legelsegel
Well-Known Member
| Big Ten Conference |
| Locks: Michigan, Michigan State Teams that should be in: Wisconsin, Ohio State Work left to do: Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana  We often hear conferences described as either "top heavy"or "deep" but never anything about the in-between. I'm not sure what you'd call the 2013-14 Big Ten, in which an injury-pocked Michigan State team and a struggling Michigan squad with a great resume sit atop a league with so many maybes. Thick through the middle? Actually, don't answer that.Wisconsin [19-5 (6-5), RPI: 7, SOS: 3] News flash: The Badgers are going to get into the NCAA tournament. For all of the Sturm und Drang about the Badgers' January struggles, the worst loss Wisconsin suffered in that stretch was a home defeat to Northwestern, which is still (barely) a top-100 RPI team. Meanwhile, Wisconsin still has wins over top-50 RPI teams Florida, Saint Louis, Virginia (on the road), Iowa and Michigan State, not to mention top-10 numbers in every major selection category. We'll play it safe on locking them in for now, but that's just caution. Ohio State [19-5 (6-5), RPI: 15, SOS: 9] The Buckeyes might be turning things around. They, like Wisconsin, had a bad January. They beat Nebraska but lost to Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Penn State. Fortunately for Thad Matta, he scheduled a non-conference slate with more than its fair share of top-100 games, including a victory over North Dakota State (No. 49) that looks better now than it did at the time. Iowa [18-6 (7-4), RPI: 32, SOS: 52] Iowa's profile could -- maybe should -- be a lot better. The Hawkeyes lost by five points to Villanova in overtime, at Iowa State by three and at Wisconsin by four (after that famous Fran McCaffery blowup). They've squandered a lot of opportunities, is the point. And yet they're still something like a No. 4 or a No. 5 seed in the tournament at this point (Joe Lunardi has them at No. 4), coming off a blowout win over Michigan. If they avoid losses at Penn State and Indiana in the coming week, they'll be totally fine. Minnesota [16-8 (5-6), RPI: 39, SOS: 4] Minnesota has a couple of decent wins on its ledger, but the biggest factor in its favor is its strength of schedule, which is the fourth-best in the country, according to the RPI. Minnesota's numbers are all pretty solid -- a top-40 rank, a top-20 nonconference schedule -- and a couple of key wins over destined bubblers Florida State and Indiana won't hurt. Games at Wisconsin and Northwestern are on deck. Indiana [14-9 (4-6), RPI: 75, SOS: 76] Who knows? The Hoosiers have lost to Northwestern and beaten Michigan and Wisconsin on the same floor (their own). They took Michigan State to the wire in East Lansing, Mich., and lost at Nebraska nine days later. It's a talented, young, frustrating and inconsistent team, and one with a ton of work to do to make up for the fact that its best nonconference win (in a weak schedule) came against Washington. Oof. |
