The Big Ten has been through the ringer this week and the conference is starting to sort itself out in the standings. The Badgers being one of the few teams this week without a loss in the Big Ten moved up the standings and are now firmly sitting in fourth place. Here's the breakdown of the results from the last week, followed by the standings:
Monday, January 13
75-68 Rutgers over UCLA
77-71 Maryland over Minnesota
Tuesday, January 14
70-68 No. 24 Wisconsin over Ohio State
94-69 No. 19 Illinois over Indiana
99-89 USC over Iowa
Wednesday, January 15
69-58 No. 17 Purdue over Washington
90-85 No. 12 Michigan State over Penn State
Thursday, January 16
84-81 Minnesota over No. 20 Michigan
76-74 Northwestern over Maryland
85-82 Rutgers over Nebraska
Friday, January 17
77-76 Indiana over Ohio State
94-70 UCLA over Iowa
Saturday, January 18
84-69 No. 24 Wisconsin over USC
65-58 No. 17 Purdue over No. 13 Oregon
Sunday, January 19
80-78 No. 12 Michigan State over No. 19 Illinois
80-76 No. 20 Michigan over Northwestern
Team | Big Ten Record | Overall Record |
|---|---|---|
Michigan State Spartans | 7-0 | 16-2 |
Purdue Boilermakers | 7-1 | 15-4 |
Michigan Wolverines | 6-1 | 14-4 |
Wisconsin Badgers | 5-2 | 15-3 |
Illinois Fighting Illini | 5-3 | 13-5 |
Indiana Hoosiers | 5-3 | 14-5 |
Oregon Ducks | 4-3 | 15-3 |
Maryland Terrapins | 4-4 | 14-5 |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 3-4 | 10-8 |
UCLA Bruins | 3-4 | 12-6 |
USC Trojans | 3-4 | 11-7 |
Iowa Hawkeyes | 3-4 | 12-6 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 2-5 | 12-6 |
Nebraska Corn Huskers | 2-5 | 12-6 |
Northwestern Wildcats | 2-5 | 11-7 |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 2-5 | 10-8 |
Washington Huskies | 1-6 | 10-8 |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 1-6 | 9-9 |
Wisconsin continues to surge up the Big Ten standings while teams around them are struggling. Michigan State is now the only team left that is unbeaten in the Big Ten. However, even so that only puts Wisconsin two games back of them. Illinois has fallen behind them with their loss to Michigan State today as the dance in the standings continues.
Wisconsin takes on UCLA and Nebraska this week, followed by Maryland and Northwestern. There is a ton of opportunity for the Badgers to continue to climb. Those are all games they are favored to win (or very close to it) right now, according to ESPN BPI. The road games are the ones that ESPN BPI has them closer to even than the home games. Maryland is still favored by about 60% and UCLA closer to 50% but it's still games that the Badgers should win.
The road to the Big Ten title doesn't come easy at the end of the season for the Badgers, who will have to face Purdue, Illinois, and Oregon all back-to-back-to-back. Followed by a match with Washington that leads to a face-off with the Michigan State Spartans. That all being said, the Badgers are clicking right now and if they can keep this up, they are a tough team to beat.