Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

Three things from the past week:

• Purdue suffers first loss of the season – Well, the pundits got it right this time around. Pundits 1, Jason 0. Purdue just couldn’t get it done against Wisconsin up at the Kohl Center, so they will have to figure out how to get done at Mackey later in the season. Unbeatens losing is in style right now, as Kansas decided to follow up with a loss of their own to Tennessee. Read about Kansas here: Kansas Goes Down
• Minnesota bounces back and takes out the Buckeyes – I will save Evan Turner’s stats for the Ohio State section, but will dedicate this portion to Blake Hoffarber. Talk about a sharpshooter. Blake filled up the stat sheet with a career high 27 points, hitting six 3-pointers in the second half alone. The Gophers will have to get it done against Michigan State next, a much tougher test than OSU.
• Jon Leuer breaks wrist – The good news: Wisconsin beat Purdue. The bad news: the collateral damage from that victory was a broken wrist by Jon Leuer. Leuer was the second leading scorer, and having a 15.4/6.2 year. They will need to figure out where to get his numbers and big body for the rest of the year, as he was the lone soldier inside for the Badgers. If you want to read more about Leuer’s wrist, here is a good one: Leuer breaks wrist, out indefinitely
• Don’t question Evan Turner’s backbone(s) — We’ll have more coverage of the OSU win at Purdue in next week’s Big Ten update, but suffice to say for now that Turner is back in the POY race and OSU got a big win despite a first half for the ages by Robbie Hummel:  Full RTC coverage here.

Now three Big Ten teams are in the top 25: Purdue #6, Michigan State #7, and Wisconsin #13.

Power Rankings (before Tuesday’s games, though records are updated):

1. Purdue                                   14-2, 2-2
2. Michigan State                  13-3, 3-0
3. Wisconsin                            13-3, 3-1
4. Minnesota                          12-4, 3-1
5. Ohio State                           12-5, 2-3
6. Illinois                                   12-5, 4-0
7. Northwestern                   12-3, 1-2
8. Michigan                              8-7, 2-2
9. Indiana                                 7-8, 1-2
10. Penn State                          8-8, 0-4
11. Iowa                                      6-11, 0-4

Top Story:

• The Big Ten separation continues – The three teams that have been in the AP Top 25 all year continue to do well in the Big Ten, and continue to get closer in the rankings. Teams in the middle of the pack are Northwestern, Ohio State, and Illinois, with Minnesota floating between the two. Illinois has had a great schedule thus far, but I don’t think they can continue their run much longer.

Coming Up:

• Ohio State 70,  Purdue 66 – Right, this isn’t “coming up,” but needs mentioned here.  Ohio State has Turner back, and he is putting up ridiculous stats again, but the rest of his team isn’t following suit, though William Buford’s 19/7 were a big help on Tuesday night. The ridiculous stats belonged to Purdue’s Robbie Hummel, at least in the first half, as he hit eight treys and hung 29 on the Bucks.  But OSU knew how they could send a message by pulling out this game, and they got it, largely on the back (*ahem*) of Turner, who had 23 of his 32 points in the second half. Purdue doesn’t have the same target on their back as they did when they were undefeated, but they’re still a great squad that will be projected deep into the NCAA Tournament, so this was still a vital road win for the Buckeyes.
• Minnesota @ Michigan State – January 13^th – 6:30 ET – Minnesota is on a roll, disposing of Ohio State at home, but they now they must venture to MSU to take on the Spartans at home. If the Gophers can hit from 3-point land like they have been, this will be a battle.
• Wisconsin @ Ohio State – January 16^th – 8:00 ET – Ohio State got trounced at the Kohl Center, but as opponents from all over are finding out, it is a place where a lot of fine teams go to die. The Buckeyes are hoping to keep riding the momentum from the win at Purdue, and this will be a good test for Wisconsin to see how they play without Jon Leuer. The Badgers should pull it out, but if the rest of the Bucks step up to anywhere near Evan Turner’s level, it could get really interesting.
• Illinois @ Michigan State – January 16^th – 3:30 ET CBS – The battle of the unbeatens, at least at this point anyway. Illinois shouldn’t lose to Penn State, but it could be a tough one for Michigan State against Minnesota. They should have the edge at home. It’s quickness versus power in this one. Illinois is quick and MSU is powerful. I say the edge goes to the Spartans.

Breaking It Down:

• Purdue knocked off the mountain. Now there are only two unbeatens left in the country, and Purdue isn’t one of them. Now it’s back to reality for Purdue, as they have been a blue collar type of team, and Wisconsin out-blue-collared them at home. Purdue would do well to forget the OSU game, and gear up for Wisconsin again at the end of the month at Mackey Arena. A couple of positives for Purdue in the losses to Wisconsin and OSU  were E’Twaun Moore’s 24 points on 10-14 from the field and 2-3 from long range against the Badgers, and you know about Robbie Hummel’s first-half exploits against OSU, shooting 8-10 from three and 9-11 for the half, overall.
• The Spartans are nipping at the Boilermaker’s heels. If we are playing the matchup game as I like to play, Michigan State is the top team in the Big Ten right now. How so? Michigan State beat Wisconsin, who then beat Purdue. Of course those games don’t determine much, because, last night’s OSU-Purdue game notwithstanding, it is apparent how rare a road win is going to be this year in the Big Ten. The Spartans took care of the Badgers at home, and then the Badgers took care of Purdue at home. MSU needs to take care of business at home against Minnesota to continue its unbeaten streak in the Big Ten. Kalin Lucas needs to continue to lead, as Coach Izzo expects it every game out.
• Wisconsin riding high, but what about Leuer? I have already mentioned the victory over Purdue as well as the injury to Jon Leuer, so I won’t spend too much time on those things here. One quick point about Leuer is similar in nature to the Evan Turner injury to OSU, except that instead of being a point guard, he is a 6’10 post presence, something that Wisconsin is otherwise lacking. They need to get points from a couple of other guys, maybe even freshmen. I am sure Bo Ryan will figure out a way to make up for this loss. Northwestern will have more to say about what kind of effect this will have on the Badgers, though, only to be followed up with Ohio State with Evan Turner right after.
• Ohio State has Evan Turner, needs supporting cast. Okay, so how well is Evan Turner playing since coming back from his fractured back? Well, I don’t know most guys who, in their second game back, are leading their team in every single category that stats track.  His numbers from the Minnesota game: 19/8/7/4 stls/2 blks. Talk about a cascading waterfall of ridiculous stats for anyone, let alone a guy who just returned from a broken back. Now that he is back to almost triple-double form, other guys need to step up, or see the season go down the drain, and quickly at that. The scheduling committee didn’t take it lightly, though, and there won’t be too much time to celebrate the comeback against Purdue, with Wisconsin up next.
• Minnesota is climbing the mountain, but where is base camp? Minnesota shut down Ohio State, but got smoked by Purdue, so I think they are finding that they are likely to be the fourth team in the Big Ten. Fourth is probably good enough to get into the tournament if they keep it up. Anything over #4 in the Big Ten is probably out of their reach though, as Purdue, MSU, and Wisconsin are all better teams. They could drop lower, though, so they need to continue to focus and beat teams that they should, especially like they did to OSU at home.
• Illinois is perfect so far. Thank Indiana and Northwestern for making Mike Tisdale look like an all-American. I will give it to Tisdale, as I saw him play on Saturday; the guy has a good stroke, and he can knock down free throws. He did have a couple of easy dunks, and all of that got him to 27 points against the Hoosiers. When a team shoots 39 free throws they should win, especially if they knock down 27 of them.   He didn’t exactly slow down against Penn State on Tuesday putting up 16/13.  Led by Demetri McCamey’s 25 points (including five threes), Illinois took out Penn State but they’ll run into a wall against Michigan State. They are quick, but they make too many mistakes to beat a solid team like the Spartans.
• Northwestern gets up, will they fall again? The Wildcats recovered from their 0-2 start in conference by taking down Michigan, confirming that Michigan should be in the bottom half of the conference, but not showing where Northwestern should end up quite yet. Drew Crawford came alive again and took over scoring responsibility, pouring in 25 points. The bad news: they have Wisconsin, Purdue, and Ohio State coming up. Could be a while before they get another win. 
• Michigan will have to settle for a spoiler. It’s official: Michigan has two players, and they won’t be going to the tournament. It’s disappointing for Michigan that they were so overhyped to begin the season, and now they are getting beaten by teams like Northwestern and Indiana. They do have the potential to ruin someone else’s season, so I hope they can do that.
• Indiana is a great first half team. Once again, I went to another home game, and through half time, thought that Indiana had a great chance to pull off an upset against the Illini. What it came down to in this game was free throws. Illinois shot a ton of them and hit a lot, whereas Indiana couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from the free throw line when it counted at the end. More maturation of these players will have to occur before they can hit clutch free throws. Their next test is to try to beat a Michigan team that they beat at home, only this time on the road. They really need a road win to get their confidence back.
• Penn State is hoping for a sunny day. January 16^th will be a special day for Penn State. That will be the day that they get their first Big Ten win. That game is at Iowa, so it will be a tough road test, but if there is a game that should be winnable for Penn State, that’s the one. If not, Indiana at home on the 21^st is one that should be close.
• Iowa gets their 6th, against Tennessee State. Not much to say about Iowa. If they hadn’t beaten 4-14 Tennessee State I don’t know where they would have gotten their next win. Maybe they can pull off a home win against Penn State.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

Three things from the past week:

• Big Ten takes down Big East – Purdue beats West Virginia. If anyone tuned in, it was pretty clear that Purdue deserves its #4 ranking, while proving that the Big Ten can hang with the Big East. As an aside, Pittsburgh is currently 3-0 in the Big East, taking down Syracuse for its first loss. Reminder: Indiana beat Pittsburgh earlier this year.  Check out the story here at ATB – New Year’s Weekend
• Cinderella lost her slipper – Unfortunately for Northwestern, its early season Cinderella had a setback on its way to the Big Dance. Northwestern sneezed, and now find themselves out of the top 25 after losses to Illinois and Michigan State.
• The Bucks got scratched – I could have predicted the Wisconsin game, especially up in Madison, although I didn’t think it was going to be a 20 point blowout. The one that shocked me though, was the loss to Michigan, especially after they were coming off an upset loss to Indiana. It is pretty clear that the current OSU team cannot contend in the Big Ten. Can Evan Turner come out and play? Hopefully sooner than later.

Now three Big Ten teams are in the top 25: Purdue #4, Michigan State #10, and Wisconsin #17.

Power Rankings

1. Purdue    14-0, 2-0
2. Michigan State    11-3, 1-0
3. Wisconsin    12-2, 2-0
4. Ohio State    10-4, 0-2
5. Minnesota    11-4, 2-1
6. Illinois    10-5, 2-0
7. Northwestern    10-3, 0-2
8. Michigan    7-6, 1-1
9. Indiana    7-6, 1-0
10. Penn State    8-6, 0-2
11. Iowa    5-10, 0-3

Top Story

• Big 10 Madness has begun – Conference play started this past week in the Big Ten, and they didn’t disappoint. Indiana loses Maurice Creek, their top scorer and player, and then they upset Michigan at home. Michigan, not to be outdone, gets revenge for what their football team couldn’t do against OSU. Wisconsin, not wanting to miss out, blows out both OSU and PSU. Surprisingly, only Michigan and Minnesota have at least a win and a loss. Everyone else either hasn’t lost, or hasn’t won.

Coming Up

• Wisconsin @ Michigan State – January 6^th – 6:30 ET – Unless things change with Purdue, this is really the game that decides who will be in 2^nd place. Wisconsin hasn’t ventured out of Madison much this year, so hopefully MSU can capitalize at home.
• Purdue @ Wisconsin – January 9^th – 1:30 ET – Apparently the pundits are saying that this game is the one that Purdue will lose, but depending on what happens when the Badgers take on the Spartans, this could be the game that really separates Purdue from the pack.  Check out what the pundits say about the four teams who are left chasing perfection: Four Teams Chasing Perfection
• Ohio State @ Minnesota – January 9^th – 3:30 ET – Ohio State is clearly vulnerable, and this game could show just how vulnerable. I think that Purdue will hand it to the Gophers on the 5^th at Mackey, but Minnesota is tough at home, and OSU is not at full strength. The Bucks could fall even further. This isn’t even factoring in what happens with the Indiana @ OSU game.

Breaking It Down

• Purdue is one of four left still standing. Purdue now has a huge bull’s eye on its back. As one of only four teams left unbeaten, it will make a team’s season to take down Purdue. If Purdue’s Big Three in Hummel, Johnson, and Moore can duplicate what they did against West Virginia, any team in the land will have their hands full.
• The Spartans took care of business. Like I said last week, good teams are supposed to win games against opponents who aren’t as good, and that’s exactly what MSU did against Northwestern. Tom Izzo hasn’t been happy with the leadership on this team all year, and he benched Kalin Lucas as a result. Lucas got the message loud and clear, and brought his A-game against the Wildcats. He and others will have to bring much more against Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin shifting gears to spring ahead in the Big Ten. I have already mentioned plenty about Wisconsin both in the games to watch, and what happened in the last week, so I will keep it brief here. Wisconsin had a pretty good draw in their first games, given that they played an Evan Turner-less OSU and then Penn State. They don’t have the good fortune of that continuing, with upcoming games against MSU and Purdue.
• Ohio State needs a recovery game, and quick. I have talked plenty about OSU, so I will just mention their upcoming game against Indiana. Clearly this is a home game for OSU, so they should take care of business, but if they slip and Indiana brings its varsity team, OSU could be 0-4 if Minnesota doesn’t let them off the hook at home.
• Minnesota got two bye games, but now has to climb a mountain. Yes, Minnesota had a seven game streak, and yes, Minnesota is 2-1 in the Big Ten. That’s the good news. Now for the bad news. This is now officially the point in the year, as evidenced by the Purdue game last night, when Minnesota has to play real teams.  Like Tuesday’s game against Purdue, their upcoming game against Ohio State is must-see for this reason.
• Illinois likes long games. Illinois went more than the distance twice this past week, getting the better of Northwestern, and coming up short against Gonzaga. Was Mike Tisdale’s career high 31/11 against Northwestern a fluke? It might seem so, as he followed up with four points and five fouls against Gonzaga. They disposed of Iowa at home, and now hit the road to Bloomington where I will be watching this game just prior to school starting again. I expect to see plenty of fans at Assembly Hall.
• Northwestern has fallen, can they get up? The good news: my man John Shurna is back, and in a big way. He had a 27/7 game against Illinois and followed it up with a 29/6 game against Michigan State. Clearly, he is a conference gamer. The bad news: not everyone else on the team has come with him, including their defense. Michael Thompson has been ice cold, going 2-10 against Illinois and then following it up with 2-8 against MSU, never achieving double figures in either game. Nothing close to his 15.3 PPG average on the year. The past two games, opponents are averaging 90 PPG, whereas they had only allowed 63.7 PPG for the year. The Wildcats will need to find a way to deal with the Big 10 fire power if they want to make the Big Dance.
• Michigan continues its inconsistent season. Each game is a new surprise for Michigan. One would have thought they would have come into Assembly Hall and disposed of Indiana without Maurice Creek, but they didn’t. Then, one would think they would fall to OSU, even without Evan Turner, but they didn’t. What is Michigan going to do next? That’s what I want to know. Clearly whatever happens will involve two guys by the names of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, the fab two.
• Indiana steps up in Creek’s absence. Indiana brought the team that played against Pittsburgh to the game against Michigan. I will refer to that team as the varsity squad, as they have brought the junior varsity to a couple games (Loyola, most games in Puerto Rico, etc). The stats against Michigan actually mirror the Pittsburgh game, where Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford led the team. Creek’s points look like they will be coming from Jordan Hulls and Devan Dumes, both streaky three-point shooters. Indiana can play with anyone if they bring their varsity. Will they?
• Penn State bruised during Week 1. Talor Battle is putting on a one man show. Too bad it’s a five man game. Battle went for 23/6/4 against Minnesota and 15/4/4 against Wisconsin. Penn State’s 46 points against Wisconsin isn’t going to get it done in the Big 10, especially when only 3 points come from the bench. Bench production has been a problem all year for Penn State, as it is probably a cause of the starters running out of gas at the end of games.
• Iowa is fishing for a W. As predicted last week, Iowa lost the first two Big Ten games. The good news: Aaron Fuller likes to play during conference games (12.5 PPG in conference vs. 5.1 during the rest of the year). Keys to winning: Iowa needs the bench to get involved every game. Against Purdue: The bench scored 9 and Iowa scored 56. Against Minnesota: The bench scored 28 points and Iowa scored 74. Coincidence? I think not. I am still not sure Iowa will get a W for a while. Go fish.

Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

Two things from the past week:

• Luckily for Michigan State, it is still December, because they have still yet to prove that they can beat a top 10 team, losing to Texas in the biggest game they have played so far this year.
• I don’t know if you looked at the new AP top 25 poll, but if you have, you may have done a double take when you saw Northwestern at number 25. It’s for real, for the team that has never made the NCAA Tournament, they are well on their way.  Now five Big Ten teams are in the top 25: #4 Purdue, #11 Michigan State, #13 Ohio State, #23 Wisconsin and #25 Northwestern.

Standings

1. Purdue 11-0
2. Michigan State 9-3
3. Ohio State 10-2
4. Wisconsin 10-2
5. Northwestern 10-1
6. Illinois 8-4
7. Minnesota 9-3
8. Penn State 8-4
9. Michigan 6-5
10. Indiana 5-6
11. Iowa 5-7

Top Storyline

This past week was relatively calm with the holiday season, but I believe that was just the calm before the storm. This week there are some amazing matchups that will really show who’s who in the Big Ten, both in conference and on the national stage. Be sure to check out RTC throughout the week to make sure you don’t miss any of the action. If you want to see all of these games, you might need to get a little creative.

Coming Up

• December 30th – Northwestern @ Illinois, 9:00 ET – I think this game, if Northwestern wins, adds legitimacy to their ranking and actually makes the January 2nd game against Michigan State even more important. If Northwestern wins, the MSU game doesn’t matter that much.
• December 31st – Ohio State @ Wisconsin, 2:00 ET, ESPN2 – This is the matchup of the week in the Big Ten as far as conference standings shake up. Of course, it will also lead to repercussions on the national stage as well. Wisconsin is super tough at the Kohl Center, but Ohio State is a team with something to prove without Evan Turner.
• January 1st – West Virginia @ Purdue, 2:30 ET, ESPN – This is the marquee matchup nationally, and a chance for Purdue to either show up or fall. It could go either way, as West Virginia is coming off of two solid wins this past week, especially the overtime victory against Seton Hall.
• January 2nd – Michigan State @ Northwestern, 6:30 ET – Like I said earlier, if Northwestern loses against Illinois, this game could be a moot point if Michigan State plays like they can. If not, this could get very interesting, as Northwestern needs to prove they can play against top teams, and see what kind of home court advantage they can have in the Big Ten. A lot is at stake for the Spartans too.
• January 2nd – Gonzaga @ Illinois, 1:00 ET, CBS – Since I have already started to play the scenario game, I am going to keep at it. Let’s say Illinois pulls off the upset against Northwestern at home, and the victory gets them back on track. This is exactly the type of game Illinois needs, and Gonzaga doesn’t want to let slip away. If we want to comparison shop the Big Ten, Wisconsin lost by 13 earlier in the season to Gonzaga, and Michigan State won by four.

Breaking It Down

• West Virginia @ Purdue – It’s on. I have mentioned this game for weeks now, but now it is finally here. This is by most measures, the biggest test for Purdue this year, and since Purdue is carrying the banner for the Big Ten, a great game to showcase the Big Ten against the Big East. Stats of the game: free throws and offensive boards. Purdue has an almost 10% lead from the charity stripe, but West Virginia sends a lot of big men to the offensive glass. If Purdue can hold WVU to their season averages without giving up the boards they will win this game.
• The Spartans were corralled, but must slay a cat. Okay, enough about MSU losing to Texas. They played a solid first half, and couldn’t stop the Longhorns from coming back to win the game. If you want to read more about the game though, check it out here on RTC: ATB: Texas the New Florida? Ok, last week is last week, and this week is well… this week. Michigan State, if they are good team, should beat teams they are expected to beat. Cinderella status notwithstanding, MSU should beat Northwestern, so they need to get it done.
• Ohio State needs to pack a winter coat this week. Ohio State, or should I say, David Lighty and Ohio State put on a show and took down Cleveland State. David Lighty lit it up for a career best 30 against the Vikings (pun intended), so nobody is wondering if he is serious about filling a void. Cleveland might be a past tournament Cinderella, but the Buckeyes might need a more balanced effort to slay the mighty Badgers at the Kohl Center. The Kohl Center holds one of the most sizable home court advantages of anywhere in the nation. OSU can hope that Wisconsin students are still on break, and won’t come back from vacation early for this game. The key word there is hope.
• Northwestern made the rankings, now can they stay? Somebody either has a great sense of humor or has been schooled in irony. Northwestern has been getting votes all year to be in the top 25 while not really playing anybody, but now that they made it, they have to be play Illinois followed by Michigan State. It is completely plausible that the Wildcats could be 0-2 in the Big Ten and definitely be out of the top 25 by the end of the week. Winning on the road at Assembly Hall in Champaign is tough, so if they can do that, their confidence should be sky high to take on the Spartans. That game, given the talent level of the two teams, should go to MSU, but don’t count the Wildcats out yet.
• Wisconsin extinguishes the Flames to get ready for the Bucks. What else can I title the only game Wisconsin played since last week, other than that? Ok, I could think of a few more, but I will leave it at that. Illinois-Chicago was a good filler game to remind the Badgers that they are now concluding the preconference slate, and a 36-point drubbing got the point across. The first week of conference for Wisconsin is what I call The Week of the States: Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State. The Buckeyes game should be very interesting, as Wisconsin would love to slow it down, and OSU would love to hit the century mark. May the team that best plays its game and doesn’t allow the other team to do the same will win.
• Illinois likes a consistent win-loss pattern this year. Lucky for Illinois, so far each time they have won four games, only to follow it up with two losses. Why lucky you ask? In case you weren’t following the embarrassing loss to Mizzou, but that made it two losses in a row. Surely Illinois will follow it up with four wins a row. To pull it off though, they need to take down one Cat and then one Dog. They need to bring in Northwestern and Gonzaga, and beat them both. If they can do that, their four-game win streak gets easier with Iowa at home, and then Indiana on the road.
• Minnesota will be looking for wins 6 and 7 before Purdue. Not much to report on Minnesota since they haven’t played in a week, but I am hoping the break did them well because the easy schedule will be coming to an end very soon, and they will have to prove where they stack up in the Big Ten. I expect them to take down Penn State and Iowa, but it isn’t preposterous that they could lose the next three in Purdue, Ohio State, and Michigan State.
• It’s make or break time for the Michigan Wolverines. Such high hopes for Michigan this year, but as of yet, very little has materialized. Two unpredictable teams will meet up this New Year’s Eve in Michigan and Indiana. If IU brings the team that lost to Loyola, it’s an easy Michigan win. If they bring the team that knocked off Pittsburgh, the Wolverines will be clawing their way through a tough one (yes, another pun for those keeping track). After Indiana, maybe the basketball team can make up for the frustration of the football team when they bring Ohio State to town.
• Penn State takes a break from basketball. Penn State cruised against American, but they will be in trouble against Minnesota on the road, especially having not played in eight days, and then the tough road doesn’t stop. They will have Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. They could be 0-4 before battling it out for the bottom of the Big Ten against Iowa. Hopefully it won’t be the case, but stranger things have happened.
• Indiana without Maurice Creek, what team will emerge? Indiana has had a rollercoaster year thus far, some exciting, some frustrating, all unexpected. The one steady positive variable for the Hoosiers this season has been the superstar freshman Creek, but now Indiana will be without him for the rest of the year, as he fractured his knee against Bryant during a rout, and will have season ending knee surgery about the time you read this. What will happen to Indiana without Creek’s 17 PPG and emerging leadership presence?
• Iowa is in for a long month. Iowa decided to take an 8-game break in between their game against South Carolina State and Purdue, mainly as a way for it to really soak in that they would be kicking off conference play against Purdue. I don’t see a winnable game in much of January until they play Indiana, so they did an ingenious scheduling move to build confidence mid-conference: they scheduled a game against Tennessee State on the 12th of January. The only problem is that move could backfire, as TSU only lost to Northwestern by 7 and Vanderbilt by 13. I wish I had better news for the Hawkeyes.

Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

Standings

1. Purdue       10-0
2. Michigan State      9-2
3. Ohio State      9-2
4. Wisconsin       8-2
5. Northwestern      9-1
6. Illinois       8-3
7. Minnesota     8-3
8. Penn State     8-4
9. Michigan      5-5
10. Indiana       5-5
11. Iowa             4-7

Three Things Last Week

• Evan Turner looks like he might be back early – a full four weeks ahead of schedule, which will help Ohio State as well as the Big Ten.
• The Big Ten has speculated on adding another team to its ranks, adding further confusion as to how it will be able to call itself the Big Ten. Apparently if you spell out Ten you can add as many teams to the conference as you want.
• Three Big Ten teams are in the top 25: #4 Purdue, #9 Michigan State, and #17 Ohio State.

Top Storyline

The Big 10 is busy off the court.

• Bobby Knight singles out John Calipari to show the dismal state of the NCAA when it comes to academics.
• Minnesota’s Royce White decides to give it up and leaves Minnesota and college basketball after his mounting legal troubles caused him, his family, and the school undue stress.
• Not to be outdone, Iowa’s Anthony Tucker drops 17 on Drake, gets drunk in public, and is then suspended indefinitely by Iowa.

Coming Up

• December 22^nd – Michigan State @ Texas, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2 – As far as I am concerned, this is the biggest matchup for a Big Ten team this year. One could argue that the MSU vs. UNC game earlier in the season was bigger, but after Texas’ thrashing of UNC the other day, I would say that this is a biggest test for Tom Izzo and company. They are going to have to come to play down in Austin if they want to stay in this one.
• December 23^rd – Illinois @ Missouri, 9:30 ET, ESPN2  – This is a classic Bi-State rivalry, as the 29^th Annual Busch Braggin’ Rights game happens in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center. This game could be close, or it could be a blowout. If you play the who played who and what happened game, you will find that there could be 17 points separating these two teams, with Illinois having the advantage. That’s the difference in what happened when both teams played Vanderbilt earlier in the year. The other stat that could prove interesting is 6-0. That’s Missouri’s record at home this year. Too bad this game is being played in neutral territory. Watch the game to see if the Vanderbilt proves as an accurate guide. 

Breaking It Down

• Purdue first to Ten in the Big Ten. Robbie Hummel had a 19/9 game and Purdue’s top three scorers were good for 47 of the 69 points that the Boilermakers put on the board against Ball State. Purdue will blow out both SIUE and Iowa, but I can’t wait to see what they do against West Virginia in West Lafayette. To move up in the rankings, though, they will need some help from Michigan State against Texas or Louisville to knock off Kentucky.
• Michigan State has one more blowout before Texas. Admittedly, I had never heard of IPFW and Oakland, but they definitely found out how dominant MSU can be, even on off nights. MSU hasn’t lost to Texas in three years, and hopefully they can make it four. Time will only tell how both of their inside games match up.
• Ohio State could be saved by the Christmas bell. The Buckeyes have done an admirable job in Evan Turner’s absence, but if his recovery is going to be as speedy as he announced this week, they won’t have to keep it up for much longer. They just have to get past Wisconsin and Michigan on the road, and Indiana at home before Turner is back. If they can do it, it’s anyone’s game in the Big Ten.
• Northwestern is the best basketball nerd school in the nation. Two great things about last weekend’s Stanford game for the Wildcats. First, they beat probably the only school that can compete with them on the hardwood and in the classroom. The second is that John Shurna is back. He had a 22/8 game against Stanford, so I hope I don’t jinx him. Stanford actually shot better from the field and from 3-pt territory, but the Wildcats dominated from the free throw line. Northwestern is going to have to find a bench though, as five points from the reserves isn’t going to cut it in the Big Ten.
• Wisconsin gives opponents a nice Madison Tour, they might not come back. It’s no secret that Wisconsin does ok in the Kohl Center, but their game against Cal Poly gave the southern California team a Wisconsin blizzard. The Badgers were up by 52 points at one time in this game, and dominated in every area. That type of performance will be repeated in the next two games, but after that OSU will be sure to give Wisconsin a run for its money.
• Illinois gets cocky, loses to Georgia. Illinois had a good run, and maybe this game is just a hiccup on its way to another four-game win streak. Actually, if you look at earlier in the season, they reeled off four straight, only to lose two straight followed by another four wins. Let’s hope they don’t need two losses to learn their lesson. Let’s see if Demetri McCamey can repeat his 21/5 performance against Mizzou.
• Will Minnesota’s distractions end anytime soon? I already mentioned what hopes to be end of the Royce White era, but is this theme going to repeat itself throughout the year, or will the Gophers make all of their news on the court for the rest of the year? The good news is that Minnesota is torching outmatched opponents on the court, but once conference starts, it could be a different story. Blake Hoffarber set a school record by hitting eight shots from long range in their last game, so that is definitely a bright spot when someone goes off for 26 points after only averaging 10.5 on the year. Look for another three wins for Minnesota before colliding with Purdue on January 5^th.
• Michigan doesn’t get embarrassed by Kansas. Ok, so the good news is that Michigan managed to stay in the game against Kansas. The bad news is that they let a great opportunity to beat Kansas slip away. My main question with Michigan is when will they figure out that they aren’t a very good three-point shooting team? They shot an ice cold 17.9% against the Jayhawks, and on 28 attempts nonetheless. They are now 28.4% on the year on 257 attempts. Kansas in contrast is shooting 43% from long range. Michigan needs to take it to the basket and leave the threes for someone else.
• Penn State hits the Century Mark. Who knew that the Nittany Lions hadn’t hit 100 in a game since a game against Virginia Military Institute three years ago. Penn State was lights out against Gardner-Webb, led by Talor Battle’s 21. Penn State most remarkably shot 87.5% from the free throw line, which I can’t say I have seen much this year in the Big Ten. The bad news is that Penn State has eight days off before traveling up to Minnesota to take on the Gophers.
• Indiana has definitely found the guy to build the program around. Maurice Creek is his name, and lighting it up from three and leading the team last game in rebounds with seven is his game. He followed up his 31-point performance against Kentucky with 29 against North Carolina Central. Want to be amazed by more stats from Creek? Ok, so he is shooting 44.3% from three, 53.3% from two (as a guard), and a respectable 4.1 boards per game. IU should get a couple more wins before battling Michigan at Assembly Hall for a New Year’s Eve special.
• Iowa is not the worst in state, just the Big Ten. Iowa just got worse after suspending their second leading scorer in Anthony Tucker after beating Drake by four. Guess December just isn’t Anthony’s month, as he pulled the same move last year as well. The bad news for Iowa is that they will have to venture outside the state, and the competition is much better. It will be a long year for the Hawkeyes.

Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten conference.

Three things from the past week.  Wisconsin loses to Wisconsin-Green Bay. The second thing is Ohio State loses without Evan Turner. The third thing is freshman Maurice Creek from Indiana and Drew Crawford from Northwestern are filling it up with more 30 points in their last games. Now three Big Ten teams are in the top 25: #4 Purdue, #12 Michigan State, and #18 Ohio State.

Standings

1. Purdue 9-0
2. Northwestern 7-1
3. Illinois 8-2
4. Michigan State 8-2
5. Ohio State 7-2
6. Wisconsin 7-2
7. Minnesota 7-3
8. Penn State 6-4
9. Michigan 5-4
10. Indiana 4-5
11. Iowa 3-7

Top Storylines

• Can Purdue win on the road against top teams? Purdue had to use the whole game to polish off Alabama down in Tuscaloosa. Granted that Alabama team is now 6-3 and beat Michigan earlier in the year, but still, Alabama is no Wisconsin in Madison. That will be Purdue’s first difficult road test, and a good one at that, as Wisconsin is practically unbeatable in the Kohl Center under Bo Ryan.
• Was Butler a fluke or is Ohio State on the verge of dropping out of the top 25?  Butler is definitely on the way back up, but I am questioning whether OSU has enough in its tank to make up the difference. William Buford, who is averaging 12/4 on the year, stepped up for 20/7 for the Buckeyes. David Lighty, who is 12/5 on the year, went for 16/7 against the bulldogs. OSU is averaging 85.4 points per game this season, and scored just 66 against Butler. That’s about the gap of one Evan Turner.
• Is Illinois as good as their record suggests? It’s hard to say, but after their big Clemson upset, they haven’t played anybody too great. Yes, you could argue that Vandy is tough, but you definitely can’t make the case for Western Michigan. If you play Illinois, just don’t do so at their place. They are 8-0 at Assembly Hall in Champaign. A big test will be against Northwestern on December 30th at home.

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Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference. 

Standings:

1. Purdue  7-0
2. Ohio State  7-1
3. Northwestern  6-1
4. Wisconsin  6-1
5. Illinois  6-2
6. Michigan State  6-2
7. Minnesota  5-3
8. Penn State  5-3
9. Michigan  4-3
10. Indiana  3-4
11. Iowa  3-5

Four things from the past week:  Big Ten beats the ACC (6-5) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the first time in 11 years.  The second thing is Wisconsin knocking off #5 Duke.  The third thing is Illinois coming from 23 down to beat #19 Clemson.  Last but not least, Evan Turner goes down with a fractured back and will be out for a minimum of eight weeks.  That cost OSU not only a strong leader but over 20 PPG to their stat sheet.  Now four Big Ten teams are in the Top 25:  Purdue #5, Michigan State #12, Ohio State #13, Wisconsin #20.

Top Storylines:

• Who will lead OSU?  Turner is down for the count with a fractured back, which is really unfortunate, as he was on pace to set a new record for triple-doubles in a season, and continued to put up ridiculous numbers.  With Turner sidelined, who will step up?  Their blowout of Eastern Michigan definitely didn’t test OSU, but their other players should have plenty of opportunity soon to demonstrate leadership.
• Should we stick a fork in Michigan?  Michigan is near the bottom of the Big 10, losing to average teams.  Will they come back strong, or is this the beginning of a downward spiral that might last all year?
• Is Minnesota, dare I say, average?  It looks to be that way after losing to Miami to complete their third loss in a row to somewhat average teams.  They blew out Brown, but then again, what decent team doesn’t?  Minnesota also hasn’t demonstrated that they can win on the road, so that will be a challenge all year.

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Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

This past week was like March Madness in November for the Big Ten. The Big Ten is glad it isn’t though, as all but a few would be left standing with upset after upset bringing down the big and mighty. Those who fell this week include: Michigan State, Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan. The Big Ten started last week with 6 teams in the AP’s top 25, and only 3 remain in Purdue (#6), Michigan State (#9), and Ohio State (#15). The only unbeaten team in the Big Ten is now Purdue.

Standings

1. Purdue 5-0
2. Michigan State 5-1
3. Ohio State 5-1
4. Northwestern 5-1
5. Wisconsin 4-1
6. Penn State 5-2
7. Illinois 4-2
8. Minnesota 4-2
9. Michigan 3-2
10. Indiana 3-3
11. Iowa 2-4

Top Storylines

• Evan Turner, oops he did it again. That’s right folks, Evan Turner from Ohio State pulled off another triple double this week, becoming just 1 of 34 NCAA athletes to pull off multiple triple-double games in a single season.
• Michigan State falls to Florida, ending their unbeaten streak. Turns out that Florida is legit again this season, moving up to #17 in the AP. Michigan State was sloppy and Florida made them pay, even though the game was a nailbiter.
• Remember the name: John Shurna. The sophomore forward poured it on in the Chicago Invitational to take down Notre Dame and Iowa State, earning MVP honors over the likes of Craig Brackins and Luke Harangody, both household names.
• Last but definitely not least, the first signs that Minnesota’s off the court troubles finally affected their on the court performance this week when they lost to Texas A&M after sitting Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen for disciplinary reasons. Westbrook and Nolen combine for over 19 points per game, and they lost by 1 point. That time sitting on the bench was definitely worth more than a point.

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Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

1. Michigan State (AP #2) 4-0
2. Illinois (AP #20) 3-0
3. Minnesota (AP #22) 3-0
4. Purdue (AP #6) 3-0
5. Michigan (AP #15) 2-0
6. Wisconsin 2-0
7. Ohio State (AP #17) 3-1
8. Northwestern 2-1
9. Penn State 3-2
10. Indiana 2-3
11. Iowa 1-2

Top Storylines

It is no coincidence that Michigan State, the team at the top of the AP poll from the Big Ten at #2, also has the most successful coach in school history in Tom Izzo. Michigan State, except for its close call against Gonzaga, has been bringing teams up to East Lansing and disposing of them. Kalin Lucas has been leading the Spartans into battle by putting points on the board and stuffing the stat sheet from his guard position. Purdue, not to be outdone at #6, squeaked out a nail biter against #11 Tennessee to win the Paradise Jam Tournament. E’Twaun Moore, leading Purdue with 16 PPG on the year, was named Tournament MVP. Michigan at #15 has played two teams that most people haven’t heard of in Northern Michigan and Houston Baptist. The good news is that they won both, and the dynamic duo of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims combined for 47 of their 77 points against Houston Baptist. It doesn’t look like they should be challenged in the upcoming Old Spice Classic this weekend either. Ohio State at #17 in the AP is the only other team in the Big Ten to have really played anyone so far. They went toe to toe with UNC and lost, even though they shot terribly from the field. Evan Turner is tops in the Big Ten, having garnered player of the week status the past two weeks while stuffing his stat sheet at 21.8 PPG, 14.8 RPG, and 6 APG. His stats are so ridiculous that he has gone off for a double double in every game, and even pulled off a triple double against Alcorn State. Illinois so far hasn’t played anyone of note, although they might get their first test at the Las Vegas Invitational in the next week. Minnesota has steamrolled through an easy schedule thus far, cruising to a 3-0 record, but they will have to contend with Butler and potentially UCLA in the very near future. Minnesota has actually made more news off the court than on, as three players are currently suspended pending team rules violations or pending investigations, things that Tubby Smith would rather avoid if he could. Northwestern has its only loss against a strong Butler squad and will have another upcoming battle against Notre Dame. Penn State, not thought to have any serious chance of competing this year, might surprise a few teams, although their three wins are really due to soft scheduling. They did beat Davidson in a nail biter, but that might be a better indicator of how poor Davidson will be this year than anything PSU is doing. Indiana, on year 2 of their recovery, is showing their youth by dropping all three games in Puerto Rico to teams that weren’t that great. Iowa, not getting let off the hook at all, had to contend with #3 Texas in the semifinals of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. They had enough to stay with Texas for one half, but the game ultimately ended with Texas winning in a 25-point rout.

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Josh & Mike of Big Ten Geeks are the RTC correspondents for the Big Ten Conference.

Looking Back

Michigan State all but clinched the conference crown with a win against Illinois in Champaign.  All the Spartans need to do now is win at Indiana (they did).  So short of a shocker for the ages, the Spartans have ended their seven year drought.  But that doesn’t mean the season is over, as there is still plenty to play for.  The race for 2nd place is wide open, with four teams having a shot of grabbing the #2 seed in the conference tournament (Illinois, Purdue, Penn State and Wisconsin).  In fact, the only seeds that are “set” (assuming Michigan State beats Indiana), are #1, #10, and #11.  Should make for an interesting scramble to the finish.

There’s also a lot of teams bouncing on the bubble right about now.  Nine teams still have a shot at this point (assuming Northwestern can make a run in the conference tournament) but not that many will get to the Dance.  A couple of teams find themselves up against the wall right about now – Michigan and Ohio State.  The Wolverines have impressive non-conference wins against Duke and UCLA, but have been disappointing in conference play.  A win against Purdue helped matters, but there’s still work to be done.

As for the Buckeyes, they’ve lost 4 out of their last 5 games, and now stand at 18-9 and 8-8 in conference play.  At this point last year, they were 17-12, and 8-8.  They won their last 2 games in the regular season (against Purdue and Michigan State no less), but were bounced in their first Big Ten Tournament game against the Spartans.  The result?  NIT.

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Josh & Mike from Big Ten Geeks are the RTC correspondents for the Big Ten Conference.

Looking Back
As Lester Bangs told William Miller, “you’ll meet them all again on their long journey to the middle.” He could just as well have been talking to most of the Big Ten this season, as we now see 5 conference teams bunched up with 7 or 8 losses, all fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives. Penn State got a big boost from their ugly 38-33 victory at Illinois, then lost a winnable game at Ohio State to rejoin the masses. Penn State now has a 3-2 record against the top of the conference (Michigan State, Purdue, and Illinois), with a home game still remaining against the Illini. This ability to hang with the best of the conference is their sole basis for an at-large bid – their best non-conference win was at Georgia Tech (currently 1-12 in the ACC), so the Nittany Lions figure to need at least 10 Big Ten wins to even be considered.

Speaking of Illinois, they shook off the Penn State loss to get a nice road victory at Ohio State, putting them back on track for at least third place in the conference. Mike Davis continued his superb sophomore season, dropping floater after floater over Ohio State’s shot-blockers. Davis shot 11 for 14 from the field to finish with 22 points to go along with 8 rebounds and continues to lead the Big Ten in Defensive Rebound %.

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