There are certain B1G basketball teams that owe an apology right now. Sure, one team nationally ranked in the preseason losing to a low-major that you’ve never heard of is excusable although unexpected. Upsets happen. However, two preseason AP top 25 teams losing to low-majors on two separate occasions? That’s kind of embarrassing. Plus the B1G hasn’t had a whole lot of signature wins to really counter-act those ugly losses.
Hey, at least they won the challenge versus the ACC
1.Wisconsin (9-1)
Everything has gone as expected thus far. Unless you expected them to upset Jahlil Okafor and #2 Duke. The Georgetown win will look good on the resume come March. Say this for the B1G, they’ve certainly helped the Big East look better than anyone expected thus far.
2. Ohio State (7-1)
No shame in the Louisville loss, but they’ve played so few real games against real teams. At least they beat HP by 54 points. I didn’t know Hewlett Packard had a team; let alone that they were competing at the Division I level.
3. Maryland (9-1)
The win over #13 Iowa State carries the B1G flag thus far. Can they keep up the winning impressively minus Dez Wells? Too bad no one showed up to their game last night. I know it was versus a no-name low-major, but still. Terps deserve better fan support than that.
4. Iowa 8-2
Maybe I was as wrong about these guys as I was about Michigan and Nebraska? Still losing to Syracuse is not a good thing. Don’t let the brand name fool you- the Orange are very down this year.
5. Michigan State 6-3
Not saying they’ll be this bad (at least by MSU standards) come March, but WOW! Tom Izzo is really having a down year thus far. For Oakland, Saturday is their Super Bowl, so don’t be shocked if this is the year that the Grizzlies finally get them. That game is tight every season.
6. Minnesota 8-2
Only here because you have to put someone #6. Has every single team in this conference lost to Louisville this year?
7. Illinois 4-0
Villanova and Miami showed us that this team really hasn’t improved as much from last year as we previously thought. The offense is indeed significantly better, but both of the losses went down exactly as predicted. It’s nothing Illini basketball fans haven’t already seen numerous times a season, for what seems like decades worth of seasons. John Groce needs to figure out what to do about Aaron Cosby. They really look like a .500 in conference team. Nothing more, nothing less.
8. Purdue 4-1
I have a hard time accepting that team which already lost to North Florida and Bruce Weber get ranked 7th, but what are you going to do? Who else can you put here?
9. Indiana 7-2
Other than the inexcusable Eastern Washington loss, they’ve kind of exceeded expectations. Being ranked 9th is a little misleading though- the Hoosiers just haven’t had as many gaffes as the teams below them.
10. Penn State 9-1
Exceeded expectations, but don’t let that record fool you. Their very poor attendance reflects the fact that no one reads too much into their 90% winning percentage thus far. That Duquesne game was rather ugly.
11. Northwestern (5-3)
They played their best game of the season thus far versus their toughest non-conference opponent. So that’s a positive sign. Still, this team should finish well below .500 in B1G play. Here are the five most important things to watch this season with NU basketball.
12. Nebraska (5-3)
I’m over-reacting by placing them this low, but still they’ve earned this. On the plus side, Tim Miles is smart, witty and hilarious. Here are some of his best one-liners this season.
13. Michigan (6-3)
This is obviously an overreaction, placing them this low; but at the same time they have truly earned it. NJIT and EMU are not powerhouses. Good luck at #3 Arizona Saturday.
14. Rutgers (5-4)
Don’t know what’s been uglier- their wins or their losses. No high-major should have a record this close to .500 at this point in the season. Everybody has a winning percentage that’s 80% or higher this time of year.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2