JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Just when I thought I had the top of the league figured out, Indiana blitzed Minnesota with the best half of basketball I have seen in a long time to hold on for a seven-point win in a battle of Top 10 teams on Saturday. I was still prepared to keep Michigan #1 in my weekly power poll, until they lost 56-53 at Ohio State.
Michigan was down by 21 points in the first half and came back to have a shot to win the game. Trey Burke missed a three-point shot that was halfway down the bucket with :17 seconds left with Michigan trailing by two. So the Hoosiers looked great at home against a very good team and Michigan proved mortal on the road against an Ohio State team who would be no worse than a four or five seed in the NCAA tournament right now.
Indiana and Michigan play two times this year, that's the good thing. Indiana reminded me why I loved them all along; they are a pretty complete team and nobody in the league has a Victor Oladipo.
One more point before getting on with it; it will be interesting to see how many road wins come at Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. So far out of that group of six teams, there have been zero road wins. What would the over/under be? 4.5? 5.5? Those will be rare. Minnesota has the best road win so far, beating down the Illini last week and Indiana has a win at Iowa.
1. Indiana 15-1 (3-0): 52 points in the first half against Minnesota, who I still think is the best defensive team in the league and one of the best in the nation, was a thing of beauty.
2. Michigan 16-1 (3-1): Second by a hair, but still one of the five best teams in the nation.
3. Minnesota 15-2 (3-1): Showed a great deal of intestinal fortitude coming back to make a game of it at Indiana. They were a defensive rebound away from having a shot to tie the game in the waning seconds.
4. Michigan State 14-3 (3-1): They are not pretty to watch but are getting things done. As long as the Big Ten allows clutching, grabbing and body blocks, the Spartans will win games this year.
5. Ohio State 13-3 (3-1): This is the part of the list where I need to remind myself that college basketball is not like college football. Yes, I recall Illinois smoking Ohio State in Assembly Hall. But laying an egg on the road is this league is not like losing to someone in football and pretty much forcing yourself to rank that team below the victor for most of the year. On a neutral court, I like Ohio State over Illinois more than five times an their home win against Michigan is a nice feather in their cap and the first win on their resume that gets my attention.
6. Wisconsin 12-4 (3-0): I am not a believer in the Badgers but their beat down of Illinois lands them at 6th. As always, winning in the Kohl Center will be tough to do.
7. Illinois 14-4 (1-3): No team is falling faster than Illinois. In their last nine games they are just 47 of 184 from three-point range, or 25%. They are 23-91 from three in Big Ten play, which is also 25%. Three-point shots are their bread and butter as 39% of their shot attempts in their four Big Ten games are from beyond the arc, which is on par with their shot distribution for the season. They also had just two assists against Wisconsin on Saturday. For the Illini, it's either a three or a drive to the hoop and as of late nothing is working. They are at Northwestern and host Nebraska in their next two games so they have a chance to get healthy.
8. Iowa 12-5 (1-3): Iowa overall record and Big Ten record are exactly what I picked for them in October, although I had them beating Michigan State and losing at Northwestern. In the second half against Northwestern, Iowa was 19-35 from the floor and scored 45 points. That's their best half of offensive basketball since late December. They needed something like that after the confidence shaking 0-3 start to three ranked teams. Iowa has a chance to move up in this ranking as they host Wisconsin on Saturday, their only game this week.
9. Purdue 8-8 (2-2): Scrappy. That's about all I can come up with. OK, how about gritty? Ugly? But just enough of all of those things to be a thorn in your side when they host you in Mackey Arena.
10. Nebraska 9-9 (0-4): In their last three games against Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, they've forced their opponent to play their style of game, which is really ugly and hard to watch. However, it has allowed them to be competitive in each of those three games. If Nebrasketball is code for 'Ugly Stick Ball', at least for now but it's about all they can do as they rebuild the program.
11. Northwestern 10-7 (1-3): They are bad. No inside game to speak of combined with guards who aren't the most gifted off the dribble. The loss of Drew Crawford has really taken away their ability to realistically challenge anyone other than Penn State (who they beat by 16 in Happy Valley on 1/10) and Nebraska.
12. Penn State 8-8 (0-4): They lost to Northwestern at home by 16.
Michigan was down by 21 points in the first half and came back to have a shot to win the game. Trey Burke missed a three-point shot that was halfway down the bucket with :17 seconds left with Michigan trailing by two. So the Hoosiers looked great at home against a very good team and Michigan proved mortal on the road against an Ohio State team who would be no worse than a four or five seed in the NCAA tournament right now.
Indiana and Michigan play two times this year, that's the good thing. Indiana reminded me why I loved them all along; they are a pretty complete team and nobody in the league has a Victor Oladipo.
One more point before getting on with it; it will be interesting to see how many road wins come at Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. So far out of that group of six teams, there have been zero road wins. What would the over/under be? 4.5? 5.5? Those will be rare. Minnesota has the best road win so far, beating down the Illini last week and Indiana has a win at Iowa.
1. Indiana 15-1 (3-0): 52 points in the first half against Minnesota, who I still think is the best defensive team in the league and one of the best in the nation, was a thing of beauty.
2. Michigan 16-1 (3-1): Second by a hair, but still one of the five best teams in the nation.
3. Minnesota 15-2 (3-1): Showed a great deal of intestinal fortitude coming back to make a game of it at Indiana. They were a defensive rebound away from having a shot to tie the game in the waning seconds.
4. Michigan State 14-3 (3-1): They are not pretty to watch but are getting things done. As long as the Big Ten allows clutching, grabbing and body blocks, the Spartans will win games this year.
5. Ohio State 13-3 (3-1): This is the part of the list where I need to remind myself that college basketball is not like college football. Yes, I recall Illinois smoking Ohio State in Assembly Hall. But laying an egg on the road is this league is not like losing to someone in football and pretty much forcing yourself to rank that team below the victor for most of the year. On a neutral court, I like Ohio State over Illinois more than five times an their home win against Michigan is a nice feather in their cap and the first win on their resume that gets my attention.
6. Wisconsin 12-4 (3-0): I am not a believer in the Badgers but their beat down of Illinois lands them at 6th. As always, winning in the Kohl Center will be tough to do.
7. Illinois 14-4 (1-3): No team is falling faster than Illinois. In their last nine games they are just 47 of 184 from three-point range, or 25%. They are 23-91 from three in Big Ten play, which is also 25%. Three-point shots are their bread and butter as 39% of their shot attempts in their four Big Ten games are from beyond the arc, which is on par with their shot distribution for the season. They also had just two assists against Wisconsin on Saturday. For the Illini, it's either a three or a drive to the hoop and as of late nothing is working. They are at Northwestern and host Nebraska in their next two games so they have a chance to get healthy.
8. Iowa 12-5 (1-3): Iowa overall record and Big Ten record are exactly what I picked for them in October, although I had them beating Michigan State and losing at Northwestern. In the second half against Northwestern, Iowa was 19-35 from the floor and scored 45 points. That's their best half of offensive basketball since late December. They needed something like that after the confidence shaking 0-3 start to three ranked teams. Iowa has a chance to move up in this ranking as they host Wisconsin on Saturday, their only game this week.
9. Purdue 8-8 (2-2): Scrappy. That's about all I can come up with. OK, how about gritty? Ugly? But just enough of all of those things to be a thorn in your side when they host you in Mackey Arena.
10. Nebraska 9-9 (0-4): In their last three games against Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, they've forced their opponent to play their style of game, which is really ugly and hard to watch. However, it has allowed them to be competitive in each of those three games. If Nebrasketball is code for 'Ugly Stick Ball', at least for now but it's about all they can do as they rebuild the program.
11. Northwestern 10-7 (1-3): They are bad. No inside game to speak of combined with guards who aren't the most gifted off the dribble. The loss of Drew Crawford has really taken away their ability to realistically challenge anyone other than Penn State (who they beat by 16 in Happy Valley on 1/10) and Nebraska.
12. Penn State 8-8 (0-4): They lost to Northwestern at home by 16.
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