And it happened again.  For the fifth straight season, Wisconsin was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by a mid-major team.  This time it was the Butler Bulldogs that ... more

It's happened understandably under the radar, but Northwestern has put together a couple nice wins so far in the NIT. First, in a rare postseason home game, the Wildcats used some ... more

Purdue's NCAA Tournament started out well enough with a 65-43 win over an outmatched St. Peter's squad. As could have been expected, the Pea**** struggled mightily at the offensive end, ... more

It started out competitively enough. Michigan and Tennessee played most of the first half like a typical 8/9 matchup, with neither team getting larger than a six point lead. ... more

Jordan Taylor didn’t have a great game, but he had a great final two minutes.  The Big Ten Geek Player of the Year was an awful 2-16 from the field, and was severely ... more

Illinois was fairly even with first round opponent UNLV to start off the game.  After the Rebels took an early 9-8 lead, however, it was all Illini as Bruce Weber's team ... more

Wisconsin was unusually sloppy with the ball in their 72-58 win over Belmont, but that tends not to matter when you shoot frequent three pointers at a 55 percent clip. ... more

In a thrilling back-and-forth game that could have gone either way, Penn State saw their season come to an end with a 66-64 loss to Temple. The Nittany Lions got off to an ideal start, ... more

  Seven teams.  This time last week, no such thought entered my mind.  Did things break just right at the Big Ten Tournament for this to happen?  You bet.  But ... more

  Josh: Well, Mike, time for one last exchange before the Big Ten Tournament starts.  Usually, this space is reserved to analyze what we did right, and what we did wrong. ... more

Iowa scored the biggest upset of the season when it took down Purdue 67-65 in a 71 possession game.  The Hawkeyes dominated the glass, limiting the Boilermakers to grabbing just 25 ... more

Jordan Taylor completely dominated last night in Wisconsin's 77-67 win at Indiana. When running mate Jon Leuer picked up his fourth foul with 11:37 remaining, the Badgers held a narrow ... more

It's not like they were in a great position anyway, but any lingering Minnesota hopes for an at-large bid were dashed last night in a 68-57 loss at Northwestern. The Gophers defended ... more

In the college coaching community, there's almost no idea that is more deeply ingrained than the following formula:   2 fouls + first half = bench   This is so commonly ... more

Michigan has really thrown a wrench into the at-large picture in the Big Ten.  Just a week ago, I thought Minnesota was in relatively good shape.  Sure, the Gophers were ... more

Forgive the terrible pun, but Penn State sliced up the Northwestern defense last night in a 66-52 road win. We like to get into a lot of different numbers here, but this game can be ... more

The stage was set. Michigan had fought hard all game and held Wisconsin, the nation's most efficient offense, to just 50 points in 54 possessions. With a two point lead, the Wolverines ... more

Coming off their second loss in three games, the Ohio State Buckeyes took out some frustration on Illinois in an 89-70 shellacking. This was a magnificent offensive performance for Thad ... more

Well, it looks like we have a real title race, after Purdue knocked off Ohio State 76-63 in West Lafayette.  Defensively, the Boilermakers pressured OSU into committing a turnover ... more

With a win at Penn State, Minnesota could have made it a better than 50/50 shot that they'd reach 10 conference wins, putting themselves in a comfortable position to clinch an at-large ... more

In a matchup of teams holding onto slim Big Ten title hopes, Purdue beat Wisconsin at their own game in a 70-62 win. The Boilermakers used Bo Ryan's area of expertise--a miniscule 6.6 ... more

Michigan State's struggles have been well-documented, but they played a heck of a game for about 36 minutes at Ohio State last night. The Spartans kept it close most of the way, trailing ... more

The game of the year did not disappoint, as Wisconsin overcame a 15-point second half deficit to defeat Ohio State 71-67 in a 57 possession game.  I have to admit--this is my ... more

A Big Ten fan could be forgiven for thinking they'd stepped back into 2009 after viewing last night's games. First, Michigan State came out like the Spartans of yore, dominating from the ... more

In a battle of teams clinging to slim NCAA Tournament hopes, it was Michigan that prevailed with a 75-66 win over Northwestern. The Wolverines surprisingly had control most of the way ... more

It's been awhile since we've seen it, but Purdue got back to their defensive roots in a 67-53 smothering of Indiana. The Hoosiers had their worst shooting night of the season, connecting ... more

By all accounts the Big Ten is a good conference, some would say it's the best conference this season.  Yet, there only seem to be three locks for the Tournament at the moment, as ... more

Let's say I came to you before Ohio State's home game against Michigan and foretold that the Wolverines would shoot 32 percent on threes and turn it over on 21 percent of their ... more

For the third straight game, the Indiana Hoosiers went blow for blow with a superior opponent--this time the victim was the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a 60-57 Indiana win. The Hoosiers ... more

Wisconsin used an unlikely tactic--forcing turnovers--to pull off a big 66-59 home victory over Purdue last night. The Badgers normally do everything well on the defensive end except ... more

Penn State is proving to be quite the tough out in the Big Ten.  After finishing in last place in the conference a season ago, and losing key players to transfer (or just quitting ... more

A frustrating season for Michigan State got even more perplexing with a 61-57 home loss to Michigan. For the third straight game, the Spartans allowed their opponent to post an effective ... more

In their first game since the heartbreaking loss at Purdue, Penn State came out very sloppy at home against Iowa. With three minutes remaining before halftime, the Nittany Lions had ... more

In a game that was supposed to be a hotly-contested matchup of Big Ten title contenders, Purdue came out completely flat and got walloped by hot-shooting Ohio State, 87-64. If you didn't ... more

The top of the Big Ten passed their big tests this weekend, and the spotlight in almost all of the games was on the freshmen.  Ohio State survived another tough road matchup, this ... more

The Big Ten continued its high efficiency ways last night, first in a 98-55 Northwestern drubbing of SIU-E. To get an idea of just how overmatched the Cougars were in this game, consider ... more

There were two Big Ten games last night: one with a surprising result, and one that was more predictable. The latter was Ohio State's 70-48 suffocation of Iowa. This one was ragged from ... more

There was something in the Illinois air last night, as both Big Ten schools from the Land of Lincoln dropped big-time offensive performances on their visitors from the northeast. First, ... more

The lesson from this weekend: there are no days off in conference play this season.  Over the past couple of years, at least the teams at the top could count on the fact that the ... more

Just yesterday, some idiotic Geek (me) speculated that Northwestern had staked claim to being the sixth-best team in the conference, and that no more than six Big Teams were likely to ... more

Michigan really got their offense going last night in their matchup with Ohio State. The Wolverines bombed away from deep, taking over half of their shots from three and making them at a ... more

It was looking like Michigan State's frustrating season would continue, as the Spartans found themselves down 9 points to Wisconsin with under three minutes remaining. Against the ... more

After the tempo free community held a referendum on Michigan State’s offense, Tom Izzo’s team threw a curveball with a flat defensive performance against Penn State. ... more

Much ink will be spilled on Illinois' shooting performance last night against Northwestern, and for good reason--the Illini broke the school record for field goal percentage in an 88-63 ... more

Purdue overcame a lackluster shooting night from E'Twaun Moore to post a comfortable 83-68 win at Penn State. If you like whistles and free throws, this was your game. Both teams were in ... more

After a one night reprieve, the Big Ten decided to get back to more of an offensive brand of basketball (no pun intended). First, Minnesota prevailed over a fiesty Indiana squad, 67-63. ... more

After a weekend in which very little defense was played, two Big Ten teams got back to business last night in a defensive grinder. Michigan State became the first team of the season to ... more

It was a fun weekend of hoops, but not one that featured a lot of defense.  Just one team scored less than a point per possession.  That team was Minnesota.  The good news ... more

Illinois embraced their jump-shooting tendencies to great effect in an 87-77 win at Iowa. The Illini exploded for 1.30 points per possession--easily their best output of the season--by ... more

Many observers have been skeptical of Purdue's status as a Big Ten title contender, ourselves included, primarily because of a questionable offensive attack in the absence of Robbie ... more

Indiana continued its struggles defending against decent teams in a 69-60 home loss to Penn State. The Nittany Lions got plenty of open looks and converted them to the tune of a ... more

In true Geek jinx fashion, our Big Ten heroes have started losing nonconference games left and right after we proclaimed the first semester a smashing success. Last night was a ... more

Northwestern's NCAA Tournament hopes were dealt a setback in an 85-69 loss at St. John's. The first half went as you'd expect--the Wildcats hit 50 percent of their threes and scored 1.21 ... more

Northwestern continued their feasting on cupcakes with a 92-61 shellacking of St. Francis (NY) at Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats posted a sizzling 1.22 points per possession, which ... more

It would be nice if Illinois’ 57-54 loss to UIC was an early-season upset to a mid-major that’s set to make some noise in March.  Sure, it would look bad now, but the ... more

(continuing our discussion from yesterday) Mike: I think we're looking good on our Michigan State prediction (12-6). In fact, Pomeroy's ratings now project the Spartans to go 11-7 in ... more

(With non-conference schedule nearly complete, it's a good time to take stock at where things stand in the Big Ten) Josh: I know we both predicted that big things were coming for this ... more

It was close for a half, but the Northwestern Wildcats had little trouble dispatching the American Eagles 78-62. This one went about as expected--Northwestern was impressive offensively ... more

For awhile, it looked like Minnesota might join Tennessee and Louisville as a ranked team falling to a lesser opponent during the doldrums of finals. Fortunately for the Gophers, Akron ... more

We often think of John Beilein as a offensive-minded coach, and for good reason--his best West Virginia teams were notable for their scoring efficiency based on low turnovers, lots of ... more

Northwestern displayed their typical efficiency in an 81-65 win over Long Island. The Wildcats' standard offensive formula--limit turnovers and MAKE SHOTS--was in full effect, as ... more

The up-and-down nature of Iowa’s season continued as the Hawkeyes lost a close one to Iowa State 75-72 in a 73 possession game.  Iowa seemed to have this thing in control ... more

We surmised yesterday that IUPUI might have some trouble containing Ohio State's inside game, but we didn't expect it to go this far. Jared Sullinger exploded for 40 points on just 17 ... more

Somehow, the first 7:22 of the Illinois-Oakland game last night was played with a smaller women's basketball. By the time a regulation ball was substituted, the Illini were down 15-6 and ... more

Michigan State suffered their third loss of the season, this time in convincing fashion, falling to Syracuse 72-58. As usual, turnovers were a problem, but maybe not the biggest problem ... more

The Michigan Wolverines took care of business against NAIA neighbor Concordia with an 86-65 victory, but their interior defense certainly could have been better. Corcordia's 6'6'' big ... more

Illinois has the talent to be a top-10 team, quite frankly, and they’ve also got a nice mix of experience as well.  It’s also encouraging that Bruce Weber’s ... more

The Big Ten just did get the six wins they needed to claim another Challenge from the ACC, and it was perilously close. In fact, the game that put the conference over the top couldn't be ... more

Northwestern put on an offensive clinic against a pretty decent Georgia Tech defense in a 91-71 blowout. The Wildcats were absolutely spectacular in the first half, posting 1.66 points ... more

At halftime of Minnesota's game against Virginia, the Golden Gophers had to be feeling pretty good. They'd scored 1.26 points per trip and forced turnovers on a quarter of Virginia's ... more

Purdue learned on Saturday what happens when one (or both) of its stars has a less-than-stellar evening.  While JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore combined for 29 points in ... more

Michigan State found themselves in the third place game of the Maui Invitational, trailing by 10 points at the half to a good Washington team. Another loss would have sent the Spartans ... more

The old posts were lost in the shuffle when the BTN.com got a makeover, so you'll just have to take our word for it--we were awesome at predicting breakout players last year.  Yep, ... more

Michigan State had been tempting fate for a couple games, clearly not playing to their full potential, and it finally came back to bite them in a 70-67 loss to Connecticut. For the ... more

(Picking up on yesterday’s post, in which Mike asked who might be having a breakout season)Josh: I detailed why I think Christian Watford is due for big things elsewhere, and I ... more

Much like Roy Munson's flirtation with greatness at the $500,000 Reno Open, the Iowa Hawkeyes saw some positive glimpses in St. Thomas but left with a sour taste. Fran McCaffery's team ... more

Josh: So Big Ten basketball is losing its most entertaining figure its had in decades.  Can the conference recover?  Will there ever be an adequate replacement to the color ... more

It was an up-and-down weekend for the Big Ten, with Minnesota and Iowa coming up as big winners.  Illinois finished its weekend in New York at 1-1, defeating Maryland 80-76 in a 72 ... more

  Illinois went toe-to-toe with a very good Texas team but fell in overtime 90-84. These teams were evenly matched in almost every way, but the difference proved to be free throws. ... more

As expected, Purdue had absolutely no trouble with Alcorn State, running out to a 42-point halftime lead and cruising to a 103-48 victory. The triple digit point total and 55-point ... more

08-09 Overall Record: 21-1508-09 Conference Record: 10-8 (5th)09-09 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.01 (T-6th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 89.1Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: ... more

There’s an entire genre of movies that could be named “Bad Stuff Happening in Las Vegas.”  From Indecent Proposal to The Hangover, these films remind us that while ... more

09-10 Overall Record: 10-21 09-10 Conference Record: 4-14 09-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.19 (11th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 90.2Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: 46.3 ... more

Year two of the Tom Crean Indiana rebuilding effort brought incremental improvement to Bloomington—the Hoosiers bumped their overall win total from six to 10 and their conference ... more

  Ohio State served notice to the nation that they are still a force to be reckoned with, demolishing Florida 93-75 on the road. While Evan Turner was in Cleveland scoring 16 ... more

09-10 Overall Record: 10-2209-10 Conference Record: 4-1409-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.15 (10th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 67.3Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: ... more

This isn’t a half-bad team:  Tony FreemanJeff PetersonJake KellyDavid PalmerJermain DavisAnthony TuckerAaron FullerJohn LickliterTyler SmithBen BrustChanse Creekmur Now, ... more

Minnesota displayed some impressive defense at times, bookended by some not-so-impressive defense, in their 76-69 survival of visiting Siena. The Saints came out on fire, ... more

The offseason could have gone better.  Michigan State went into the offseason knowing that its best player would spend all of it recovering from a serious foot injury.  The ... more

Another season, another Big Ten title and Final Four appearance for Tom Izzo.  Based on the fact that the Spartans return almost everyone in the rotation, and welcome a strong ... more

Fran McCaffrey got off to an inauspicious start to his Big Ten career today as Iowa lost 79-69 to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.  The offense was largely to blame here, as ... more

09-10 Overall Record: 21-1409-10 Conference Record: 9-909-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: +0.01 (5th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 63.0Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: 10.8 ... more

In many ways, the 2009-10 Minnesota Golden Gophers were exactly what the Northwestern Wildcats are hoping to be this season. Minnesota was tall (13th nationally), blocked shots ... more

Last night, Illinois was excellent at both ends of the court for a full 40 minutes and destroyed hapless Toledo 84-45 in 71 possessions. The Illini's defensive efficiency--a mere 0.63 ... more

09-10 Overall Record: 20-1409-10 Conference Record: 7-1109-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.05 (8th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 79.5Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: 20.7 ... more

09-10 Overall Record: 15-1709-10 Conference Record: 7-1109-10 Conference Efficiency Margin: -0.01 (T-6th)Percent of Returning Minutes: 49.4Percent of Returning Freshman Minutes: ... more

(Yeah, I know, we owe you a Northwestern preview.  Well, it's not ready yet.  Blame Northwestern's schedule-makers for releasing the non-conference slate at such a late date ... more