The Big Ten has been seeing a lot of red lately.

Before the season, fans, coaches and the media were picking Ohio State and Wisconsin to place Nos. 1 and 2 in the conference.

But, Indiana (14-4, 4-1 Big Ten) is quickly gaining a lot of momentum and playing some of the best ball in the league.

Including a narrow 10-point victory over Penn State two weeks ago, the Hoosiers are currently riding a five-game winning streak and have vaulted near the top of the Big Ten.

Although forward D.J. White has gotten most of the publicity -- he was named Big Ten Player of the Week yesterday -- head coach Kelvin Sampson is relying on his guard play to win.

"[White] certainly is our best player, but if you would say, 'Who's our most valuable player?' I would say it's been our guards," Sampson said. "As our guards have improved, our team has improved. That's been the key to our development, our guard play."

The Hoosiers took a rare mid-conference trip out of the Big Ten this past weekend and picked up an impressive non-conference victory over then-No. 24 Connecticut.

Indiana is on an impressive run, but the road gets more difficult this week when it travels to Illinois and plays host to Michigan.

The border battle with Illinois has had some heat added to the fire because of the recruitment of five-star guard Eric Gordon from Indianapolis.

Last season, Gordon committed to play for the Illini, but he changed his mind on national signing day and inked with Indiana.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber was noticeably upset during the weekly Big Ten teleconference yesterday. And when asked how he would approach Sampson, Weber offered a quick summation to the question.

"Indiana is a good team and we're gonna have to play hard against them," Weber said. "They're playing very good, so it's going to be a tough game."

Sampson said his team is not yet "great" and still yielded Big Ten supremacy to Ohio State and Wisconsin. But, if the Hoosiers can continue to play at their current level, they will be difficult to beat as long as they can ride their hot shooting. They currently sit among the Big Ten leaders in five offensive categories.

Ready to Roll

Michigan State (16-4, 3-2) is finally healthy. Following Saturday's impressive 91-64 victory against Penn State, the Spartans are poised to jump into the already-jammed Big Ten pool.

The Spartans used last week's bye to rest. Key cogs sophomore guard Maurice Joseph and freshman forward Raymar Morgan returned against the Lions.

Michigan State missed an average of 21 points and 11 rebounds per contest while the duo was absent with injuries. When they returned to action, they made their presence felt when they combined for their average against Penn State.

Morgan missed seven games, and Joseph was out four. Not coincidentally, the Spartans dropped two out of four games without both major contributors.

"It's meant a lot [having them back]," head coach Tom Izzo said. "Raymar just gives us strength, he's a very good player. The injury bug has really hit us, but at the same time we're making some progress."

Michigan State is getting their players healthy at the right time, because it is about to face what Izzo calls one of the toughest stretches (Ohio State twice, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan) he's ever gone up against.

"We have a long way to go," Izzo said. "But we're making a few strides forward and that's what I'm happy about."