This weekend marks the opening weekend to Big Ten play for the baseball team, so now seems the appropriate time to give an update on how well the other teams are performing around the conference. First, the standings, taken directly from BigTen.org:

As we can see, Michigan is doing pretty well here with a winning record against a decent schedule (that's out of 301). But we knew that about the Wolverines already. So let's take a walk through the other teams, and we'll go in order of RPI, a better indicator of how well they've done.

For those interested, my preseason outlook.

Michigan State

The Spartans are the national headliners as far as the Big Ten goes right now. They lead the nation in fielding at .987 have handled the medium to bad teams on their schedule as they should. That shiny 16-4 record is justified, with two great pitchers on the front end of their bullpen and some good hitting to back it up.

As of right now, they're the national pick for taking the Big Ten crown, but the local coverage (particularly the bloggers of the Big Ten) tends to be more skeptical. Michigan State has played a meh schedule for the most part and lacks any wins over a major opponent. All four of the Spartan losses came against quality opponents, including a blow out at the hands of Louisville, a close loss and blow out loss at Mississippi State, and a 10-2 game in the opening week at Clemson. The rest of the schedule has been pretty light. There aren't many creampuffs, but the competition has not been strong. For instance, a sweep of Oakland dropped MSU 4 spots in the RPI.

There is definitely this feeling that much like any other Spartan team, they're due for a collapse somewhere in the middle of the conference season. They haven't had that consistent, successful season to build on yet, and this will be that learning year for a leap next year. I still like them to finish in the top 3-4 of the conference, but I just don't see them going wire to wire in the driver's seat.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes are probably the best team in the conference if their coach would maximize their players' potential, or provide any sort of motivating force. I've long heard rumblings from some Ohio State fans that Bob Todd isn't a great coach, that he's just rode the talent he's found through blind luck. While I'm a bit skeptical of all that, I recently did a guest post and statistical break down of Ohio State over at Buckeye State Baseball and the way he handles his lineup does make me question just how great of a coach he is. The number of pitchers that have missed seasons due to arm injuries would worry me, too.

This season that the Buckeye players have been playing well below their projections. Add that they are playing a seriously light schedule, the players just don't seem motivated. That is reflected most by their losses to DII Rollins and NAIA Webber International. That will probably change in conference, but if Todd's goal is to win the Big Ten and host a regional, he has to have a better OOC record with better OOC opponents.

When it comes to the Big Ten, the Buckeyes will probably pick up the slack. They still have the best lineup in the Big Ten. Their starting rotation is the only one in the Big Ten comparable to Michigan, so it's hard not to see them in the top two to finish the year, and probably in the finals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan

The loss of Ryan LaMarre was devastating for the Maize and Blue. It probably cost them at least one win per weekend against Texas Tech, St. John's/Louisville, UNC, and Coastal Carolina and sunk any hopes of an at-large bid. Who knows how much better the season would be going with their star, especially with the emergence of Coley Crank and Chris Berset. Now that Mike Dufek is getting hot, they've got the best 3-6 hitters in the conference. On top of that, they have the deepest pitching staff.

I think we see Michigan run through conference season and really get themselves worked back into the national picture. They probably finish between Michigan State and Ohio State in the final standings, and I think they're the team to give the Buckeyes a run for their money in the tournament. The series at Ann Arbor between the two will be huge. [Ed: rest of the conference after the jump.]

Indiana

Youth and inconsistency were the two words that coach Tracy Smith used to describe his team in the preseason, and those words have held through in non-conference play. They've claimed wins over San Diego and West Virginia, two solid teams this year. They've also lost close games to Vanderbilt and Louisville (twice). So they can hang with the big boys. They've also been blown out by teams like Miami (NTM) and Yale. It's been tough to peg what type of team they are.

But the Hoosiers definitely do have one thing in their favor, sophomore, lefty Drew Leininger. Leininger is 3-1 on the season, taking his first loss on Tuesday in relief against Louisville. His ERA is just 1.22 in 37 innings, with a complete game shutout to boot. We'll preview him more in a post coming out later this week, but the guy is going to be a force on Friday nights.

Indiana is young, but I think they're definitely capable of rolling with most of the Big Ten. They've got a couple very good hitters in Alex Dickerson and Jerrud Sabourin. Those two and a pitcher who is a near lock to win on Fridays should be a potent combination. A winning record in the Big Ten is likely. I like them to finish fourth behind the aforementioned three.

I'll have a bit more depth to this tomorrow.

Illinois

The Illini have also been erratic this season, but they do have a nice shiny win over Coastal Carolina on their resume. But for every decent win the Illini have, they have an equally puzzling loss. The Illini have beaten teams like Ball State, but they've also lost to teams like Lipscomb.

Part of the problem plaguing the Illini is the starts to the season for Josh Parr and Pete Capetta. The two both finished last season with averages above .335. Neither is above the Mendoza line this year with Parr hitting .197 and Cappetta hitting .160. Joe Dittman and Willie Argo are doing their best to make up for the loss, but they can only do so much. Dittman is currently hitting .500 with a .705 slugging and .617 on base. Argo is hitting .400 with a .583 slugging percentage. I can't see those two keeping that high of production over the entire season.

Luckily the Illini have a bit more depth than usual on the mound. Will Strack is leading their starters with a 4.28 ERA and Mike Sterk has accumulated 7 appearances and a save so far. The pitching may keep the Illini in games with the middle of the conference, but they just don't have a well rounded enough team to be up with the top 4-5 teams.

I think the Illini make the Big Ten Tournament as the 6 seed. They've got talent that most of the other teams don't when it comes to their lineup. That talent will eventually force itself to produce.

Iowa

The Hawkeyes have a chance to play "Cinderella" of sorts with the Big Ten Tournament this year. Their record may not show it, but they've taken quite a few great teams to the brink, including a game at Texas that wound up in the Longhorns favor 2-1 after 10 innings. The Hawkeyes also have a nice win at ranked Kansas, with what was the Big Ten's best win for a few weeks in a row.

At the same time, the Hawkeyes have a few bad losses in Texas-Pan Am., Texas-San Antonio, and South Dakota State. Even those aren't that bad when taken in comparison to recent Iowa baseball program history.

Iowa also has a really solid ace on their staff in Jared Hippen. The sophomore lefty ended up with the tough no-decision against Texas when the bad Iowa bullpen had to take over. Hippen spread 5 hits and a run over 8.1 innings of work while striking out 8. He was just unfortunate as Taylor Jungmann for Texas threw 7.1 striking out 17 and giving up only one run.

I like Hippen to help get Iowa to a winning record in the Big Ten, but that's about as good as it will get for the Hawkeyes. I think they end up just outside of the tournament this year, being unable to "finish" because of a weak bullpen.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions are the one team I've seen in person this season (I've seen a little bit from most teams via internet streams) and they seem improved from last season, but they've still struggled. As Happy Valley Hardball writer Larry Fall points out in his interview with Illinois Baseball Report today:

If you dissect our 9-12 record, you find that we’ve 0-5 against top 50 RPI schools with our losses coming to #13 Texas A&M (2) and #40 Texas State (3).  So that makes us 9-7 against the rest of the world. Given that the entire Big Ten only has three wins in forty four games against RPI top 50 schools, maybe we can hold our own in conference.

However, to be honest, I don’t expect us to. I think our pitching is suspect, particularly the bullpen, and without good pitching, we’re going nowhere. I see us struggling to play .500 ball in conference.

I think that's a fair assumption, especially since the one game I saw in person was the 17-1 loss at Texas A&M. Penn State has a few pretty good players on offense, and Wannamaker returns to the rotation, but neither are going to be enough to overcome a weak bullpen.

I see the Nittany Lions finishing around 7th or 8th in the Big Ten.

Minnesota

The Golden Gophers have been a train wreck this season. That 2-1 series win over Akron had all the Gopher fans worried and it only got worse from there. Minnesota lost its next 6 in a row, including multiple games against Loyola-Marymount. Yikes. The continued with epic struggles against the likes of Samford (lost 2/3), North Dakota State (1/2), and South Dakota State. Last weekend the opened Target Field by losing 9-1 to Louisiana Tech in front of the second largest attendance to a college baseball game ever (39k).

There isn't one single aspect holding the Gophers back. They've lost games on offense, defense, and pitching. They just haven't put a whole game together consistently, if at all.

Despite the inconsistency, I have to think that they are just waiting for it all to click, and when they do the Gophers aren't a bad team. I think we'll see them struggle for another few weeks before they hit that point. They'll be in a race to make up positioning in the standings, and I think they pull out the 6 spot in the Big Ten tournament. They've got players who've been there before, and they could be a dangerous match up for whichever team gets the bye to face in the second round.

Purdue

I'd love to give Purdue credit for rebounding after the abysmal start they had to the season, especially in light of yesterday's error-filled win over Missouri in Columbia, but I'd be remiss not to note just how bad the Boilermakers started this season. Purdue was swept in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge, lost a series to Southern Illinois, lost to Morehead State, and split with Eastern Kentucky. That's a pretty rough start to any season.

Luckily, they've rebounded by sweeping the #300 team in pseudo-RPI and split with Mizzou on the road during the mid-week, in what might be called some of the ugliest baseball ever. They lost Tuesday 22-14. They won today (Wednesday) 6-3 in a game featuring a combined 7 errors. But as they say, wins are wins.

I can't see Purdue competing with even the middle of the pack in the conference. I'd call today's win a fluke if anything. It's the mid-week with several backups playing against the bottom of the pitching depth for both teams. It's going to be a long season in West Lafayette.

Northwestern

The Wildcats showed some promise in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge, but that promise was short lived, and extinguished like nearly every other NU men's athletic teams' hope. Outside of the challenge, Northwestern has only managed wins over Loyola-Marymount, Maryland-Baltimore County, Stetson, and UNLV, of which only UNLV is of any significant value.

Meanwhile, they've been obliterated by George Mason twice and Marist once. They also lost series to Stetson, Cornell, and UNLV. It's been an ugly year and the Wildcats will struggle for the foreseeable future. I expect them in last place, lucky to get 5 wins.