How good do you think Big Ten Basketball is this year?

Submitted by Dion on

I'm watching Minnesota, the team with the worst conference record so far, taking it to Indiana at Indiana right now.  So my question is just how good is the Big Ten this year. I know it's early , but how many teams do you think the Big Ten gets into the tournament and what teams do you think it will be? 

Lionsfan

January 12th, 2012 at 8:41 PM ^

Did Nebraska win last night? Cause I thought they were 0fer in the Big TEN. But other than them, the Big Ten is the best conference IMO. The Big East will get more teams in, but only cause they have 10 billion teams in the conference

Dion

January 12th, 2012 at 8:45 PM ^

Nebraska beat Penn State yesterday.  Indiana is currently closing the gap in this game, they'll probably pull it out.  I agree 100% this is an incredible Big ten this year and a weak Big east, but they do have a million teams and Syracuse is kind of carrying the conference this year.  I usually measure Big Ten against the ACC, but this year they're no where near our level of play.

Waters Demos

January 12th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^

Well . . . . I spend my days skating on the thin ice of modern life.  People tell me I'm lucky to do so.  They could be right.

But when I get a chance to think about this topic you raise - I do believe we're alright at this here cagin', chap. 

WolvinLA2

January 12th, 2012 at 8:46 PM ^

Minnesota is not the worst team in the Big Ten though.  They were very solid OOC this year, they just haven't been able to put it together in the leage yet.  Their first three Big Ten losses were by 9 (in 2OT), 5, and 2, so they could easily be 3-1 going into tonight too. 

That said, yes I think the Big Ten is good.  Maybe not as good as last year, but the top 5 (MSU, M, IU, ILL, OSU) are very good, and Wisco, Purdue and NW are fringe top-25 teams and likely tourney squads.  PSU and Nebraska are the only teams that just aren't good, and even they are better than most league's bottom feeders.

LSAClassOf2000

January 12th, 2012 at 8:52 PM ^

http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/m-baskbl-standings.html

Granted, we're not terribly far into in-conference play yet, but as half the teams in the B1G sport winning records at minimum, I will say that this is fairly competitive right now. As for the tournament, I would not be shocked if anywhere from 7 to 9 teams from this conference make it into the tourney. Wisconsin, Northwestern and Minnesota have pretty good teams that have just hit rough spots in conference play. 

Jasper

January 12th, 2012 at 9:30 PM ^

I realize the ACC is way off its peak, but I'm still surprised that there wasn't much said about the Big Ten's 8-4 win in its challenge with the ACC. That is by far the best record they've had.

MGoUberBlue

January 12th, 2012 at 9:34 PM ^

Sure, a lot of teams seem strong at this time of the year, but let's see how the league competes in the NCAA Tournament.

I am not convinced of the strength of the league....yet.

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 12th, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^

I do think there are some damn good basketball teams in this conference, Michigan included.  However, obscure conference rankings won't mean anything if Big10 teams lose in the tournament and we fail to get a couple Elite 8/Final 4.  In the past, the Big10 was looked at as a weaker conference only to squeeze out a few teams into the Elite8/Final 4.  The same could happen for the ACC/Big12/SEC this year while our conference goes home early.  Big10-ites can claim conference superiority all we want but we must walk-the-walk in March.

Again, eyeballing the teams across the land thus far, Ohio St., Indiana, Michigan, and Sparty do look like legitimate contenders.  I'm definitely not knocking the Big10.  It's already and going to be a slaughterhouse of a conference schedule for all teams and will be entertaining until the end.  Go Blue.

Perkis-Size Me

January 12th, 2012 at 9:53 PM ^

this is one sport we will always have on the SEC. granted they have florida and kentucky, but we're much deeper and overall a better conference. i'd say we're top 3, maybe top 2 conference after acc and/or big east.

colin

January 12th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^

KenPom has 7 B10 teams in his top 40 and 4 in his top 10.

BE: 7, 1

ACC: 3, 2

B12: 5, 2

SEC: 4, 1

P12: 2, 0

WCC: 3, 0

 

I threw the WCC in there just to show how bad the Pac 12 is.  Gross.

 

Felix.M.Blue

January 13th, 2012 at 10:00 AM ^

very solid play, top half of league can play with anyone.

Kinda rooting for NW to make the dance, I don't think they have ever made it or it's a really long drought.

VA had a chance last night to beat Duke, Michigans' losses aren't bad at all.

There are no gimmies in the league and every game is potential disaster.

GoBlogSparty

January 13th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^

I think the league is down a bit from last year. IU, MSU, and UM are better. Purdue, Illinois, Wisky, OSU, PSU and Minny seem worse.

The biggest thing that stands out to me this year is that B1G teams are losing at home (MSU winning @ wisco; Minny winning @ IU; Wisco winning @ Purdue). In other years when the league has been pretty deep, teams find a way to defend home court but this year seems especially turbulent. It will be a fun 2 months.