Columbus, Ohio – For the casual college men’s basketball fan who hasn’t yet paid close attention, Ohio State’s upset of Kentucky on Dec. 19 might not have been all that strange. But for those who were tuned into the Big Ten’s wacky two months of nonconference curveballs, it was just another head-scratcher that leaves league predictions more than a little fuzzy. How to summarize these past two months? Well … Iowa got run over by a Division II school in an exhibition game. Michigan State, despite playing the toughest schedule, was undefeated before losing to Iowa on Tuesday. Indiana has 20-point wins — and losses to UNLV and Wake Forest. Wisconsin looks nothing like the Badgers of the recent past. Perennial bottom-dweller Northwestern is cruising. And those Ohio State Buckeyes, after enduring a four-game losing streak that included a pair of guarantee game losses at home, suddenly rebounded to knock off the fourth-ranked team in the country. Huh? In other words: As the Gophers head to Columbus, Ohio, for their conference opener at Ohio State on Wednesday, we’re still not sure what the Big Ten could bring this season — other than confusion. In October, when writers began ranking the league’s teams, the prevailing thought was this would be Maryland’s season. Now? …
Continue Reading: Big Ten basketball a big headache to figure out
