The final weekend of the college basketball regular season is upon us, and with it lots of seeding implications are still at stake. We’re only five days away from the start of the Big Ten Tournament, which will be staged at the United Center in Chicago this year. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the major storylines heading into the BTT. Narratives abound with multiple teams, but UCLA, Purdue, Illinois and Northwestern stand out as among the most interesting.
4th Place Illinois Fighting Illini (23-7, 14-5)
They had Big Ten title aspirations, up until mid-February, but then that crashed and burned. They can still hold on to a triple bye in the BTT though, where they will be the de facto home team, out of all 18 that are competing. Freshman Keaton Wagler is Mr. All-Everything, and he can carry them pretty far, if he needs to. Their 3-ball based offense hums along like a finely tuned engine, but their defense can often be suspect. Simply put, this program really needs to get over that second round bugaboo.
In line to get a #3 seed in the big dance, at worst, they should still be able to earn a #2 seed.
The conference tournament is ancillary. Anything less than a Sweet 16 appearance would be a disaster.
5th Place Purdue Boilermakers (23-7, 13-6)
The preseason #1 spends the last week of the regular season ranked #15, so they have a whole lot to prove right now. Picked to win the league, Purdue will likely not even be in the group of four that gets a bye until the quarterfinals.
With a rousing 70-66 come from behind win at Northwestern on Wednesday night, the Purdue senior class became the winningest of any Big Ten school, ever.
“You just appreciate those guys, they’ve been very loyal to our program. we owe ’em a lot, in today’s landscape. They’ve been great representatives of Purdue University.”
Matt Painter, who also provided a great social media PSA ahead of the Big Ten Tournament, had big time praise for Nick Martinelli:
“Very few people walking down the street have led the Big Ten in scoring, twice, and that speaks for itself. He made it look easy, and made a jump every year. He was great for this league.”
7th Place UCLA Bruins (20-10, 12-7)
After his bizarre meltdown at Michigan State in the middle of last month, it seriously looked like UCLA head coach Mick Cronin was trying to get fired. And why not, given how there is no better gig on Earth than fired coach with a lucrative buyout. After all, Cronin could $22,500,000 NOT to work.
The Bruins, who were #12 in the preseason but have been unranked for quite some time, are no longer a bubble team, as they’ve picked up two wins over top 10 opposition (Nebraska and Illinois) in the past couple weeks.
Even with this recent surge, Cronin is still complaining as much as ever. Now it’s the start times he’s whining about, instead of the travel.
Or maybe we just don’t get him. Perhaps he’s got a very dry sense of humor that we don’t understand.
“Honestly, like he does have a fun side to him, UCLA star Tyler Bilodeau said in a preseason exclusive with RG.org.”He has a very humorous side to him, and so he can switch it up, for sure, but he’s definitely a hard-nosed guy.”
15th Place Northwestern Wildcats (13-17, 5-14)
The team that is physically closest to the location of this year’s conference tournament is always an intriguing proposition. The last time the BTT was at the UC, NU (enough initials/acronyms for ya?) was the #2 seed.
Unfortunately, they were one-and-done in that edition, ousted by #10 seed Penn State, who also eliminated the other team from the home state in their first game
However, NU really has their work cut out for them, as they’ll begin their tourney campaign on the format’s first ever Tuesday night.
“We are playing our best basketball right now, with the three games we’ve won,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins. “The activity, the post traps, some of the things we were doing with the ball screen, I thought it was as connected as we’ve been defensively in a long time.
“We’re playing really hard..this is the best defense that we have played this season.”
Nick Martinelli, destined to be one of the program’s all-time great, close to Northwestern basketball Mt. Rushmore, had his senior night end in disappointment.
“I wish I could be playing more games, honestly,” he said after the narrow loss.
“That game should have been won, and that’s on me.” Martinelli really appreciated the fan turnout last night.
“We have five wins, there is no need for it to be that packed today, but we appreciate the community rallying behind us.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.