Wisconsin Basketball: Evaluating Big Ten title contenders’ remaining schedules
After a victory over Maryland, the Wisconsin Badgers now sit in a first place tie with the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Big Ten race is beginning to tighten up between three teams- Purdue, Wisconsin, and Maryland. After the Badgers suffered two straight losses to Northwestern and Purdue, Wisconsin found themselves in a critical showdown versus Maryland, both tied for first place.
Wisconsin erased a slow offensive first half start and outscored the Terrapins 44-27 in the second half to take the victory and bump Maryland a full game back in the standings.
Current Big Ten standings (top six):
- Purdue Boilermakers, 11-3
- Wisconsin Badgers, 11-3
- Maryland Terrapins, 10-4
- Northwestern Wildcats, 9-5
- Michigan State Spartans, 8-6
- Minnesota Golden Gophers, 8-6
The Badgers are currently in their toughest stretch of the season and have been battling with lingering injuries the past few weeks. Purdue holds the tiebreaker over the Badgers based on their lone meeting- a 66-55 Boilermakers victory in West Lafayette in early January, so if both teams end in a tie, Purdue will get the one seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
With just two full weeks remaining in the Big Ten regular season, let’s take a look at which of the contending teams has left on their remaining slate and who is in the best shape to come out on top.