Linking Laconically is Still Reveling

There were just too many fun links not to do a quick links dump:

Cartoonish headline that I thought came from the Onion? Check:

The team that would've beaten MSU was at Crisler — but 3 were in the stands, and 2 are hurt: http://t.co/5QBGpby8Pp pic.twitter.com/lPKmzZoB6b

— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) February 18, 2015

Complaining about officials? No question:

Michigan State began to impose its will on offense seven minutes in thanks to two questionable calls when the Spartans owned a small 11-8 lead.

University of Michigan students making hilariously short-sighted claims about wealth in an op-ed? Off topic a little, but yes:

My family's household income is $250,000 a year, but I promise you I am middle class. I live in a $2 million dollar house, but I promise you I am still middle class.

Program Talk

I wanted to revisit a little thought exercise I did last year:

KenPom doesn't do program ratings, but we can do the same exercise using his ratings. Fremeau doesn't publish how he weights the seasons for Program FEI, but I got pretty close with a 40-30-15-10-5 weighting, as of right now, what are the program KenPom ratings for each team (from 2010-2014)?

Michigan: 0.8990

Michigan State: 0.9066

Let's update that analysis for the entire Beilein Era. KenPom rating on the top line, superlatives below. The number stand for how far they reached in the tournament (2 = National Runner Up. 16 = Sweet Sixteen, etc):

I know which of these program resumes I'd prefer.

Five year weighted average (as described above), and a straight average for the whole Beilein era:

The other interesting thing to note here is how similar the KenPom ratings for MSU are in the 2009-10 season and the 2014-15 season. Luck changes things, doesn't it?

I'd argue MSU is still a half-step above UM as a program. UM does have the most recent Final Four appearance, but the consistent excellence from MSU is the differentiator. MSU has missed the Sweet Sixteen just once since 2007-08.