Big Ten basketball Update and Power Rankings

Purdue Still on top

The first thing you need to know about the Northwestern men’s basketball program is that it has never appeared in the NCAA tournament.

However, coach Bill Carmody appears to have assembled the best team that he has had in his ninth season in Evanston. While the NCAA tournament talk needs to wait, at least the season is going in the right direction.

The Wildcats are 6-1 this year with consecutive double-digit wins over Florida State and DePaul. In fact, all of their wins have come by at least nine points. The only loss was a 57-53 decision to then-undefeated Butler.

With three non-conference games remaining against Missouri-Kansas City Monday, at Stanford on Dec. 20 and home against SMU on Dec. 23, Northwestern is in a position to be 8-2 before conference play starts Dec. 31 at Penn State.

Carmody brought some prestige with him when he came to Northwestern in 2000, and it was thought he could get the Wildcats to the tournament. But it’s been a struggle. Northwestern has featured only one winning season (16-13) 2001-02 and no winning records in conference play.

In fact, last year it appeared to bottom out. The Wildcats struggled to an 8-22 overall record and 1-17 and last place finish in the Big 10.

One of the keys to the turnaround is that a young team grew from the lumps it took last year. Senior guard Craig Moore has provided leadership averaging 15.3 points and 2.9 assists. Junior forward Kevin Coble is averaging 14.3 points and sophomore point guard Michael Thompson is nearly 3-to-1 in the assists/turnover ratio. Plus, the Wildcats have the conference’s best defense allowing 49.4 points per game.

The real key for the Wildcats is how they will handle first half of the conference schedule as four of their seven games are on the road.

Not like it used to be

When Indiana (5-4) travels to Lexington, Ky. to take on Kentucky (6-3) Saturday on CBS, it will reveal two once-proud programs, which are in transition stages.

The programs have combined to win 12 national championships and produced dozens of All-Americans as well as great coaches. The Hoosiers bring a roster of 14 new faces from last year’s scandal-ridden 2007-08 season. They are unlikely to make the NCAA tournament. Forward Tom Pritchard is averaging 14 points per game.

Under second-year coach Billy Gillispie, the Wildcats are struggling to find their way as well. They barely made the NCAA tournament last year but were bounced in the first round. This year, they have lost to VMI and were not competitive at North Carolina and home against Miami (Fla.). They have had to struggle to restore the tradition. Junior guard Jodie Meeks leads Kentucky in scoring at 22.9 points per game.

The teams have met every year since 1969. This is the 52 nd overall meeting. Kentucky leads, 28-23.

Big Ten Basketball Notable

Michigan has the conference’s two biggest wins so far. It has beaten the No. 4 team twice. It knocked off UCLA at Madison Square Garden, 55-52, on Nov. 20 and then defeated Duke, 81-73, Dec. 6 in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines appear to be grasping coach John Beilein’s system. The Wolverines have also been an excellent free throw shooting team, converting nearly 81 percent of their attempts….Purdue’s Robbie Hummel leads the conference in free throw shooting at 95.2 percent….Most of the teams in the conference are about to start their final exam breaks.

Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings 12/12

1. Purdue
2. Michigan
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan State
6. Minnesota
7. Illinois
8. Northwestern
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Indiana

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