Big Ten Basketball Weekly(ish) Stock Report

Another week, another round of the Stock Report. Let’s get straight to it.

Stock Up

Purdue Boilermakers – Another week at the top. Matt Painter and the Boilers have shown the conference they will adjust to whatever you throw at them and find a way to beat you. Michigan went into run-and-gun mode and Vince Edwards and Co. matched them shot-for-shot. Indiana decided to try and take away Purdue’s outside shooting advantage. The Boilers answered by feeding Isaac Haas and grinding away. Maryland and a quick trip to rutger await Purdue in the week ahead before the big showdown with Ohio State.

Michigan State Spartans – Sparty took care of business this week. Despite 25 turnovers at Illinois, they outshot the Illini to get the win. Then, the OTL report hit. Sparty answered by beating Wisconsin and went on the road and struggled early before rallying back and beating Maryland. The noise from the investigation is going to test the team’s mettle and it’s not going to go away for some time.

Illinois Fighting Illini – Illinois won a B1G Game! They likely cost Indiana any part of the bubble conversation but Illinois won a B1G Game! We’ll ignore that loss to Sparty and let you have your moment in the sun.

Nebraska Cornhuskers – Hey, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, right? Nebby has quickly become a thorn in the side of many in the conference. I didn’t have much hope for the Huskers when the season began, but they’ve been a pleasant surprise and find themselves on the bubble. They’re going to need some help if they want to make the dance, but they’re performing well right now.

Penn State Nittany Lions – Pat Chambers has to be smiling after this past week. Not only did the fighting Nits upset Ohio State in a thriller, they followed it up with a flat out shutdown of rutger. Considering how the B1G season started, this is a big step up.

Northwestern Wildcats – The scheduling gods granted you a break this week with only one game, which you won.Have a ray of sunshine. It’s still not The Year anymore.

Stock Holding

Ohio State Buckeyes – The Chris Holtmann show took a slight detour this week. After struggling with pesky Nebraska, the Buckeyes decided to spot Penn State a double-digit lead. Credit them with not folding and storming back to tie the game, but Tony Carr sunk the Bankshot and gave Purdue the top spot to themselves. The schedulers were quite unkind giving the Buckeyes four games in 8 days, so I’ll give them a bit of a break.

Michigan Wolverines – Michigan takes a step back this week. Despite lighting the nets on fire in West Lafayette, they ran into a Purdue team that was simply en fuego. They catch a bit of break with only one game last week and head into a stretch of must win games to stay off the bubble and try and improve their seeding.

Iowa Hawkeyes – You got the split and get a hold for the week. You beat a struggling Wisconsin team then took one to the nose against Nebrasketball. You do know perimeter defense is a thing, right?

Stock Down

Indiana Hoosiers – Welcome to the bad place, Hoosiers. Yes, you beat Maryland and put them on the bad side of the bubble. However, you followed that up by giving Illinois their first B1G win of the season and pretty much eliminated yourselves from any bubble conversation. The fighting Archies shot well enough to win, but missed some critical free throws. Good effort against Purdue, but the Boilers poise and experience kept you in the losing column.

Maryland Terrapins – It must be absolutely maddening to be a Terps fan. A 3-point loss at IU is excusable. Juwan Morgan is a helluva talent and Some Assembly Required Hall is not an easy place to get a win. Things were looking up during the first half against Sparty, but as DJ predicted, Mark Turgeon seems to refuse to make halftime adjustments when things are going well. The result was a tough loss. Hope your soul is in good shape, Purdue is waiting.

Wisconsin Badgers – I’m going to guess by now you just want this nightmare to be over. Unfortunately, we’re just past halfway in the conference season. I would say the road is going to get easier, but looking at the schedule, you’re in store for more pain. Sorry, not sorry.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights – Your offense is bad.Like, really bad. Enjoy your trip to Chambana.

Minnesota Golden Gophers – You had one game this week. You lost. Time marches on.