Illinois, Iowa jockeying for top spot in Big Ten

The chips are down and it's all on the line for Illinois and Iowa.

With two regular season games left to play for both teams, the No. 9 Illini are one game ahead of the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten women's basketball standings. There are a plethora of possible outcomes that can occur as the two teams fight for both the Big Ten title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

Illinois (18-6, 12-2 Big Ten) controls its own destiny. It can win the title outright by winning both its games. However, if the Illini split their two games and the Hawkeyes win both of theirs, the two teams will share the conference title. Under that scenario, the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament would go to Iowa due to its win over Illinois earlier this season. On the other hand, if the Hawkeyes lose either of their two games, their title hopes will disappear unless the Illini lose both of their games.

Winning both of its games will be no easy task for Illinois. The Illini have to play on the road against two of the better teams in the conference -- No. 23 Wisconsin and Purdue.

Illinois coach Theresa Grentz isn't worried about her players on the road.

"They've played some very strong opponents (on the road) and they've played very well in those houses," Grentz said.

Iowa (14-9, 11-3) will also play twice on the road this weekend. With games against conference cellar-dweller Minnesota and also-ran Ohio State, the competition won't be as stiff as Illinois'.

Iowa is seeking to win at least a share of the crown for the fifth time since the 1989-90 campaign. After winning a share of the title for the first time last season, Illinois is fighting for its first outright conference title ever. No Illini basketball team has won the Big Ten title outright since the Illinois men's team won it during the 1951-52 season.

Michigan strengthened its position in the Big Ten standings last weekend with wins against Penn State and Northwestern.

The Wolverines (17-7, 9-5) are now in a position to finish higher than any Michigan team has ever finished in the Big Ten -- third. All Sue Guevara's team has to do is beat Minnesota and Ohio State this weekend.

Two years ago, Guevara inherited a team that had finished among the bottom three teams in the Big Ten for six consecutive years and 11 out of 14 seasons. In that short time she has turned the Wolverines into a legitimate conference power for the first time since they won a team-record 20 games in 1989-90.

Last Friday's win at Penn State was an indication of how far Michigan has come. When the Wolverines' current seniors were freshmen, they were humiliated 92-44 in State College. Four years later, those same players grabbed Michigan's first win at Penn State and exorcised some demons in the process.

"This is just a big victory for us," Guevara said following the victory over Penn State. "It's good for (the seniors) and it's good for our program."

Sunday's crucial matchup between Illinois and Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., should be a thriller.

Last season, Purdue knocked off the Illini 80-75 in Champaign in the last game of the regular season. The win prevented Illinois from winning its first outright conference title and forced a three-way tie for the championship between the Boilermakers, the Illini and Michigan State.

While Purdue is out of the title chase this year, it still has an opportunity to deny Illinois the outright championship.

Notes:

Iowa's Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, Tangela Smith, was named conference player of the week along with Michigan center Pollyanna Johns . . . Indiana continued to struggle on the road last weekend as it was humiliated by Northwestern 81-59 . . . Northwestern's Kristina Divjak still leads the conference in scoring with 21.5 points per game. Her teammate, Amber DeWall, leads the Big Ten with 184 assists . . . Wisconsin ranks third nationally in attendance and is on pace to break the conference's season attendance records. The Badgers have drawn an average of 10,160 per game this season.