This week in the Big Ten: 1/3

• gorocks99

  

  Penn State with a couple big home games this week against Purdue and MSU; there are a lot of "should win" games for the top contenders this week:
  
  Monday 1/3:
  Michigan State @ Northwestern
  
  Tuesday 1/4:
  Indiana @ Minnesota
  Ohio State @ Iowa
  
  Wednesday 1/5:
  Purdue @ Penn State
  Michigan @ Wisconsin
  
  Thursday 1/6:
  Northwestern @ Illinois
  
  Saturday 1/8:
  Michigan State @ Penn State
  
  Sunday 1/9:
  Iowa @ Purdue
  Indiana @ Northwestern
  Minnesota @ Ohio State
  (Kansas @ Michigan, non-conference)
  
  Big Ten +/- standings (through Monday 1/3):
  
  (+1 for road win, 0 for home win, 0 for road loss, -1 for home loss):
  
  OSU +1
  Penn St. +1
  Purdue +1
  Illinois +1
  MSU +1
  Wisconsin 0
  Minnesota 0
  N'western -1
  Michigan -1
  Iowa -1
  Indiana -2
  
  (Note: Last year's champion finished +5)
• burt07

  Definitely interested to see what Northwestern can do against MSU tonight. They were able to hang around most of the game against Purdue but just couldn't get over the hump. If they want to get in the tournament they're going to have to win some of these home games against quality competition, this game would definitely fall under that category.
• gorocks99

  

  Northwestern kept it close but lost last night, 65-62. That's two home losses for the Wildcats; they probably needed one of those first two to feel like "legit" contenders for a tournament spot. Not to say they still can't make it, but you need to take care of your business at home in this league if you want to feel comfortable.
• burt07

  The Wildcats just waited too long to get back into the game, a pretty amazing comeback but too little too late. They have a tough game now at Illinois, they're going to have to get hot at some point to get back in the tournament hunt.
• gorocks99

  

  burt07;624319 wrote:The Wildcats just waited too long to get back into the game, a pretty amazing comeback but too little too late. They have a tough game now at Illinois, they're going to have to get hot at some point to get back in the tournament hunt.

  
  Basically they're going to have to take care of business against the lesser teams, and win 1/3 of: vs Ohio State, vs Illinois, and vs Minnesota at home. That would leave them with 8 fairly sure losses on the year (vs PUR, vs MSU, @ ILL, @ MSU, @ MINN, @ WISC and two of the games above). They would be 10-8 in conference and that may be enough to go through (although their quality wins would be lacking). But, that's also assuming they win ALL their games against PSU, Mich, Ind, Iowa. Probably not going to happen, they'll drop one of their road games. Tough sledding.
• burt07

  Yikes, if you want to see a school that definitely only cares about football, just turn it to the Purdue-Penn State game right now. I know Penn State still has another week before the start of the semester but damn, you would figure the number 10 team coming to town would generate at least a little interest.
• gorocks99

  

  The Illini absolutely throttled Northwestern last night. I think the Cats dreams of their first tourney are fading.
• Mulva

  

  Michigan State loses to Penn State.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Mulva;630036 wrote:Michigan State loses to Penn State.

  
  Can't be.
  
  Good teams simply don't lose to lesser teams in the Big Ten like this. They throttle them by 20 points or more.
  
  At least that's what I was told.
• Prescott

  Good teams simply don't lose to lesser teams in the Big Ten like this.

  I'm not sure that MSU should be classified as a good team.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Prescott;630119 wrote:I'm not sure that MSU should be classified as a good team.

  
  Uh huh. Good story.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Writerbuckeye;630078 wrote:Can't be.
  
  Good teams simply don't lose to lesser teams in the Big Ten like this. They throttle them by 20 points or more.
  
  At least that's what I was told.

  
  Penn State is not Indiana
• Hb31187

  

  Prescott;630119 wrote:I'm not sure that MSU should be classified as a good team.

  
  uhhh
• Writerbuckeye

  

  SportsAndLady;630199 wrote:Penn State is not Indiana

  
  So you're telling me Penn State is an upper echelon Big Ten team and MSU losing to them is not a surprise?
• Prescott

  uhhh

  Michigan State is a talented team, but who have they beaten? This was their 1st bad loss, but they are now 10-5 with one good win.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Our discussion prior was about whether lower level Big Ten teams can beat the top teams in the conference. I have contended all along that "any given night" is especially true in conference games, on the road (any conference, not just the Big Ten). Teams like PSU (already) and Indiana (Iowa or UM) will most likely knock off at least one contending team during the title chase.
  
  It happens every year, even though the top team comes into the game a significant underdog.
  
  It's one of the things about college basketball that makes it so much fun to watch. You just never know...
• SportsAndLady

  

  Writerbuckeye;630735 wrote:Our discussion prior was about whether lower level Big Ten teams can beat the top teams in the conference.

  
  No it was not.
  
  Our discussion was about the #2 team in the COUNTRY (not the upper level big ten teams) against the worst team in the Big Ten (not the lower level big ten teams).
• SportsAndLady

  

  Writerbuckeye;630735 wrote:It happens every year

  
  Okay in the last five years name me the #2 team in the country losing to the worst team in the conference
• slingshot4ever

  About to head up to the Kansas game in AA. Rock Chalk!
• dave

  Really tough game for Michigan. They will get abused inside. As long as they don't lose by 20 I'll be impressed. Good game to increase their SOS.
• Midstate01

  

  Michigan and Kansas going to OT.
• Trueblue23

  

  What a game.. looks like Kansas is getting into the gaps of the Michigan zone.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Yeah KU escaped today..I didn't watch the game (working another bball game), but it didn't seem like their offense was clicking at all..Selby only had 5 points I believe. Eeek.
• slingshot4ever

  Just got home from the game. Neither offense looked great, especially from the 3 point line. At the same time I credit that to good defense on both sides. Was a great environment up in AA. Going back up there on Wednesday for the Ohio State game.