Penn State relies on Battle too often. He made a great shot in that game but too often it seems like he's going to get his shots regardless of whether or not he is open.

Michigan State has looked like this before at this time but something seems off about them. They seem to be a team with great talent but they won't be a great team ever. I've thought that before though and been wrong in March.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I didn't watch it but it sounds like things got out of hand yesterday in the NU/Indiana game. Elston threw a blatant cheap shot as IU was getting run off the floor and the coaches were both really animated. The score got closer towards the end but Northwestern was dominant for most of the game.

The question becomes where on the schedule for IU is the first Big Ten win?

Michigan
@Iowa
Iowa
Northwestern
Purdue

Those are the only ones I see as possible wins now and most of that is because of the good home court advantage they normally have and because Purdue at home will be the game of the year for them.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They will split with Iowa is my guess.

There must be something in the water in Minnesota.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s1918775.shtml

Purdue plays @Minnesota on Thursday. One would assume that he will not be playing.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

IU's season is quickly going down the drain. Very disappointing. I expected them to be on the bubble of making the tourney this year, but no way that happens now. I have thought Crean was the right guy for this position and that he has done a good job up until now, he better get the ship righted quickly or things are going to turn on him pretty fast.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I'm no fan of IU personally but I too am disappointed what Crean has been able
to get accomplished early. I know he has some good recruits coming in so that
gives him some credibility but he's got to make a decent run here and at the
absolute very least make the NIT.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Iowa can't figure out how to cover the 3 point shot.

Well I guess Ohio State will be the new number 1 soon.

Go Cats.

Not the first team to exploit it. Ask Illinois how that worked for them too.

First Big Ten loss for Purdue. It was a good hard fought game but I'm not terribly upset at losing. This was a "season saving" game for Minnesota and Moore had the worst game I've seen him have in a long time. It's always tough to win on the road.

The best stat of the night was that Purdue out rebounded Minnesota by 10 in the game. That has been the biggest weakness of them for the Matt Painter era and Minnesota is the biggest team in the conference.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

BR,
I'm afraid I've cursed your team. Shall I go back to being a Wildcat fan? No need to curse two teams.

Now is the time to jump on the NU bandwagon. They are dominating the competition.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Well I think Michigan State still makes the tournament, but it maybe time to start playing a little better, yea should win Sunday, IU will be excited about their win over Illinois and won't care about the game.

Yeah, watched a lot of that Michigan game. They played very well.
Michigan State made a run at the end but they just don't seem to
have it together this year.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Iowa almost knocked off Wiscosnin tonight, but the Badgers hold on.

If Northwestern wants to make the tournament, they need to learn to win road games like tonights at Michigan, down 15 at halftime, then almost score 50 in the second half and got it down to 3, before Michigan pulled away for a 9 point win.

The big thing tonight, does Illinois get a big road win at Minnesota and does Michigan State get a win.

Yes on both accounts. Big wins for both teams.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I am just throwing this out because I heard somebody today say the Big 10 is the best conference, but when I look at the teams going into the tournament this year, the only team I see making noise is Ohio State, may go all the way.

Of course when you look at Matta in the tournament, good teams but eliminated early, heck even the runner up team almost lost in the 2nd round.

The other teams that make it from the Big 10, may not even make the Sweet 16 and if anybody does it would be Purdue or Wisconsin.

This season has not gone as I thought it would. Here are my thoughts per team:

Ohio State: Better than expected
Wisconsin: Much better than expected
Purdue: As expected, but trending past where I thought they would be. They have a legitimate shot at a #2 seed in the tournament now.
Illinois: Worse than expected
Michigan State: Disaster
Minnesota: As expected as Tubby Smith at Minnesota is always overrated going into the season. They aren't an elite team and are always "close to breaking out".
Northwestern: Worse than expected. With other teams disappointing, they had a chance to sneak into the top 5 of the league and make the NCAA tournament.
Penn State: Better than expected. That's not saying much. They are a competent team.
Iowa: My surprise team of the year. They are going to become pretty good over the next few years. I'm impressed.
IU: About as expected, with signs of life. It's funny but scary for IU fans that they actually seem to play better when they lose their "best players".
Michigan: Not impressed. The whole program seems to have stagnated.

As for the future, taking a look at what is going on in recruiting the Big Ten isn't going away any time soon. It's very possible that the Big Ten is going to be the most talented conference in the country with what multiple teams are pulling in. In football, the Big Ten gets rocked in recruiting by the SEC. This won't be true for basketball. It should be fun.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm biased but I am surprised as well. The thing that helps out Iowa going into 2011-12 is the fact that many of the top teams are losing alot of talented folks. They could sneak into the middle of the Big Ten with continued development of the younger players (like Marble, Basabe)

Watching Michigan today, that team has some decent players in Morris, Hardaway Jr. and Morgan. So it looks like Belein may start having some strong teams there.

It was a huge week for Purdue. Beating the other two best teams in the league will really help with seeding in the NCAA tournament. Moore may have played the best game in all of the NCAA this year.

Win 3/4 of the rest of the games and make the finals of the BTT and it's very possible that Purdue will get the #2 seed playing in Chicago which would be a massive advantage.

I am very worried about the game tomorrow against IU. It's a rivalry game, at a place that is historically difficult to win at, with a team that pretty much has nothing positive to look at for this season besides winning this game. IU will play it's most intense game of the year and Purdue is coming off a huge win with another huge game this weekend. While obviously a blowout would be great I'll take any win.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Game is Wednesday so you have more time to worry.

If they play half as good as they played yesterday they will win by 10

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Thanks.

Hopefully Moore doesn't have to score 38 to win.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Brick, while I would love to see IU knock off Purdue, just don't see it. I think this team is done. Purdue wins by 15+

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

That's no fun. It will be more enjoyable if you guarantee an IU victory and then I get to mock you for it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

72-61

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Take that RFDC!

Purdue/IU games are going to get a lot more competitive after next year. Both teams should be top 25 every year by then.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

With the regular season ending today, Buckeyes are the Champions of the Regular season title. By most people, the Buckeyes are the favorites to win the National Championship, I just don't know if Matta can coach the team to the title, he has had some teams in the past that were good and got bounced earlier than they should have. The Conley and Oden team came real close in losing to Xavier, and last year with Evan Turner, should have made the Final 4 and after Kansas lost and probably the final game, but lose to Tennesee in the Sweet 16.

For other Big 10 teams in the tournament, Purdue could go anywhere from a 2nd game exit to the Final 4, Wisconsin maybe sweet 16, and others just 1 win or nothing, like Michigan, Illinois, and maybe Michigan State.