Big Ten Breakdown Halfway Point

We are now at the halfway point of the Big Ten season so lets recap and look forward to the second half.

Standings

Michigan State 7-2
Purdue 6-2
Minnesota 6-3
Illinois 6-3
Penn State 6-3
Ohio State 5-4
Northwestern 4-5
Michigan 4-6
Wisconsin 3-6
Iowa 2-7
Indiana 0-8

Michigan State

MSU is undefeated on the road in the Big Ten, but have lost to Northwestern and Penn State at home. The Penn State game should not have even been as close as the 72-68 final. They just got lucky that PSU decided to channel last year's Illinois team and shoot like crap from the free throw line.
I still believe that MSU will end up winning the Big Ten title. The only thing that could stop them is if Raymar Morgan is still out with walking Pneumonia. With him back and healthy, MSU has too much depth and talent at every position. Maybe Purdue could overtake them, one reason that they could drop from the top spot is that they are obviously not as dominant at home.

Remaining Schedule:
Minnesota and Indiana @ Home, @ Michigan, @Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa @ Home, @ Illinois, @ Indiana, Purdue @ Home.

The only 3 games that I think they can lose are @ Purdue, Illinois and Purdue at home.

Final record: 14-4

Purdue

PU lost their first 2 Big Ten games and have now rattled off 6 straight. That was during an easier stretch in their schedule though. None of their players are over achieving, yet none of them other than Keaton Grant are under achieving. Grant is pretty consistent, but I expected more. I don't think that they will be able to beat MSU because I feel that MSU is much bigger and more athletic. That still means that they will hang on to the second spot in the Big Ten.

Remaining Schedule:
Not easy. MSU twice, OSU twice, @ Illinois, @ Michigan. Only three wins that should be automatic and that is Iowa, Northwestern and Indiana. Should win against Michigan and OSU at home. So they should be at least 11-7. I think they might steal 1 or 2 games more.

Final Record: 13-5

Minnesota

I have been bashing them all year, and even though they beat the hell out of Illinois at home, I am still going to bash them a little. So far they have beaten the 3 worst teams in the Big Ten on the road. So you know what that means? They are going to get tested on the road big time!! I was impressed with how well Minnesota played defense and how their bigs shot free throws, and that was it. Illinois lost that game by shooting terrible, not by anything that Minnesota was doing to them. On the road so far they almost and should have lost to Iowa, beat Wisconsin in overtime, which is not as good of a win in hindsight, and got their asses kicked at Northwestern. If you are a Minnesota fan what gives you any confidence that they can win @ MSU, OSU, Penn State, Illinois or Michigan? They luck out that they don't have to go to Purdue. Now if they can win 3 or 4 of these road games then I will be impressed.

Remaining Schedule: Home games against Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Michigan. They should and probably will wins these games, because they do play good at home, but on the road I think they maybe win @ Michigan if they are shooting bad. They could also beat OSU since it seems as though Lighty will not be back anytime soon.

Final Record: 11-7

Illinois

The Illini kinda bounced back from getting their asses kicked at Minnesota by beating Iowa at home. I think that Illinois is starting to hit a bit of a wall, which is not a good thing right now. They need at least 2 out of McCamey, Davis, Meacham or Legion to start shooting the ball better or their great start could go to crap. The bright spot is that Tisdale has played decent against some of the bigger Big Ten post men, and Keller is starting to get comfortable in the offense. Their defense will always be there so as long as they don't collectively lay another egg like Minny, they should have a good shot in all of their games.

Remaining Schedule:
Not Pretty. @ Wisconsin after Wisco has lost their last 6, then Purdue at Home. Back to Back road games @ Northwestern and Indiana, finish with Penn State twice, MSU and Minny at home, and OSU on the road. None of the road games are gonna be easy, and that includes Indiana. Not sure if Illinois can beat MSU at home, but I do think they can take Minny and PSU. This week will tell a lot, because Illinois really needs to bounce back from a sub par 2 games. They can win both of these games, but also very easily lose to both Wisconsin and Purdue. Lighty will not be a factor against OSU, so that is a game we can steal.

Final Record: 12-6

Penn State

Talor Battle has solidified the fact that he is the best scorer in the Big Ten, having dropped 20 and 26 against MSU and 21 on Purdue. Cornely is a beast, and until Sunday, everyone wanted to know if they can win on the road in the Big Ten. Well they beat MSU on the road, so they have proven that they can beat anyone. 5 of their wins have been by 4 points or less. You can look at that as either they are barely winning, or they know how to close out tough games. The only bad loss was @ Minnesota by 20. They do have a lot of tough games left, but I think the confidence that they have gained after the MSU game will help them to the Tournament, and possibly a top 3 finish. What surprises me is that they are not a great defensive team. They are 6th in scoring average, and they don't cause a lot of turnovers. They are 3rd in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding which is shocking considering their lack of size. Like I said, Cornley is a beast. Right now I would give Penn State the best backcourt in the Big Ten with Battle and Pringle.

Schedule remaining:
Illinois twice, @ Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State and Iowa. Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota at home.

Final Record: 12-6

Ohio State

OSU could have been really good with David Lighty. Now there are rumors that he might shut it down and look for a medical redshirt. Even if he does come back, it won't be until at least March since he hasn't really started any rehab yet, so he will not be in any shape to play significant minutes. William Buford is getting better, and Evan Turner is really good. Diebler is a glorified Trent Meacham, except he can't defend a quick guard, and you all know how I feel about the premature ejaculation that is known as BJ Mullins. Their 5 wins are Indiana twice, Michigan twice and Iowa at home by 3. Nothing that I have seen from them makes me think that they will do anything in the second half of the Big Ten. Their only saving grace is that they only play Wisconsin and PSU once.

Schedule Remaining:
@ Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Iowa and at home against Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, and Northwestern

Final Record: 9-9 maybe 10-8

Northwestern

Northwestern slows games down with their 1-2-2/ 1-3-1 half court trap, and they lull you to sleep on offense and cut back door all game long. The difference between this team and the Northwestern of the past is that they can actually shoot the ball from outside. Craig Moore has been really good from 3, and Kevin Coble is good for at least 2 ridiculous shots a game. They are playing with a ton of confidence, and their system makes up for their lack of athleticism. At the start of Big Ten play I thought these geeks would only win 5 games, now they look like they could pull off at least a few more than that. It has to piss off Northwestern that pretty much every home game is split 50/50 between the fans. There are so many alumni of each school in Chicago that instead of going to your Alma Mater to watch a game, you can just hop the El to Evanston. The bitch of it is, is that the tickets are cheaper and you will get much better seats.

Schedule Remaining:
5 road games hurts, but they will win @ Indiana. Other than Indiana, they have @ Minnesota, Iowa, Purdue, and Ohio State. They have Illinois, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State at home. 4 out of last 5 games are on the road which hurts them. Even though they won at MSU, they also lost @ Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Final Record: 8-10

Michigan

I already predicted that Michigan would fall apart because of their crap offense. On a side note, I thought that it was strange that little d-bag Zach Novak went crazy after he got cut by Alex Legion when they accidentally bumped heads. He looked like he wanted to run out on the floor and try to choke Alex out, even though he is a fluffy little white guy, and Legion is a 6 foot 5 black guy from Detroit. Now I understand why he was so upset. This kid is a psychopath!! If you did not see the elbow that he landed on PJ Hill during a rebound on a free throw, you missed one of the most blatant fouls I have seen. He is now serving a one-game suspension. I am looking forward to watching him lose his mind the next 3 years, because playing for Michigan is like riding a horrible roller coaster next to a fat guy who smells like week old nacho cheese. They might beat people at home if they can actually hit 35% of the 70 3's they shoot a game. On the road they will suck like normal. They are 1-4 on the road in the Big Ten and here is their 3 point shooting in those road games.

Indiana 12-40
Illinois 7-26
Penn State 5-30
Ohio State 7-26
Purdue 6-23

That is 37-145, John Beilein is by far the worst coach in the Big Ten, your system does not work!! Every other coach game plans to figure out how to win every game. Beilein wakes up every morning and prays that his team can get hot and maybe steal a game (Duke and UCLA). Not what you want in a Division 1 head coach. Michigan has the worst 3 point % in the Big Ten, yet they lead the league in attempts by 103 and they lead the league in makes by 4! 582 of their 1237 shots are 3's. Deshawn Sims is dying in Ann Arbor! It still kills me that Illinois lost to this garbage team. Also if you are a betting man (which at least 2 out of our 3 readers are), Michigan beat Indiana on the road in overtime, their 4 road losses have been by 15, 15, 18, and 18. If the spread is close with them on the road, take the home team.

Remaining Schedule:
Penn State, Michigan State, Minnesota and Purdue @ Home. Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota on the road. They might win one, possibly 2 games at home, and maybe one on the road.

Final Record: 7-11

Wisconsin

I wrote before that I really couldn't fathom that Wisconsin would lose 4 in row before they played Illinois on the road. Well, know I can't fathom 7 in a row with them playing Illinois at home. The only game they weren't in was at Purdue, their other 5 loses have been 2 in overtime, 1 point loss to Purdue, 3 point loss at Northwestern, and a 7 point loss at Illinois. This team just chokes down the stretch, Landry has not improved since last year, Hughes has not improved, and I think Jason Bohannon has a running bet going with Trent Meacham to see who can play worse in big games. Krabbenhoft is the exact same player he was a year ago, and should have joined his buddy Zach Novak on the All Big Ten Suspension team after he fore-armed Lewis Jackson on a blind screen. Here it is, watch his left arm follow through on Jackson's chin. Bull Shit!!



Not sure if Wisconsin can bounce back after losing 6 straight. It is safe to say that teams don't fear playing them anymore. They are out of the NCAA Tournament for sure and if they don't get their act together soon, they can kiss the NIT goodbye. Lets just hope that they get it figured out after they play Illinois on Thursday.

Remaining Schedule:
@ Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State and Minnesota. Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Indiana at home.

Final Record: 8-10 (and this is very generous)

Iowa

I was actually a little surprised by how well they played at Illinois, at least in the first half. They are a tough team, but they just don't have the talent and experience right now to win any big games. They might surprise somebody at home, but other than that I don't see them accomplishing anything but getting their young team some experience. With Cyrus Tate back, they will beat somebody they are not supposed to at home.

Remaining Schedule:
@ Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern. Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State at Home.

Final Record: 4-14

Indiana

I used to think 40 minutes of hell refered to teams like Mizzou and Clemson that press all game long and want to run you out of the gym. I think it should now refer to having to watch an entire Indiana game.
They actually are starting to play teams a little tighter, but that's not because they are really getting that much better, its because it takes teams until the second TV timeout to get off the bus. Nothing about this team tells me that they will win a game. Even Iowa will come in and play hard to get a win, and everyone else is fighting for a post-season tournament so they can't afford to shit the bed against Indiana. I think that Indiana's real punishment from the NCAA was that they can't win any games in the Big Ten. It is absolute bull shit that the NCAA figured that the program had enough damage done to it and didn't give them any other penalties, so I will enjoy the win-less season almost as much as I enjoyed Illinois' Final Four run in 2005.

Remaining Schedule:
Who cares, they will lose anyway

Final Record: 0-18

Final Standings

Michigan State 14-4
Purdue 13-5
Penn State 12-6
Illinois 12-6
Minnesota 11-7
Ohio State 10-8
Northwestern 8-10
Wisconsin 8-10
Michigan 7-11
Iowa 4-14
Indiana 0-18