I. Renko is an RTC correspondent based in D.C. and the author of the weekly column, The Other 26. He filed this report after Saturday afternoon’s game between Butler and George Washington. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

Three key takeaways.

• GW is Getting There — Down 53-38 with under eight minutes to play, George Washington staged a furious 18-4 run, powered by an aggressive full-court defense and a renewed toughness on the glass. But with three chances to tie the game on the final possession, the Colonials couldn’t convert. This is the third time that the Colonials lost a game on the final possession to a high quality opponent at home, after falling to Kansas State 65-62 and Temple 55-53. But in his second year at the helm, Mike Lonergan has molded the Colonials into a very competitive team. At 5-4, they already have as many wins in A-10 play as they had all of last year. They’re also a very young team, starting four freshman and a junior, which should give Colonials fans optimism about the future. On Saturday, in spite of an abominable shooting performance (27.9% FG shooting), the Colonials managed to claw their way back against one of the best teams in the country. That kind of toughness and resilience that should serve them well the rest of the year and into the future.

Mike Lonergan Has Molded the Colonials Into an A-10 Contender (GW Hatchet / Jordan Emont)

• Butler Is Not Exactly What You Think It Is — If you don’t watch Butler much, you might stereotype them as a team with good fundamentals, strong three-point shooting, and a solid, compact defense. The reality is more complicated.  First, as they showed in the first half against George Washington, many of Butler’s guards — Rotnei Clarke, Roosevelt Jones, Kellen Dunham, and Chase Stigall — can drive the ball to the basket. This is not just a team that comes down the floor looking to free up shooters with off-ball screens. Casual fans may also be confounded by the fact that Butler has a propensity to turn the ball over. It’s the weakest part of their offensive game, and against George Washington, it showed. The Bulldogs committed 19 turnovers, including five in the final 2:15 of the game, breathing life into George Washington’s late rally. Walk-on point guard Alex Barlow has a great story, but his ability to take care of the ball has been less great; more than 37 percent of the possessions he uses result in turnovers. Oh, and one other surprising fact — Brad Stevens gets upset … sometimes. He may be more calm than the average Division I coach, but a game-long bird’s eye view confirms that he can be just as excitable about perceived officiating errors and bad turnovers as anyone.
• To the Victor of the Glass Go the Spoils — Butler built its nine-point halftime lead in large part because of their rebounding dominance. They outrebounded the Colonials 30-19 overall and pulled down 50 percent of their own misses, which they converted into eight second-chance points. But George Washington turned the tables in the second half. They rebounded more than 70 percent of Butler’s misses and more than 40 percent of their own en route to finishing the game with 20 second-chance points. Crucially, they pulled down seven offensive boards in the last six minutes of the game, helping to power the 18-4 run that put them in position to tie the game on the final possession.

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Rush the Court’s East Coast boss was courtside from Miami’s dominating victory over North Carolina. Here are his three thoughts from the game:

1. Miami is playing like a #1. And we are not just talking about a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the way that teams have been losing in the past few weeks you can start to make a legitimate case for the Hurricanes as a potential #1 team in the country. Sure they don’t play in the Big Ten, which is by far the best conference in the country this season, and the ACC may be down this year, but there is something to be said for beating the teams you are supposed to beat. Now I probably wouldn’t pick the Hurricanes to win the Big Ten, but it is hard to argue against a team that hasn’t lost a game when it has had its full roster. Don’t be surprised to see the Hurricanes at or at least near the top of the polls on Monday.
2. UNC is getting close to the bubble. If the Selection Committee had to make up a bracket tomorrow the Tar Heels would probably still be in, but they are getting perilously close to being on the wrong side of that bubble. Now they have to bounce back from this embarrassing loss to travel to Cameron to take on a Duke team that has played well since they were embarrassed in their trip to Coral Gables. After that they still have a game against NC State and another game against Duke to end the regular season. If they stumble in any other games or get knocked out early in the ACC Tournament it could be a very nervous Selection Sunday in Chapel Hill.
3. Miami is putting together a great season, but maybe not a great program. Obviously this season has been a great one for the Hurricanes program even if they fall apart later in the season, but don’t be so quick to put them up with the ACC’s elite. Joining that group requires consistency and the Hurricanes have only put together part of one season. The media is trying to spin a narrative that Jim Larranaga has built up this program to be one of the best in the ACC going forward, but that isn’t the reality of the situation. Outside of Shane Larkin the entire starting lineup will be gone after this season and the incoming class is not exactly stellar (two recruits: one four-star and one three-star). The hope for Miami’s fans should be that this season shows recruits what can happen at Miami (and that the shots of the weather outside during the games can be some extra motivation).

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I. Renko is an RTC columnist. He will kick off each weekend during the season with his analysis of the 26 other non-power conferences. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

It wasn’t that long ago when we were musing in this space about whether an early December ankle injury was hindering Nate Wolters’ performance. After missing two games, Wolters registered three straight games with a sub-100 offensive rating (per Ken Pomeroy), decidedly mediocre performances by Wolters’ high standards. But those would be the only three games this year where Wolters fell below that mark, as he emerged from his funk with a 28-point performance in a big win over New Mexico. Since then, Wolters has been as productive as ever. But none of us could have expected what happened on Thursday night. Wolters exploded for an incredible 53-point performance.

Nate Wolters Owned the Court on Thursday Night (South Dakota State Athletics)

Wolters shot 17-of-28 from the floor, including 9-of-14 from three-point range. He added 10 points from the free throw line. He outscored the entire opposing team, IPFW, in the second half, 38-37. He scored in every which way — step back threes, drives through the lane, catch-and-shoot threes, drives along the baseline, threes off ball screens, pull-up jumpers … you name it, he did it.

Wolters is now averaging 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He commits just 2.3 turnovers a game despite using more than 30 percent of the Jackrabbits’ possessions. He shoots over 80 percent from the free throw line and over 40 percent from the three-point line. And perhaps most important of all, he has led his team on an eight-game winning streak that has buried an uneven start to the conference season and put the Jackrabbits in a first-place tie with Western Illinois. If you’ve yet to catch the Wolters show, fret not as there are some high-profile opportunities in the coming weeks. Next Saturday, the Jackrabbits welcome Western Illinois to Brookings, and you can bet that the joint will be jumping. And a week later, Wolters will take his talents to Murray, Kentucky to square off against Isaiah Canaan and the Racers in a premier Bracketbuster matchup.

On to this week’s Top 10, our Honor Roll, and the games to watch this week …

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As we dive into the back nine of conference play and approach the home stretch of the season, it’s time to take a look at the three postseason tournaments and where each Pac-12 team fits into the picture. I’ll make my full bracket projections each week (or two) for the NCAAs, NIT, and CBI, and then report where the Pac falls on the list.

Definitely Dancing: Arizona, Oregon, and UCLA are all locks at this point in the season. I have the Wildcats just a bit higher than most prognosticators at number four in the nation, as they have been one of the few consistently good teams that doesn’t have any bad losses (barely). In an interesting second round matchup, they square off with the best 16 seed, Charleston Southern. Of course, the two teams already met in the season opener, with CSU hanging around for a good portion of the game before fading quietly down the stretch.

Oregon is so much of a lock that it would basically have to lose each of its remaining games to miss the tournament. It may be hanging onto a four seed by a thread, but good wins over the likes of UNLV, Arizona, and UCLA give them the nod over any bubble team if it ever came down to that. I currently have the Ducks matching up against a mildly dangerous Louisiana Tech squad at 13. The Bulldogs have a nearly impeccable 20-3 record, but the schedule has been fairly soft.

UCLA’s recent two game skid has made things much more interesting for the Bruins, but this year’s bubble is so soft that they are fine for now. That’s in part due to their Top 50 RPI standing and good wins against Indiana State, Missouri, Colorado, and Arizona. However, the recent struggles don’t go unpunished. Dropping down to a low eight seed means as challenging a tournament opener as you’re going to get, and that comes in the form of a 19-4 Colorado State team.

Bubble In: Colorado and Arizona State are the other two Pac-12 teams I see making the field of 68, but both will likely be sweating bullets come Selection Sunday. The 15-7 Buffaloes are actually seeded pretty high considering their record, due in part to a Top 25 RPI that’s keeping Tad Boyle and company on the good side of the bubble. There are five remaining key games on CU’s slate (home against  Arizona, Arizona State, and Oregon, at the Bay Area schools), and if the Buffs come out on the good side of three of them they should be a lock for the Big Dance.

Arizona State is on even thinner ice. The Sun Devils are the final team in my rankings before the dangerous 12’s begin, and while their record (17-5) is much better than Colorado’s, an SOS of 110 is holding them down badly. Regardless of where they land in the field, this ASU team will be a sneaky bunch come tournament time. A meeting with head coach Herb Sendek’s former school in the opener would be quite a sight, and a chance for the Pac-12 to get some major recognition on a national level.

Freshman Point Guard Jahii Carson Has Led Arizona State From The Bottom Of The Pac To The NCAA Bubble (credit: Zach Long)

NIT Locks: Washington is the next team up for the Pac-12, and while its recent poor play means the Huskies won’t be in any NCAA bubble discussion, an NIT lock is definite. The Huskies currently sit at an uninspiring 13-10, but they have been in most every game they’ve played (only two losses were by double digits, and the last three were all by five points or less). Combine those factors with the fact that Alaska Airlines Arena typically draws well, and the Huskies made a run to the semifinals of the same tournament last season, I like Washington right now a solid four seed. That means they would host at least a first round game, and I have them playing an interesting Xavier squad in the opener.

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Welcome to another edition of our Big 12 Conference Call! This week has been some kind of something hasn’t it? We have seen TCU take down Kansas in perhaps the biggest upset in the Big 12 era as well as Baylor and Oklahoma’s attempts to play themselves off the tournament bubble. There are bigger questions that loom too. Who has the inside track for Big 12 Coach of the Year? And, if Kansas continues to slide, who will win the Big 12? Today, we’ll hit on those topics and more. 

1. Kory predicted the Jayhawks to fall to Oklahoma State on Saturday and we all know what happened at TCU on Wednesday. Is their Big 12 title hopes in jeopardy?

2. If Kansas doesn’t win the Big 12 title, who will sit atop the conference standings at the end of the year?

3. Imagine yourself on this year’s NCAA Tournament Committee and you’re forced to choose Baylor or Oklahoma to put in the field of 68. Which team would you go with and why?

4. Who do you like to win Big 12 Coach of the Year?

5. Which of the three Texas schools will have the highest finish — UT, Tech or TCU?

******

It was an unbelievable night in the Metroplex. (Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

1. Kory predicted the Jayhawks to fall to Oklahoma State on Saturday and we all know what happened at TCU on Wednesday. Is their Big 12 title hopes in jeopardy?

KC: Absolutely. With the way Kansas had been playing in January, the loss to Oklahoma State was coming. The Cowboys have plenty of talent and nobody was going to go undefeated in the Big 12 this season, anyway. But the loss to TCU -ranked lower in kempom than the likes of Quinnipiac and Yale- is the worst Kansas loss since before Larry Brown was coaching in the 80’s. Point guards Elijah Johnson and Naadir Tharpe shot a combined 5-for-27 with three assists against the Horned Frogs. In his last eight games, Johnson has more turnovers (28) than assists (25). If that doesn’t trouble you, nothing will.

NK: Most definitely. Kory hit the nail on the head — a slip up was bound to happen. To be truthful, I didn’t see one of this magnitude. Their loss to TCU Wednesday has gone down as easily the biggest upset in the Big 12 era in my opinion. The Jayhawks could only win in spite of their point guard problems for so long. And now in a time where a team like Kansas is supposed to separate themselves from the rest of their conference mates, they find themselves in a tighter league race. At least it’s better for the fans of other teams.

DS: They’re in a heck of a lot more jeopardy than they were a week ago, that’s for sure. And yet the Jayhawks still sit tied atop the league with Kansas State, and they own the tiebreaker with that win in Manhattan. So forget the TCU debacle. With half of the Big 12 schedule left to play, Bill Self once again has his team in position to win a regular season title. Kansas has serious issues on the offensive end, and it’s hard to envision this team doing a ton of damage in March, but it’s still the class of the Big 12. With Self’s track record, I’m expecting to see vintage Kansas show up against the Wildcats on Big Monday. But that game in Norman is a tough one this weekend.

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Who Won the Week? is a regular column that will outline and discuss three winners and losers from the previous week. The author of this column is Kenny Ocker (@KennyOcker), an Oregon-based sportswriter best known for his willingness to drive (or bike!) anywhere to watch a basketball game.

WINNER: TCU

The Horned Frogs started out their Big 12 tenure on a bad note, going 0-8 in conference and losing only one of those games by fewer than 10 points. And then #2 Kansas came to town. Recipe for disaster, right? It was, just not for the team you would expect. The Horned Frogs pounced on the Jayhawks early, holding them to two points in the first 13:39 of the game. But TCU was able to hold up for the rest of the game, never letting Kansas lead and nabbing a 62-55 victory. Never mind that TCU lost by 17 against a Texas team with two conference wins on Saturday; the Horned Frogs nabbed one of the biggest regular-season upsets ever.

TCU’s upset over Kansas was one of the biggest shockers in recent memory (Star-Telegram/Rodger Mallison)

(Related winners: Other teams bidding for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament; Kansas fans who are wary of being a No. 1 seed. Related losers: Kansas – see below.)

LOSER: Kansas

Thanks to getting shelled by a team Ken Pomeroy said had a 3 percent chance of winning a few days after losing a fast-paced shootout against Oklahoma State, the Jayhawks have their first losing streak since January 2006. Kansas got torn up by the perimeter scoring of the Cowboys, whose guards Markel Brown and Marcus Smart had 28 and 25 points respectively. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks shot a tick above 40 percent from the field, eventually falling 85-80 at home. But Kansas doubled down on its offensive woes in Fort Worth, shooting under 30 percent against TCU. Primary ballhandlers Elijah Johnson and Naadir Tharpe combined to go 5-of-27 from the floor Wednesday with three assists and five turnovers. (Against the Cowboys, the pair combined to go 6 of 21 from the field with 10 assists and five turnovers.) It looks like the Jayhawks need to find someone capable of playing consistently at point guard, lest their otherwise-championship-caliber team go to waste in a year with no dominant team.  Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve reached the point in the season where it feels like every game has conference implications of some kind, and there’s no better period of time to enjoy them all than Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Weekends through the end of the season will be packed with quality basketball, so let’s take a look at this weekend’s slate of games and what’s in store:

• Michigan at Wisconsin (Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN) — The Wolverines could have the misfortune of becoming the No. 1 team in the country this upcoming week if they take care of business in Madison. Yes, you read that right. Having the nation’s top ranking is obviously an honor, but it hasn’t boded well for those teams this year. The AP’s No. 1 team (including Michigan, once already) has lost already six times this season, and with a trip to East Lansing coming up for the Wolverines, that could be on the line yet again. But first, they have to get by Wisconsin. The Badgers have been unpredictable this season, suffering two home losses already (an extremely puzzling one to Virginia, and a conference loss to Michigan State). The Badgers have the frontcourt to give Michigan trouble, but the Wolverines have a backcourt that no one in the Big Ten can match. It’s the only meeting between these two teams this year, so the Badgers need to make it count if they’re going to make a run at the conference title.

Bo Ryan’s defense is always a cause for concern (AP)

• Northwestern at Iowa (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) — Iowa just cannot seem to get over the hump and they’re coming up against a team on Saturday who’s familiar with such a situation. As has been the case for Northwestern the past few years, the Hawkeyes are trying to do everything they can to sneak into the NCAA Tournament but can’t manage to pull off a significant upset or put together a stretch of outstanding games. If they want any chance at all of building some momentum and making a run at the Big Dance, games like this one have to be victories. They’ve got a favorable stretch of five very winnable games on the horizon, and it has to start here. As for Northwestern, they’ve got to find a way to defend better than they did in the first match-up this season, when Iowa hammered the Wildcats in Evanston.
• Michigan State at Purdue (Saturday, 7 p.m., Big Ten Network) — The last time Michigan State traveled to Purdue, Boilermaker fans taunted then-freshman Branden Dawson and it backfired on them. Dawson was electric in a 76-62 win in West Lafayette, going for 15 points, 11 boards, two blocks and one emphatic slam dunk that silenced the home crowd. The Spartans will need him in a big way again on Saturday if they’re to overcome the recent slew of injuries and maintain their roll in the Big Ten. The Spartans’ 84-61 win against Purdue at Breslin Center on Jan. 5 was not as close as the final score indicated, and they’ll be in for a battle again, against a Purdue team that can be very dangerous when clicking on all cylinders. Purdue freshman A.J. Hammons going against Michigan State’s frontcourt will be an intriguing match-up to watch. Read the rest of this entry »

Jimmy Kelley is an ACC correspondent for Rush the Court. Follow him on Twitter @DevilsinDurham

There is no denying that Lorenzo Brown is N.C. State’s most important player. The key to their fast break, Brown was the catalyst for everything good that has happened for the Wolfpack in 2013. Since he picked up an ankle injury against Virginia, N.C. State is 0-3 and are in a bit of a tailspin as they look to discover an identity without their point guard. While the results haven’t been good, the play of freshman point guard Tyler Lewis has been encouraging and should give Wolfpack fans a reason to believe that if Brown should pick up another injury or end up in foul trouble, the team will still be in good hands.

Tyler Lewis (right) has proven a capable caretaker in the absence of Lorenzo Brown. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

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Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

Bubble watching has officially begun, which means March is just around the corner. With less than a month to go in the season, everything is still up for grabs in what has been a truly unpredictable season in college hoops. The Big Ten and Big East lead a solid slate of games this weekend. With epic snow hitting the east coast, it looks like most people will have to sit at home and watch hoops. Sounds great to most of us, I’d assume. Let’s get to the breakdowns!

#1 Michigan at Wisconsin – 12:00 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN (****)

Can Tim Hardaway Jr. continue his hot shooting from the outside against a strong Wisconsin defense?

• On a per possession basis, we will see the best offense (Michigan) in the Big Ten versus the best defense (Wisconsin) in the Big Ten in this game. Michigan’s poor two-point shooting against Ohio State was very out of character for John Beilein’s squad. Fortunately for the Wolverines, their three-point shooting was able to carry them to a victory. Michigan went 14-24 from deep against the Buckeyes. Don’t expect Michigan to have the same success from outside against Wisconsin, as the Badgers have the best three-point defense in the conference. Watch to see if UM can bounce back inside the arc. When Michigan’s Mitch McGary is in the game, the match-up between him and Jared Berggren should be fun to watch on the inside and a key factor in the outcome. McGary is coming into his own and will be needed down low for second chance points. Expect this game to be a slow, mistake free contest. Execution of the half-court offense will be critical for both sides. The Wolverines definitely have the advantage there. Wisconsin needs to force Michigan to make tough shots. If Michigan is able to get open looks in the half-court, it will be along afternoon for the Badgers.

#2 Kansas at Oklahoma – 4:00 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN (***)

• Just when it looked like Kansas was going to run away and hide with the Big 12 title, Jayhawk Nation got shell shocked with two consecutive losses. Not only did they lose twice, but they lost at home and then against TCU, the only team in the conference without a win. Many are calling the TCU loss the worst in Kansas history. While that may be an overstatement, Bill Self certainly has to be concerned with his team’s effort as of late. The two losses are character tests for the Jayhawks, which is what makes this road game against Oklahoma so important. It’s not all roses for Lon Kruger and the Sooners, however. They are in the midst of their own two-game slide. Oklahoma has been up and down this season and could use a big win at home to boost their tourney chances. KU has been shooting awful in the past two games, particularly from three. They are 11-46 from downtown in that stretch. Look to see if the Jayhawks try to get in the lane more often with their big guards. Given Oklahoma’s mediocrity on offense and defense, this looks like it could be a bounce back game for KU. But given what we’ve seen so far in college hoops, nothing is for sure. Read the rest of this entry »

In this week’s power rankings, we take a look at each team’s biggest concern. Voters this week were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan.

1. Michigan Wolverines: Last weekend’s Michigan-Indiana game was supposed to be the game of the year. However, the Michigan-Ohio State game later in the week may have taken the cake. The Wolverines fought off some early adversity in that game and came back to beat the Buckeyes in overtime. Michigan’s remaining schedule isn’t too tough — Indiana still has to come to the Crisler Arena — and the Wolverines should be able to retain the top spot as long as they don’t slip up too much, since the Hoosiers have a much tougher remaining schedule. Biggest concern: Michigan probably has the best backcourt in the country, and while the frontcourt may have been better than we’d anticipated — Jordan Morgan, Glenn Robinson III and now even Mitch McGary have stepped up nicely — but there are still questions as to whether they can compete against top big men. Cody Zeller had a very good game against the Wolverines at Assembly Hall, and Michigan is still unproven at guarding top big men.

2. Indiana Hoosiers: Indiana had the opportunity to grab the No. 1 spot in our power rankings after becoming the No. 1 team in the polls. However, Indiana failed to seize the moment, dropping to Illinois by collapsing in the final minutes Thursday night. It was quite the meltdown for a Hoosiers team that looked like it was in control early, but allowed the Illini to hang in the game for too long until the late run. This likely won’t be the last loss for Indiana, which has a tough schedule from here on out. Biggest concern: The biggest concern here has to be consistency. Indiana has so many weapons that it is perfectly capable of winning on any given night. However, it’s rare that all those weapons play well together — the Michigan game was an exception. The Hoosiers must be more consistent in order to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

3. Michigan State: This is a team Tom Izzo and Michigan State fans can be proud of, and one that’s built from the Spartan basketball blueprint. They don’t rebound as well as past Izzo teams, but they’re tough on defense and they have a certain grittiness that’s allowed them to grind their way through this tough Big Ten schedule. When they’re healthy, they can beat anybody. The problem is, they’re never totally healthy. Biggest concern: This is easy — injuries. The Spartans can’t seem to make it through a game without someone getting hurt. Take Wednesday’s win against Minnesota for example. At one point, Adreian Payne, Branden Dawson, Gary Harris and Keith Appling all were visibly hurting and/or had to leave the game. And Travis Trice is already on the sidelined. The Spartans have no depth, but they’re managing to get by … for now.

4. Ohio State Buckeyes: It may not be showing immediately in the standings, but Ohio State is improving. Their game against Michigan, albeit a loss, was full of encouraging signs — most notably, the heavy scoring output and the distribution across the rotation. When the Buckeyes get scoring from players not named Deshaun Thomas, they’re in great shape. Biggest concern: The balance of scoring. It’s been well chronicled that the Buckeyes don’t have many go-to guys beyond Thomas, so if he has an off night, Ohio State is usually in trouble. This team is loaded with talent, but it’s just a matter of these players recognizing their capabilities and turning it on.

5. Minnesota Golden Gophers: The Gophers took advantage of the Hawkeyes’ inexperience with a clutch win at The Barn on Sunday but at some point, they will need to beat another ranked opponent to secure a good seed in the NCAA tournament. Trevor Mbakwe continues to dominate the glass as he pulled down 14 rebounds against a tough Spartans’ frontcourt of Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne. Biggest concern: Do the Gophers have a player that can consistently generate offense in the clutch? Andre Hollins (14 PPG) may be their closer but he needs to come up big against formidable competition such as Michigan State. Austin Hollins (11 PPG) can only feed off good ball movement but Dre Hollins may be the only guard that can create his own shot – a skill that will be needed over the last few weeks of the season of the Gophers were to lock up a good seed in the NCAA tournament.

6. Wisconsin Badgers: The Badgers continue to hang around the top half of the conference standings but they might need another win or two against a top team in the conference in order to crack the top 25 polls and lock a good seed in the postseason. Bo Ryan’s team will have an opportunity on Saturday to take down Michigan. If Ben Brust and Traevon Jackson can limit Trey Burke to three-point shots, they may have a chance to sneak up on the Wolverines. Biggest concern: Badgers’ free throw shooting will be a concern because they don’t win by a huge margin and find themselves in several close games. For example, against Iowa, Ryan Evans (43% FT) was fouled and a miss could have proved costly in a close game. Fortunately for Badgers fans, Evans nailed both of the free throws but opposing teams will force the Badgers to close the games at the free throw line. As a team, the Badgers are shooting 62% from the charity line and this could be a factor down the homestretch in the conference season.

7. Illinois Fighting Illini: The Illini may be the most confusing team in the country right now. After pulling off a stunning upset over the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Illini lose to Minnesota on the road. But the win over Indiana will keep their NCAA hopes alive because it boosts their resume along with other “good” wins over Ohio State, Gonzaga and Butler. Biggest concern: Can they continue to stay motivated to play hard against Big Ten teams from the bottom tier of the conference? John Groce’s team shows up to compete against Michigan State and Indiana but they will need to consistently take care of business against Penn State, Purdue, Nebraska and Northwestern. They can’t lose one of those games and put themselves in a “must-win” situation against Ohio State or Iowa on the road.

8. Northwestern Wildcats: Northwestern blew out Purdue at home last Saturday, and while the Wildcats are far from an NCAA Tournament team, they’re progressing very well this year. Reggie Hearn turned it on for a career high 26 points against the Boilermakers, but perhaps more encouraging is the development of center Alex Olah. Olah really struggled early in Big Ten play, but he played well in games against Michigan and Purdue. If he continues to develop like this, along with the other freshmen, NU will have a solid team next year, with Drew Crawford and JerShon Cobb coming back. Biggest concern: While Olah is playing better, Northwestern has still really struggled inside, especially on the defensive end. Olah isn’t great rebounder and doesn’t alter a lot of shots in the lane, meaning forward Jared Swopshire has had to pick up the slack.

9. Purdue Boilermakers: The Boilermakers are a good team that can give any team in the conference fits on any given night, but they’re not much more than that. They either don’t play consistently well or they just can’t seem to get over the hump to consistently contend night and night out. When you have that much trouble scoring the ball, you’ll find that to be the case. Biggest concern: The problem with these team always has been, and always will be scoring. They can compete on the glass with anybody in the Big Ten, let alone the country, but when you rank 233rd nationall in PPG (65.2) and 261st in field goal percentage (41 percent), there’s a whole lot of room for improvement.

10. Iowa Hawkeyes: You have to feel for the Hawkeyes after two close losses to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Fran McCaffery’s team is trying their best to crack through the top half of the Big Ten but keep falling short but kudos to the head coach for keeping his team together. They can regain their confidence by beating teams that they are “supposed” to beat such as Penn State, Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue over the next two weeks. Biggest concern: Devyn Marble’s recent slump is a big concern for the Hawkeyes. He was benched during critical minutes against Minnesota (0 points) and Wisconsin (2 points) on the road because he hasn’t been able to find any rhythm offensively. The offensive slump and lack of minutes is clearly affecting Marble and it shows during the games. He turned the ball over during the final minute against the Gophers and let Ben Brust cut towards the basket for a wide-open layup against the Badgers. The young Hawkeyes’ season is not done but they need Marble to play a role in their turnaround over the next few weeks.

11. Nebraska Cornhuskers: Nebraska has taken its lumps this year, but the Huskers have shown promise and hung with some solid teams. That was the case again this week, as Nebraska stayed close with Ohio State. The Huskers get Penn State this weekend in what could be their final chance to get a win; the last stretch of schedule — at Indiana, vs. Michigan State, vs. Iowa, at Wisconsin, at Illinois, vs. Minnesota, at Iowa — is brutal. However, Nebraska certainly has the ability to surprise some teams. Biggest concern: The Huskers have done a nice job defensively this year, but they’ve really struggled to score. They slow the game down, which keeps them close to more talented teams, but they don’t have the shooting to win at the end of games.

12. Penn State Nittany Lions: The Nittany Lions came dangerously close to that first Big Ten win with their last game at home against Purdue, but just couldn’t pull it out. But they’ve got another good chance at the first win when they travel to Nebraska this week. Otherwise, they may never see that win at all. Biggest concern: How about staying motivated? Patrick Chambers has to look for ways to keep his guys engaged despite getting beat every time they take the floor. They’re not competing for anything this year, but they have to find a way to make these games matter. Play the role of spoiler.