Big Ten cagers looking to send eight teams to tourney

By VITO FORLENZA
Collegian Staff Writer

It has been tabbed the best conference in the nation this season by landing seven teams in the weekly polls with all seven playing at the level of perennial powerhouses from the Atlantic Coast and Pac-10 Conferences.

But some are just a little uneasy about placing such a distinction on the Big Ten.

Need more proof that it's the tops in the land?

Three of the seven teams that grace the national rankings sit below an unranked team in the conference standings.

Unranked Northwestern, which boasts a 14-6 overall record and a .600 conference winning percentage (6-4 Big Ten), remains ahead of No. 22 Minnesota, No. 21 Purdue and No. 17 Indiana.

Of those teams, it is Minnesota (5-5) which takes a seat behind the forgotten Wildcats, followed by Indiana and Purdue.

The Boilermakers continue to stay afloat in the polls despite their recent slide, in which they have lost five of their last nine games.

The Wildcats will get an opportune chance to finally reach the rankings as they take on both No. 15 Wisconsin and Indiana this week.

Dancing with eight?

With even a split this week in their games against top 25 teams, the Wildcats would not only put themselves in line to secure their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth, but could help the conference in its quest to become the first ever to send eight teams to the Big Dance.

The record for most tournament teams from one conference is seven, and since there's time before the tournament begins, that number still could be saved.

But even sending seven teams would be a remarkable feat. The Big Ten has done it twice (1990 and '94) and the Big East once (1991).

Game of the Week

This week's premier matchup pits No. 13 Ohio State against a No. 19 Iowa team that has struggled of late.

The Buckeyes (8-3) travel to Iowa City, Iowa, for Saturday's game as one of the country's rising teams, while the Hawkeyes are coming off a two-game skid that saw them slip from last week's No. 14 spot in the polls.

The Hawkeyes (6-5), once atop the conference, have dropped their last two games by combined 29 points.

Making this game a bit more interesting is the opportunity for Iowa to bounce Minnesota at home before Saturday.

A sweep could propel the Hawkeyes back into the conference race. However, that race may be for second place. Michigan State leads the league with a 9-1 conference mark.

Player of the Week

Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer scored a point a minute this week to earn him Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Eschmeyer notched 57 points in 56 minutes, tallying a game-high 29 points while grabbing 15 rebounds in the Wildcats' 58-34 win over Michigan.

Against Penn State, Eschmeyer tossed in 28 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

He averaged 28.5 points, 11 rebounds and shot over 60 percent (18-29) from the field on the week. And in the win over Michigan, Eschmeyer became the second Wildcat ever to score 1,000 points against Big Ten competition and the 59th player to do so in conference history.