Josh & Mike from Big Ten Geeks are the RTC correspondents for the Big Ten Conference.
Looking Back
We are only a couple weeks into Big Ten play this season and already it is shaping up to be an exciting season. Michigan State has shaken off the slow non-conference start and is looking dominant so far including a big win over defending national champion Kansas. Likewise for Wisconsin, who lulled everyone into doubting them again before turning it on before slipping up this weekend at Purdue. Indeed, it’s been the Boilermakers, the odds-on favorite to win the conference league, that has struggled a bit out of the gate.
But let’s start with those Spartans. In November, a week after getting humbled by Maryland (defeated at home by mighty Morgan State last week), the Spartans were destroyed by UNC in Detroit. Sure, the Tar Heels are a really good team (despite their recent missteps), but it looked like UNC was scrimmaging against the JV girls team. The Spartans turned it on soon after and took down Texas in Houston. Now they sit 3-0 in the conference (including two road wins), which does not even include their impressive win over Kansas and hey still have yet to play Indiana. It looks like Tom Izzo has righted the ship in East Lansing and now the Spartans are looking as good as they have in the past three seasons.
Wisconsin followed a similar path except for the win against Texas. While the Badgers haven’t had any bad losses, they did drop all of their games against elite contenders (UConn, Marquette, and Texas) and even threw in some bad-looking wins (the two-point home win over Idaho State or the OT thriller against Iona). Despite everyone making promises not to do so again this season, that was enough to make many people jump off the Badger bandwagon. Now it looks like Bo Ryan‘s squad is starting to round into form, standing 3-1 in conference play so far including a road win over Michigan.
Purdue got off to a very shaky start in conference play dropping a home game against Illinois followed up by a loss at Penn State. Sure, Penn State is better this season, but that was a winnable road game for the Boilermakers, and winnable road games are must-wins for any team looking to win the conference title. However, part of this can be attributed to Robbie Hummel and Chris Kramer being held out with injuries. Matt Painter‘s crew did look impressive in their home win against Wisconsin so maybe the Boilers are ready for a run, but the two early losses have put them in a tough spot.
Looking Ahead
There are a lot of good games this week, but there might be none bigger than when Illinois visits Michigan State this Saturday. The Illini are suddenly looking like a legit threat to take the conference crown with a road win over Purdue in their pocket. If they can steal a victory in East Lansing, they will be in the driver’s seat. First, they have to take care of business at home against Michigan, a team that beat them just 10 days.
Other games of note
– Purdue @ Northwestern, Thursday: If the Wildcats lose this one, they’ll be sitting at 0-4 in conference and those NCAA tournament hopes will be slipping away. If Purdue loses, they’re really going to have to pull some road upsets to win the Big Ten title. A must win for both teams early in the season.
– Minnesota @ Wisconsin, Thursday: A tough test for two teams in the upper half of the conference.
– Ohio State @ Michigan, Saturday: The football rivalry hits the hardwood. OSU’s suddenly-brittle defense will be tested against John Beilein‘s explosive offense.
A Look at the Numbers
Earlier this season, we showed you how Big Ten coaches promised they would run more this season. Well, we are 38 games into conference play – how are those promises looking?
Terrible.
The conference is sitting on 62 possessions, one of the lowest numbers in recent history. We aren’t paceists over at Big Ten Geeks, so we do not think there is anything necessarily bad about a slower game, but it would be nice if coaches fessed up to their plodding tendencies. Besides, that would give them a chance to explain that slow doesn’t mean bad or boring, and certainly not offensively-challenged. Indeed, the Big Ten is full of good offenses (as of this writing, a mere three teams rank below the 1.00 points per possession threshold in Big Ten play). However, we recognize that until the greater basketball community goes tempo-free, the propaganda campaign will continue.