Quick Olympics update for you all: I love curling. It has earned a fan in me, and Tabitha Peterson is my hero.

Also shoutout to my alma mater for making such a fool of itself with various news happenings that I feel like I have to put some level of caveat before talking about the unbelievable amount of Ohio State alums in the women’s hockey semifinals.

The final four teams — Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and the US — had at least one Buckeye on every roster, a legitimately unbelievable feat for the University’s coolest program. Nadine Muzerall forever, now Ohio State please own up to what you did for many years and also please stop hiring morons for faculty positions.

Basket Under Review Post: Belief in the Bison

Last Hoopla: Bye, Double Bye, Qualify Situations

Last season, two of Maryland’s final three wins came by way of the thriller.

There was the March 2 win over Ohio State, a 93-90 overtime victory off a last-second three from Sarah Te-Biasu. Three weeks later, the Terps fought their way to the Sweet 16 with a 111-108 double OT win over Alabama in one of the craziest games I’ve watched… ever?

Maybe those games sparked something within Brenda Frese, maybe Maryland just keeps finding itself back here out of happenstance, but one way or another, the Terps are addicted to the thrill. They can’t get enough of it, and sometimes that works to their benefit.

While it wasn’t another Maryland overtime affair — something the Terps have had three times already this season — Maryland found itself down big, on the road, against a very strong Ohio State unit. The Terps trailed by as much as 19 early, by 15 at halftime, then came out on fire in the third quarter to remove that gap.

Then, when Maryland began to widen its lead, the Buckeyes brought the game within one score. Ohio State had an opportunity to tie the game at the line late and split the pair. Maryland had a chance to go up 3 at the line and missed both. And yet, the Terps juuuuust barely held on for the massive victory.

Maryland’s big advantage in the game came on the glass, where it out rebounded the Buckeyes 47-34, including 22 offensive rebounds. The Terps’ guard duo of Oluchi Okananwa and Saylor Poffenbarger each finished with double-doubles in rebounds, as well as three steals apiece.

The win gives Maryland six Quad 1 wins, it redeems an earlier home loss to the Buckeyes this season and puts the Terps in excellent standing to secure the single Big Ten bye and earn those opening round NCAA Tournament home games.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, there is concern at Nebrasketball HQ.

The Cornhuskers, once 12-0 to start this season, dropped their fifth straight game on Monday to fall to 16-10. The following day, Nebraska was listed among ESPN’s Last Four In for their latest bracketology, where they had been as high as a 5-seed earlier in the year.

Nebraska’s latest downward trend was also highlighted in that newest update:

Nebraska — now down to 29th in the NET — has not been done any favors by the schedule at all: The five consecutive losses have been to teams currently ranked in the AP Poll (Ohio State, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa). But the Cornhuskers aren’t merely losing, they’re getting routed with each defeat being by double digits.

There have been more problems on the defensive end than offensively, but both areas have diminished since the hot start. Even Britt Prince — who still maintains a 50/40/90 efficiency on the season — has slowed down, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.0 turnovers in the five defeats as the pressure has mounted.

Without Natalie Potts to injury and Alexis Markowski to graduation, Nebraska is getting dominated inside, with opponents shooting a top 10 percentage nationally from inside the arc (52.3%). The scoring efficiency gives the Huskers a way out of this, but it puts a ton of pressure on the three-point shooters to save a paint presence that is struggling to contain the high-level competition.

All of this makes Nebraska’s upcoming West Coast trip beyond crucial. Washington and Oregon are difficult, but attainable games. They’d also qualify as Quad 1 wins, something Nebraska has yet to earn in nine attempts. Both of those units are defensively strong, but susceptible to low-scoring nights, and the Cornhuskers likely need at least a split result in those two games to avoid needing a special run in the Big Ten Tournament.

Percentages and seeding breakdown via CBB Analytics

The Hawkeyes are in terrific position after victories against Washington and Nebraska. Iowa should also feel great about how it won those two games, holding the Huskies and Huskers to 56 and 67 points, respectively. The Hawkeyes gave up 80+ in their three straight losses, and hadn’t allowed 67 or less points since Jan. 15 prior to these two wins.

Last week, I spoke on Northwestern having the best chance to play qualification spoiler, having a game in hand, matchups with opponents also in this area and extra fuel with a head coach retiring after the season. Then, the Wildcats lost to Penn State in a game they led 3-2, and then never again the rest of the way. Now, Northwestern likely needs an upset win — home against Illinois being the best chance — and a season-ending victory over Purdue to get into the Top 15.

The Gophers are HUMMING, winning eight straight games and now moving into a position where they are favored to finish with a double bye. Minnesota also finally was noticed by the AP Poll, ranking 23rd. A huge game against Ohio State (tonight, as of release of this post!) will have massive implications everywhere, both for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans would have needed quite a finish to get into the top four, but two blowout losses to UCLA and Michigan certainly diminished those hopes almost entirely. Moreso, it puts some doubt into Michigan State’s Top 16 standing nationally, which adds some extra pressure to finishing the regular season on a high note.

(TTQ: Torvik Thrill Quotient)

Photo Credit: Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB), Twitter

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