Televised Big Ten Basketball This Week

This is a great week for televised Big Ten basketball; the only uninteresting game should be Thursday when Michigan goes to the boring state of Iowa. One of the best games this week will be Wednesday 7pm when #14 Wisconsin plays at #12 Indiana. Unfortunately, ESPN is broadcasting Maryland vs Duke, and ESPN2 would rather broadcast 2 average Big East teams, St. John’s vs Cincinnati.

2/10 Sunday: 1 pm CBS
#13 Indiana vs Ohio State
Indiana is coming off a double OT win at Illinois and has a tough schedule this week. After playing Ohio State, they are scheduled to face Wisconsin and Michigan State.
avg ppg: Indiana 77.3, Ohio State 68.6
opp ppg: Indiana 62.9, Ohio State 59.8

2/12 Super Tuesday: 7pm ESPN
# 9 Michigan State vs #23 Purdue
Michigan State dropped in the rankings after a surprising loss to Penn State last Saturday. Purdue is on a 9 game winning streak, and upset #8 Wisconsin on Saturday. This should be a really good/interesting game since these are two of the better teams in the Big Ten. Another reason to watch this game: Super Tuesday = Lavinburger.
avg ppg: Michigan State 73.8, Purdue 68.8
opp ppg: Michigan State 62.4, Purdue 61.0

2/14 Thursday: 9pm ESPN
Michigan vs Iowa
Michigan used to be on a 6 game losing streak, but was fortunate enough to play Penn State on Saturday to break that streak. Minnesota beat Iowa by 13 on Saturday. It seemed like the Iowa players didn’t really care about winning and just wanted to go home. Iowa: horrible at offensive rebounding, lowest ppg in the conference, and has the worst turnover margin in the Big Ten (21 turnovers vs Minnesota!). How did they ever beat anyone? However, they are 2nd in the conference in opponent’s ppg, so just as long as they can keep the score really low they may have a chance at winning. The #1 Law of Basketball*: No team will ever be successful turning the ball over. *Disclaimer: The #1 Law of Basketball is not backed up by research or evidence.
avg ppg: Michigan 64.7, Iowa 56.5
opp ppg: Michigan 70.8, Iowa 57.6

2/16 Saturday: 9pm ESPN
#9 Michigan State vs #12 Indiana
2 good Big Ten teams, Eric Gordon, DJ White, Drew Neitzel: should be a good, high scoring game.
avg ppg: Michigan State 73.8, Indiana 77.3
opp ppg: Michigan State 62.4, Indiana 62.9

Big Ten Standings
Purdue 10-1
Indiana 8-1
Wisconsin 9-2
Michigan State 8-2
Ohio State 7-3
Minnesota 5-5
Iowa 4-8
Penn State 3-8
Illinois 2-9
Michigan 2-9
Northwestern 0-10