Big Ten Country

Must-Win Road Tests

The noon EST time slot on Saturday features three teams facing must-win games if they're going to keep themselves in the hunt for a New Year's Day bowl game. Northwestern, Minnesota and Illinois all need to get W's in road tilts. In the case of the former two teams, they can theoretically afford to lose these games and still bounce back. However, practically speaking, a loss in either case would signal alarm bells about their ability to win out the rest of the way. And Illinois put itself up against a wall when they lost at home to the Gophers two weeks ago, and unless they plan on beating Ohio State a second straight year, they can't afford to be losing in other spots.

Northwestern goes to Indiana. The one thing certain in what's been a chaotic year amongst the eight teams situated between the elites and the basement is that IU's holding down the #11 hole. Terry Hutchens of The Indianapolis Star reports that the Hoosier faithful is none too optimistic about even winning a single Big Ten game. In the meantime, the Wildcats are rolling along at 6-1 and getting good offensive balance between C.J. Bacher at quarterback and Tyrrell Sutton in the backfield. The latter has not had the kind of superstar season I was watching for, but he's still been pretty good and the 'Cats have more then filled in around him.

Minnesota travels to Purdue. This is a test game for the Gophs. They are coming off a bye week and the Boilermakers look ready to unravel after being routed by Northwestern last week. But keep in mind that Rick Brewster's team has been far from dominant. They built their early season record on a soft schedule, struggled to get past Indiana at home and beat Illinois primarily on the strength of turnovers. Whether they can maintain their focus and come up with a big win on the road against a very beatable team will be a key test of how fast they are progressing. Kent Youngblood of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune opines that the offensive line is now starting to stabilize, after injuries and lineup changes. A win here would signal that Brewster has the team back to its Mason-era level where they were a team that might not have been championship-level, but was one no contender wanted to mess with.

Illinois goes north to Wisconsin. The Badger defense is going to have to play vastly better then they have for the past two weeks and realistically need their best game of the season. With the quarterback position in flux and the running game far from its customary dominant self, UW has no hope of winning a scoring race with Juice Williams' offense. If the Illini don't beat themselves, I can't see the Badgers slowing them down sufficiently in this ESPN2 telecast. Herb Gould of The Chicago Sun-Times declares that receiver Aurelious Benn has been even better in his encore performance.

October 18 Game Summaries

Penn State 46 Michigan 17
It took longer then Nittany Lions were comfortable with, but after digging themselves a 17-7 hole, Penn State got rid of the Michigan jinx in grand fashion. The Wolverine passing game remains utterly appalling. They netted only 89 passing yards and even a Big Ten traditionalist like me isn't ready to see the days of that kind of offense return. It served to negate a nice game by Brandon Minor. The Lions exhibited a balanced attack, led up by Evan Royster who had 174 rushing yards and Darryl Clark again ran the offense with cool efficiency. From a defensive standpoint, Jeff Rice of The Centre Daily Times says the Lions unleashed the linebackers. Penn State is now set to go to the Horseshoe next week for the Big Ten's game of the year.

Ohio State 45 Michigan State 7
The Buckeyes will arrive for the showdown in great shape themselves. Jim Tressel's team played its most complete game of the year in a complete thrashing of a good MSU team. While Chris Wells had a big game, the OSU defense was the star of the show. They shut down Javon Ringer, ended the Spartan back's hopes for the Heisman and altered the course of the race for conference MVP along with it. It was the kind of game everyone expected from the Bucks back in August. Bob Hunter of The Columbus Dispatch declares they've arrived just where you would have expected.

Iowa 38 Wisconsin 16
The one team expected to challenge the OSU-PSU duo for supremacy back in August and September continued its implosion. The University of Wisconsin football program is now in a mad race with Wall Street to see who can have the most brutal autumn. The Badgers lost the turnover battle 3-0, and Shon Greene continued to be the league's most pleasant surprise for the Hawkeyes. Greene rushed for 217 yards and again carried the Iowa offense. It was a win that Kirk Ferentz needed to keep his bowl hopes on track. And to everyone's amazement, missing a bowl entirely is not only possible for the 3-4 Badgers, but likely given how they have regressed each of the last four weeks.

Northwestern 48 Purdue 26
One of the teams looking to take UW's place in the hiearchy is Northwestern. The Wildcats may not have beaten anyone good yet, but they took a significant step on Saturday in showing they could decisively handle a mediocre squad. The Boilers turned it over five times, negating a 168-yard effort by Kory Sheets. NU is at 6-1. Who would have thought that in mid-October we'd be looking at the Northwestern-Minnesota game as one that might have a January bowl game hanging in the balance?

Illinois 55 Indiana 13
The Juice was on the loose again in Bloomington. Both he and Aurelious Benn had big games in routing the Hoosiers. But the surprise in the Illinois attack was freshman running back Jason Ford, who racked up 172 yards. IU proved to be the salve Illinois needed after letting one slip away last week against Minnesota. As for Indiana, after making a bowl game last year, they are back to their normal state of affairs of welcoming the opening of basketball practice. Hoops isn't likely to bring the usual solace to Hoosier Nation, but Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star opines that at least the hallowed program is clean again.

Season Recaps: Indiana & Purdue

Big Ten Country's look back at the year that was continues today with both ends of what is the best rivalry in the league, as the seasons of Indiana & Purdue are considered.

Indiana
Indiana turned into a well-balanced athletic program this year, coming up with successful seasons in both football & basketball. This past fall, the football team fulfilled the great wish of the late Terry Hoeppner and reached its first bowl game since 1993. A big win at Iowa early signified the good things to come, and the Hoosiers finally won the Old Oaken Bucket battle against Purdue to end the year. Interim coach Bill Lynch was rewarded with a four-year contract. It's unlikely IU will ever be a signature football program, but they are finally climbing out of the dark cellar of the Big Ten.

Looking at the final regular season numbers of 25-6 overall & 14-4 in the league, no one would have guessed the rocky road the Hoosier basketball team had to travel to get there. The firing of Kelvin Sampson spoke well to Indiana's integrity, particularly of the fans, who pressured a recalcitrant athletic department to take quick action. But integrity usually comes at a cost. In this case, it cost Indiana a shot at a big March run, as the defense tanked once Sampson was gone. They lost the first game of the Big Ten tournament, were hammered by the NCAA committee who dropped them to a #8 seed, and said a quick goodbye in the Big Dance. Now they bring in a new coach in Tom Crean, who's had to say a quick goodbye to Eric Gordon. D.J. White is also leaving. But this is still a team who came within a fluke banked three-pointer against Wisconsin of tying for the league title. And in Crean, they have the kind of coach who will finally get Indiana winning again and when they have another big year, this one won't be upset by recruiting violations & controversies.

Purdue
It was a so-so year for the Boilermakers on the football field. The 7-5 finish produced no signature wins (with Notre Dame not filling that category this year), and no inexcusable losses. In the end, Joe Tiller's success has made this kind of year a disappointment, especially when the regular season ends with a loss to Indiana. But even though the Motor City Bowl wasn't the trip Boiler fans were hoping for, they returned to bowl play after a year's hiatus. Overall, this program seems to be at a vital crossing point.

Basketball was an unqualified success. With four freshmen getting significant minutes, Purdue was supposed to rebuilding. They rebuilt all the way to a 24-7 regular season mark, a 15-3 record in the Big Ten and an NCAA win for the second straight year. The Boilermakers showed their mental toughness when they beat Wisconsin up in Madison, and were the only team to beat the eventual conference champs in league play. The future is even brighter for Matt Painter as he pushes the program back to Keady-era levels.

Indiana's New Man

Indiana has its third permanent head coach in the last four years (fourth if you include the interim time of Dan Dakich). Marquette coach Tom Crean has accepted the opportunity to be the man who puts a sixth championship banner up in Assembly Hall.

This is a good hire for Indiana. At Marquette, Crean took over a program that was at best, a borderline NCAA Tournament program. Even while shifting into the tough Big East, Crean kept them competitive, making the Big Dance regularly. And he showed he could win big, making the Final Four in 2003. And it certainly won't hurt if he can bring his mastery of Kentucky (tournament wins in '03 & '08) to Bloomington.

Just as important, Crean runs a clean program and did so at a school that would not have looked fondly on any shenanigans. This past season, Indiana fans were the best in the land, as their disapproval of Kelvin Sampson sent a clear message that they value doing things the right way at least much as winning. Crean brings all of Sampson's strengths--coaching tough defense and winning--while dragging in none of his baggage. You really can't ask much more then that.

Crean also has a chance to be the man who can heal the schism in the IU community over the legacy of Robert Montgomery Knight. On one side you have the vast majority of fans and former players who honor the legacy of the General--and demonstrated that with their disapproval of Sampson's win-at-all costs tactics. On the other side you have a relatively small number of latte-sipping elitists that want to distance themselves from the Knight legacy and were curiously silent about Sampson's rules violations until public and NCAA pressure forced their hand. Unfortunately, this latter group has disproportionate power in the university and the media, and consequently must be dealt with.

Crean's approach to the game will be satisfying to the grass-roots people who make up the heart of Hoosier Nation. The fact he is not a member of the Knight family tree will appease the latter. The insistence of the hiearchy to *not* give a hearing to men like Randy Wittman is petty and childish, but as long as the ultimate hire is consistent with the principles of Knight-like success (defense, toughness, cleanliness, and the classroom), that's the most important thing.

Congratulations to all of Hoosier Nation. You stood by your principles, and in the end, got a coach at least as good as the one you let go. Terry Hutchens of The Indianapolis Star also approves of the new man in town.

Indiana & Purdue Exit

It was a reasonably successful first weekend for the Big Ten in NCAA play. Three of the four teams won their first-round games and Michigan State & Wisconsin are still preparing for next weekend. We'll have plenty of time the rest of the week to discuss the Spartans & Badgers, but first things first. A proper burial needs to be given to the seasons of Indiana & Purdue.

The Boilermakers turned in a solid tournament effort, outgunning Baylor in the first round 90-79, before dropping an 85-78 decision to Xavier on Saturday. Keaton Grant played well the entire weekend, knocking in a combined 36 points. Matt Painter also got good production out of his bench. Terrence Crump scored eleven in both games and JaJuan Johnson chipped in ten during the Baylor win. Overall, good three-point shooting triggered Thursday's win, while Saturday's defeat was driven by three Xavier players scoring 15-plus, and the Musketeers shooting 54 percent from the floor.

It was a season that ought to be looked on with great pride in West Lafayette, as a group that was too young and too inexperienced, contended for the Big Ten title to the very last weekend and then won an NCAA Tournament game for the second straight year. Painter is coach of the year in a league that had a number of deserving candidates for that honor. The future looks bright for this program and Jeff Washburn at Boiler Station writes that all they need is experience.

The obituary for  Purdue's downstate rival isn't going to be quite as upbeat. Indiana tanked in the first round against Arkansas, dropping an 86-72 decision. Kelvin Sampson may not have been good about monitoring his phone usage, but the man could coach defense. And when he left, the Hoosiers turned into a sieve. In the loss, Eric Gordon was a non-factor, scoring only eight points. The future of this program now stands in doubt. Gordon is likely leaving for the NBA, D.J. White will be gone, and the second coaching search in three years is about to get underway. Indiana continues to look for someone who can both win and do it cleanly. Of course one such candidate recently left his job at Texas Tech. But that's probably overestimating the capacity of the IU administration to admit a mistake, isn't it? Dan Dakich is making his pitch to return as head man.

Wisconsin Wraps It Up

It was anti-climactic when the Big Ten race was sewn up on Saturday afternoon. Wisconsin rolled past Northwestern 65-52, asserting control about ten minutes into the game and maintaining a comfortable double-digit margin the rest of the way. In a career filled with ups and downs, Brian Butch ended his regular season career with a big 20-point/14-rebound effort to ensure the Badger fans who made the short trip to Evanston would have a reason to celebrate.

The Ohio State reign is officially over--since Big Ten Country was founded during the '05 football season, the Buckeyes have won or shared the league title in both football & basketball each season of this blog's existence. Congratulations to OSU for their run of success in the Tressel/Matta era, and of course to Bo Ryan and the new champions. Mark Stewart of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is looking ahead to the conference tournament and says it will be no easy run for the Badgers.

Speaking of congratulating Ohio State, the Buckeyes may yet fight their way into the NCAA Tournament. Senior Jamar Butler delivered his second straight big game with the season on the line, scoring 20 points in a win over Michigan State. Butler has stood tall in do-or-die week, knocking down a combined 45 points in home wins over Purdue & MSU that ensure his team will have a fighting chance of hearing its name called on Selection Sunday. The Buckeyes and Spartans will rematch in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday. Bob Hunter at The Columbus Dispatch writes that a repeat win would strengthen OSU's case.

Another team keeping its tournament hopes alive with a home upset was Penn State. The Nittany Lions stunned Indiana in overtime, moving their record to 15-15. The Nittany Lions can play their way into the NIT this week. This achievment would be significant enough on its own merits, but considering that PSU has played almost the entire league schedule with Geary Claxton, and their seven Big Ten wins have to mean even that much more. As for Indiana, they got their usual good games from D.J. White & Eric Gordon. But no one else scored more then five and they turned the ball over seventeen times. If there were further evidence needed regarding how much this team needs a third wheel to step up in tournament play, yesterday provided it. Gordon says there's no need to worry.

Purdue locked up second place with a win at Michigan. The Boilermakers conclude the conference season at 15-3, a mark that is normally good enough to win a championship and a mark of enormous credit to the job Matt Painter did in integrating his freshman into the lineup quickly. And Illinois was able to end the regular season on an up note, beating Minnesota at home.

The Defense Rests

One of Kelvin Sampson's trademarks has been tough defense. And since his ignoble departure from Bloomington, that quality has been noticeably lacking. Indiana survived a poor defensive outing in Evanston in the first game of the post-Kelvin era (to the extent that a year-plus can really be called an "era"), but there would be no escape from East Lansing. Michigan State had five players in double-figures. For all of Raymar Morgan and Drew Neitzel's inconsistency in league play, none of it showed on Saturday night. Morgan had 20, Neitzel popped in 17 and the Spartans hung 103 on the defenseless Hoosiers.

Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star writes that the lack of effort would disappoint a certain former coach.  In the meantime, Drew Sharp at The Detroit Free Press says that blowing Indiana out of the conference race is nice, but it doesn't make up for a blown season. Sharp's sentiments are understandable, but he's too quick to pull the trigger on the season. MSU's failure to win the conference title is an undeniable disappointment, but they are still arguably the team to beat in the league tourney and have a chance at redemption in the NCAA.

With IU's loss, the championship race narrowed to a two-dog fight. Purdue kept pace with Wisconsin in rolling over Northwestern at home. The Boilermakers shot 11-of-22 from beyond the arc, keyed by Robbie Hummell hitting all three of his trey attemps and leading the way with 15 points.

Ohio State did not keep pace in the NCAA Tournament race. Minnesota may be unable to play their way into the field, but they delivered a harsh blow to the Buckeyes. The two Lawrences--McKenzie and Westbrook--combined for 36 points, and OSU was nowhere to be found on the glass in the 71-57 final up in Minneapolis. Later this week, we'll re-examine the bubble and see if Ohio State needs a split or a sweep in its remaining tests against Purdue & Michigan State. But the way this slumping team is playing, it might be irrelevant--they won't survive losing both games and nothing has happened the past several weeks that indicates the defending champs can win either one.

Rounding it out, Penn State finally got a win over Michigan, even if it wasn't the sport that Lion fans would prefer. The PSU win featured a pair of superlative individual efforts. Taron Battle poured in 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. On the other side, Manny Harris led all scorers with 29. But Battle had more help, particularly on the boards, with Jamelle Cornley's ten rebounds giving the Lions the edge. And Shawn Pruitt finally showed up for Illinois, with an 18-point/7-rebound effort to lead his team past Iowa in a somewhat surprising road win. Illinois has been able to win in Minnesota & Iowa--not the most fun places to travel in winter--but hasn't maintained the consistency anywhere else.

Two Weeks Notice

There's two weeks to go in conference races around the nation. The Big Ten seems headed towards a split championship for the first time since a four-way train wreck in 2002. Since then, the league has crowned an outright champ for five straight years (Wisconsin, Illinois back-to-back, and a Ohio State twin killing). With the Badgers, Indiana and Purdue all deadlocked in the loss column, who's got the advantage?

Right now, Wisconsin looks to be in the driver's seat. A huge win in Columbus over the weekend moved Bo Ryan's team to 13-2. If nothing else, the Badgers have only three games to win these next couple weeks while their rivals have four (UW is off over the weekend). They also do not have a significant road test left. A big game on Thursday night awaits in the Kohl Center against Michigan State. If Ryan's troops defend their home floor they need only win at home against Penn State and on the road against Northwestern. Then they're sitting at home with at least a share of the crown while hoping their rivals fall by the wayside.

Indiana and Purdue are both sitting on 12-2. The Hoosiers have the toughest row to hoe due to a road trip to East Lansing that awaits this weekend. Of all the games the trio of contenders have, this is the only one where you have to presume against the contender winning. The home slate isn't a cakewalk either, with Ohio State coming in tonight and Minnesota next week.

Matt Painter's Cinderella story is still on track, but he will have to navigate a difficult road trip to Columbus next week. Thus far, Indiana and Wisconsin have both survived their visits to the two-time defending champs and Purdue will have to match that. They conclude the season in Michigan. While that's probably a win, the Wolverines have played better in recent weeks and it could be set up as a prelude of things to come kind of win--much like Ohio State delivered against Illinois in the 2005 finale when they wrecked Illinois' perfect season and set the stage for two straight championships of their own.

The schedule has played a role in the race. Indiana got the biggest advantage, being able to miss a road trip to Purdue. But overall, kudos to the Big Ten for increasing the regular season schedule back to 18 games and minimizing the impact scheduling would have on crowning a champion.

Michigan State still has an outside shot, although it's about as outside as you can get. The Spartans are two games back of all three teams in the loss column, but they can still beat Wisconsin and Indiana on their own. Then they'd need both teams to lose another one, while Purdue lost two (presumably two of three against Minnesota at home, and the road trips to Ohio State and Michigan). But pulling that off would make the Giants' Super Bowl run look predictable by comparison.

One team that's been accustomed to being in this conversation in recent years is Illinois. The Illini are on hard times this year. Herb Gould of The Chicago Sun-Times looks at the team's ugly loss in Michigan as a sign of the offensive gridlock that bogs them down.

Bohannon Is Big Off The Bench

Wisconsin cleared the toughest road hurdle that stands between them and at least a share of the Big Ten title. In a hard-fought game in Columbus, the Badgers eventually prevailed over Ohio State 58-53. Marcus Landry turned in a balanced effort of 10 points/9 rebounds to help Wisconsin overcome the foul trouble keeping Brian Butch on the bench for extended periods.

But even more impressive was the spark again provided by Jason Bohannon off the bench. Bohannon knocked down 16 points and this marks the fifth straight game the reserve guard has hit double figures. He's helped Bo Ryan's team through a stretch where Trevon Hughes' production has been slipping.

Wisconsin's toughest remaining test is a big home date with Michigan State on Thursday night. This past weekend, MSU took revenge for an earlier defeat against Iowa. Detroit radio personality Anthony Fenech tells the Free Press that the Spartans are still disappointing. Understandable sentiment,  but while the Spartans may have played themselves out of the title hunt, they are still 22-5 and may end up as the league's highest seed in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, a good goal would be for Tom Izzo's team to redeem themselves in the conference tourney before entering March Madness.

It will take awhile to get attention back exclusively on the basketball court at Indiana. Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star writes that there are many unanswered questions in the wake of Kelvin Sampson's departure. On the court, the Hoosiers quickly lost the Sampson trademark--defense--in an 85-82 escape at Northwestern. But even though D.J. White was one of the players angry about his coach's dismissal it didn't affect him on the court, as he put up his usual 16/11 line. Eric Gordon got his points (18) and Armon Bassett led all scorers with 24.  As for the Wildcats, they got a superlative night from Kevin Coble, as he knocked down 37 points. It's the rebounding that kills Northwestern, as Indiana doubled them up on the glass. Such stats are what make teams winless in league play at the end of February.

Rounding things out, Minnesota beat Penn State and kept its NCAA hopes on the respirator as they get set to enter a series of big games where they can play themselves back onto the bubble. And Michigan won an ugly 49-43 decision over Illinois. Neither team broke 33 percent from the field, and no starter on either side hit half his shots. I can't say I'm sorry I missed that one.

White Seals The Deal

D.J. White answered all the questions about whether possible ligament damage would keep him out of last night's key game against Purdue. With a 15-rebound effort that keyed a huge Indiana win (perhaps the last win in the career of Kelvin Sampson), White also obliterated all remaining questions about who the Big Ten MVP is going to be. He's now getting mentioned on broadcasts and in the print media as a lock for the honor. Since Big Ten Country readily faces up to the numerous times its insights prove to be off the deep end, I think I can justly point out that readers of this blog were being told that White--and not his more heralded freshman teammate--was the true MVP, well in advance of it becoming a standard storyline. But my immodest gloating aside, let's look at how the rest of the race for individual honors shapes up. Who is likely to join White on the all-conference team?

You can lock up a spot for Eric Gordon, as the inside-outside punch of Indiana should also finish 1-2 in the MVP balloting. Beyond that, the race for the other three spots are open, with several good candidates, but all of whom have shown a tendency to disappear more then you'd like. Most notably I would put Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes and Minnesota forward Dan Coleman in this category. If the voting were today, I think they should be on. But both have slumped at a key point in the season and they could still play themselves onto second team or honorable mention status if they don't turn it around.

With two guards and two inside players picked, there's room to make the fifth player whomever we want, and still have a valid lineup. I agree with Dick Vitale that an all-conference (or All-America) team should be a true team, and not just the best five players regardless of position. As Vitale points out, that would be like picking a baseball team with nine shortstops.

Drew Neitzel and Raymar Morgan from Michigan State are choices that come quickly to mind, but the Spartan inconsistency in conference play has been primarily because these two stars have come and gone. Center Goran Suton can also make a case, although being primarily a rebounder, he's a little too one-dimensional to be first string.

Across the state, Manny Harris is a rising star in Ann Arbor. Not quite ready for first string all-Big Ten, but this is a name we'll be hearing a lot more of in the future. We also need to give a nod to Geary Claxton at Penn State. A knee injury cut his season short, but if Claxton were healthy our fifth spot would be filled.

The best candidate for the fifth spot is Jamar Butler at Ohio State. The senior has given consistency to Thad Matta's team and helped a squad that struggled mightily in December become a solid contender for an NCAA berth and in position to be a spoiler in the conference race. The Buckeyes won't win a third straight Big Ten crown, but they've outperformed every expectation that could have been reasonably put upon them. Butler's the biggest reason why, and for that reason he fills out my team.

There's still several games left, and a lot can change. In addition to the names above, players like E'Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummell at Purdue can make a push, as can Kosta Koufous at Ohio State. And lingering away from the spotlight of the league and tournament races are Tony Freeman at Iowa and Northwestern's trio of Kevin Coble, Craig Moore and Michael Thompson.

Picking the All-Big Ten team is about the only drama there will be in the individual races. Because as last night in Bloomington made clear, the race of the biggest individual prize is all but sealed.