehow Scout's 2011 rankings added to 172 top 100 players among the conferences. The other years were 99 or 100 with one exception of 103 in 2009. So I couldn't be sure how many Top 100 players each conference had. But with the exception of 2008, the SEC had between 30-35% of the Top 100. The rest spread out between the other conferences. Another random note the Big East had 16 5* recruits, but 9 of those were in 2007 & 2008, illustrating even more how far they've fallen.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 5, 2012 -> 01:10 PM) Yes, we care about teams, but dont care about SEC hillbillies laughing at anything. It amazes me that the teams and fans in the SEC band together like they are all superior, its 1 or 2 teams that are good, the rest of you are in the main bucket like everyone else. Considering SEC teams have won National Championships in the past six years and there are 5 SEC teams ranked in the top 9 of ESPN's pre-season poll, I would have to disagree. The strength of the SEC lies in their talent. While recruiting star rankings aren't always accurate 4 years later there is a significant difference in the # of top players going to SEC teams. I looked back at the conference rankings the past six years and was surprised to find that the Big Ten was 5th out of the top six conferences, even behind the ACC. Here is how the #'s broke out from 2007-2012... Conf 5* 4* SEC 105 488 Pac 12 57 313 Big 12 52 274 ACC 45 250 Big East 16 98 Edit: sorry I can't figure out how to format the list to align properly