The Big Ten continues to wear down even the best teams. Michigan State was playing like one of the
best teams in the entire country, but went 0-2 last week. The bad news for Spartan fans is that the
games against Indiana and Ohio State were only the first two of their grueling
4 game stretch. The Indiana win in East
Lansing will likely be seen as the best victory from any conference team this
season. The Hoosiers now have a 2 game
lead in the loss column with only 4 games remaining. Michigan got back on track with a comfortable
win over streaking Illinois, and with the other top 10 losses last week the
Wolverines kept their small hopes alive for a number 1 seed. Minnesota and Northwestern are going the
other direction, and in a hurry. The
Golden Gophers still are extremely talented, but will need to win a few more
games to be an NCAA tournament lock.
1. Indiana
(no change)
The Hoosiers only had one game last week, and it was a big
one. They went into the Breslin and won
for the first time since most of their players were even born. While some people can say Michigan State blew
the game down the stretch, Indiana’s experience came through and pulled out the
toughest win of the season. Indiana could
play two trap games this week with a trip to Minnesota and hosting Iowa. While the Gophers are still a likely
tournament team, a win over the number one team in the nation would make them a
lock. Then with the Hawkeyes losing to
Nebraska over the weekend, they are on the wrong side of the bubble and need a
signature win to be in the conversation again.
I expect the Hoosiers to be focused and win both games, but Illinois was
a team heading in the wrong direction but mustered a huge comeback to take down
Indiana on their home floor. All I am
saying is that stranger things have happened.
2. Michigan
State (no change)
I am keeping the Spartans in the number 2 slot this week. I
know they had a tough week going 0-2, but it was a similar stretch that Michigan
just went through and we all saw how that went.
Michigan State is still a very good team, and having a week off before
heading to the Crisler Center will be huge.
Tom Izzo does some of his best work when he has a reason to get after
his team. Even if the Spartans finish 4th
or 5th in the Big Ten, they will still be on my short list for Final
Four favorites.
3. Michigan
(no change)
The Wolverines finally were able to get a week off to get back
to fundamentals and get some rest. The
freshmen definitely looked more energetic and fresh, which is bad news for
opposing teams. It will be important for
Jordan Morgan to continue to get back to 100%.
The Wolverines head to Happy Valley to look to build upon their 8 point
win over the Nittany Lions last week.
Then next weekend Michigan welcomes the Spartans back home for the
grudge match after they were embarrassed in East Lansing a few weeks ago. With another strong week Michigan has a
chance to move up the rankings and even still have an outside shot at sharing
the regular season title.
4. Wisconsin
(no change)
The Badgers still play ugly basketball, and they still have
the easiest remaining schedule of any top 5 team. If you can’t tell I am still upset over their
prayer victory over Michigan, and I don’t respect this team away from the Kohl
Center. Wisconsin should roll to two
more wins this week as they make their rounds of the B1G cellar. Michigan will need to avoid a tie with the
Badgers since they would own the tie breaker and move the Wolverines down in
the standings further for the B1G tournament.
5. Ohio
State (no change)
The Buckeyes are close to be moving back into the 4th
position with big home wins over Minnesota and Michigan State. The Buckeyes got a huge lift from Aaron Craft
on the offensive end, and if it can continue Ohio State could make some noise
when they travel to Bloomington or in the conference tournament.
6. Illinois
(no change)
The Illini were one of the conference’s hottest teams
heading into Ann Arbor on Sunday, and it looked like their good fortune was going
to continue after the first half.
Instead they were out-toughed by a Wolverines squad that has been
criticized as being soft. The good thing
for Illinois is that they have a favorable week coming up which should help
them continue to move up the bracket.
They could be playing for a 6 seed, which seems crazy when they started
2-7 in the conference.
7. Minnesota
(up 1)
The Gophers are still on the decline, especially after back
to back blowout road losses to Iowa and Ohio State. If the Gophers have any mental toughness and
pride they will need a strong showing at home tonight against the
Hoosiers. If they fold early again and
lose by 20+ they could be on the outside looking in come selection Sunday. Minnesota is just too talented to be slumping
like this, and I personally think Tubby Smith’s seat could be a little warm if
he cannot turn this team around in the next 3 weeks.
8. Iowa
(down 1)
I know the Hawkeyes just punched Minnesota in the mouth a
week ago, but then they bounced back with a deflating loss to Nebraska. It was a loss that most likely sealed their
fate of becoming an NCAA tournament team in 2013. Iowa still does have resume booster games
with Indiana and Illinois, and they will likely need to win both to even be in contention
for a bid.
9. Purdue
(no change)
Purdue is still hanging at 9th in the Big
Ten. They aren’t bad enough to move
down, but can’t put together a consistent 40 minutes to pass Iowa. The Boilermakers picked up a huge win over
the depleted Wildcats. Purdue will
travel to Iowa and Wisconsin where they could look to pick up one win, for
Michigan fans let’s hope its against the Badgers.
10. Nebraska
(up 1)
The Cornhuskers move up because of their surprising win over
Iowa and because Northwestern is likely the worst conference team at the
moment. Nebraska plays Wisconsin and
Illinois this week, so it looks like two more losses for the Huskers.
11. Northwestern
(down 1)
The Wildcats are terrible right now and are limping to the
finish line. If they aren’t careful
Northwestern will be the best chance for Penn State to pick up a conference
win.
12. Penn
State (no change)
I can continue to say the same thing about the Nittany Lions;
they play hard and are getting closer to picking up their first conference
win. Lets just hope it isn’t tomorrow
night against Michigan.
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