Big Ten Tournament Preview

So I realize I am a little late but considering I am not a professional journalist and thus have a little thing called school, I'd say the timing isnt that bad. Anyway, no surprise with Minnesota continuing the collapse of their season with a loss to Northwestern in the First Round.

The Wildcats now move on to face Ohio State in tomorrow's opener, so the optimism in Evanston will likely be short-lived.

Now we get to the meat of the tournament. Just about to tip is the 7/10 matchup between Michigan State and Iowa. Michigan State is perhaps the toughest team to diagnose in college basketball. After another Final Four run last season (without the tournament services of Kalin Lucas), expectations couldnt have been higher for the Spartans, who returned virtually every contributor outside of Raymar Morgan, whose impact on the MSU program is more evident every day they spend without him. The loss of Kris Allen over the summer didnt help and once a tough non-conference slate resulted in a slow start, MSU had their backs against the wall. When Korey Lucious was dismissed from the team and Sparty proceeded to get blown out against Iowa and Wisconsin, things werent looking good. Still, Michigan State has been known to get the job done even when it looks impossible to complete. They come into the postseason squarely on the bubble after another loss at the hands of in-state rival Michigan and now find themselves surely needing a victory against Iowa, and perhaps even an upset of #9 Purdue to move to the Big Dance.

On the other hand, Iowa can into 2011 with no expectations whatsoever. With Fran McCaffery coming in to resurrect the program, onlookers knew the Hawkeyes had something going, but the youth made it much more likely that Iowa was a year or two away. Though they have had their struggles, the Hawkeyes have the talent to beat anyone and have proven it. They took Wisconsin and Ohio State to the brink, beat MSU by 20 earlier in the conference season, and finished off the regular season by upsetting Purdue to clinch the Big Ten title Ohio State. Michigan State cannot overlook their first round opponent if they hope to have a deep run into the postseason yet again.

The late game features another tourney hopeful in Penn State. After running off a rash of home upsets, the Nittany Lions cooled off before picking up a big road victory this past weekend against the slumping Gophers. Still, they currently find themselves on the outside looking in and likely need to not only take care of business against Indiana, but also pull off an upset of #13 Wisconsin on Friday night. But they have beaten Wisconsin already this season and with the duo of Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks leading a high-powered offensive attack, PSU is always dangerous.

Indiana is on the way up, but they are nowhere close to the title picture. With a disjointed roster that has yet to fully embrace Tom Crean's system, the Hoosiers figure to give PSU a good effort, but lack the talent to really compete. That said, Indiana has been known to make teams pay for looking ahead and Thursday could very well be a similar situation.

Tomorrow will be crucial. The day opens with OSU facing Northwestern (likely a laugher), but immediately follows with a 4/5 matchup that will put one team into the NCAA Tournament and send one team home squarely on the bubble. With a very young roster, Michigan seemed to be in rebuild mode this season. But after beating running off a series of big conference wins, the Wolverines got themselves into the mix. While the buzzer-beater by Wisconsin's Josh Gasser seemed at the time a dagger to the heart of the Wolverines, subsequent wins at Minnesota and against Michigan State seem to have put Michigan in a position for their 2nd tournament appearance in 3 years.

Illinois didnt expect to be on the bubble. Led by a talented group of underachieving seniors, Illini nation thought that this would be the year Demetri McCamey and crew would finally break through and cement themselves among the nation's elite. After solid non-conference wins against Gonzaga and UNC, the Illini carried those expectations into Big Ten play, only to see them come crashing down with losses at Penn State, Northwestern, and Indiana. After losing in East Lansing, their position on the bubble was pretty well-established.

The night session will feature Purdue against (in all likelihood) a desperate Spartan team. Though Purdue has been one of the most consistent teams in the nation, their weekend loss to Iowa highlighted a vulnerability that MSU will be anxious to take advantage of. When Tom Izzo's crew really needs to get a win, they USUALLY do.

The first full day comes to a close with #13 Wisconsin trying to put to bed worries about their ability to win in the postseason. After a nearly identical record during the regular season, the Badgers will be motivated not only by a desire to make amends for last year's first-round exit at the hands of Illinois, but also for the 28-point drubbing they underwent on Sunday in Columbus. The Badgers have beaten every team in the conference and they are intent on getting themselves in position for rematches with Purdue and Ohio State.



Whatever side you are on in the "Best Conference" debate, the Big Ten Tournament is the most competitive from top to bottom of the weekend.