Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings - Conference Season #8

It seems that every week in Big Ten play there is an exciting upset and some really close important games.  This week was no different as Minnesota shocked IU.  It's going to be a very interesting final two weeks, and come time for the conference tourney, I think virtually every game from Friday onward will be a toss up.

On to the rankings, where you shouldn't crown IU just yet.



This badger looks even scarier than Bo!

1.   Wisconsin (20-8, 11-4) [Last week's rank: 2]

I mentioned last week that I thought Wisconsin would come from two games back to challenge IU for the regular season title (owning the tiebreaker, too).  The Badgers have lived up to it by destroying Nebraska (you play the games on your schedule, so what if it was a light week?).  They'll probably handle Purdue easily on Sunday, even if one of their best players has to shoot jump shot free throws.  Hey, maybe some Boilers should try that, it couldn't hurt!

2.   Indiana (24-4, 12-3) [Last week's rank: 1]

Go Golden Gophers!  That was a very fun game to watch, and two of IU's final three games will be real tests where they'll have to prove they are worthy of a top NCAA seed. I expect utter failure, of course.

3.   Ohio State (21-7, 11-5) [Last week's rank: 4]

The Buckeyes had a great week beating Michigan State and Northwestern.  They've now won their last three games (which include destroying Minesota) but face a huge test at Indiana on Tuesday.  If they can win that and do well in the conference tourney, I see them moving up majorly in the NCAA seeding, possibly even as a two seed.
 
4.    Michigan State (22-6, 11-4) [Last week's rank: 3]

Sparty had the week off to sulk after losing to OSU last weekend.  Their road only gets rougher as they head to Michigan and then play Wisconsin this week.  Lost those two and they'll be in a lot of trouble, but I'm sure their pedigree will still reward them in late March.

5.   Minnesota (19-9, 7-8) [Last week's rank: 8]

I've ripped the Gophers a lot this season for underperforming, but for one night this week they were my favorite team. Way to pound the Hoosiers! For that, you get a BIG jump in the rankings, even though you're still the same team that lost to Iowa by 21 points.

6.    Michigan (23-5, 10-5) [Last week's rank: 5]

Michigan handled Illinois but then lost to Penn State on the road. Yes, the same Penn State team that hadn't won a Big Ten game this season. Wow, that is pitiful! Michigan has only two wins against a ranked (at that time) opponent in 2013 (Minnesota in January and Ohio State in early February). They may be sliding at the worst time, but hopefully Hardaway, Burke, and Robinson still decide to enter the NBA draft.

7.   Illinois (20-9, 7-8) [Last week's rank: 6]

Illinois was winning at Michigan at halftime, but much like when Purdue was in a similar situation, the wheels fell off in the second half.  This broke their five game winning streak, but the next two games are very winnable for the Illini.  They may be in good shape to make some noise in the Big Ten tournament and upset a team or two in the NCAA Tourney this month.

8.  Iowa (18-10, 7-8) [Last week's rank: 7]

Although they beat Purdue, Iowa had a horrible loss at Nebraska that may have ended their chance for an NCAA bid.  Of course, they could fix that problem by beating IU in Bloomington tonight!  Go Hawkeyes!
 

9.  Purdue (13-15, 6-9) [Last week's rank: 10]

The Boilermakers dismantled a horrible Northwestern team but then couldn't handle Iowa on the road in a game that wasn't that close.  Purdue is still pretty bad (and likely won't win another game this season), but they still benefit from some horrible teams rounding out the bottom of the conference.

10.  Nebraska (13-15, 4-11) [Last week's rank: 11]

With a big win over Iowa, but a horrible loss at Wisconsin, Nebraska proved that they can challenge the mediocre teams in the conference but still have a long way to go to be a viable threat.

11.  Northwestern (13-16, 4-12) [Last week's rank: 9]

The Wildcats are simply horrible after losing a slew of players to injury/suspension this season.  This week they lost to Ohio State and got shockingly crushed by Purdue.

12. Penn State (9-18, 1-14) [Last week's rank: 12]

What a huge week for the Nittany Lions, as they earned their first Big Ten victory against Michigan.  Fans should be celebrating in the streets, although with only one conference win Penn State is still definitely the worst team out there.  At least they aren't the worst Big Ten team ever!

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Basketball Preview: Purdue at Iowa - February 27th - 8:30 pm - BTN

The Boilers head to Iowa City tonight with a potential NCAA Tournament bid on the line.  Sadly, that bid opportunity is for the Hawkeyes, who sit firmly on the bubble with only four games to play in the regular season.  A loss to Purdue would likely cripple Iowa's chances (and they head to IU the following game).

Just last month the Hawkeyes pushed Purdue to overtime before the good guys won by three points.  We were surprised that the Boilers actually pulled victory from the jaws of defeat after seemingly blowing the game late.  Will there be similar excitement and heroics tonight?

This one's for Erik, the only acceptable Emo out there

Why Purdue Will Win
Well, if Purdue can shoot above 50%, dish out 18 assists, and out-rebound the Hawkeyes by 20 like they did this weekend against Northwestern, then they may actually win a Big Ten road game! (wins at Penn State and Nebraska shouldn't really count as road wins since the arenas are mostly empty).  Yes, that's a dig at Iowa who just lost at Nebraska after blowing a 16 point halftime lead.  Seriously though, for Purdue to win they'll likely need AJ Hammons to flip his effort switch back to the "on" position.  He's the clear mismatch for the Hawkeyes and opens up opportunities for Purdue's scorers (even if they only shoot 39% like they did when beating Iowa last time).  Keeping the turnovers in check will also be key, since last time Purdue only gave the ball away seven times.

Why Iowa Will Win
It really depends on which Iowa team shows up - the one that destroyed Minnesota or the one that lost to Nebraska by shooting only 37% from the field?  I expect it to be the former as the Hawkeyes scratch and claw their way to earn an NCAA Tourney bid.  Also, if you look at their record, their only blowout loss was early in the conference season at Michigan.  Otherwise they have played the tough teams well and almost beat Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue on the road, and narrowly losing to IU and MSU at home.  This Iowa team just can't seem to close out games, but otherwise they'd be the biggest surprise of the Big Ten season.  With that added motivation and playing at home I expect them to come out on top.

One thing you absolutely need to know before the game
If you recall Erik's recap after round one, Melsahn Basabe had a beast of a final 10 minutes, leading the Hawkeye charge.  He's definitely a player that is streaky and can either play lights out or disappear completely (as he did in their loss to Nebraska, a virtual nonfactor on offense or defense).  Let's hope he's having a down game and doesn't carry over his enthusiasm playing against the Boilers.  But Purdue also has an inconsistent secret weapon that showed his teeth last time these two teams played - Donnie Hale, who had 12 points and five rebounds while playing 29 minutes.  Hale hasn't logged more than 10 minutes the last two games (after playing closer to 20 minutes per contest prior), so it'll be interesting to see if Coach Painter works him back into the rotation against a team where he had past success.

Our Picks - We like to think we're better than Vegas. So throughout the season, we'll be "betting" a whole dollar amount versus the spread between $1 and $32, but we can't repeat the same value twice. The spread for this game is Iowa by 9 (ouch).


Erik's Bet: $18
Erik's Pick: Purdue 63 - Iowa 62

Kirk's Bet: $3
Kirk's Pick: Iowa 61 - Purdue 55

Standings:
Erik +281 (21-8 Against The Spread)
Kirk -132 (13-16 Against The Spread)

Values already bet
Erik 1-18, 21-32
Kirk 3-32

Boiler Up!

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Basketball Recap: Purdue 74 - Northwestern 43

I'm currently on vacation in Florida for an extended period of time.  The perks of a job that lets me work remotely, a free place to stay thanks to family, and yes I'm rubbing it in for all you suffering through ice and snow up north.  But vacation makes it difficult to follow the Boilers when you don't have a DVR and your schedule is dictated by two kids under four years in age. 

As I parked the minivan and raced inside to catch the start of the game, I knew that I had missed the first few minutes of action, but my jaw literally dropped when I saw I had missed nine minutes of the first half and Purdue was leading by 15 points (22-7).  What bizarro world had I entered driving down the interstate in the land of the geriatric?  Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!



The fans sure didn't turn out for the game, but Terone did

I'll admit, that was a fun game to watch, as Purdue was hitting ridiculous shots that normally wouldn't go in but also playing a complete basketball game for the first time in weeks.  And I only felt a little bad for Northwestern.  Sure, the Wildcats are missing three of their best players and are pretty terrible without them, but Purdue needed this win like Carl needed to kill a gopher.  The twenty or thirty point losses were piling up, and it was starting to feel a bit like this, but then the Boilers go and flip the table to actually BEAT an opponent by more than thirty points.  So how on earth did this happen?

Other than Northwestern being pretty horrible and missing tons of open shots (22% from three, 29% overall), Purdue played for the first time in weeks like they actually cared.  Let me rephrase that: Purdue's veterans played for the first time in weeks like they actually cared.  I don't know what changed with Terone Johnson, but he went off for 22 points, 6 rebounds, and only one turnover while nailing four of his five three-point attempts.  While Terone is the type of player who can carve up bad defenses and less athletic players with his drive and floater, no one expected him to be the team's leading deep threat.

Speaking of deep threats, DJ Byrd finally played a solid game, too.  He tallied 13 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds to go with only one turnover.  While the team as a whole didn't exactly handle the ball well (15 total turnovers), it was nice to see the upper classman "leaders" actually lead and perform well on the court.  If only they could do the same against good teams!

Another senior played better than expected, and that was Sandi Marcius who got the start over AJ Hammons.  Hammons played only 12 minutes, and he did fine scoring six points in that time, but Painter was clearly sending a message (that I'd been begging for) to start the players that actually showed the most effort.  And how can you not love Sandi?  Even though he's clearly not the best big man, he gives 100% every time he's on the court.  In 16 minutes he made a couple baskets, got a few boards, and blocked two shots, and the team did well when he was in.

Ray Davis had a nice game with ten points and seven rebounds (leading the team).  Thanks to the Wildcats' poor shooting and lack of athleticism (or maybe even effort since the game was over early), Purdue out-rebounded them by 20.  People were actually boxing out and crashing the boards, as opposed to previous games where players acted like they were allergic to jumping.  Even the walk-ons got some playing time (since our coach is decent enough to pull his starters when leading by 25+ points with under 10 minutes remaining).

The team that has played like a group of individuals also seemed to gel, making some great passes including 18 assists, the most in a game since losing to Villanova in NYC in the third game of the season.  Maybe a senior player stepped up and gave the team a great pep talk like this after the second IU loss.

Does this mean the Boilers' problems have been fixed?  Hardly, but it's nice to see that this group can remember how to play as a unit, and just maybe that can lead to an exciting upset to end the season.  If not, we should all enjoy this victory (and watch if repeatedly on your DVR if you're lucky enough to have one) since it may be the last this season.

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Basketball Preview: Purdue vs. Northwestern - February 24th - 6:00 pm - BTN

It's been a nice week off for Purdue men's basketball fans, although the women's basketball team did a nice job of filling that disgusting feeling in our stomach with their shocking loss to IU.

In the meantime, GoBoilers.net celebrated another milestone with our 30,000th all-time page view - not too shabby for a blog that's only been around for 11 months and has covered the least exciting year in Purdue sports since 2005-2006!  Thank you so much for all your continued support - we're amazed that people actually care what we think and that our wives let us spend hours and hours doing something that hasn't earn us a dime.  Of course, we're still waiting for that multimillion dollar sponsorship deal to make this thing all pay off, so if you want to pay money to reach a Purdue fanbase that's apparently really interested in what happened to a certain former Boilermaker (we're the number 1 result when you google "Nate Minnoy"!), let us know!  We'll be happy to negotiate down from our initial two million dollar price tag, but make sure your offer is reasonable.  Other payment options include six-packs of good beer and/or an invite to play a really nice golf course.

Seriously though, thanks again for making GoBoilers.net part of your insatiable Purdue appetite.  Now lets celebrate with a win on Sunday!

Which tie-less striped white shirt and dark blazer combo will Bill Carmody show up in tomorrow?

Why Purdue Will Win
Purdue has yet to score more than 68 points in a Big Ten game and has only scored more than 65 once (the 68-61 victory over Illinois).  So Purdue needs to face a team that won't score 66 points.  Luckily for the Boilermakers, Northwestern's coming to town and they've only scored 66 or more 4 times in Big Ten play.  In fact they've only broken the 59-point barrier once in the past 9 games and have lost Jared Swopshire for the season since that game.  Add to the fact the the Wildcats have scored 41 in each of their last two games, and Purdue appears to be facing the right opponent at the right time.

Why Northwestern Will Win
You may remember that one game Northwestern scored more than 59 - it was against Purdue.  Reggie Hearn scored 26 and the Wildcats didn't seem to have any problem dominating the Boilers.  Even without Swopshire, if Hearn can come close to replicating his unbelievable game, Northwestern could pull off the road win.  Northwestern did beat Illinois on the road this year, so there's no reason to think they'll be scared of what promises to be a relatively dull Mackey Arena.

One thing you absolutely need to know before the game 
It's time for me to vent.  Why is Purdue playing a 6:00 pm game on Sunday night?  And why are only 8 Big Ten teams playing this weekend?  I know the first one has to do with TV, but no team should have a weekend off during the regular season.  Weekend games are (1) much easier for out of town fans to get to (increasing ticket sales), (2) limit the amount of time players miss class, and (3) increase revenues at local businesses as people are more likely to hang around campus before and after games.  Meanwhile, all 12 teams played weeknight games from February 12-14. Why couldn't these two groups of games be switched to allow for more weekend games?  I think I'm just pissed that the only Big Ten game to watch on a cold Saturday is Iowa at Nebraska.  That sucks.  Come on Big Ten...Kirk and I will be happy to make your schedule for you.  For free.  And it'll be 10 times better than the current schedule.

Our Picks - We like to think we're better than Vegas.  So throughout the season, we'll be "betting" a whole dollar amount versus the spread between $1 and $32, but we can't repeat the same value twice. The spread for this game is Purdue -6.5.


Erik's Bet: $29
Erik's Pick: Purdue 59 - Northwestern 52

Kirk's Bet: $4
Kirk's Pick: Purdue 61 - Northwestern 57

Standings:
Erik +252 (20-8 Against The Spread)
Kirk -128 (13-15 Against The Spread)

Values already bet
Erik 1-17, 21-32
Kirk 4-32

Boiler Up!

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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings - Conference Season #7

Power rankings suck right now.  The only realistic way IU loses the Big Ten regular season title is if Wisconsin wins out (which is totally possible since three of their final four games are likely wins) and Indiana loses two of its last four.  I don't see any way Michigan State creeps back into the race with their next three games being against ranked opponents (two of which are on the road).

Just two pictures of a couple typical d-bag IU fans

On to the rankings, where I die a lot inside and can't think of a clever literary theme.  Hey, I'm on vacation.

 

1.   Indiana (24-3, 12-2) [Last week's rank: 2]

Crushed Purdue, won at Michigan State

2.   Wisconsin (19-8, 10-4) [Last week's rank: 5]

Absoultely crushed Ohio State and Northwestern

3.   Michigan State (22-5, 11-3) [Last week's rank: 1]

Beat Nebraska, blew it against IU
  
4.   Ohio State (19-7, 9-5) [Last week's rank: 3]

Lost at Wisconsin, crushed Minnesota

5.   Michigan (22-4, 9-4) [Last week's rank: 4]

 

Topped Penn State

6.   Illinois (20-8, 7-7) [Last week's rank: 6]

Won big at Northwestern, but barely beat Penn State at home

7.    Iowa (17-9, 6-7) [Last week's rank: 8]

Huge win against Minnesota

8.    Minnesota (18-9, 6-8) [Last week's rank: 7]

Lopsided losses at Iowa and Ohio State (makes it even more amazing they broke their losing streak by beating Wisconsin)

9.   Northwestern (13-14, 4-10) [Last week's rank: 9]

Lost badly at home to Illinois and Wisconsin.  If not for their win against Purdue they'd be on a seven-game losing streak.

10. Purdue (12-14, 5-8) [Last week's rank: 10]

Destroyed by IU and then had the week to sit and think about how bad they are.  If not for the fortunate scheduling break of a Penn State game, they'd be on a six-game losing streak, so despite how bad Northwestern is looking right now, I still can't move Purdue up a spot, but that could change after this weekend.

11. Nebraska (12-14, 3-10) [Last week's rank: 11]

Lost to MSU

12. Penn State (8-18, 0-14) [Last week's rank: 12]

Lost be single digits at Illinois and Michigan (if that can be seen as a moral victory)

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Basketball Recap: Indiana 83 - Purdue 55

Alright, we've heard all about how horrible that game was on Saturday.  Being the eternal optimist, however, I'd really like to focus on the positives from the game...

1) Christian Watford played so well in the first half and has such an ugly beard that he's caught the attention of Samuel Mullet and his Ohio Amish Beard Cutting cult.  Samuel's in jail for hate crimes right now (yes, apparently cutting a beard off an Amish person is a hate crime), but rumor has it that his new found love for tv has convinced him to organize a beard-cutting crew for Indiana's March 5th game against Ohio State.  While we would never condone a crime here on GoBoilers.net, chopping off Watford's disgusting stringy beard would be a benefit to all mankind.

 
2) Dan Dakich was able to say this awesome line, even though Purdue was down by 30...

"The crowd is chanting 'Ball State's Better.'  Now in football, Ball State IS better than Indiana as they've beaten them two straight times."

Dan and I don't always agree (Illinois is the third best team in the league???), but thanks for sticking up for us!

3)  We've uncovered a scandal!  Indiana Associate Head Coach, Steve McClain, was caught on camera grabbing DJ Byrd's ass late in the first half...

If this was an attempt to distract Byrd into a night in which he committed more combined turnovers and fouls (8) than points (6), it worked well. If you really want to dig further into the potential scandal, ask yourself where Tom Crean's hands are and see if you can figure out what they're doing while McClain grabs DJ's behind.  I mean, isn't the scientifically proven sleaziest coach in the Big Ten ALWAYS clapping his hands???  This is definitely questionable behavior and should be looked into by the Big Ten.

For your enjoyment, here's a picture of Mr. McClain about ten years ago as the coach of Wyoming...

Seriously, this is IU's Associate Head Coach

Clearly, Bloomington is a disturbing place - I mean where else can such an ugly dude like John Mellencamp (who sometimes bears a striking resemblance to Bo Ryan) end up with someone like this...

Yuck

 Honestly, I'm just glad the team got out of that hellish town in one piece.

4) We didn't have to witness another blow-by handshake.

5) Sandi Marcius and Jacob Lawson but some good hustle minutes in on Saturday.  They were rewarded by starting the second half.  Keep it up guys and the minutes will keep coming!  Meanwhile, Travis Carroll got 5 minutes of mop-up time in a 30-point game?  Hmm.

6) Neal Beshears got actual meaningful minutes, as he came in with over 12 minutes to go, down by less than 20.  The Hoosiers went on a huge run to officially seal the game, so I can't say they were great minutes.  Still, nice to see an Indiana walk-on native get rewarded by playing in the state's biggest rivalry.

Remember, it's usually tough to beat a team 3 times in a season, and right now we'd be matched up with the Hoosiers of the second round of the Big Ten Tourney (I'm reaching, but it's all I got!).  The Boilers still have a chance to be spoilers this season as they get a week off to try and figure out how they can compete with the top half of the conference.  Hope you as a fan can enjoy the week off as well - I think everyone needs it.

Boiler Up!

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Basketball Preview: Purdue at Indiana - February 16th - 2:00 pm - ESPN

It's the rivalry rematch today, although hard to call it a rematch when one of the two parties doesn't really show up.  Will the result be different this time?  Can Purdue avoid losing by more than 37 points?

Lloyd: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I'd say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Lloyd: So you're telling me there's a chance... *YEAH!* 

Why Purdue Will Win
Because everyone on the IU team could be incapacitated by the norovirus?  Seriously though, I don't see anything that could result in a Purdue victory short of shooting 65%+ from the field and IU having a game where they just can't hit a bucket (like both teams in that title game a couple years back).  It's going to be a painful game, and keeping the margin respectable would honestly be a moral victory with this team.  Stop IU from running, slow the game down, and keep the score in the 70's Boilermakers!

Why Indiana Will Win
Because they are a much better team, it's that simple.  As we regrettably saw in West Lafayette last month, IU will force the Boilers to make stupid turnovers, play out of control, and frustrate them to no end when trying to score.  If Purdue shows the same lack of effort for rebounds that has plagued them in the last few games, then expect that margin to be ridiculous as the Hoosiers have the height and hustle advantage.

One thing you absolutely need to know before the game 
Let's all agree that this game is going to be painful.  The odds of a Boiler victory are probably hovering around 1%.  So instead, here's a list of things you can do this afternoon other than watch the game:

• Watch Cuonzo Martin lead the Tennessee Volunteers against Kentucky on CBS
• ESPN Classic is showing the 1990 NBA game where Michael Jordan scored 69 points against the Cavaliers (sorry Erik, that's not a good alternative for you).  Actually, they are showing a Jordan marathon for his 50th birthday, so maybe that will cheer me up after the Purdue game.
• Catch up on the last few episodes of Justified or Top Chef
• Eat some crackers and try to recover from the norovirus

Our Picks - We like to think we're better than Vegas.  So throughout the season, we'll be "betting" a whole dollar amount versus the spread between $1 and $32, but we can't repeat the same value twice. The spread for this game is Indiana by 19 points.


Erik's Bet: $22
Erik's Pick: Indiana 84 - Purdue 62

Kirk's Bet: $5
Kirk's Pick: Indiana 90 - Purdue 60

Standings:
Erik +230 (19-8 Against The Spread)
Kirk -133 (12-15 Against The Spread)

Values already bet
Erik 1-17, 21-28, 30-32
Kirk 5-32

BOILER UP!!!! (and we'll be watching, even if we joke about it.  We're loyal and a bit masochistic)

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