Tag: Teams

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Eight of the Big Ten’s 18 schools have reached the 10-game halfway point of the 20-game Big Ten men’s basketball season, and the rest will hit it this week.

Hoosiers On SI took a look at where each Big Ten stands as they make the turn for the second half of the Big Ten season and assigned mid-season grades for each school.

Michigan State

• Record: 18-2 overall, 9-0 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 5th.
• Current Big Ten position: 1st.
• Overview: Last year, Michigan State was supposed to be good because of a flashy backcourt trio. Big Ten title contention wasn’t necessarily expected from the Spartans this season, but when coach Tom Izzo’s teams are counted out? Look out. The Spartans are sound. They manage to score 81.3 points per game without a devastating 3-point attack or a dominant scorer. They’re well put together, they’re unselfish, and they play hard. That will carry you far.
• Grade: A+. Izzo defies conventional wisdom by building a team the old-fashioned way – via good high school recruiting, good retention and good player development. Unbeaten in the Big Ten gets an A+.

Purdue

• Record: 16-5 overall, 8-2 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 1st.
• Current Big Ten position: 2nd.
• Overview: No one thought Purdue was going to go away in the post-Zach Edey era, and they haven’t. That Braden Smith, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, is playing well is no surprise. That Trey Kaufman-Renn is leading Purdue in scoring is a surprise but shouldn’t be because players get better under coach Matt Painter’s tutelage. An underrated Purdue trait is its guard depth.
• Grade: A-. Purdue trails Michigan State by 1 ½ games, the only reason for the minus in the Boilermakers’ grade. Apart from that, it’s the usual steady-as-she-goes in West Lafayette.

Michigan

• Record: 15-5 overall, 7-2 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 9th.
• Current Big Ten position: 3rd.
• Overview: First-year coach Dusty May quickly built a fascinating team. Michigan’s 9.7 made threes per game ranks 39th nationally, but with 7-footers Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf the paint is also a danger zone for opponents. Five players average double-digit scoring. It’s a well-balanced team.
• Grade: A. May has done an outstanding job. The last four games, two of them losses, have shown some vulnerabilities, but the Wolverines are back after two dreadful seasons.

Wisconsin

• Record: 16-4 overall, 6-3 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: tied for 12th.
• Current Big Ten position: 4th.
• Overview: It seems to be an annual exercise in expecting decline to begin in Madison for coach Greg Gard, but he continues to defy his skeptics. The maturation of sophomore guard John Blackwell has made him a force. Gard combined solid veterans like Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit and Nolan Winter with an inspired portal pickup in guard John Tonje. The Badgers are averaging 82.5 points per game, nearly eight better than they did in 2024 and their highest average since the early 1970s.
• Grade: A. The Badgers are dangerous. Their three Big Ten losses have been by no more than six points.

 Illinois

• Record: 14-6 overall, 6-4 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 4th.
• Current Big Ten position: Three-way tie for 5th.
• Overview: Illinois coach Brad Underwood lost nearly everyone from an Elite Eight team, but did a masterful job in putting the puzzle back together. Guard Kasparas Jakucionis is dazzling at times. His flash is a counterpoint to grittier work done by Kylan Boswell and Tomislav Ivisic. On any given night, Illinois can overwhelm teams – ask both Oregon and Indiana – teams the Fighting Illini roasted on their home floors.
• Grade: B+. For as powerful as Illinois is at its best, the Illini don’t always show up. A home loss to Southern California was baffling (a subsequent home defeat against Maryland was easier explained due to team sickness) and so was a fade job at Northwestern. That dropped their grade, but on their day, Illinois is as good as any Big Ten team.

Maryland

• Record: 16-5 overall, 6-4 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 10th.
• Current Big Ten position: Three-way tie for 5th.
• Overview: Coach Kevin Willard hit the jackpot in both high school recruiting and the portal. Freshman Derik Queen (15.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg) has been great right out of the box, and Belmont transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.6 ppg, 4.7 apg) has been a good fit. The complementary pieces around that pair fit very well.
• Grade: B+. Maryland showed me something by winning a pair of road games in its last two games. That was the one knock against the Terps – that they were great at home and faded on the road. If they can continue that trend, they will continue to rise up the Big Ten charts.

UCLA

• Record: 15-6 overall, 6-4 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 3rd.
• Current Big Ten position: Three-way tie for 5th.
• Overview: A strange Big Ten maiden voyage for the Bruins. They lost four straight at the beginning of January, prompting a rant from coach Mick Cronin on their toughness. They’ve won four in a row since, but all on the West Coast. Apart from being a solid defensive team, especially inside the arc where they limit shots, I still don’t think we know what these Bruins are about yet.
• Grade: B-. If Maryland proved something in its recent games, UCLA can’t claim to be a top Big Ten team until it wins east of the Rocky Mountains – something the Bruins have yet to achieve.

Oregon

• Record: 16-4 overall, 5-4 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 6th.
• Current Big Ten position: 8th.
• Overview: Resume-wise, Oregon looks great with wins over Texas A&M and Alabama. Within the Big Ten, however, the form has been inconsistent. The Ducks have a weird stack of scores. Wins at Ohio State and Penn State, but three home losses and a defeat at Minnesota. Befitting that trend, Oregon floats near the middle of the Big Ten in nearly every major team statistical category for offense and defense.
• Grade: B. The Ducks are basically what we thought they would be – very competitive, but not overwhelming.

Indiana

• Record: 14-7 overall, 5-5 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 2nd.
• Current Big Ten position: 9th.
• Overview: Based on preseason expectations, the Hoosiers are under-performing under coach Mike Woodson. Inconsistency in every facet has defined these Hoosiers. A look at Indiana’s record shows decline could be in the cards. Indiana has not beaten a single team above it in the Big Ten standings. Seven of their remaining 10 games are versus teams above them.
• Grade: C-. A segment of Indiana fans will think this grade is way too kind. Another segment will think it’s harsh. The grade would have slipped into D territory, but Indiana has won five league games, so that would be unduly harsh. How much the talent was overrated entering the season, and thus how realistic the expectations were in the first place, is a fair question to ask at this point.

Ohio State

• Record: 12-8 overall, 4-5 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 8th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 10th.
• Overview: Point guard Bruce Thornton has been the veteran presence everyone expected. Ohio State’s other scoring standouts – Devin Royal, Micah Parrish and freshman John Mobley – are a bit more surprising given that there were more highly touted players that were Columbus-bound in the portal.
• Grade: B-. I don’t trust the Buckeyes. Which means I don’t trust them to win or lose when they’re supposed to! There’s talent here, but they haven’t yet figured out how to harness it to attain consistency.

Southern California

• Record: 12-8 overall, 4-5 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 14th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 10th.
• Overview: Coach Eric Musselman has molded the Trojans into an occasionally dangerous squad – witness road wins at Illinois, Washington and Nebraska. They’re average in almost every way but hit the glass hard, leading the Big Ten in offensive rebounding in conference games.
• Grade: B. No one knew what to make of USC entering the season given that it had an almost completely new roster. What we know now is that they’re hard to play against and they share the scoring with five different players averaging double figures. A solid outfit.

Iowa

• Record: 13-8 overall, 4-6 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 11th.
• Current Big Ten position: 12th.
• Overview: Iowa is what it is – a good offensive team that can’t defend consistently. Lately, however, even the offense has fallen off. Iowa has scored more than 10 points below its season scoring average in three of its last four games.
• Grade: C. A threat to beat anyone when they’re on, a threat to lose to anyone when they’re not. The definition of average. Hence the grade.

Northwestern

• Record: 12-8 overall, 3-6 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 16th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 13th.
• Overview: Per usual, coach Chris Collins has crafted his Wildcats well. They’re not deep, but they’re tough and the 1-2-3 scoring punch of Nick Martinelli, Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach can be a chore to defend when they’re on their game.
• Grade: B-. Is it ironic that the Big Ten’s most famous academic institution gets graded on a curve? The Wildcats don’t play by the same rules other Big Ten teams do by their own choice, so while they’re in the fight to avoid missing out on the Big Ten Tournament, wins over Illinois, Maryland and Indiana attest to their competitiveness.

Rutgers

• Record: 10-10 overall, 3-6 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 7th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 13th.
• Overview: Super freshmen Ace Bailey (19.8 ppg) and Dylan Harper (18.6 ppg) have brought the goods as advertised. However, that’s about all the Scarlet Knights have. Rutgers’ defensive mentality, which has defined them under coach Steve Pikiell, has dissipated. The Scarlet Knights are giving away 75.2 points per game, seven points worse than any previous Pikiell-coached Rutgers team.
• Grade: C-. The Top 25 preseason ranking Rutgers got seems laughable now, a case study in how everyone gets too caught up in stars over how teams mesh. Seeing Rutgers conceding points in the way that it has is just jarring.

Minnesota

• Record: 11-10 overall, 3-7 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 18th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 15th.
• Overview: It was looking hopeless in Minneapolis when the Golden Gophers were 0-6 in league play with no wins against any Power Four schools. However, there is hope at Williams Arena as Minnesota has won three of four, including wins over ranked Michigan and Oregon.
• Grade: C+. Let this be the latest article to say that Ben Johnson is a good coach without a good situation at Minnesota in terms of recruiting and NIL. He’s making the best of it, though, and if Minnesota continues to improve? He deserves a standing ovation.

Penn State

• Record: 13-8 overall, 3-7 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 17th.
• Current Big Ten position: Tied for 15th.
• Overview: How many fans outside of the Keystone State would know that Penn State has six players averaging double figures? Penn State’s scoring hasn’t been quite as prolific in the Big Ten, and stopping anyone is a problem – Penn State gives up 48.2% from the field and 79.4 points in conference contests.
• Grade: B-. Could have gone C+, but I err on the side of being nice. Penn State has settled into its rep as a Hard Team To Play Against in the Big Ten. A compliment, but it also means the Nittany Lions aren’t a likely threat to crack the top half of the league – and that they can be had if your team is on its game.

Nebraska

• Record: 12-8 overall, 2-7 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: tied for 12th.
• Current Big Ten position: 17th.
• Overview: The Cornhuskers are in a freefall having lost six in a row. A big reason is defense. The Huskers are giving up 81.2 points per game. Scoring outside of Brice Williams and Juwan Gary has also been inconsistent.
• Grade: C-. While no one thought Nebraska would contend near the top of the league, many thought the Huskers could build on their positive 2024 season and at least maintain their spot near the middle of the Big Ten. A relatively tough remaining schedule won’t make things any easier in Lincoln.

Washington

• Record: 10-10 overall, 1-8 Big Ten.
• Preseason Big Ten prediction: 15th.
• Current Big Ten position: 18th.
• Overview: Not much was expected from the Huskies, but somehow they seem even worse than anticipated. Forward Great Osobor (15.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg) has performed as expected, but no one else has really stepped up for coach Danny Sprinkle as Washington only averages 65.4 points in Big Ten games.
• Grade: D+. A hope for Washington going into the season was that it could protect its home court to tread water, but the Huskies are 1-4 in Big Ten home games, and that’s why their grade is low. Good news for Washington is that all of its remaining home games are against teams eighth or lower in the Big Ten standings.