Women’s Basketball
Carrie Philips
The Lady Bucks enter the 2009 Big Ten Tournament looking for their 5th straight conference crown.
1. Ohio State - Because this week Ohio State clinched the Big Ten regular season title, it seemed only fitting that we place them, once again, atop the power rankings. The Buckeyes have won five straight games to close out the season and have become the first team since the 80s to win five consecutive conference championships. They only need three wins to win the conference tourney and start this Friday against the winner of Thursday’s Penn State-Illinois game.
2. Iowa - The Hawkeyes came out of nowhere and finished the season on a six game winning streak. They honestly probably deserve the top spot in these power rankings for the longest active streak, but since this is the end of the season we opted to give it to the title winners. If there were a few games left in the season though, Iowa may have been able to grab the title from the Bucks. They are the hottest team in the conference but their end of the season was predominately against the weaker teams in the conference. They will need to stay hot against the tough teams who they will now face in the conference tourney, starting this Friday against Minnesota.
3. Purdue - After winning five straight, the Boilers dropped their last game of the regular season in dramatic fashion to Michigan State. Still, they ended the season strong and, we think, have a chance at a run for the conference tourney title. Their post-season begins this Friday when they face the winner of Thursday’s Indiana-Michigan game.
4. Michigan State - The Spartans had a chance at a share of the Big Ten title and then blew it by losing two at the end of the season. They closed out with a big win over a streaking Purdue to make a statement heading into the post-season, but we would still say they should be disappointed in how the regular season ended. That being said, the rest of the season was a pretty good showing and they got the number two seed in the conference tournament by holding tie breakers over Purdue and Iowa. They start the Big Ten tourney on Friday against the winner of Thursday’s Northwestern-Wisconsin game.
5. Indiana - The Hoosiers ended the season fairly strong (after a poor performance in the rest of the back half of the season), winning three of their last four. It was good enough to get them the No. 6 seed in the conference tourney, but not quite good enough to grant them a first round bye. They play No. 11 Michigan in the first round on Thursday, and if they play up to their ability and get the win, they will face No. 3 Purdue on Friday.
6. Wisconsin - The Badgers have lost eight of their last ten, but did have an impressive win this week over MSU. And their last game was unfortunately against the top team in the conference, the Buckeyes, but the demoralizing 22 point loss isn’t going to help with momentum into the post-season. We would have hoped for a better showing in that game to end the season, and thus don’t know who to bet on in the first round match-up of the underachieving Wildcats and the poor-finishing Badgers. Whoever does come out on top will face the No. 2 Spartans.
7. Minnesota - The Golden Gophers lost three of their last four - most recently an 11 point loss to the Illini - and if the rest of the conference weren’t so horribly pathetic, would probably have dropped lower than this in the power rankings. However, due to the lack of competition in the lower half of the Big Ten, the Gophers still managed to grab the number five seed and first round bye for the conference tourney. They face No. 4 Iowa on Friday, which will likely be the end of the road for this squad unless they can find some sort of fire-starter.
8. Illinois - They lost ten straight earlier in the season, so we haven’t exactly had high hopes for the Illini. But since then they have won five of their last nine, including the season ended upset over Minnesota (AT Minnesota), make us a little more optimistic. They face PSU in the first round - leaving open the possibility for a win. Likely they can’t go further than that though because their second round match-up would be against the top seeded Buckeyes.
9. Penn State - The Nitts may have won two of their last three (wins against NU and Illinois, loss against OSU), but they have only won three of their last ten. They would probably be quickly out of the conference tournament if it weren’t for their favorable match-up on Thursday against the lack-luster Illinois. If they do win that game, they will face OSU on Friday and will need a miracle to win that game.
10. Northwestern - With a win and two losses this week, the Wildcats are actually not the last team in our power rankings this week. Nor are they the last seed in the Big Ten tournament, miraculously. They tied for the worst record but a win over Minnesota broke the tie in NU’s favor. The No. 10 ‘Cats will face No. 7 Wisconsin on Thursday. The winner will face No. 2 MSU on Friday.
11. Michigan - Six straight losses and the last seed in the conference tournament (due to NU owning the tie breaker). I have nothing good to say about this squad, and expect their season to end this Thursday when they face No. 6 Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten tourney.
