PHILADELPHIA – The charity for troubled youths started by Jerry Sandusky more than three decades ago – and through which the retired Penn State assistant football coach met the boys he is charged withMichigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein said his players don’t read the newspaper or look at the standings all that often. But the Wolverines know they are in the hunt for a Big Ten title.
“With some of our young men, they know were in it, maybe they don’t know how close it is and it can change so quickly with a few wins or there,” Beilein said during the Big Ten teleconference.
The Wolverines (9-4) are a half-game behind Ohio State and Michigan State in the conference standings. Michigan has one game this week, Saturday at home against the Buckeyes.
“You just do the math,” Beilein said, “and you see right away that we have a great opportunity against a great team.”
The Michigan-Ohio State game is just one of the intriguing matchups this week as the Big Ten race continues to sort itself out.
The Spartans pulled even with Ohio State at 9-3 with a victory in Columbus on Saturday.
“The win at Ohio State was a marquee win,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “ … The road gets no easier.”
Michigan State is home Thursday against Wisconsin and is at Purdue on Sunday. The Badgers are 8-4. Ohio State is at Minnesota today.
And it’s way too early to try to sort through the potential seedings for the Big Ten tournament.
“This league really does a fantastic job. You’re going to be in battles. You’re going to have to win games different ways. You’re going to go against excellent coaches, with very good staffs and excellent players and teams that know how to win,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “ … If you get ahead of yourself for even a segment of practice and start thinking about something down the road rather than where you are at task in hand, it can go away on you quickly.”
The fifth-place Hoosiers are 7-6. Purdue is next at 6-6. Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern and Iowa are each 5-7. Purdue is at Illinois on Wednesday.
“You just have to win games, that’s what we’re all trying to do,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “We’re trying to win games to finish up in the top part of the league to get a chance at getting in the NCAA. Part of that is the seeding in the Big Ten tournament.”
The top four teams in the conference get a bye in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
“The bye only makes a difference as far as winning a championship. You may be a little fresher, not a lot fresher because you’re not used to playing back-to-back. The bye the first day has probably no bearing on game No. 1 or 2,” Beilein said. “ … It’s more about being in position to get in the NCAA tournament by being in the top of one of these leagues than it is trying to get a bye.”
The tight race could be beneficial come March.
“It’s important that all the teams get a tremendous amount of notoriety right now for what they’re doing inside of this league,” Crean said. “ … It’s a unique preparation every time you play somebody in this league. If there’s a league that prepares you any better for what you can see in the NCAA tournament other than the Big Ten, I haven’t seen it.”
