![]() The Spartans nearly took down Purdue, but Zach Edey was too much to overcome, as he went for 32 points in the contest. Can the Illini give Purdue and Rutgers a run at a title? Only time will tell! 4: Michigan State Spartans They have won four in a row, beating Wisconsin and Michigan State along the way, and seem to be clicking on all cylinders. Illinois has nicely recovered from their 0-3 conference start, and is looking exactly like we expected at the beginning of the season. Let’s see if this year’s version can avoid a losing streak in the middle of conference play and actually contend for a title. In years past, this hot start is followed by a lull in the middle of the conference schedule which forces the Knights to win a bunch at the end of conference play. At 5-2 in conference play, they’re behind only Purdue in the standings and hold a half game lead over the next team. The Scarlet Knights are doing that thing where they get off to a hot start to get everyone’s attention. Now, you have a group that was supposed to be in a rebuilding year, ready to lock up at least a share of a conference title, and have no worse than a No. Funny how life works, what most thought was the best Purdue team in recent memory last season ended up not winning the Big Ten, and not making it past the Sweet Sixteen. The Boilers keep rolling along, with the last second loss to Rutgers being their only bump on the road to a Big Ten title. Yet, 3rd through 13th place is all decided by a single game. And Minnesota won that game on the road.Īs a result, you have Purdue with a game lead on the second place team in the conference, and a two game lead on everyone else. Ohio State lost to Minnesota last week, a team that didn’t show any signs of life in all of Big Ten play (with the exception of Wisconsin). This was one of the toughest games remaining on their schedule. Against Michigan State, the Boilers escaped with a win on a herculean effort by Zach Edey. A win there and I feel good about a manageable home stretch. 1 team in the country in a hostile environment, so all eyes go to that critical Nebraska game. But to keep that going, they’ll need to do something they haven’t done since before Christmas: win on the road. They’ll play the suddenly surging Hoosiers in a couple weeks.Īs for our Lions, keep treading water. Northwestern is the tough team for me to rank - they’ve played well out of the Covid shutdown and their schedule is more favorable than most as they only play Purdue once (at home) and have already secured a road win at Indiana. Let’s see how they fare in their two-game road swing coming up (ideally, they get a split between Purdue-Nebraska). Speaking of Penn State: I’ve moved them up to seventh just behind Sparty. I guess getting waxed at Penn State was the wake-up call the Hoosiers needed, after all. 3 as they are red-hot on a five-game win streak. ![]() 2 spot while Indiana is right behind them at No. No change at the top (Purdue) or the bottom three (Ohio State, Nebraska, and Minnesota) for me, but I am going to reward Northwestern with the No.
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