The BasketBucks have been on a roll lately, winning 5 in a row and 8 of the last 9. They have the most quad 1 wins, and as a result, are #4 in the AP poll and many braketologists are putting them as a one seed. But that could all fall apart down this last stretch
Starting today, we have
vs Indiana (12:00 ET ESPN)
at Penn State (2/18)
vs #3 TTUN (2/21)
at Michigan State (2/25)
vs #15 Iowa (2/28)
vs #6 Illinois (3/6)
It's manageable as 4 out of the 6 games are at home, but in the Big Ten, no games are gimmies. Indiana has won 2 games in a row after dropping their previous two games. Penn State has been putting up a Christmas tree record since winning against Northwestern on Jan 23, but they lost their most game to Michigan State. TTUN leads the conference, but has been on a COVID break. They are scheduled to play at Wisconsin tomorrow, but we'll see if that game is actually played. Michigan State has had a rough B1G season, but have won their last two games after losing 4 in a row, with a COVID break thrown in. Iowa has fallen off a little bit - losing 4 out of their last 6 - but they are still a dangerous team; Illinois has won their last 5, although they had a major scare against Nebraska (needing 2OT) to beat them; however, they are still a good team, and a currently tied with TTUN atop the Big Ten standings (don't ask me how, I have no idea how they figure that out with a big difference in the number of games played, so thankfully that's not my job to figure it out)
With a win today, Ohio State would also put themselves in a tie for the Big Ten lead, and have the current tiebreaker over Illinois.
As for my predictions, I think we will go 5-1 to finish the season, only losing @MSU. Breslin Center is a difficult place to play, and the Spartans are always a good team in February and March. But the stretch will be highlighted by an exhilarating win over the rivals to the north.
vs Indiana - W 83-74
at Penn State - W 78-76
vs TTUN - W 90-88
at Michigan State - L 64-68
vs Iowa - W 86-79
vs Illinois - W 85-72
At the very least, this should get us to a #2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, but it might be good enough to get the #1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, and a really solid chance at a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
What are your predictions for this final stretch?
