The next group are teams that should find themselves on the
bubble come March. If the season would
end today, I think 2 of the 3 teams have a good enough resume to get into the field
of 68. I think the majority of the
conference upsets will come from this group.
8. Wisconsin
The Badgers have been a main-stay in the top 5 of the B1G
and participant in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin
has yet to notch a signature win, but with the entire B1G slate still in front
of them, the Badgers will have a lot of time to build the resume. Being in the nation’s toughest conference can
really help a team like Wisconsin, it could also give them 10 more losses and
knock them out of the tournament. The
Badgers have played 4 solid teams so far, but have lost each game, but the rest
of the schedule has consisted of push-overs and blow-out wins. Bo Ryan’s crawl
pace and unique offensive style will still continue to give every team problems
this season. Also, the Kohl Center is
one of the toughest places to play in the country.
7. Iowa
The Hawkeyes have been people’s sleeper team for 2 years
now. Fran Dumphrey has accumulated some
nice offensive weapons in Iowa City, and they seem to be in a similar place
that early John Beilein coached Michigan teams were. The problem for Iowa is that the top of the
conference just keeps getting better, so I have a feeling by the end of the
year the Hawkeyes will be on the outside looking in of the NCAA tournament. Iowa runs a very unique offensive scheme with
some unassuming players, but they continue to lack defensive drive and
ability. This will likely result in some
big wins at home, but a good defense really puts teams over the top with the
brutal road schedule in the B1G. You
cannot expect to score 80 points every night in the conference, and have to be
able to win games in the 50s.
6. Michigan State
The Spartans are loaded with talent, like always, but there
is little to really like about this Izzo-coached team. Yes they are still ranked and have only lost
2 games, but they have not been impressive yet this season. It seems like Michigan State has been having
some chemistry issues and have struggled to find a consistent line-up. If they find a way to put things together, Michigan
State can finish in ranked in the top 10 and be a top 4 B1G team. The worry is that the Spartans really haven’t
shown any improvement during the non-conference and the moments where they have
clicked have been surrounded by minutes of discouraging play. The B1G is so talented this year that the
Spartans could easily slip to the wrong side of the bubble.
I think we have a pretty good idea of how good Wisconsin and
Iowa will be this season, and the definite question mark in this group is
Michigan State. Either way, it will be
difficult to play all of these teams on the road, and I would guess that each
team that finishes in the top tier of the conference will find at least one
loss from this group.
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