This Week in the Big Ten: 2/15

• burt07

  Some big games at the top of the standings this week as both Wisconsin and Ohio State travel to West Lafayette. Purdue finally got a decent road win on Sunday at Illinois, will be interesting to see if they can carry that momentum into two big home games. In addition to the top teams the logjam in the middle will have some good games as well. Michigan State has two big games to see if they can rejuvenate their season as they travel to Columbus and play at home against Illinois. Two big games for Michigan as well if they're going to get back into the tournament hunt, travelling to Illinois and Iowa. If Illinois were to lose to Michigan and then have a trip to East Lansing this weekend things could get very testy in Champaign.
  
  Tuesday 2/15
  Michigan State at #2 Ohio State
  
  Wednesday 2/16
  #10 Wisconsin at #11 Purdue
  Michigan at Illinois
  
  Thursday 2/17
  Minnesota at Penn State
  Iowa at Northwestern
  
  Saturday 2/19
  Michigan at Iowa
  Northwestern at Indiana
  Illinois at Michigan State
  
  Sunday 2/20
  #3 Ohio State at #11 Purdue
  Penn State at #10 Wisconsin
  
  
  Standings as of 2/15
  
  Ohio State 11-1 24-1
  Wisconsin 9-3 19-5
  Purdue 9-3 20-5
  Illinois 6-6 16-9
  Michigan State 6-6 14-10
  Minnesota 6-7 17-8
  Michigan 6-7 16-10
  Penn State 6-7 13-11
  Iowa 3-10 10-15
  Indiana 3-10 12-14
• Classyposter58

  

  All I have to say is wow...it's February 15th and only 3 teams are above .500 in conference play. Shows how brutal the Big 10 is
• Mulva

  

  Bracketology 101 had MSU as one of the last 4 in, and Michigan as one of the last 4 out in it's bracket released yesterday. Huge week for both of them with a chance for big road wins. I don't see either of them getting one though.
  
  Either way, how soft is the bubble right now if both of them are right in the mix? Thank god they didn't expand to 96 teams.
• FatHobbit

  

  Mulva;679627 wrote:Bracketology 101 had MSU as one of the last 4 in, and Michigan as one of the last 4 out in it's bracket released yesterday. Huge week for both of them with a chance for big road wins. I don't see either of them getting one though.
  
  Either way, how soft is the bubble right now if both of them are right in the mix? Thank god they didn't expand to 96 teams.

  
  Michigan plays @Illinois, @Iowa, Wisc, @Minn and Michigan State. That's a tough way to end the season.
• wildcats20

  

  Classyposter58;679026 wrote:All I have to say is wow...it's February 15th and only 3 teams are above .500 in conference play. Shows how brutal the Big 10 is

  
  Or how mediocre it is after OSU, Purdue and Wisky.
• Laley23

  

  Classyposter58;679026 wrote:All I have to say is wow...it's February 15th and only 3 teams are above .500 in conference play. Shows how brutal the Big 10 is

  
  Sigh. When are we just going to admit that:
  Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana are bad. Minny, Illinois, MSU, PSU, and Michigan are nothing more than mediocre. OSU, Purdue, and Wisconsin are very good.
• wildcats20

  

  Laley23;680261 wrote:Sigh. When are we just going to admit that:
  Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana are bad. Minny, Illinois, MSU, PSU, and Michigan are nothing more than mediocre. OSU, Purdue, and Wisconsin are very good.

  
  Exactly.
  
  The SEC West only has 1 team over .500. That is a BRUTAL league. :rolleyes:
• dave

  FatHobbit;679670 wrote:Michigan plays @Illinois, @Iowa, Wisc, @Minn and Michigan State. That's a tough way to end the season.

  
  Tough? They can't ask for much more.
• wildcats20

  

  dave;680302 wrote:Tough? They can't ask for much more.

  
  Yeah. Wisky is the only game there they should lose.
• wildcats20

  

  Let me rephrase that...
  
  I can see them winning every game BUT Wisky.
• dave

  Yeah, they need to win 2 out of @illinois, @minnesota, and against msu. I don't see it happening but they are definitely winnable games.
• centralbucksfan

  FatHobbit;679670 wrote:Michigan plays @Illinois, @Iowa, Wisc, @Minn and Michigan State. That's a tough way to end the season.

  
  UM won't beat ILL, Minn, Wisky or MSU IMO. I think they lose all of these, or 3/4. Although a home game, they beat MSU there...so MSU will have a chip on shoulder for this game.
• Classyposter58

  

  wildcats20;680207 wrote:Or how mediocre it is after OSU, Purdue and Wisky.

  
  Eh I thought that way too but I mean every game is pretty competitive you know? And the top 3 teams are some of the best in nation
• wildcats20

  

  Or how mediocre it is after OSU, Purdue and Wisky.

  
  
  Eh I thought that way too but I mean every game is pretty competitive you know? And the top 3 teams are some of the best in nation

  That's fine but just because there are only 3 teams above .500 doesn't make the conference tough. Look at the SEC West example.
  
  The bottom of the Big Ten is terrible. And the middle of the conference is not all that great.
  
  Basically what I'm saying is...
  
  Look at the bottom teams of every conference. Perfect example was last night, Villanova/Seton Hall. The Hall is TERRIBLE and they were a 3 pt bucket from going to OT. And tonight, 1-9(now 1-10) Iowa St. only lost by 5 to A&M. 0-9(at the time) DePaul loses by 4 AT Louisville. There are competitive games everywhere.
• burt07

  Purdue gets the big win over Wisconsin, 70-62. They can now potentially get right back in the Big Ten title hunt if they can get it done at home on Sunday against the Bucks. They've definitely gotten a lot of help out of Lewis Jackson adopting more of a role as an offensive player other than his defensive specialties. As for Wisconsin, Mike Bruesewitz went 0-3 on 3's, 1-5 overall. Of course.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  It will be an upset (yes Purdue will technically be favored, I'm sure) if they win Sunday, but a win all but gives OSU the Big Ten title by putting them up 3 with only 4 games to play. Of course a loss really tightens things up.
• SportsAndLady

  

  I made a drunken 10 dollar bet (3:1 odds for me) with my OSU friend that OSU would share the title with Purdue...this was right before the Wisconsin game...I was pissed that I made that bet but its now looking like a decent bet haha
• Tiger2003

  

  SportsAndLady;681438 wrote:I made a drunken 10 dollar bet (3:1 odds for me) with my OSU friend that OSU would share the title with Purdue...this was right before the Wisconsin game...I was pissed that I made that bet but its now looking like a decent bet haha

  
  If Purdue beats the Bucks it looks even better.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Yeah Purdue has to beat OSU for any chance
• burt07

  Illinois is able to fend off the comeback from Michigan and get the much needed win at home. Seems like they haven't done too much lately but they've been able to build a 1 game lead on that 4th spot in the Big Ten, which with the way that area of the standings has been clogged up, is actually not bad. Now let's see if they can go on the road to East Lansing, who is trying to stay alive. As for Michigan, definitely hurt as they need to pile up some good wins, which is something they won't be able to do this weekend going to Iowa.
• dave

  Minnesota's tailspin continues, Penn State now 5th in the league. Wow.
• dave

  Michigan survives at Iowa. Even with only 3 wins the Hawkeyes have played in some of the most exciting games in conference this year. They only lose 1 senior who plays, so they should be a potential tourney team next year.
• cbus4life

  IU falls to Northwestern at home.
• dave

  Well, basically nothing decided between the 4-8 seeds this week unless Penn State wins in Wisconsin tomorrow.
• burt07

  Yeah, I figured this week would at least help clear up some things in that middle section. Not so much.