Big Ten Tournament 2012: Parity at Top of Conference Will Make for Best Tourney

No conference has five teams atop its standings as evenly matched as the Big Ten does this season, and no other conference should have as hotly contested a tourney for that very reason.

Five Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 15 after the regular season this year: Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, and the Buckeyes, Spartans and Wolverines shared the regular season championship this year with 13-5 records.

Sometimes, a bit of raw information is what the doctor ordered, so I've created a Table of Parity showing the resumes of each team to demonstrate just how evenly matched each school is.

Team	Ranking	Record	RPI	SOS	Key Wins	Quality Losses
Ohio State	7	25-6 (13-5)	8	14	Florida, Duke, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State	Kansas, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin
Michigan State	8	24-7 (13-5)	5	1	Gonzaga, Florida State, Indiana, Wisconsin (2), Michigan, Ohio State	North Carolina, Duke, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State
Michigan	13	23-8 (13-5)	12	23	Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State	Duke, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State
Wisconsin	12	23-8 (12-6)	20	28	UNLV, Indiana, Ohio State	North Carolina, Marquette, Michigan State (2), Michigan, Ohio State
Indiana	15	24-7 (11-7)	11	26	Kentucky, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State	Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin

These teams generally beat up on each other, and each can make an argument for why they should be the favorite (even Wisconsin, despite a resume that seems less impressive than the others on this chart).

More so than any other tournament, this one could easily be won by any of these teams. Having five teams this good at the top of the conference battling for the championship will be a pleasure to watch.

I mean, the lowest-ranked team, Indiana, was the only team in the nation to beat Kentucky this year! And they also have an impressive victory over Notre Dame on their resume.

Ohio State and Michigan State are battle-tested against the best teams in the country this year.

And hell, Michigan is really excited that they earned a shared regular-season championship.

Are you excited for this tournament yet?

Because I sure am.

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