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Clear divides belong in the Big Ten right now. You have a top 4 with good teams, the following four teams are on the brink, and the bottom six look almost hopeless now. Indiana is surging, and Purdue is starting to slow down and is showing some cracks in their armour.
The Golden Gophers are by far the worst team in the Big Ten, and that’s not even debatable. They played hard in a loss to Iowa, but a loss is still a loss, and the losses are piling up.
The Buckeyes lost two more home games this past week and have now lost 11 of their last 12 games. Expect a new coach next year in Columbus.
The Penn State Nittany Lions continued their recent slump this week, dropping both of their games against Wisconsin and Maryland. Penn State is on a losing streak of four games and will likely be on the sidelines for March Madness this year. Ever since the Nittany Lions blew out Indiana a few weeks ago, it’s been all downhill for the Nittany Lions.
After letting a 17-point lead slip away in an overtime loss at Nebraska, Wisconsin is in trouble. This loss could wipe out their win at Penn State earlier this week and put the Badgers out of the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday. The Badgers started the season well and then had to battle injuriesโno matter the excuse, the Badgers are not a very good team right now.
Nebraska is playing well at home as of late, and while the record is worse than a few teams ranked below them, right now the Huskers are playing better than those teams. The Cornhuskers play hard and smart and will pull another upset or team when all is said and done.
Michigan had been playing better as of late. On Saturday, though, the Wolverines got out-toughed by the Indiana Hoosiers in a game they desperately needed to win. The Wolverines are running out of games to get them back in the March madness conversation.
Iowa suffered another down week, losing at Purdue on the road but winning against Minnesota on Sunday. Although beating Purdue would have been nice, Iowa is continuing to win the games they should win. If that continues, they should be dancing come March.
Rutgers lost two tough road games this week. The Scarlet Knights lost to Indiana in the week’s first game and fell to Illinois on Saturday. Next week, Rutgers will look to get back on the right track against Nebraska. Rutgers has a solid resume and needs to finish the season strong and win the games they are supposed to, and they will end up in the tournament.
Maryland lost in a close one against Michigan State earlier this week but managed to defeat a struggling Penn State team on Saturday. With only a few games remaining, the Terps look good for the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State won consecutive games for the first time in more than a month. The Spartans won the first game against Maryland and then beat Ohio State to win on Sunday. The Spartans will be looking to win three straight against Minnesota on Wednesday.
Illinois won their only game of the week, a victory at home over Rutgers.ย If the Fighting Illini hadn’t had such a poor start to league play, they would have been in contention for the Big Ten title.
The Wildcats won a convincing road win over Ohio State and defeated No.1 Purdue To cap off a fantastic week of basketball. The Wildcats probably assured themselves of an NCAA Tournament bid with the win over Purdue.
Indiana is finding new ways to win. A pair of quality wins at Michigan and home against Rutgers made for a great week for Hoosiers fans. Indiana’s toughness got them through the week, and that toughness may make the Hoosiers the most likely team to advance to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament this year.
The Boilermakers handled Iowa earlier in the week but Northwestern upset them this past weekend. The number one spot on this power ranking could be up for grabs with another loss or two.
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