With their win last night over Michigan State, Wisconsin pretty much assured themselves of at least a share of the Big Ten title. Oh sure, they could lose one of their two remaining games, but I give that a zero percent chance of happening. For PTI fans, that's the big squadoosh. They host terrible Penn State (5-10 conference, 13-14 overall) and then close out on the road against even more terrible Northwestern (1-14 conference, 8-18 overall).
It's a tougher road for Purdue. They host Northwestern, then travel to Ohio State (8-7 conference, 17-11 overall) and Michigan (5-11 conference, 9-19 overall). They should win out, but the road game at Ohio State looms as their potential stumbling point.
Indiana has the toughest remaining schedule. They must travel to Michigan State (10-5 conference, 22-6 overall), host Minnesota (7-8 conference, 17-10 overall), and travel to Penn State. Clearly the Michigan State game is the test. The Spartans have lost 4 of their last 7 games... all losses coming on the road. The only terrible loss was to Penn State. The others were Purdue, Indiana, and Wisconsin... the top of the Big Ten. They've not lost a conference game at the Breslin Center this season.
Here are the Big Ten Standings:
| Big Ten Conference | Overall | ||||||
| School | W-L | PF | PA | W-L | PF | PA | STRK |
| Wisconsin | 14-2 | 1037 | 887 | 24-4 | 1903 | 1536 | W5 |
| Indiana | 13-2 | 1076 | 971 | 24-4 | 2139 | 1785 | W4 |
| Purdue | 13-2 | 1017 | 916 | 22-6 | 1915 | 1703 | W1 |
| Michigan State | 10-5 | 984 | 913 | 22-6 | 2007 | 1733 | L1 |
| Ohio State | 8-7 | 974 | 896 | 17-11 | 1887 | 1692 | L3 |
| Minnesota | 7-8 | 1002 | 1012 | 17-10 | 1916 | 1725 | L1 |
| Penn State | 5-10 | 922 | 1052 | 13-14 | 1778 | 1801 | W1 |
| Iowa | 5-11 | 883 | 963 | 12-17 | 1633 | 1682 | L2 |
| Michigan | 5-11 | 991 | 1066 | 9-19 | 1798 | 1925 | L1 |
| Illinois | 3-12 | 940 | 955 | 11-17 | 1811 | 1734 | L3 |
| Northwestern | 1-14 | 887 | 1082 | 8-18 | 1645 | 1783 | W1 |
1 comment:
While the game at Ohio State looms large for Purdue, and kenpom predicts a loss (with a 39% chance of an upset), I have to wonder because of an interesting fact I heard on the ESPNU college basketball podcast: all of OSU's 8 conference wins have come against the bottom 6 teams in the conference. Makes me wonder.
Regardless, I think Wisconsin has all but locked up the #1 seed, and I expect Purdue to get the 2 and IU to get the 3.
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