Written By Sam Ekstrom
Perhaps at no other time has there been this much parity in the Big Ten. The conference is the biggest it’s ever been with 14 teams but also the least top heavy. With the exception of Wisconsin, who appears to be in their own class, teams 2-14 in the Big Ten appear to be separated by no more than a few possessions. There are no gimmes, and therefore, no upsets.
“I think that's college basketball,” said Gophers head coach Richard Pitino on Jan. 27. “I look around, and I see Duke and Kentucky, maybe Wisconsin, but I see a lot of teams that can beat anybody any given night. Look at us. We could justifiably have a much different record.”
With the 2-7 Gophers now at the mid-way point of their conference season, we take a categorized look at the state of the Big Ten, beginning with No. 14 and working towards No. 1.
THE BOTTOM FEEDER
14. Rutgers (10-12 – 2-7)
Despite having two conference wins – one more than Northwestern – the team that provided the Gophers with its first Big Ten win two weeks ago earns the spot in the cellar. Eddie Jordan’s team has struggled to adjust to the Big Ten as seamlessly as Maryland has, mainly due to a lack of depth. Besides Myles Mack and Kadeem Jack (there’s probably a good nickname to be found in there), the Scarlet Knights have nobody that can score the basketball. They’ve also been sloppy, having the lowest assist-to-turnover ratio in Big Ten play.
“You can’t just come out and say, ‘They didn’t make us turn the ball over,” said Jordan after his team’s loss to Minnesota. “We turned it over 20 times, so if we turn it over half the times ourselves, they still did a good job turning us over.”
Somehow, someway, this team with losses to St. Francis, St. Peters, George Washington and a 26-point offensive output against Virginia actually beat Wisconsin on Jan. 11; though the Badgers were missing Frank Kaminsky. However, the Knights have lost their last five games, including a 28-point drubbing at the hands of winless-at-the-time Penn State. Rutgers could be flirting with a 20-loss season by the time it’s all done.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
13. Northwestern (10-10 – 1-6)
12. Minnesota (13-8 – 2-7)
11. Penn State (14-7 –2-6)
There’s our beloved Gophers, lumped in between two long-time Big Ten basketball laughingstocks. This trio of hard-luck losers proves the equality, depth and (arguable) mediocrity of the conference.
In one corner, you’ve got Northwestern, who lost an overtime game to Michigan State in East Lansing on Jan. 11, and in their last three games lost by two points to Michigan, Ohio State and Maryland, respectively. In the Maryland game, they blew an 11-point lead with under four minutes left.
We’ve written ad nauseam about the Gophers’ struggles in close games, losing six of their seven Big Ten matchups by five points or less.
And in the other corner there’s Penn State, who possesses one of the conference’s top scorers in D.J. Newbill, and who also went 12-1 in the non-conference campaign and beat the likes of Virginia Tech and USC. Then they lost their first six conference games – five of them by single digits – and were the very last Big Ten team to win a conference game.
You expect the Penn States and Northwesterns of the world to be bad, and to some extent, Minnesota, but it’s clear that the difference between the bottom tier and the top tier of the conference is merely a bounce or two in the closing seconds.
“That's what this league is,” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, “and that's why anytime you can win a game by two, you're pretty happy about it.”
THE INJURED
10. Illinois (13-8 – 3-5)
It hasn’t been easy for the Fighting Illini this year with regards to health.
The team lost Tracy Abrams before the season to a torn ACL but remained optimistic. Then they lost Rayvonte Rice to a broken hand. Then Aaron Cosby tore his retina. It got so bad, in fact, that Illinois gave their equipment manager a jersey for their game against Minnesota and told him to suit up.
Rice and Cosby could still return and bolster the Illini. Then head coach John Groce might not be so upset about his team’s offense.
“We’ve got to man up and stick the friggin’ ball in the basket,” said Groce after Illinois’ 38 percent shooting against Minnesota.
THE CORNFIELDS
9. Nebraska (12-8 – 4-4)
8. Iowa (13-7 – 4-3)
For the most part, Nebraska has played the part of a thoroughly average Big Ten team, beating the bad and losing to the good with the one exception being a 2-point win over Michigan State (who is having a down year by their standards).
Iowa came away from emotional wins against Minnesota and Ohio State with a 4-1 Big Ten record, then lost badly to Wisconsin and was nipped by Purdue. The long and the short of it is: Iowa’s not athletic. They play a good half-court game, but when teams get running against the Hawkeyes, they wilt. Just look at how quickly the Gophers erased a 17-point deficit against them, or how the Spartans outscored them by 25 in the second half.
While Iowa’s play might be inconsistent, one thing isn’t: Coach Fran McCaffery is still an angry, angry man.
WHERE DID THEY COME FROM???
7. Purdue (13-8 – 5-3)
Purdue entered the Big Ten season with losses to North Florida and Gardner-Webb on their resume and only one senior who played significant minutes. As much as Minnesota has underachieved with all their senior “leaders,” Purdue has overachieved without much in the way of upperclassmen.
With sound victories over Michigan, Iowa and Indiana, the Boilermakers are eyeing a tournament bid.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
6. Indiana (15-6 – 5-3)
5. Michigan State (14-7 – 5-3)
4. Ohio State (16-5 – 5-3)
Here are the familiar faces Big Ten fans are accustomed to seeing: Tom Crean’s Hoosiers, Tom Izzo’s Spartans and Thad Matta’s Buckeyes.
So what separates Ohio State from the pack? D’Angelo Russell. The 18-year-old phenom has only scored below 20 points three times in Big Ten play. He emerged onto the scene in a big way with a nationally televised 25-point first half against the Gophers and hasn’t slowed down since.
While all three teams in this category are destined for March Madness, Ohio State boasts an NBA-level talent that Indiana and Michigan State don’t possess. But don’t sleep on Sparty, who typically waits until February and March to play its best basketball.
THE OVERACHIEVER
3. Michigan (13-8 – 6-3)
It’s not easy to restock the cupboard every single year. Yet despite losing Trey Burke, Glenn Robinson, Tim Hardaway, Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary over the past two seasons, coach John Beilein has managed to keep his squad in the Big Ten’s upper tier with a fierce defense. The Wolverines are the only team to allow fewer than 60 points per game in Big Ten play and nearly knocked off the powerful Badgers in an overtime thriller.
Unfortunately, they lost NBA talent Caris Levert to a foot injury that could cripple their potential to advance far in the tournament, but a strong defense goes a long ways. Maybe Jim Harbaugh’s presence will inspire the Maize and Blue.
THE NEWCOMER
2. Maryland (18-3 – 6-2)
Here’s a good quote from Richard Pitino that sums up Maryland’s start pretty well.
“'Oh, how is Maryland going to survive in the Big Ten?' One of their assistant coaches had a great line to me. It was the summer. He said, 'Well, it's not like we're coming from the MAC. We're coming from the ACC. I think we'll be alright.'”
And don’t forget Melo Trimble.
THE TOP DOG
1. Wisconsin (18-2 –6-1)
The Badgers finally figured it out: If they spend half the effort on the offensive end as they do the defensive end, they’ll be a national title contender. They’re the No. 1 offense in the Big Ten and the No. 2 defense. Their only loss with Frank Kaminsky in the lineup was against Duke. And they’re deep. They routinely play nine or 10 guys.
For the first time in the Bo Ryan era, watching Wisconsin basketball isn’t painful. It flows like basketball should. Look out for Wisconsin in the Big Dance.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.