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Big 10 at 10 2.12.13: 9 Game Schedule and Week 15 Polls

Is there any doubt that the Big 10 is the best basketball conference in America?

By Mike Jones
Patrick McDermott

Last weekend was nothing short of great for Big Ten basketball. It started with Wisconsin's 65-62 upset of Michigan at the Kohl Center. It was all made possible, of course, by this simple shot by Ben Brust to force OT:

Wisconsin-buzzer-beater_medium

via gif.mocksession.com

Rather be lucky and good than just good, right? Next up was Indiana downing the Buckeyes, 81-68, at Value City Arena in Columbus. Coming off a shocking loss to Illinois, 26 points by Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller scoring 24 was exactly what the Hoosiers needed to bounce back. Speaking of Illinois, the Fighting Illini had ANOTHER victory over a ranked team, defeating Minnesota 57-53 at The Barn. Just a reminder: the Illini lost 7 of their first 9 conference games.

So is there any doubt that the Big 10 is the best basketball conference? It's like SEC football minus oversigning, medical hardships and our players can actually read and write! Here's a look at Big 10 teams in the polls:

(AP 1, Coaches 2): Indiana

While the media likes the Hoosiers as #1, the Coaches disagree. Losing to Illinois might cause some confusion.

(AP 4, Coaches 5): Michigan

Much like Indiana, losing to Wisconsin causes some confusion among voters. Well, that's not exactly fair: Wisconsin is actually good.

(AP 8, Coaches 8): Michigan State

In 2013 the Spartans have only lost to Indiana. Seems like they should be ranked higher, no?

(AP 13, Coaches 14): Ohio State

Aside from beating #2 Michigan back on January 13th, the Buckeyes have lost to every ranked opponent they've played this season.

(AP 20, Coaches 19): Wisconsin

No team is more confusing than Wisconsin. They can beat #12 Illinois, #2 Indiana and #11 Ohio State. They can also lose to Virginia, Marquette and Iowa.

Briefly switching to football, the Big 10 will increase its conference schedule from eight games to 9 or 10 soon after Maryland and Rutgers join. Per tWWL:

The league's athletic directors and football coaches met Monday in Park Ridge, Ill., and all future scheduling discussions will focus on models featuring nine or 10 league games, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN.com. There was "no support" for staying with the current eight-game league schedule model.

Delany said the new schedule format likely would go into place for the 2016 or 2017 season. Maryland and Rutgers will join the Big Ten for the 2014 season.

The next topic to discuss is night games. We'll tackle that soon enough. On to the links.