Big 10 Rankings and Weekend Games Discussion

[bac2therac]

1. Wisconsin
2. Maryland
3. Purdue
4. Northwestern
5. Michigan State
6. Indiana
7. Minnesota
8. Nebraska
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Ohio State
12. Michigan
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers


Nebraska at Rutgers
Penn State at Purdue
Illinois at Michigan
Michigan State at Indiana
Wisconsin at Minnesota
Northwestern at Ohio State

To me even with the league standings really close I am starting to see some seperation. I think the top 6 in this group are your NCAA likelys. Then you have a group of 6...who have NCAA aspirations..some more than others and all with work to do. Then you have the two bottom feeders, Illinois and Rutgers.

This weekend is an important one. For schools like Nebby, winning at Rutgers is mandatory. Michigan needs that win over Illinois. Minnesota has an opportunity for a feather in their cap win if they can beat Wisconsin. Can OSU keep the momentum going or does Northwestern continue to bolster their resume. Will Indiana finally reassert themselves and what does an up and down MSU do? PSU needs an upset over Purdue to keep any NCAA hopes alive

 

[RU-ROCS]

1. Wisconsin
2. Maryland
3. Purdue
4. Northwestern
5. Michigan State
6. Indiana
7. Minnesota
8. Nebraska
9. Iowa
10. Penn State
11. Ohio State
12. Michigan
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers

I guess the silver lining for RU is that we still have 4 home games left v. the bottom 7: UN, UM, UI and Iowa and road games at PSU and OSU.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Seems like every year our schedule is front loaded. When we finally have our winnable games we are 0-whatever.

 

[bac2therac]

Rutgers 66 Nebraska 65

Purdue 77 Penn State 52

Michigan 66 Illiniois 57

Minny and Wisky in a tight battle in the 2nd half while Indiana is up double digits on MSU late in the 2nd

 

[bac2therac]

Down goes Sparty. Indiana now 4-3 in league after their rough start.

Minny and Wisconsin went to overtime in a great slugfest with Wisky coming out on top by 2, big win for them on the road and a big missed opportunity for the Gophers

 

[OntheBanks]

I guess the silver lining for RU is that we still have 4 home games left v. the bottom 7: UN, UM, UI and Iowa and road games at PSU and OSU.

I like our chances in the remaining games except Wisc & Md.

 

[bac2therac]

add Purdue to that list....they will beat us by at least 20, its a real bad matchup especially at their place but the other games in theory all at least provide opportunities to compete for wins

 

[RU-ROCS]

I like our chances in the remaining games except Wisc & Md.

I agree they should be competitive, but I would not predict wins in each.

 

[FastMJ]

Sorry if this sounds dickish bac, but am I the only one here that can't stand those stupid nicknames Nebby and Wisky? Those names sound so freaking stupid when I read them.

 

[bac2therac]

Dont read it then..its a way for me to do a quicker post

 

[FastMJ]

Dont read it then..its a way for me to do a quicker post

How about Neb and Wisc? even less characters to type

 

[TDIrish27]

Good road win for NW in Columbus-------16-4 Wildcats likely 5-6 wins from dancing for the first time.

 

[bac2therac]

Northwestern now 5-2 in league and now has 4 road conference wins. Road wins against top 100 opponents are huge for the selection committee and they also have 4 of those. They are 2-4 vs top 50 and 4-4 vs top 100 which is very solid right now, no bad losses either. Very much on course for their first NCAA appearance

 

[pawildcat]

Northwestern now 5-2 in league and now has 4 road conference wins. Road wins against top 100 opponents are huge for the selection committee and they also have 4 of those. They are 2-4 vs top 50 and 4-4 vs top 100 which is very solid right now, no bad losses either. Very much on course for their first NCAA appearance

As a Northwestern fan, I hope we can do it. But our remaining 11 conference games include two with Purdue, two with Indiana, Wisconsin, Maryland and two with Illinois (not good this year, but it's a rivalry game that's usually hard-fought), so wins to get to 21-22 for the season will not be easy to come by. Hope Rutgers picks up a couple more this season.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Thu Jan 26 87 Nebraska W, 73-63 65 84% Home ×
Sun Jan 29 30 Indiana W, 76-72 65 63% Home ×
Wed Feb 1 12 Purdue L, 75-67 67 24% Away ×
Tue Feb 7 72 Illinois W, 73-64 64 81% Home ×
Sun Feb 12 10 Wisconsin L, 69-61 61 24% Away ×
Wed Feb 15 44 Maryland W, 71-65 66 72% Home ×
Sat Feb 18 134 Rutgers W, 73-58 65 90% Home ×
Tue Feb 21 72 Illinois W, 69-67 64 57% Away ×
Sat Feb 25 30 Indiana L, 76-72 65 36% Away ×
Wed Mar 1 43 Michigan W, 70-64 59 71% Home ×
Sat Mar 4 12 Purdue L, 72-71 67 49% Home ×
Projected record: 23-8 12-6

the key here is to win the TCB games.....NEB, Ill, RU (3)

then there is enough out of bunch below to win (2 or 3)
IND, MD, @ILL, PUR, Mich

one of these is likely (1)
@PUR, @WIS, @Ind,

I'd think/hope 22 wins allows you to go to DC and not have to worry about winning a game.

 

[RUJMM78]

Northwestern now 5-2 in league and now has 4 road conference wins. Road wins against top 100 opponents are huge for the selection committee and they also have 4 of those. They are 2-4 vs top 50 and 4-4 vs top 100 which is very solid right now, no bad losses either. Very much on course for their first NCAA appearance

Collins is a very good head coach with quality experience as an assistant at Duke.Northwestern looks like they will finally get an NCAA bid .Hopefully, Rutgers will be the next school to break the long wait .

 

[bac2therac]

As a Northwestern fan, I hope we can do it. But our remaining 11 conference games include two with Purdue, two with Indiana, Wisconsin, Maryland and two with Illinois (not good this year, but it's a rivalry game that's usually hard-fought), so wins to get to 21-22 for the season will not be easy to come by. Hope Rutgers picks up a couple more this season.

I think they are a lock if they go 6-5 the rest of the way, that gets you to 11-7 in league and all the rpi numbers will be excellent. You guys have played 5 road games and only 2 home games so thats a big advantage. I think 5 wins and you should be fine actually. You will probably need to win one of those Indiana/Purdue or take down Maryland but Im expecting you guys to do just that

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I'll be very interesting to see this weeks rankings...there has to be a lot of movement. nebraska with a 4 game losing streak topped off by losing to #14 has to send them crashing down. I am thinking PSU takes a move in to the 11-13 area with a blowout loss.

 

[badger74]

How about Neb and Wisc? even less characters to type

How about just UW. That's what we all call it. Only UW in BIG.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Michigan State 12-8 with a huge game against Purdue. A loss here and they have a ton of work to do to make the tournament.

 

[bac2therac]

the nitty gritty numbers are pretty solid for MSU. This is one of the few schools that will be able to sustain 12-13 losses and still get in. The SOS is 14. 2-4 vs top 25, 3-4 vs top 50, 5-7 vs top 100. They do have a bad loss at Northeastern, their next 5 after Purdue is the soft part of their schedule where they should go 4-1 if they are a legit team. Obviously tonight would be a giant victory for them making them feel safer but I would be shocked if they dont get in this year.

 

[bac2therac]

My updated rankings

1. Wisconsin
2. Maryland
3. Purdue
4. Northwestern
5. Indiana
6. Michigan State
7. Minnesota
8. Michigan
9. Nebraska
10. Iowa
11. Ohio State
12. Penn State
13. Illinois
14. Rutgers

the good news for Rutgers is that it has 7 games against schools 7-13, 4 of them at home. Bad news is besides the Illinois RU will be Vegas dogs in all of them (Iowa will be -2)

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Tue Jan 24 12 Purdue L, 72-69 68 37% Home ×
Sun Jan 29 43 Michigan W, 68-65 61 62% Home ×
Thu Feb 2 87 Nebraska W, 68-67 67 52% Away ×
Tue Feb 7 43 Michigan L, 68-64 61 35% Away ×
Sat Feb 11 91 Iowa W, 79-71 71 78% Home ×
Tue Feb 14 57 Ohio St. W, 72-66 68 68% Home ×
Sat Feb 18 12 Purdue L, 76-65 68 15% Away ×
Thu Feb 23 87 Nebraska W, 71-63 67 77% Home ×
Sat Feb 25 10 Wisconsin L, 66-63 62 38% Home ×
Wed Mar 1 71 Illinois L, 68-67 66 46% Away ×
Sun Mar 5 44 Maryland L, 69-65 67 35% Away ×
Projected record: 17-14 9-9

That is not an easy schedule the rest of the way. Can't see them doing better than 3-2 with their last 5 games. Prepare to be shocked. GRF odds 55/45 they get in.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

My updated rankings


the good news for Rutgers is that it has 7 games against schools 7-13, 4 of them at home. Bad news is besides the Illinois RU will be Vegas dogs in all of them (Iowa will be -2)

Tue Jan 24 44 Maryland L, 72-60 68 14% Away × +12
Sat Jan 28 10 Wisconsin L, 69-57 63 13% Semi-Home × +12
Tue Jan 31 91 Iowa W, 74-73 72 52% Home ×-1
Sat Feb 4 79 Penn St. L, 71-63 72 25% Away × +8
Wed Feb 8 57 Ohio St. L, 72-63 68 19% Away × +9
Sat Feb 11 38 Minnesota L, 67-61 69 30% Home × +6
Tue Feb 14 12 Purdue L, 78-59 69 4% Away × +19
Sat Feb 18 30 Northwestern L, 73-58 65 10% Away × +15
Wed Feb 22 43 Michigan L, 67-63 62 37% Home × +4
Tue Feb 28 44 Maryland L, 68-64 68 35% Home × +4
Sat Mar 4 71 Illinois L, 67-66 67 47% Home ×+1
Projected record: 15-16 4-14

 

[bac2therac]

Tue Jan 24 12 Purdue L, 72-69 68 37% Home ×
Sun Jan 29 43 Michigan W, 68-65 61 62% Home ×
Thu Feb 2 87 Nebraska W, 68-67 67 52% Away ×
Tue Feb 7 43 Michigan L, 68-64 61 35% Away ×
Sat Feb 11 91 Iowa W, 79-71 71 78% Home ×
Tue Feb 14 57 Ohio St. W, 72-66 68 68% Home ×
Sat Feb 18 12 Purdue L, 76-65 68 15% Away ×
Thu Feb 23 87 Nebraska W, 71-63 67 77% Home ×
Sat Feb 25 10 Wisconsin L, 66-63 62 38% Home ×
Wed Mar 1 71 Illinois L, 68-67 66 46% Away ×
Sun Mar 5 44 Maryland L, 69-65 67 35% Away ×
Projected record: 17-14 9-9

That is not an easy schedule the rest of the way. Can't see them doing better than 3-2 with their last 5 games. Prepare to be shocked. GRF odds 55/45 they get in.

well for one, they are not losing at Illinois and they very well likely may beat Purdue tonight or Wisky at home. I think if they get to 18-13/10-8 they will be fine given the landscape of college hoops this year not only nationally but in the Big 10 as well. Losing to both Ohio State and Penn State was troubleseom, although these teams are ranked in the top 100 so not bad losses per se, they were bad losses if you use the eye test

 

[RUJMM78]

Michigan State 12-8 with a huge game against Purdue. A loss here and they have a ton of work to do to make the tournament.

Michigan State doesn't have the resume for a NCAA bid but they have the perception factor which might get them in with less than 20 wins.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

well for one, they are not losing at Illinois and they very well likely may beat Purdue tonight or Wisky at home. I think if they get to 18-13/10-8 they will be fine given the landscape of college hoops this year not only nationally but in the Big 10 as well. Losing to both Ohio State and Penn State was troubleseom, although these teams are ranked in the top 100 so not bad losses per se, they were bad losses if you use the eye test

You would agree 17-14 9-9 would PROBABLY require them making the B1G finals to make tourney 19-15 finish.

 

[shields]

Will BAC pick us to win a game?

 

[bac2therac]

We shall see...i picked them to beat psu...

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

MSU in B1G trouble now.

 

[bac2therac]

Greene...Purdue pulled away to win at MSU..big road win for them. It wasnt close at the end either. You may be proven right about MSU...they had won great game vs RU and wins over Nwstern and Minny but now have settled back.

Meanwhile I think the top 3 in this league are really starting to seperate themselves...Wisky, Purdue, and Maryland

 

[bac2therac]

MSU in B1G trouble now.

I wouldnt say big...they just need to take care of the games they should win...Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State but they will need a big upset win along the way as well which they certainly are capable of

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Don't like the MSU guards. I need to watch more of Purdue. How good are they? How would they stack up to a Kansas, Kentucky, Villanova :angry:

 

[bac2therac]

on their best day they are a final 4 contender but on an off night they could be out in the 2nd round. Getting better as the years goes on, with a guy like Swanigan they are going to be a tough out.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Stick a fork in psu

 

[bac2therac]

yes

 

[bac2therac]

Wisconsin dismantled Penn State 82-55

 

[TDIrish27]

I think Indiana is better than Maryland personally-----we'll see how the rest of the season goes.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I think Indiana is better than Maryland personally-----we'll see how the rest of the season goes.

They may have better players, but I'll take Maryland. They defend MUCH better. With 5 minutes left MD will get stops, Blackmon and company will NOT.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Wisconsin dismantled Penn State 82-55

I fear we are in for a beating on Saturday