Hoosiers Now

Big Ten Daily, Volume 6: Michigan, Ohio State as 'Bottom-Feeders' is Laughable

Michigan and Ohio State might be sitting near the bottom of the standings in the Big Ten, but both are still very dangerous every night, especially down the stretch in the race for NCAA Tournament bids.

Tom Brew

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In this bunched-up Big Ten where only Nebraska and Northwestern are struggling to find ways to win, you can pretty count on home teams ruling the roost. Just ask Big Ten leaders Michigan State and Illinois, who both went down over the weekend.

What's silly though is to think that just because teams like Ohio State and Michigan had hit rough patches and tumbled down toward the bottom of the Big Ten standings is that they still aren't dangerous teams. Both were called ''bottom-feeders'' over the weekend, and that's hilarious.

They're both still really good basketball teams capable of winning a lot of games as we head down the home stretch here.

Indiana and Rutgers found that out on over the weekend, falling to Ohio State and Michigan respectively. The wins still left that dynamic duo — they've both been ranked in the TOP FOUR in the country at one point this season — still at Nos 11-12 in the standings at 4-6.

Still, Ohio State was damn impressive at home against Indiana and Michigan popped Rutgers pretty good in a rare neutral-site Big Ten game at Madison Square Garden in New York.

What that basically means is that everything is still fair game as we head down the home stretch in the Big Ten race. Even those 'bottom-feeders' are really good.

"They have some elite players, one of the best big guys and one of the best point guards in  the country," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell. "Our pick-and-roll defense wasn't elite, and it needed to be tonight. We still had chances to win, though.

"It's a good sign. We're one of the youngest teams in the league and we are going to have games like that. I liked our grit and our toughness. It's not getting any easier down the stretch."

It is amazing that those 12 teams are ALL still separated by just three games. We'd like to think that Michigan State, Maryland and Illinois are the class of the league, but they too have shown that winning on the road is tough. And Michigan and Ohio State, both trying to claw back in the race, have to go through each other on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.

And when the week starts on Tuesday, there are plenty of prime-time showdowns that are going to be well worth watching.

Missing players, but winning anyway

Wisconsin lost Kobe King for good this week, and Ohio State's DJ Carton stepped away from his team for a while to deal with some mental health issues. Both are really good players, and they will be missed.

Their teams rallied around the departures on Saturday, though. Wisconsin had an impressive home win over Michigan State and Ohio State's guards really played well against Indiana.

It will remain to be seen, though, what happens without those two down the road. Coincidentally, those two teams play each other on Sunday in Columbus.

Looking Back: Last week's results

  • SUNDAY'S RESULTS
  • Iowa 72, Illinois 65
  • SATURDAY'S RESULTS
  • Ohio State 68, Indiana 59
  • Wisconsin 64, Michigan State 63 
  • Penn State 76, Nebraska 64
  • Michigan 69, Rutgers 63
  • Purdue 61, Northwestern 58
  • THURSDAY'S RESULTS
  • Illinois 59, Minnesota 51
  • Maryland 82, Iowa 72 
  • WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS
  • Michigan State, Northwestern
  • Penn State, Indiana
  • TUESDAY'S RESULTS
  • Michigan 79, Nebraska 68
  • Rutgers 70, Purdue 63
  • MONDAY'S RESULTS
  • Iowa 68, Wisconsin 62

Looking Ahead: This week's games

    • TUESDAY'S GAMES
    • Rutgers at Maryland, 7 p.m. ET (TV: Fox Sports 1)
    • Ohio State at Michigan, 7 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN2)
    • Penn State at Michigan State, 8 p.n. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
    • WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
    • Iowa at Purdue, 7 p.m., ET (TV: Big Ten Network) 
    • Wisconsin at Minnesota, 9 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
    • FRIDAY'S GAMES
    • Maryland at Illinois, 8 p.m.  (TV: Fox Sports 1)
    • SATURDAY'S GAMES
    • Michigan State at Michigan, Noon ET (TV: Fox)
    • Purdue at Indiana, 2 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN)
    • Minnesota at Penn State, 4 p.m. (TV: Big Ten Network)
    • Nebraska at Iowa, 6 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
    • SUNDAY
    • Ohio State at Wisconsin, 1 p;m. ET (CBS)
    • Northwestern at Rutgers, 6:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

    Big Ten Standings

    Real-Time Big Ten Standings CLICK HERE

    Screenshot 2020-02-03 11.01.22

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    Tom Brew
    TOM BREW

    Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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