This year’s Big Ten has got to be the most entertaining basketball conference in years — and, perhaps, the best conference as well.
Over the past few days, the top three teams in the conference — Indiana, Michigan State, and Michigan — all have lost. Ohio State’s victory over Michigan State on Sunday wasn’t that much of an upset, but Minnesota’s win over top-ranked Indiana last night was a real surprise, and Penn State’s victory tonight over Michigan, in a game in which Michigan frittered away a double-digit lead, is an absolute shocker. Before that game, Penn State hadn’t won a conference game all year. As a result of the upsets, Indiana leads the conference race with three losses, Michigan State and steady Wisconsin are right behind with four losses, and Ohio State and stumbling Michigan are one game farther back.
College basketball is a lot of fun because the players are kids, the students watching the game are into it, and emotion can play a significant role. When a conference has have a bunch of very good teams, some good teams, and some teams that can rise to the occasion when their home court advantage comes into play, you get lots of surprises and unexpectedly close games. The last few games of the conference regular season over the next week and a half are likely to be a free-for-all. If a team like Ohio State wants to stay in contention, it had better be ready to play every game against every opponent — starting tomorrow night, when it travels to Evanston to play Northwestern.
After the regular season finally ends, we’ll have the Big Ten Tournament. There’s a reason why this year’s tournament is the first one ever to be sold out: it should be a very good show.
Many people will focus on the game at East Lansing, where Ohio State seeks revenge for the Spartans’ win last month. The Buckeyes’ dreadful showing in that contest triggered several inconsistent performances that have tested Ohio State’s mettle and raised questions about its NCAA Tournament hopes. A win against a top 10 team, coached by legendary Tom Izzo, in a brutal venue — and on Michigan State’s senior day, to boot — would answer those questions. Ohio State will need to shoot a lot better and rebound a lot better if they hope to do so.
The stories aren’t so pretty at the bottom of the conference. Minnesota’s season has been crippled by injuries, but Illinois has experienced an outright collapse that probably will result in the ouster of coach Bruce Weber. The Illini are baffling because they have one of the best big men in the conference in Meyers Leonard and a great scorer in Brandon Paul, but they play poor defense and lack the leadership and chemistry needed to win consistently. Nebraska’s coach, too, is likely on the chopping block; the Cornhuskers look to be far away from being competitive in the conference. And Penn State, which has a new coach this year, always seems to be rebuilding, but never quite getting to the top.
It should be a very interesting Big Ten season. By far the most surprising team so far has been Indiana. The Hoosiers, who were woeful the past few years, are undefeated and have a last-second win over mighty Kentucky under their belts. Many people thought Indiana was a year away, but perhaps coach Tom Crean and the young Hoosiers have other ideas. We’ll get a good sense of the Hoosiers’ real strength soon enough — they open at Michigan State and then welcome the Buckeyes to Assembly Hall in what should be a barn burner.
Ohio State remains the only undefeated team in college basketball and leads the Big Ten conference race by three games. The Buckeyes now get a few days off until their next game, which is on Saturday at Wisconsin — a place where the Badgers seldom lose.
The Big Ten is very interesting this year for a lot of reasons. Four teams are tied for the lead with one loss — Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Traditional powerhouses like Michigan and Penn State are struggling. And the days of bruising 10-7 battles seem to be long gone. If anything, some Big Ten teams seem to be defensively challenged. (I’m looking at you, Michigan, Indiana, and Minnesota!)
