By Woodrow Carroll
The Big Ten Conference men’s college basketball race well could be viewed as an athletic director’s dream, even if nightmarish to the coaches involved.
Every team in the 14-team Big Ten has suffered at least three defeats. As conferences go, no conference leader in college basketball’s upper echelon had lost more than three conference games entering this week’s games. There are far more conferences seeking the National championship in college basketball than in college football.
Illinois and Michigan State, the Big Ten’ leaders, each 8-3 in the Big Ten and 16-6 overall, dropped road games Super Bowl weekend.
Playing at Wisconsin, Michigan State lost to the Badgers, 64-63, Saturday. With a chance at outright possession of the top spot in the Big Ten, Illinois lost, 72-65, at Iowa Sunday.
A road victory in the Big Ten is to be treasured.
With that in mind, Illinois likely will need to defend home turf in its next two games to keep pace in first place. Maryland, another team with championship aspirations in the Big Ten, will play at Illinois at 6 p.m. Friday. Tuesday, Feb. 11 Michigan State will be at Illinois in Champaign. The Illini have been a revelation this season with the team’s play.
• Northwestern’s memory of the run in the 2017 NCAA Tournament is fading fast. A third consecutive losing campaign is a forgone conclusion for Northwestern head coach Chris Collins and his charges.
Collins, in his seventh season at Northwestern, finds his Wildcats in 14th, and last, place in the Big Ten. Overall Northwestern is 6-15 and 1-10 in conference with a lone league victory over Nebraska.
Collins came into this season with an overall record of 101-96.
Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg was the head coach at Northwestern, 1927-1950. His long run at the school produced a final overall record of 236-203.
Lonborg was a shade under .500 in Big Ten play. Since Lonborg’s time at Northwestern, a total of 12 men have tried their luck coach of the Northwestern men’s basketball teams.
All 12 ended under .500 although the final chapter in the Chris Collins’ book has yet to be written.
• Rather quietly Northern Illinois has begun to make itself felt. With a 70-55 victory over visiting Miami, Ohio Saturday, the Huskies have won four straight in MAC play.
A road victory over Kent State followed by home wins over Western Michigan, Ohio, and lastly Miami, Ohio, considerably has brightened the team’s outlook. Part of the MAC’s West Division, the Huskies were 6-3 in the MAC and 13-9 overall.
Unlike the Big Ten which will have many teams in the NCAA Tournament, the MAC likely will have a lone entrant.