Big Weekend in Big Ten Will Answer Some Interesting Questions

As the Big Ten campaign is swiftly approaching the checkered flag, there are still many questions which have yet to be answered.

One question revolves around who is truly the best team in the conference.

Purdue is the highest-ranked team nationally within the conference, and has beaten Ohio State and Michigan State on the road—and pretty handily at that. The Boilermakers have an eclectic trio of players in Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore, and JaJuan Johnson. They have carried them all season, and will have to continue to go deep into March.

But the Spartans are now too far behind. After winning nine straight games to open conference play, Michigan State hit a roadblock when star point guard Kalin Lucas suffered a bad ankle sprain. The team lost three straight, but has seem to have rebounded. A big game against Ohio State Sunday will show both teams’ true colors.

Then there are teams like Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio State. Those teams have showed flashes of brilliance, but they’ve also shown glaring weaknesses. Evan Turner is the Buckeyes’ big athlete, although when he is slightly off his supporting cast is not too great. The same goes for Demetri McCamey in Illinois.

Another question some have about the Big Ten is whether a team from the conference can win a national championship.

The answer is: yes.

Michigan State’s run to the title game only one year ago was no fluke, and when you look at all the teams they defeated—USC, Kansas, Louisville, Connecticut—it was one of the best runs we’ve seen in years.

Although teams from the Big East, as well as Kentucky and Kansas, have been deemed as the best in the country, nobody should sleep on the Big Ten. The physicality of the conference should not be overlooked, as great defense and strong rebounding wins big games.

And the final question on many people’s minds is whether the Big Ten champion is actually the best team in the conference.

The simple answer to that is: no.

Although Purdue should be considered the front-runner for big road victories, experience on teams like Michigan State should not be forgotten. The conference has so much parity—from Purdue in the upper echelon of the country, to Penn State in the basement.

Sometimes teams get victories over others which they clearly should not have beaten, such as Minnesota trumping Wisconsin, or Northwestern shocking Purdue.

The outcomes of games between Illinois and Purdue, as well as Michigan State versus Ohio State, may clear up some questions about which teams are truly big threats come tournament time. They may also just cause more confusion as we are on the brink of conference tournaments.