It was a big week of big matchups for the Big Ten. So let’s see what we learned about the conference this week including a discussion of the Ohio State Buckeyes as this week’s spotlight team. I’ll hit on my trip to Ann Arbor to see OSU vs Michigan, Indiana’s big win, the conference falling into shape, and No Explanation Power Rankings. Finally, I’ll end with a look ahead to next week.
Ohio State Buckeyes Spotlight featuring a Report from the Crisler Center
Ohio State is this week’s spotlight team. Ohio State lost at home to a below average Wisconsin team and lost at rival Michigan. Last week I wrote about Chris Holtmann’s Hot seat. I don’t want to linger on that after another disappointing week for the Buckeyes. It is fair to say that at this point Ohio State won’t be making the tournament this year. Holtmann knows what kind of pressure that will put on him to perform with the talent that he is bringing in next year.
The Buckeyes started the week with a loss to the other team in the Big Ten who had lost 6 of their last 7 in Wisconsin. Wisconsin jumped on Ohio State and the Buckeyes put up a fight late to try and close the gap but fell just short. This game said a little more in my mind about how terrible Wisconsin’s offense can be at times. The free throws are a concern for the Badgers and if those Chucky Hepburn free throws don’t magically roll in we might be discussing them blowing it to a bad Ohio State team.
Ohio State just doesn’t have enough offense this season. Brice Sensabaugh can score from anywhere but the rest of the team is limited. Justice Sueing is a gifted isolation scorer around the basket but isn’t a threat from 3. Bruce Thornton hasn’t figured out how to score/pick his spots at the college level yet. Zed Key is inconsistent and somehow might be the 3rd best three point shooter on the team. Sean McNeil isn’t enough to stretch the defense out of the lane. Felix Okpara and Roddy Gayle are a little raw offensively. Eugene Brown and Isaac Likele are never going to light the scoreboard up.
This week is a special spotlight team too because I traveled up from Columbus to Ann Arbor to see the rivalry game between OSU and Michigan. First off, Crisler Center is a great stadium and even though I was in the upper deck the view was spectator friendly. The stadium itself was not sold out and the energy was a little disappointing for a rivalry game but maybe that speaks more to the disappointing nature of both of the teams this season.
The game itself was one of many runs. All of them followed the same script; Michigan building a lead and Ohio State cutting into it. In the end Michigan and specifically Hunter Dickinson were too much for Ohio State. Zed Key was getting manhandled by Dickinson and Okpara showed his youth in this game. Looking back at the boxscore, I didn’t realize at the game how many points Thornton scored in the game. Sensabaugh struggled and fouled out for the second straight game. Justice Sueing could only do so much.
Kobe Bufkin and Dug McDaniel came out confident and hit their first threes to kick off the game. Both settled down into average performances. Jett Howard wanted the smoke against Sensabaugh. Jett probably won the head to head. Neither was amazing. You could see Jett wanted to take the game over and couldn’t quite do it. It was okay because Dickinson was too beefy for the Buckeyes. Not much else caught my eye for Michigan live. Tarris Reed had an eh kind of game. Not much to say about Terrance Williams II ever. Joey Baker is a little quicker than you think. Yeah that’s that.
Final thoughts on Ohio State. It is time to close your eyes if you’re a Buckeye fan. Get excited for the Ole Miss DB that transferred in football. Remind people that you were a made field goal away from beating Georgia. Start watching Kyle McCord spring game/high school content instead of this Basketball team. Maybe watch the highlights of Taison Chatman and Scotty Middleton. At the minimum, start betting against Ohio State so you can start to profit off this miserable year.
Hoosiers knock off Number 1 Purdue
IU wins 79-74 in Assembly Hall and pick up a huge win over rival Purdue.
Hoosiers were up 50-35 at half with everything going right (Miller Kopp was hitting up-fake step to the side fade away threes so yeah it was a good half for them). Purdue battles back in the second half on the back of a major performance from Edey (33/18/3). Trayce Jackson-Davis is awesome (25/7/5) but not Big Ten Player of the Year over Edey. B1G might have two first team All-Americans in these two.
Trey Galloway has the game of his life. Freshman Kaleb Banks has some huge minutes. Jalen Hood Schifino has been boom or bust as the lead guard with Xavier Johnson gone, but he booms in this game making the dagger runner to make it 75-70 with 25 seconds left.
This is the IU team people were expecting to see. TJD being amazing, JHS making plays when they need them, Malik Reneau providing a spark, Galloway/Kopp/Bates doing enough around them that they can compete with anyone.
Earlier in the year I said IU might be a team that can’t beat anyone better than them. The Hoosiers just beat the number 1 team in the country. This is a glimpse of what IU can do.
The rematch in Mackey is Saturday February 25th at 7:30pm. Don’t miss it.
B1G Conference is taking shape
In a year where the middle of the B1G is actually 80% of the conference, the middle is starting to take shape and we have a more clear picture of the hierarchy of the B1G.
Purdue despite the loss to IU is head and shoulders number one. Minnesota is the opposite of head and shoulders (knees and toes?) the worst. Just above them is the Nebraska, Ohio State group in the “just doesn’t have enough” group.
Next is the group of teams that is actually less competitive than you think in Penn State and Wisconsin. Neither of them will be making the tournament unfortunately.
Then that middle group has been whittled down to 8 teams now. At any point in time you can put any one of the teams in the upper tier of those 8 or the lower tier.
Realistically, Iowa and Michigan are bringing up the rear of those 8. They have the most to prove for seeding in the tournament. Michigan is currently projected to miss the tournament. Northwestern is a step above those two but definitely still falls into the work to do category.
Michigan State is an enigma who floats in between any sort of definition. Rutgers, Indiana, and Maryland are not defying definition as it is clear they are the 2nd tier in the B1G behind Purdue. Illinois is fighting to get there with that group.
No Explanation Power Rankings
If only there was an explanation for these power rankings. I wish someone could clarify how the Big Ten is taking shape. Sadly you can’t see that here.
- Purdue
- Rutgers
- Maryland
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Illinois
- Northwestern
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Penn State
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Ohio State
- Minnesota
Looking ahead to Next week
Penn State is next week’s spotlight team. They play Wisconsin and at Maryland.