Big Ten Basketball: Contenders and Pretenders for 2018-19 regular season title

The Pretenders

Northwestern

Not that the Wildcats will stay pretenders for long but as of now they are 0-3 in Big Ten play. Losing your first three games of Big Ten play is not the end of the world but in their 3rd game alone, their performance landed them here. In their first Big Ten game, they traveled to Indiana which is not an easy place to get a road victory in the Big Ten but lost by only 2 points by a final score of 68-66. In their second Big Ten game, Northwestern at home played very well against top 3 ranked Michigan but once again fell short by 2 points and lost by a score of 62-60.

The game that really put the Wildcats in the “pretender’s” group is the awful performance against Michigan State in which they gave up a season-high 81 points in a 20+ point road loss to the Spartans.

Penn State

Like Northwestern, the Nittany Lions can move up because they have been at least competitive in Big Ten play thus far. In early December they lost a tough road matchup in their Big Ten opener against Maryland falling 66-59. In their second Big Ten game, they hosted Indiana and lost by only two points despite a horrible shooting night. Penn State traveled to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines.

The Nittany Lions played very well defensively in the 1st half limiting Michigan to only 25 points. However, Penn State’s offense could not get going all night and ended up losing by a final score of 68-55.

Iowa

The odd part is that the Hawkeyes have played much better in non-conference play than in Big Ten play thus far. In Iowa’s Big Ten opener they hosted Wisconsin in early December. Prior to this game, Iowa was undefeated and looking like a team on the rise. However, the Badgers came into Iowa City and beat the Hawkeyes by a score of 72-66.

The worst was to come when in their second Big Ten contest they traveled to East Lansing to take on the Spartans. Iowa would give up a season-high 90 points as they got beat by 22 points. Iowa suffered their third Big Ten loss with a road loss to Purdue. The Hawkeyes ended up losing by a score of 86-70. The only defense currently that Iowa has right now is that they by far through three games have had the most difficult Big Ten schedule up til this point.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights like Illinois is a team that can sneak up on some top-tier Big Ten teams and steal a victory here and there. In their first Big Ten game, they welcomed in Michigan State. Early on, Rutgers played with emotion and high intensity before succumbing to the more talented Spartans with a final score of 78-67.

In a game where Wisconsin was losing by 5 points at halftime on their home floor to Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights showed how they are capable of pulling of an upset even on the road in the Big Ten. Rutgers would end up losing by a final score of 69-64 but they showed what they are capable in that game.

Illinois

The Fighting Illini had a rough start to Big Ten play and there is no other way to describe it. They traveled to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in their Big Ten opener and it didn’t end well. Nebraska was in control the whole game and won by a final score of 75-60. In Illinois second Big Ten game at home, they looked great in the 1st half taking a 38-34 lead into halftime against Ohio State. However, basketball is a game of two half’s and in the second half, the Buckeyes took control on their way to a 77-67 victory.

The Fighting Illini once again was competitive in their 3rd Big Ten contest. They on the road was tied at 32 a piece with Indiana. However, they ended up losing by 8 to the Hoosiers.