In the beginning Defend That, Digger was a way for I, as a blogger, to strike back at the lack of respect given to Purdue by one Digger Phelps. Since then, it has evolved into an outlet that really calls out any college basketball analyst that makes outrageous claims with almost no factual basis whatsoever. A prime example of this can be anyone who has voted for San Diego State in the top 10. Digger has actually fallen back a bit because he has given Purdue a healthy amount of respect, especially in last year's tournament with the way we played.
Still, there are others that need an example made of them. That is why Defend That, Digger still exists. It is here as long as team that receive an inordinate amount of praise continue to be lauded.
Exhibit A: Blogging the Bracket - This guy is basically laughable in his bracket projections. First, he has Purdue as an eight seed and is basing everything on a poor half of shooting against Richmond. We probably would have lost that game even with Hummel as bad as we shot. It is more than a slight against Purdue, however. He has Michigan State as a six seed (which will never happen). He has Tennessee as a #1 (laughable even before they lost to Oakland), Villanova as a 5 (how they continue to get love I will never know), San Diego State as a three (having beaten only an overrated Gonzaga), Minnesota as a #2, and West Virginia as a five.
You guys are all SBNation members. Go forth and rebut in the comments.
Exhibit B: Oakland 87, Tennessee 82 - Let's see: both teams that have beaten Tennessee Purdue has handled quite easily, one of them being a Division II team. As you know, I firmly believe there is never any excuse for a major program to ever lose to a Division II team under any circumstances. Yes, the Volunteers have beaten Villanova and Pitt, but Villanova has essentially beaten no one of note and is exactly like Purdue, only they never had Robbie Hummel. Pitt at least has some good wins over Texas and Maryland. I'd like to thank Oakland for exposing Tennessee, and I would like to point that of Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, and Tennessee, we had the easiest time against them.
Exhibit C: Drexel 52, Louisville 46 - With Butler and UNLV struggling, Louisville's two best wins don't look so good at the moment. What is going to happen when Louisville finally goes out in the big, scary world and plays a team away from the KFC Yum! Center? We'll find out next week when they go to Western Kentucky.
Exhibit D: Wisconsin 69, Marquette 64 - Gee, how could the big, slow Big Ten ever keep up with the totally awesome Big East on its home court?
Exhibit E: UC Santa Barbara 68, UNLV 62 - I don't think we're going to have a reunion of Jerry Tarkanian's great teams after all.
Exhibit F: Gary Parrish - Oh, Gary. It just kills you that JaJuan Johnson is having a dominant season and has done nothing to lose his All-American Status. Of course, he wasn't on your preseason team, either, but two Dukies were.