Big Ten basketball league play starts up this month. Here are five questions concerning the first month of conference action.
1. Who is the worst team in the league?
While the conference may not be as strong as originally expected, there’s still good parody from No. 3 on down. Even the bottom teams have shown some fight, with Nebraska already taking down Minnesota and Rutgers defeating Seton Hall.
Currently, Illinois, Iowa, and Rutgers are 0-2 at the start of conference play, but who actually is the worst team is still up for grabs.
2. Can Penn State be a top-half team?
One of the eight teams with a 1-1 record is the Nittany Lions, led by a talented trio of sophomores. Because of the unbalanced schedules, Penn State drew the short end of the stick, having road games at Michigan State, Indiana, and Maryland in their first nine games. But still, for Head Coach Pat Chambers, there needs to be some evidence of improvement for the program for him to be completely safe.
3. Will Wisconsin even be in the bubble picture?
The Badgers stand at 6-7 (1-1) and have Penn State as their best resume win. Add to it that two of its rotation players are out for the season and their consecutive NCAA tournament appearances streak is in serious jeopardy.
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But we’ll find out soon enough about this team’s postseason hopes, as four of their next six league games will be on the road, including games at Purdue and Michigan State. The next couple of weeks will essentially decide the season for this team.
4. Is Minnesota’s Murphy the runaway Big Ten Player of the Year?
Because of how balanced the rosters are throughout the conference, there are few stars who stand out from the rest. One of them was Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy, who currently averages 19.6 ppg and 12.6 rpg. He’s on the list for many individual awards, and right now should be the favorite for best Big Ten player. It might come down to him and Michigan State’s Miles Bridges unless someone else gets in the mix.
5. Can Indiana find consistency?
At times, the Hoosiers have looked like a top-25 team and other times have seemed to be one of the worst power conference teams. From beating Notre Dame and pushing Duke to the limits, to losing to in-state mid-major teams Indiana State and Fort Wayne (again), this team is incredibly hard to figure out.
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This team could beat Michigan State, then lose to Rutgers later on in the week. Indiana may not be as talented as in year’s past but are led by upperclassmen. They could very well be the ultimate spoiler in the conference this year.