There are quite a few teams in the Big Ten that are on the NCAA tournament bubble with the close of the regular season just two weeks away.
Many see this as a down year for the No. 6 conference in the country according to the RPI, and it will be difficult for it to get seven entrants to the tourney as it did last season.
No. 19 Ohio State (18-5, 9-3 Big Ten) and No. 23 Indiana (17-8, 9-3) are the closest things to locks right now, but neither can let their guard down yet. Many teams in major conferences with 17 or 18 wins on their resume have been snubbed in past years. Those two teams play each other at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., Wednesday to break their tie for first place in the conference. Ohio State won the first battle in Columbus 73-67.
No. 16 Illinois (7-5, 19-7) is also a fairly safe bet. The Fighting Illini are certainly not in the position they expected to be in at this point in the season after peaking as the No. 2 team in the country in late November. However, with four straight wins after three straight losses, coach Bill Self's team looks to have righted its ship, at least enough to get into the tournament.
After that, a lot is still up in the air. Minnesota (7-5, 14-9) looked like it was going to solidify it's position as a tourney shoo-in, but losses to Northwestern and Wisconsin this past week put them out of the conference title race and back onto the bubble. The Badgers (9-5, 16-11) come into the week in decent position for a bid, but early season losses to a few shaky teams could come back to haunt them.
Michigan State (15-10, 6-6), Northwestern (15-9, 6-6), and Iowa (15-12, 4-8) are all still holding out remote hopes, and with strong finishes, any one of them could be dancing on Selection Sunday.
Since 1995, the conference has had at least one team go into the tournament with a No. 2 seed or better. Considering the Associated Press rankings, and the fact that Indiana has the conference's highest RPI ranking at No. 13, it will be tough for the selection committee to justify a No. 2 seed this year. However, at least one coach doesn't think that will mean anything come tournament time.
"Yes, (the conference champion deserves a No. 2 seed), always in the Big Ten, yes," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "We (the Big Ten) are catching a lot of flack about that, but I think you'll be surprised how well we do in the NCAA."
Laying down the law
Even with his team still on the NCAA tournament bubble, Iowa coach Steve Alford decided that he was going to have to make a statement to his players on Saturday against Ohio State.
Alford did not start any of his regulars, and sat forward Reggie Evans, the league's leading rebounder, for the entire game for missing classes. With the revamped lineup, the Hawkeyes, who have lost nine of their last 13 games, came up just short of upsetting Ohio State 72-66.
"At the University of Iowa, you are going to be a student athlete, you're not going to be an athletic student," Alford said. "That's a message that had to be sent, and I thought our kids responded well and played well."
Finding his stride
Illinois point guard Frank Williams started to get back into the form that won him Big Ten Player of the Year honors last season, and captured his second Big Ten Player of the Week award of the season.
Last Tuesday in a crucial 63-61 win against Michigan State, Williams scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds. He then scored 19 points in a 75-65 win over Seton Hall.
Williams was also named a finalist for the Wooden Award for the nation's most outstanding player. Indiana forward Jared Jeffries was the Big Ten's only other nominee.
Wisconsin junior guard Kirk Penney shared the award with Williams. Penney led the Badgers to road victories over Indiana and Minnesota, scoring 30 points against the Golden Gophers.
