Big Ten Basketball Stock Report: Pre-Big Ten Tourney Edition

Welcome to the pre-Big Ten Tournament edition of the Stock Report. It’s damn early Monday morning in Germany as I write this and I have been able to watch zero basketball this weekend, so I’m perfectly prepared to write this little nugget one more time.

Stock Up

Michigan State Spartans – You didn’t exactly make it easy on yourselves. However, you captured the B1G regular season title and didn’t have to share it. Congrats. Of course, this is all null and void if the FBI investigation keeps turning up little nuggets. But hey, don’t worry about that too much, right?

Purdue Boilermakers – Now that’s a nice recovery. After a bit of a flash crash, the Boilers are riding a three-game win streak headed into tourney time. Also, Vince Edwards is back from injury. Now to see if the Boilers can make some noise at MSG in NYC. Srsly, WTF B1G?

Ohio State Buckeyes – The Chris Holtmann coaching showcase righted the ship this past week and captured the 2-seed. Depth issues have started to show themselves, but with likely BTPOY Keita Bates-Diop, nothing is out of reach.

Nebraska Cornhuskers – Well, Huskers fans, it’s hard to argue about how the season has turned out. Tim Miles and Co. did very well for themselves, winning 13 games and putting themselves in the conversation for a tourney bid. Will they get it? No one knows, but collecting some wins in the BTT will be key to staying in the discussion.

Michigan Wolverines – Another week and two more wins for Michigan. Michigan slides into the 5-seed and if not for tiebreakers, would have a double-bye. All that aside, John Beilein has done a good job coaching the Wolverines into a likely tournament bid. Now, please, spare us the team of destiny stuff and don’t have your plane slide off the runway this year.

Wisconsin Badgers – All said and done, Wisconsin should probably get a hold, but I’m jetlagged and don’t want to deal with the extra header. Went to Chicago and got the win over Northwestern and gave Sparty a game (at least that’s what the box score tells me). To say this season has been a bit of a nightmare would probably be an understatement. But hey, at least it’s not an undead coach coming out from under the bed to haunt your soul.

Illinois Fighting Illini – Congrats on beating rutger.

Stock Down

Penn State Nittany Lions – If you were looking to grab a bid to the NCAA tournament, that’s not the way to do it. Despite two more chances to rack up some Q1 wins, Penn State sputtered and got nothing. Not expecting much other than a NIT bid outside of a run to Sunday.

Indiana Hoosiers – Well, the Archie Miller rebuild is looking fairly solid, right? Look, as easy it would be to throw shade at Indiana, a 9-9 conference result is pretty decent for a team expected to end up in the bottom of the league.

Maryland Terrapins – I would say good job beating Northwestern, but damn, it’s hard to get past that performance against Michigan. Just...damn.

Northwestern Wildcats – Three games, three losses. New arena can’t come fast enough, I guess.

Iowa Hawkeyes – The season is over. Be grateful.

Minnesota Golden Gophers – You get no credit for beating Iowa. Got blown the hell out by Purdue. Coach is still a little Dick.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights – Improved, but still last.