Big Ten is back - and MSU is best

Big Ten basketball coaches are busy enough - teaching, coaching, game planning, recruiting, threatening referees - and in recent winters they've had to add "spinning" to their weekly routine.

Everyone else would say the Big Ten is down, or overrated, or just plain bad. Big Ten coaches would say things like: "Top to bottom, this is a better conference than you think," or "Those other leagues don't play defense like we do," or "Our rims are too bouncy."

This year, there's no need. Take a break, guys, and focus on beating each other. You did enough on the court in November and December to live off the interest for the rest of the season.

Play like this, and other people will talk for you.

"The resurgent Big Ten is absolutely legit," said ESPN analyst and "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi, who projects seven Big Ten teams to make the NCAA tourney, which hasn't happened since 1990. "Preseason afterthoughts Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota would have to collapse to miss the NCAA Tournament at this point, and even Northwestern is in the mix. Who knew?"

Yep, The Big Ten is good again. And Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans, who step out of league play to host Kansas on Saturday, should win it. More on that later.

First, let's examine how this league could change so dramatically in performance and perception from one year to the next.

A year ago, the Big Ten placed sixth in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), computer power rankings that are based on performance and strength of schedule. The RPI's effect on NCAA Tournament selections has been debated, but its effect on perception is undeniable.

In 2007-08, the Big Ten trailed all the other "BCS" leagues - ACC, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC - in the RPI and was just ahead of the Atlantic 10.

This year, it has been first or second, swapping spots with the ACC. At this writing, the Big Ten ranked No. 1 in both RPI and in strength of schedule.

A year ago, the Big Ten finished with three teams ranked in the top 40 in team RPI: Wisconsin at No. 10, MSU at No. 13 and Indiana at No. 27.

Today, the Big Ten has twice as many top-40 hits: MSU (7), Wisconsin (9), Ohio State (14), Illinois (23), Minnesota (31) and Michigan (37), with Northwestern at 42.

Keeping clean

And the reason is simple. A year ago, the Big Ten had a bunch of bad losses and precious few big wins in nonconference play. This year, the reverse has been true.

Michigan shocked UCLA and Duke. MSU got Texas. Minnesota beat Louisville on a neutral court. Ohio State upset Notre Dame and won at Miami (Fla). Illinois took down Missouri and Vanderbilt on the road. Northwestern pounded Florida State and Penn State got a nice win at Georgia Tech.

"I think we've established the league as a whole as one of the top in the country," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said this week.

But it's what the Big Ten didn't do that may be more important. The inexplicable, inexcusable defeats were avoided.

Peek back to the fall of 2007. Home losses included Purdue to Wofford, Illinois to Tennessee State and Iowa to Louisiana-Monroe. Michigan blew it against Central Michigan and Harvard, and Northwestern also came up short in the Big Ten/Ivy League Challenge, losing to Brown.

This fall, there was very little of the sort. Indiana dropped a pair of stinkers to Northeastern and Lipscomb - but that's just Indiana living up to its billing as the worst team by far in the Big Ten.

The Hoosiers, who nearly upset U-M on Wednesday before losing in overtime, are starting from scratch and will be back before long under Tom Crean.

This season they're like "Pig-Pen" in the Charlie Brown cartoons. Avoid them or be smudged. IU is the only potential "bad loss" left for everyone else in the league.

A cut above

Crean is the latest in an overall coaching upgrade in the league. John Beilein has U-M playing better than expected in his second year. Ditto for Tubby Smith at Minnesota.

Iowa is competitive under Todd Lickliter. The guys under some heat - Weber at Illinois, Ed DeChellis at Penn State, Bill Carmody at Northwestern - also have better teams than most imagined.

Then you have your preseason top four of MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State. The Buckeyes and Boilermakers - at 0-2 in the league and facing a must-win at home Sunday against Wisconsin - are banged up but still capable.

The Badgers are going to be very tough, as usual.

And MSU is the best team.

This is a nice opportunity for the Spartans. The league schedule finally breaks in their favor, with no visit to Madison.

Quality victories abound in this resurgent Big Ten, so an outright champion will have a shot at an NCAA No. 1 seed. Yet there is no single team that can match MSU's talent or potential.

Right now it looks like their year. But as Izzo said: "It seems like there's 100 games left."

And remember, this is a sport that saw Boston College win at North Carolina on Sunday, then lose at home to Harvard on Wednesday. The RPI (Harvard's up to No. 199!) doesn't account for such possibilities.