It was another wild week in college basketball and, thus, another wild week in Big Ten hoops. There was important movement in the Big Ten standings as the chaos continues to cause problems. So far, the one constant for the Big Ten standings is Michigan State at the top. They match up with Minnesota and USC this week. Can one of them end up being the giant killer and bring teams like Wisconsin within striking distance of that first-place spot?
Big Ten Results
Monday, January 20
80-72 Penn State over Rutgers
Tuesday, January 21
82-71 No. 15 Oregon over Washington
85-83 UCLA over No. 18 Wisconsin
73-70 Ohio State over No. 11 Purdue
72-67 Minnesota over Iowa
Wednesday, January 22
79-70 Northwestern over Indiana
78-73 USC over Nebraska
Thursday, January 23
91-70 Maryland over No. 17 Illinois
Friday, January 24
65-60 UCLA over Washington
91-64 No. 11 Purdue over No. 21 Michigan
76-75 Iowa over Penn State
Saturday, January 25
81-74 No. 8 Michigan State over Rutgers
77-69 Minnesota over No. 15 Oregon
Sunday, January 26
83-55 No. 18 Wisconsin over Nebraska
83-75 No. 17 Illinois over Northwestern
79-78 Maryland over Indiana
Big Ten Standings
Team | Big Ten Record | Overall Record |
|---|---|---|
Michigan State Spartans | 8-0 | 17-2 |
Purdue Boilermakers | 8-2 | 16-5 |
Michigan Wolverines | 6-2 | 14-5 |
Wisconsin Badgers | 6-3 | 16-4 |
Maryland Terrapins | 6-4 | 16-5 |
Illinois Fighting Illini | 6-4 | 14-6 |
UCLA Bruins | 5-4 | 14-6 |
Oregon Ducks | 5-4 | 16-4 |
Indiana Hoosiers | 5-5 | 14-7 |
USC Trojans | 4-4 | 12-7 |
Iowa Hawkeyes | 4-5 | 13-7 |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 3-5 | 11-8 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 3-6 | 13-7 |
Northwestern Wildcats | 3-6 | 12-8 |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 3-6 | 10-10 |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 3-6 | 11-9 |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 2-7 | 12-8 |
Washington Huskies | 1-8 | 10-10 |
Wisconsin was sharing fourth place last week in the Big Ten standings but find themselves alone this week in that same spot. The Badgers are only one loss behind the Michigan Wolverines for third place but a few games back of both Michigan State and Purdue. The Big Ten title is not out of reach by any means, but it will take the Spartans tripping up somewhere along their schedule more than once.
Wisconsin will be on the road for their next two games against Maryland to start and then heading to Northwestern. Each game presents a quad-one opportunity for the Badgers, who can boost their resume with a win in each stop. After that, they will have one quick home game against a struggling Indiana before they hit the road again for two more.