The Big Ten conference season has reached the halfway point. Two things appear to be true: the conference is filled with good teams, and the race for the regular season championship is likely to go down to the wire.
So far, the two best teams appear to be Indiana and Michigan. Indiana leads the Big Ten with an 8-1 record after beating Michigan at Bloomington Saturday night, and Michigan is right behind at 7-2. Also at 7-2 are Michigan State and Ohio State, and Wisconsin — which has handed Indiana its only conference loss, and at Bloomington, no less — stands one game back at 6-3. Minnesota has had some surprising stumbles on its way to a 5-4 record, and the Illinois squad that came to the Big Ten schedule 13-1 and then beat the snot out of Ohio State at Assembly Hall has collapsed to a 2-7 conference record.
Indiana and Michigan have been impressive because they appear to be complete teams that have multiple offensive weapons, can play at all kinds of tempos, and pose significant match-up problems for most teams. Not coincidentally, the Hoosiers and Wolverines feature three of the Big Ten’s best players in Indiana’s Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo and Michigan’s Trey Burke. The well-rounded nature of Indiana and Michigan distinguish them from the Spartans, Buckeyes, and Badgers, all of which play very tough defense but often struggle at putting the ball into the basket.
Buckeyes fans should be thrilled with a 7-2 record, because this year’s team has some obvious holes. Deshaun Thomas is the Big Ten’s leading scorer, but he also has been Ohio State’s only reliable offensive weapon. The other starters — Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Sam Thompson, and Amir Williams — have had their ups and downs, but each game one of those players steps up and scores enough to keep opposing defenses honest. The Buckeyes also have the consistent hallmark of a Thad Matta-coached team: they play hard-nosed defense and man up until the shot clock hits zero. So far, the team also has done what you must do in the Big Ten — win your conference games at home and steal a few of the away games against the beatable teams.
The road gets tougher for Ohio State, starting immediately. The Buckeyes play at Michigan tomorrow night, where the Wolverines will be looking to avenge their loss at OSU a few weeks ago. Then, on Sunday, the Buckeyes welcome Indiana to Value City Arena. By this time next week, we’ll have a better idea of whether this Buckeye team should be put in the contender, or pretender, category.
Webner House 