Monday, December 28, 2009 - Drew Montag
Big Ten Report – Preview (12/28/2009)
The Big Ten season starts next week, before the New Year again. Last season was the first time I could remember Big Ten games in December, and they’ve scheduled them again this season. I guess it’s the only way to squeeze in 18 games per team before NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday on 3/14/2010.
Standings
Once again, the Big Ten looks tough. This season, there are five Big Ten teams that are ranked at the start of the Big Ten schedule: (#4) Purdue, (#11) Michigan State, (#15) Ohio State, (#23) Wisconsin, and (#25) Northwestern. Here’s how the Big Ten teams have done so far this season:
The only surprise here is how well Northwestern has done. Of course, they’ve only played 2 tough teams (Bradley and Notre Dame), and they only won one of them (ND).
By the way, some of the Big Ten teams still have some non-conference games to play:
· 12/28/2009 – Bryant at Indiana (Indiana should win)
· 12/30/2009 – Texas-Arlington at Michigan State (Michigan State should win)
· 01/01/2010 – West Virginia at Purdue (Purdue should win)
· 01/02/2010 – Gonzaga at Illinois (toss up game)
· 01/07/2010 – Texas-Pan American at Northwestern (Northwestern should win)
· 01/12/2010 – Tennessee State at Iowa (Iowa should win)
· 01/17/2010 – Connecticut at Michigan (Connecticut should win)
· 01/23/2010 – Ohio State at West Virginia (Ohio State should win)
· 03/03/2010 – Chicago State at Northwestern (Northwestern should win)
Here’s my prediction of what the Big Ten standings will look like at the end of the season:
The Upcoming Week
Here are the games scheduledfor the upcoming week (Week #1):
Monday (12/28/2009)
Bryant at Indiana (non-conference)
Tuesday (12/29/2009)
Purdue at Iowa
Penn State at Minnesota
Wednesday (12/30/2009)
Texas-Arlington at Michigan State (non-conference)
Northwestern at Illinois
Thursday (12/31/2009)
Michigan at Indiana
Ohio State at Wisconsin
Friday (01/01/2010)
West Virginia at Purdue (non-conference)
Saturday (01/02/2010)
Gonzaga at Illinois (non-conference)
Minnesota at Iowa
Michigan State at Northwestern
Sunday (01/03/2010)
Wisconsin at Penn State
Ohio State at Michigan
There are several big games this week:
· Michigan at Indiana on Thursday. Has Michigan slipped a notch? Is Indiana improved from last year? We’ll find out here.
· Ohio State at Wisconsin on Thursday. An early battle between a couple contenders for the Big Ten title. Wisconsin is almost unbeatable at home.
· Michigan State at Northwestern on Saturday. This is probably the most intriguing of the early games. Is Northwestern for real? This game will tell us a lot.
Full Schedule
Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:
|
Team |
Record |
Wins |
Losses |
Remaining Games |
|
Illinois |
0-0 |
|
|
Northwestern (H)
Iowa (H)
Indiana (A)
Penn State (H)
Michigan State (A)
Purdue (H)
Northwestern (A)
Penn State (A)
Indiana (H)
Iowa (A)
Michigan State (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Ohio State (H)
Purdue (A)
Michigan (A)
Minnesota (H)
Ohio State (A)
Wisconsin (H) |
|
Indiana |
0-0 |
|
|
Michigan (H)
Ohio State (A)
Illinois (H)
Michigan (A)
Minnesota (H)
Penn State (A)
Iowa (H)
Illinois (A)
Purdue (H)
Northwestern (A)
Ohio State (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Michigan State (H)
Minnesota (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Iowa (A)
Purdue (A)
Northwestern (H) |
|
Iowa |
0-0 |
|
|
Purdue (H)
Minnesota (H)
Illinois (A)
Michigan State (H)
Penn State (H)
Michigan State (A)
Indiana (A)
Ohio State (H)
Michigan (A)
Illinois (H)
Ohio State (A)
Northwestern (H)
Purdue (A)
Michigan (H)
Northwestern (A)
Indiana (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Minnesota (A) |
|
Michigan |
0-0 |
|
|
Indiana (A)
Ohio State (H)
Penn State (A)
Northwestern (H)
Indiana (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Purdue (A)
Michigan State (H)
Iowa (H)
Northwestern (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Minnesota (A)
Iowa (A)
Penn State (H)
Illinois (H)
Ohio State (A)
Minnesota (H)
Michigan State (A) |
|
Michigan State |
0-0 |
|
|
Northwestern (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Iowa (A)
Minnesota (H)
Illinois (H)
Iowa (H)
Minnesota (A)
Michigan (A)
Northwestern (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Illinois (A)
Purdue (H)
Penn State (A)
Indiana (A)
Ohio State (H)
Purdue (A)
Penn State (H)
Michigan (H) |
|
Minnesota |
0-0 |
|
|
Penn State (H)
Iowa (A)
Purdue (A)
Ohio State (H)
Michigan State (A)
Indiana (A)
Michigan State (H)
Northwestern (H)
Ohio State (A)
Penn State (A)
Michigan (H)
Northwestern (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Indiana (H)
Purdue (H)
Illinois (A)
Michigan (A)
Iowa (H) |
|
Northwestern |
0-0 |
|
|
Illinois (A)
Michigan State (H)
Michigan (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Purdue (H)
Ohio State (A)
Illinois (H)
Minnesota (A)
Michigan State (A)
Michigan (H)
Indiana (H)
Iowa (A)
Minnesota (H)
Penn State (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Iowa (H)
Penn State (A)
Indiana (A) |
|
Ohio State |
0-0 |
|
|
Wisconsin (A)
Michigan (A)
Indiana (H)
Minnesota (A)
Purdue (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Northwestern (H)
Iowa (A)
Minnesota (H)
Penn State (H)
Iowa (H)
Indiana (A)
Illinois (A)
Purdue (H)
Michigan State (A)
Penn State (A)
Michigan (H)
Illinois (H) |
|
Penn State |
0-0 |
|
|
Minnesota (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Michigan (H)
Illinois (A)
Iowa (A)
Indiana (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Illinois (H)
Purdue (A)
Ohio State (A)
Minnesota (H)
Michigan State (H)
Northwestern (A)
Michigan (A)
Ohio State (H)
Northwestern (H)
Michigan State (A)
Purdue (H) |
|
Purdue |
0-0 |
|
|
Iowa (A)
Minnesota (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Ohio State (H)
Northwestern (A)
Illinois (A)
Michigan (H)
Wisconsin (H)
Penn State (H)
Indiana (A)
Michigan State (A)
Iowa (H)
Ohio State (A)
Illinois (H)
Minnesota (A)
Michigan State (H)
Indiana (H)
Penn State (A) |
|
Wisconsin |
0-0 |
|
|
Ohio State (H)
Penn State (A)
Michigan State (A)
Purdue (H)
Northwestern (A)
Ohio State (A)
Michigan (H)
Penn State (H)
Purdue (A)
Michigan State (H)
Michigan (A)
Illinois (H)
Indiana (H)
Minnesota (A)
Northwestern (H)
Indiana (A)
Iowa (H)
Illinois (A) |
With this season’s schedule, each team will play 8 teams twice, and only 2 teams once. It’s interesting to see which teams each team gets to play only once:
|
Team |
Doesn’t Play |
|
Illinois |
Michigan (H)
Minnesota (A) |
|
Indiana |
Michigan State (A)
Penn State (H) |
|
Iowa |
Penn State (A)
Wisconsin (H) |
|
Michigan |
Illinois (A)
Purdue (H) |
|
Michigan State |
Indiana (H)
Ohio State (A) |
|
Minnesota |
Illinois (H)
Wisconsin (A) |
|
Northwestern |
Ohio State (H)
Purdue (A) |
|
Ohio State |
Michigan State (H)
Northwestern (A) |
|
Penn State |
Indiana (A)
Iowa (H) |
|
Purdue |
Michigan (A)
Northwestern (H) |
|
Wisconsin |
Iowa (A)
Minnesota (H) |
This season, the big winners are Northwestern and Ohio State, who both miss playing 2 contenders. The big loser is Penn State, who misses playing 2 lower-division opponents.
|
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