Mayhem abounds atop Big Ten standings

With teams upsetting each other left and right, the chase for the Big Ten women's basketball title chase remains wide open.

It was another wild and wacky week in the conference. You might need a flow chart to figure this one out.

- Theresa Grentz, Illinois coach

The Hawkeyes, in turn, were knocked off by Michigan on Sunday.

On Friday, Michigan lost to Wisconsin, a team that stayed in contention with two wins last weekend. Penn State also used two wins to get back into the race.

Say what?

Despite the mayhem, No. 8 Illinois remains atop the Big Ten. The Illini can strengthen their grip on the conference as they face Iowa and third-place Penn State this weekend.

On the other hand, an Illinois loss in one or both of the games could add to the madness. With the Illini on the road for both games, this scenario is a real possibility.

Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said she doesn't worry about her team playing on the road. She said her mentors taught her to learn how to handle crowds.

"Basically, what they were telling me was to go play the stupid game and don't worry about anything," Grentz said.

Friday's Illinois-Iowa matchup takes center stage this week. In the preseason, the Illini and the Hawkeyes were picked to finish first and second, respectively, and thus far both teams have lived up to those expectations.

Last season, Iowa hurt Illinois' NCAA seeding by stunning the Illini in the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. However, Grentz said revenge won't be a factor Friday.

"Revenge is the most stupid reason to do anything in your life, let alone go play a basketball game," Grentz said.

Indiana is revealing the true value of preseason polls.

Last week, the Hoosiers, picked to finish ninth in the conference by the coaches, upset Illinois and Purdue and nearly knocked off Iowa in Iowa City.

In Sunday's annual Barn Burner Trophy game, Indiana once again proved to be a pain in the neck for Purdue. The Hoosiers have won three straight against the Boilermakers. Indiana is now in sixth place in the Big Ten at 5-4. The Hoosiers could move up with winnable games against Ohio State and Michigan this weekend.

Purdue fell out of both the AP Top 25 Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll this week.

The departure of the Boilermakers leaves the conference with two ranked teams -- Illinois and Wisconsin. The Illini were voted No. 8 in both polls while the Badgers were ranked No. 20 by the AP and No. 18 by the coaches.

Despite being in second-place in the Big Ten, Iowa received votes in both polls but still wasn't close to breaking into the Top 25.

Indiana also was given votes in both polls, while Penn State only received votes in the AP Poll.

Despite feeling only 90 percent, Michigan leading scorer Pollyanna Johns returned to action in the her team's win over Iowa Sunday. The senior scored five points in 16 minutes of action . . . Northwestern's Kristina Divjak remained the Big Ten's leading scorer with 21.1 points per game . . . Indiana's Kristi Green and Michigan's StaceyThomas were named Co-Big Ten Players of the Week.