1. Player of the Year talk in both the B1G and nationally is starting to heat up. Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell has been mounting an impressive campaign with his play of late, but Wisconsin is squarely in first place. That’s why many think that the award in both the conference and nationally should go to the Badgers’ Frank Kaminsky. The case for Kaminsky comes from the fact that he is the offensive linchpin for the most efficient offense in the country. In addition to his abilities as a scorer and on the glass, he’s led the Badgers in assists eight times. His defense is more advanced than that of Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, and he showed his true value in the fact that Wisconsin is 0-1 (against a bad team) when he’s not in the lineup. Keep an eye on Russell, however, as the buzz will continue to grow if Ohio State can make a late run with its precocious freshman leading the way.
2. Don’t expect Marc Loving back for Ohio State’s game against Penn State tonight. The sophomore is expected to miss his third straight contest but he may be back for the team’s Saturday tilt against Michigan State. Loving was suspended by the athletic department for an undisclosed violation. He’s been able to keep practicing, and he may be motivated by the fact that freshmen Jae’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop have played well in his absence.
3. Maryland has struggled lately with three not-so-close road losses to teams that they are currently stuck in a logjam with behind Wisconsin in the league standings. Turninovers and poor shooting have been the catalysts for the Terps’ significant drop in offensive efficiency since conference play began. The Testudo Times tried to diagnose the offensive problems by crunching some numbers. They have increased their tempo significantly since conference play started, but have seen their point per game drop to 62.6. While they’re still getting to the free throw line at a decent clip, they’ve started turning the ball over more frequently. There’s a good deal to digest there, but one major sticking point is the inconsistent play lately of Melo Trimble, Dez Wells, and Jake Layman. If these three can all get rolling, Maryland can right the ship.
4. After suffering through close loss after close loss, Northwestern got blown out at home Tuesday night against Michigan State. This brings up some concern in Evanston as to why this team- especially with how young they are at key positions- seemingly getting worse as the season goes on. The Wildcats are now 1-10 in the Big Ten after surprising many with their 5-5 start last season. BTN’s Dave Revsine brought up the fact that this year’s unit has a better point differential than last year’s team, so luck is a factor. But maybe it’s time to realize that Drew Crawford was extremely important to last year’s team, and that maybe the rebuilding process at Northwestern may take longer than some expected.
5. The Big Ten is close to having the rights to some of their games going up for bidding after their ESPN deal ends, and some feel as though a move to Fox and Fox Sports One would make sense since the media conglomerate owns half of the Big Ten Network. It might not end up that way however if Commissioner Jim Delany looks closely at the ratings the network is drawing with its coverage of the Big East. Granted, it may take a while for the “new Big East” to gain the eyeballs of the casual fan. But this year the league is probably the second best in the country yet has experienced some brutal numbers with its television ratings. While the B1G has more established brands nationally, a move away from ESPN could be risky.

1. It’s now the time of the season when the frantic checking of various bracketology updates becomes a daily must for college hoops junkies. It also marks the return of ESPN’s bubble watch column. In this week’s version, there are eight Big Ten teams with a reasonable chance to make it into the field of 68. This is obviously a fluid situation, but right now Wisconsin is the league’s only true lock. It will be worth watching to see if the conference can match last season’s six bids in what has to be considered a down season in terms of overall quality.
2. There are only 14 American Indian college basketball players at the Division I level this season, but one of that group has been thrust into the spotlight by playing for a Wisconsin team that has Final Four aspirations. Given the brighter stage that he finds himself on, Bronson Koenig has used the opportunity to act as an inspiration for others like him. He’s attempted to learn more about his background as he’s gotten older, and he rails against sports nicknames (like the Redskins) that he feels degrade his people. Koenig had another outstanding game against Indiana on Tuesday night, and seeing the sophomore get an opportunity both on the floor and to become a powerful off-court spokesman might go a long way toward ending some of the more foolish nicknames in sports.
3. Indiana was without the services of freshman James Blackmon Jr. last night, as the wing was sidelined with an ankle injury that he suffered in Saturday’s win over Rutgers. It may not have mattered all that much, though, as Wisconsin scored seemingly at will on its way to a lopsided 92-78 home victory. The Hoosiers now will take on Michigan on Sunday, and it is unknown whether Blackmon will be available for the key upcoming game against the Wolverines. Indiana has been a surprise team through the first half of Big Ten play, but Tom Crean will need the services of his star rookie in order to push on through to an unexpected NCAA Tournament berth.
4. Penn State is now 2-7 in conference play, and one of the major reasons for that disappointing record has been an over-reliance on DJ Newbill on the offensive end. Newbill is being asked to make something out of nothing on a good number of the Nittany Lions’ possessions, which often leads to others standing around and essentially getting in the way. The lack of a true point guard on the team has hurt considerably, and despite returning most of their key contributors from last season, they’ve clearly regressed. Their assist rate sits at a paltry 42.3 percent, which is a byproduct of not having a serviceable distributor to make things happen. Newbill leads the team in assists and scoring, and Shep Garner plays shooting guard. This also explains some of the poor shot selection and late-game turnovers that have contributed to several of their close losses.
5. Chemistry was questioned at Maryland after the Terrapins lost five players from last season’s team that underachieved in their final ACC season. This year’s edition has blended newcomers and veterans much better than in the past, and graduate transfer Richaud Pack has been a key component to that improvement. The senior has been a valuable presence in the Maryland locker room even as he’s seen his minutes cut back lately. The guard can do a little bit of everything, and he will be a needed to fill whatever role the Terps ask of him as they hit the home stretch.

Now that this Big Ten season is at its midpoint, it gives us a chance to gauge teams’ performances to date and analyze what’s to come. Besides a surprising second half hiccup in New Jersey, Wisconsin has been the dominant team in the league everyone expected. Ohio State, Indiana, and (surprisingly) Maryland are the consensus contenders for second place, and each could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament if conditions are right. Nebraska, Penn State and Northwestern have had disappointing seasons. The rest of the league is in a slog to find an address on the right side of the bubble. But given uneven schedules, comparing teams by their record in conference play alone may hide the actual favorability of their schedules. Because of this — and the overall relative parity throughout the league — a good number of people in the media have been using “true” standings. This approach ranks teams by penalizing them for a home loss and rewarding them for a road win. Below, I’ve illustrated the true Big Ten standings and attached each team’s upcoming schedule and their predicted finish according to KenPom. By looking at the table, we can make some assumptions about what the second half of the Big Ten season has in store for us.

Here are my three main takeaways from the table above:

• Wisconsin should cruise to an outright regular season title. While I’ve previously commented on the overall parity of the league, I’m really talking about every team except for the Badgers. Wisconsin has been dominant — both nationally and within the Big Ten. Its sole loss to Rutgers was flukish given that it came while Frank Kaminsky and Traevon Jackson were sidelined (Jackson for the second half). Looking forward, it’s unlikely that another team will enter the Kohl Center this season and leave with a win, and three of their five remaining road games come against struggling teams like Nebraska, Penn State and Minnesota. With a two-game lead already in hand, the Badgers are headed to a regular season title and a possible #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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In a league defined by chaos this season, last weekend was fairly uneventful and arguably almost normal. There were no upsets, although there were a couple close calls as an undermanned Illinois squad had to sweat it out against Penn State at home, while Rutgers hung with Indiana thanks to the heroics of Myles Mack. Michigan State needed overtime to knock off a gritty Michigan team that once again was without the services of point guard Derrick Walton Jr. Meanwhile, Minnesota avenged an earlier loss to Nebraska by forcing an obscene 20 turnovers and holding the Cornhuskers to just 42 points. It would be obscene not to read the rest of this, so here’s the best and worst of weekend number five in the B1G.

Maurice Walker was unstoppable in the post in Minnesota’s 60-42 victory over Nebraska on Saturday. (Ben Garvin, Pioneer Press)

• Player of the Weekend: Maurice Walker essentially stole Walter Pitchford’s lunch money, gave him a swirly, and then forged a note making fun of the teacher to get him in trouble. Cheesy elementary school metaphors aside, Walker was dominant on the low blocks for Minnesota, scoring at will on his way to a 19-point effort on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The rest of the Gophers’ offense was nonexistent for most of the contest, so give the guards credit for pounding the ball inside to him. The fifth-year senior also added eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals. Minnesota is great at taking the ball away ( 14.8% steal rate, third nationally), but Walker is actually fourth in the Big Ten with a steal rate of 3.99 percent. He has really quick hands and does a nice job poking the ball away from post players without fouling. He had three first-half steals in this game as Nebraska coughed the ball up a total of 14 times before halftime.
• Super Sub of the Weekend: Tom Crean wasn’t happy with the way Indiana had been playing, so he shook things up a bit on Saturday against Rutgers. The change meant that Troy Williams –– despite the fact that he’s had a really good season with some outstanding performances — came off of the bench. He had some silly turnovers but the sophomore also contributed a double-double in the form of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He scored on his usual array of drives and dunks, but one thing slightly unique about this performance was that he was led the break after grabbing a defensive rebound. This led to a faster break out in transition, and it also gave the Hoosiers an ability to have Yogi Ferrell spot up on the perimeter with the rest of the shooters. Don’t expect Williams to become a point forward  at Indiana anytime soon, but this was a neat look that takes advantage of Williams’ outstanding ability in the open court while giving Ferrell more looks.

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New England knocked off Seattle in one of the most thrilling Super Bowls of the last 20 years on Sunday night. Ohio State shocked the world in the first-ever College Football Playoff by barely making the field and then defeating the two favorites. All of you pigskin- obsessed sports fans now have a clear void in your life until next August. Have no fear, though, as Big Ten basketball is the elixir for your post-football withdrawal. Here’s a quick look at what’s happened through the first couple months of the regular season to get you up to speed.

Frank Kaminsky Has Played Like an All-American This Year (Getty)

• Wisconsin’s Dominance: If the last time you checked in with Wisconsin was while watching last year’s Final Four, you’ll find that the Badgers have shown that they have all the pieces in place to make a return trip. Bo Ryan’s team has only suffered two losses (to Duke and Rutgers) en route to a 19-2 overall mark (7-1 Big Ten), and the most efficient offensive team in America boasts likely Big Ten Player of the Year (and All-American), Frank Kaminsky. The Badgers are currently missing point guard Traveon Jackson with an injury until the end of the month, but Bronson Koenig has stepped in admirably and there’s a realistic chance the Badgers are headed for a 17-1 Big Ten record and a #1 NCAA Tournament seed.

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Big Ten training staffs have been working overtime this season, as many notable names have already missed significant time with injuries. Just last weekend, Aaron White, Robert Johnson, Bishop Daniels, Brandon Taylor, and Mike Williams all suffered various ailments that could result in missed action. This piles on to the already large injury toll suffered by conference teams, with Illinois (Rayvonte Rice), Indiana (Hanner Mosquera-Perea), Michigan (Caris LeVert), and Wisconsin (Traveon Jackson) all losing key starters for multiple games. Injuries, of course, are a part of the game, but it means that others must step in and make contributions in their absences. Here’s a look at how some of these Big Ten understudies have performed with the resulting boost in minutes they’ve received.

Kendrick Nunn has stepped things up offensively in the wake of Rayvonte Rice being out of the lineup. (USA TODAY)

• Illinois has gone 3-3 since its star Rayvonte Rice went down in practice. The senior had been logging 11.1 shots per game before his injury, and his primary replacement, Kendrick Nunn, has barely left the court since (36.2 MPG in the six games that Rice hasn’t played). The sophomore has been productive in his absence, though, contributing 16.7 PPG along with 4.5 RPG and 1.3 SPG. Rice’s biggest improvement had been shooting from deep, where he got off to an insane 29-for-60 start, but Nunn has been equally adept from three-point range, making 18-of-39 attempts in six games. On balance, Nunn has effectively matched Rice’s production, but Illinois’ main problem right now is depth. Without Rice and with Aaron Cosby (also sidelined), John Groce is pretty much running a seven-man rotation right now. Should Nunn or forward Malcolm Hill struggle offensively, there really aren’t many other options.

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On January 10, the B1G point guard title belt was introduced in an effort to determine (unofficially) which player is the best floor general in the league. Since then, a series of injuries and inconsistent play have resulted in the mythical belt already changing hands four times. Volatility is enhanced by the fact that one-game sample sizes lend themselves to frequent changes, but only one player has been able earn the belt and keep it. Here’s a brief rundown on how the belt changed hands over the past couple of weeks and which point guard presently holds the title.

After taking over the primary point guard responsibilities from the injured Traveon jackson, Bronson Koenig has been solid. (AP)

• January 10: Michigan 62, Minnesota 57. In his first game as the belt-holder, Minnesota’s Deandre Mathieu struggled to the tune of a disastrous individual offensive rating of 30.0 — going scoreless and turning the ball over five times in 29 minutes. Meanwhile, Michigan’s Derrick Walton, Jr went 3-of-4 from behind the arc en route to a 15-point performance. The sophomore only notched three assists against two turnovers, but his 136.0 offensive rating was the highest on his team in the victory.
• January 13: Ohio State 71, Michigan 52. Walton’s reign at the top was a short one, as Ohio State convincingly beat the Wolverines in their Super Tuesday match-up in Columbus. The Buckeyes’ Shannon Scott notched seven points and eight assists to go along with only one turnover, and even though he didn’t shoot the ball very well (3-of-9 from the field), he outplayed Walton, who posted a dismal offensive rating of 43.0 with two points (1-of-7 shooting) and two assists.

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The last week of the college basketball season was highlighted by two previously Top 10 teams falling victim to a conference foe on the road. First, Maryland was knocked off Thursday night in Bloomington by a hot-shooting Indiana squad. Then on Saturday, Iowa State – fresh off of home victories over Kansas and Kansas State – went down to Lubbock and suffered a surprising defeat to Big 12 cellar-dweller Texas Tech. While the Terps and Cyclones were unable to avoid the road upset bug, #2 Virginia and #9 Notre Dame overcome road deficits Sunday to earn key victories. The Cavaliers trailed for most of the game at Virginia Tech before finally grabbing the victory. The Fighting Irish trailed by as many as 18 points at North Carolina State before storming back and securing an overtime victory. With the calendar flipping to February next Sunday, expect conference play to continue to deliver the good as we get closer and closer to March.

This week’s Quick N’ Dirty after the jump…

Quick N’ Dirty Analysis.

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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest Bracketology update on Thursday, tabbing six Big Ten teams in his projected field of 68. Lunardi had projected the Big Ten to snag eight spots back in November – but it’s no secret that the conference has underperformed against fairly lofty preseason expectations. Lunardi is usually spot-on with his predictions, nailing 67 of the 68 teams last season and correctly naming all 68 in 2013. Let’s take a deeper look at each of his relevant projections.

Wisconsin – No. 2 (East)

The Badgers have been pegged as a No. 2 seed for Lunardi’s last three editions of Bracketology, but they occupied the No. 1 seed in the East as late as January 5. That drop can be 100 percent attributed to the Badgers’ ugly loss to Rutgers, even without star Frank Kaminsky. While Kaminsky is now back in the lineup, point guard Traevon Jackson will be out for much of the remainder of the regular season. But in their first two games without him, Bronson Koenig has admirably filled in and alleviated some of Wisconsin’s worries at the point guard position with solid performances in easy wins over Nebraska and Iowa. The Badgers will face only four more teams ranked in KenPom’s top 50 in their last 12 games, so it appears that they’re essentially a lock for a No. 2 seed or better.

The Badgers struggled in their one game without Frank Kaminsky, but they’ve been dominant so far in the Big Ten. (Getty)

Maryland – No. 2 (South)

The Terrapins have been excellent in their first year in the Big Ten despite a blowout loss at Indiana on Thursday night. Lunardi had Maryland pegged as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest just over a week ago, but a dominant win over Michigan State in College Park earned them a bump up the ladder. While Lunardi didn’t tab the Terps as an NCAA Tournament team back in November, multiple players have stepped up for Mark Turgeon’s squad – Dez Wells has established himself as one of the conference’s premier defenders; freshman Melo Trimble has exceeded all expectations; and Jake Layman has cut back on his three-point attempts and instead established a solid inside and mid-range game. The Terps’ Big Ten championship dreams took a substantial hit in last night’s road loss, but they’re still a good pick for a top-three seed in any regional.

Indiana – No. 8 (Midwest)

The Hoosiers first entered Lunardi’s projections back on January 15 as a No. 9 seed following home victories over Ohio State and Penn State. Since then, they have won a tough away game at Illinois and thoroughly dominated Maryland last night at home. They’re bound to move up in Lunardi’s bracket if they can complete the season sweep of Ohio State on Sunday in a game that KenPom gives them a 22 percent chance to win. The Hoosiers have clearly recovered from a heavily publicized and troubling offseason as well as an early-season loss to Eastern Washington. Freshman James Blackmon has been fantastic and they’re now thriving under Yogi Ferrell’s leadership.

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The Wooden Award released its midseason top 25 list last week. College basketball’s top individual honor will likely go to a player named on that list, but there’s still time for others (attention: Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet, Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon and Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas) to work their way into the picture. However, it’s also true that the field of real contenders for the award is thinning as we near February and March. RTC handicaps the race for the Wooden…

Jahlil Okafor, Duke. Odds To Win = 3/2.

Any national Player of the Year discussion must begin with Duke’s freshman sensation. Okafor’s averages of 18.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game begin to explain his value to the Blue Devils, but the impact of his presence runs much deeper than that. His steadiness (double-figure points in every game this season) has stabilized a Duke attack that was far more reliant on the three-point shot a season ago, while his unselfishness has helped the Duke guards find space on the perimeter. The presumptive top pick in next June’s NBA Draft has looked like the best player in college basketball from opening night, but an April coronation as the National Player of the Year will surely depend on Duke’s success. Balance has fueled the rise of other national title contenders (Kentucky and Virginia most notable among them), but there is no question that Okafor will continue to lead the Duke charge. Pole position has been well-earned: This is Okafor’s award to lose.

At The Midway Point Of The Season, Duke Freshman Jahlil Okafor Is The Frontrunner To Win The Wooden Award. (Getty)

Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin. Odds To Win = 5/2.

Kaminsky nabbed the national spotlight last March with a show-stopping regional final performance against Arizona. He has not given it up since. ‘Frank the Tank’ is grabbing more rebounds (8.2 RPG this season), blocking more shots (1.8 BPG) and even handing out more assists (2.4 APG) than he did a year ago. The Wisconsin center has been outstanding all season, but his value to the Badgers may have been best exhibited in a 40 minute stint on the bench. As their star sat out with a concussion on January 11, Wisconsin fell to Rutgers in one of the most shocking results of the season. The loss showed just how important the versatile center has become for Bo Ryan’s team. A balanced Badgers’ lineup may pose some threat to Kaminsky’s Wooden Award chances, but that surrounding talent is also what’s made the his team legitimate national title contenders. And as Wisconsin chases that elusive championship, its versatile big man is making a serious push for the most prestigious of individual accolades.

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