We’re once again at a magical time when calendars are flipped, New Year’s balls are held, and conference play takes off by storm. Of course, that’s a great time to check in with the entire league and see what’s going on.
So what’s the biggest problem facing the Big Ten as December draws to a close?
Let’s see.
1. Is this the year of Purdue?
At least four times in the last six years, Purdue has entered January with good reason to want to bring home some hardware in March. The roster is packed with experience and talent, the team is doing well, and Matt Painter is a proven head coach. Impeccable, he’s added a 12-0 record and beaten out a variety of strong opponents, and it’s easy to see why Boilermaker fans are so excited for the coming months.
So, is this the year Purdue finally made it to the Final Four?
Simply put, there are so many reasons to be optimistic and skeptical about this team that it’s hard to know which one right now. , jumping to a 12-0 overall record, including four wins against top 30 teams, including Duke and Gonzaga.
But from a negative perspective, it’s also fair to admit that Purdue has waned a bit in recent weeks. I was lucky. Early wins against Duke and Gonzaga don’t look as good as they did then, either, as the Blue Devils and Bulldogs have been underwhelmed this season. In short, things still look great, but they may not be as good as they used to be.
After all, an interesting story should follow. Don’t be shocked if the boiler stumbles a few times before taking a step.
2. Who is Purdue’s biggest challenger to the Big 10?
This question has changed a lot since the season started, depending on the week you asked it. Illinois looked good early on but has been waning lately, Maryland showed some promise before some failures, and Wisconsin also came up, but its statistical profile Still missing. Indiana was also hyped but has suffered some serious injuries.
So who will challenge the Boilers?
The truth is, so far, quite unclear. The highest rated Big Ten team outside of Purdue is Ohio, but the Buckeyes are slightly (5 spots) ahead of the Hoosiers. Everything seems dark and close now. In fact, KenPom now resides in Maryland, Ohio, Rutgers, Wisconsin both finished the regular season 12-8, and Indiana was a close 11-9. Even one or two results can shake it up.
The safest bets here are probably Ohio and Wisconsin, which have shown a lot of consistency in recent years. Illinois, however, feels overlooked here due to some recent struggles, with the Illini currently trailing 0-2 in the league but having a favorable game in the coming weeks. There will be some
At its simplest, this thing remains wide open. Purdue is clearly the Big Ten favourite, but the margin is small and the situation remains a total mess.
3. Does Zach Edey actually run?
We mentioned Purdue’s fast start above, but the main driver of things was junior big man Zach Eady. Through 11 games of action, Edy is playing at a ridiculously high level. He’s averaging 22.9 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for him, and he’s scored in double figures every game this season. KenPom ranks Edy as the best player in the country.
Clearly, it was quite a run.
But can it catch up?
The honest answers here are mixed. Yes, I doubt Edy can keep up with that figure. The Big Ten are just too good to keep their numbers together (at least partially) against weaker competition, and Edey isn’t going to achieve the same averages in league play.
But Edy is a junior now and used to hold up. He’s clearly the frontrunner for Big 10 Player of the Year, and it’s hard for anyone to pass him. Illinois’ Terrence Shannon and Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson will make some noise, but given the strength of the Purdue team as a whole, which always weighs in on this year’s Player of the Year awards, which one? Neither has shown Eddy’s monster potential this year.
4. Who rises and falls in the middle group of the Big Ten?
Having played only a handful of conference games so far, the Big Ten are now mostly placed in four tiers for NCAA Tournament purposes.
- Tier 1 – Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, Ohio, Wisconsin
- Tier 2 – MichiganNorthwest, Pennsylvania, Rutgers
- Tier 3 – Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska
- Tier 4 – Minnesota
The top tier will likely make the NCAA and will need to completely collapse to miss the field.Second tier has work to do but as long as it handles the business and wins the games it needs it will probably cut After that everyone has a big job to do and it can take multiple marquee messes to make you feel good about things.
The battle between the seven middle-tier teams becomes especially interesting, and classic principles apply. Whoever did the best job defending their home court and winning a winnable road game will rise the most.
- 12/29 – Iowa vs. Nebraska
- 1/1 – Iowa at Penn State University
- 1/3 – Nebraska in Michigan
- 1/4 – Pennsylvania State University in Michigan
- 1/7 – Michigan in Michigan
- 1/8 – Iowa at Rutgers
- 1/11 – Rutgers at Northwestern
- 1/12 – Michigan vs. Iowa
- 1/15 – Northwest Michigan
- 1/18 – Iowa at Northwestern
- 1/19 – Rutgers at Michigan State University
- 1/21 – Nebraska at Penn State University
- 1/24 – Northwest Nebraska
- 1/24 – Pennsylvania State University at Rutgers
- 1/26 – Iowa in Michigan
- 1/29 – Pennsylvania State University, Michigan
- 1/29 – Rutgers in Iowa
These seven teams will be playing 17 games next month, so expect things to get sorted out significantly during that period. The fanbases of these teams should be pretty ready.
5. How much damage does Bottom Feeder do this season?
It’s not a story that grabs national attention, but much of the league’s performance on Selection Sunday is determined by how the Big Ten’s best teams perform against their worst. . The Rutgers qualified for the starting 4th place as they lost to Maryland, Minnesota and Northwestern, while Michigan narrowly avoided the cutoff as the Wolverines avoided repeated failures against lower-ranked Big Ten teams.
So how much damage will bottom feeders do this year?
The first thing to recognize is that Minnesota is currently the only true bottom feeder of the Big Ten. Teams like Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska show weakness, but Minnesota is the only team that is objectively terrible. By way of overview, 13 of the league’s 14 teams are ranked 89th or higher in his KenPom. The only exception is the Gophers, who are ranked 197th, which is horribly bad nationally.
This means several things for the Big Ten. First, anyone who wants to make it to the NCAA needs to make sure they don’t lose to Minnesota.All 18 of his remaining Big Ten games in Minnesota (and big ten tournament opener) is a potential restart bomb. It’s a way to lose with 2 OR 3 wins. So let’s be clear, all of these games matter.
Additionally, the absence of other true ‘bottom feeders’ means that we’ll see a lot of competitive games coming from the upper bottoms of the Big Ten. A team like Nebraska can pose a challenge, as Boilermakers fans observed when Purdue played the Huskers earlier this month. This adds a lot of mines to the league’s top teams.
Also, game timing is especially important. If you’re a top team, you want to avoid playing this “upper bottom” in disappointing situations or early on. Nebraska, for example, has some spark, but the Huskers still don’t look like an NCAA team and the team could finish the season by March. You should be hoping for a late-season game that could be.
