Jan. 24, 2005

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One Streak Will End: A pair of Big Ten streaks will be in danger Tuesday night as Wisconsin will put its school-record home winning streak on the line against the nation's top-ranked team, as Illinois invades Madison with a school record 19-0 start. The Badgers have won 38 consecutive home games and their last defeat at the Kohl Center occurred on Dec. 4, 2002 against Wake Forest. The Badgers had previously won 33 straight at home from March 8, 1911 to Jan. 23, 1915. Senior Mike Wilkinson is the only Badger who has appeared in all 38 games of the winning streak. Wisconsin still trails the Big Ten record of 53 straight home triumphs set by Michigan State from 1998 to 2002 -- a winning streak that was ended by the Badgers.

A Perfect Start: Illinois continues to lead the Big Ten with a 5-0 record in Conference play and is off to its best start since the 1969-70 season when the Fighting Illini also opened with five wins. The last time Illinois went 6-0 was during the 1962-63 season. With a 73-68 overtime victory against Iowa last Thursday, Illinois won its 15th straight Big Ten game, claiming its final 10 contests last season and the first five of this season. This ties the second-longest Big Ten winning streak in school history, since the Illini won 15 straight Big Ten games from Jan. 20, 1951 to Feb. 2, 1952. It also marks the longest streak in Conference play since Michigan State won 18 straight League games from Jan. 9, 1999 to Jan. 11, 2000.

More on Illinois' Unblemished Record: With 19 victories, the Fighting Illini boast the best start in school history, breaking the previous record of 17-0 set by the 1988-89 squad. Illinois' run also marks the best start by a Big Ten squad since Indiana finished the 1975-76 season with a 32-0 record and the Illini's streak currently ranks fifth all-time in League history. The Hoosiers hold the Conference record after winning the national title and becoming the last squad in the nation to go undefeated, 32-0.

RPI Success: The Big Ten and the Big 12 are the only leagues with four teams ranked in the top 30 of the school rankings as the ACC, Pac-10 and SEC rank second with three teams each. The Big Ten contingent includes two ranked in the top 10 with Illinois at No. 9 and Wisconsin ranked 10th. They are followed by No. 20 Michigan State and No. 26 Iowa. In the league standings, the Big Ten continues to lead with a No.1 ranking in non-conference RPI rankings, while facing the nation's toughest schedule in non-conference play.

Impressive Company: Illinois became just the seventh team since the 1990-91 season to start the Big Ten campaign at 5-0. Two years ago, Michigan opened the season with a 6-0 mark, while Ohio State accomplished this feat in 2001-02 by winning its first six League games before earning a share of the League title and claiming its first Conference Tournament crown. Iowa posted a 5-0 start during the 1996-97 season to finish tied for second in the League standings. Indiana opened with at least five wins in both 1993 and 1992, while the Buckeyes began the 1990's by opening at 7-0 during the 1991 League race. Three of the previous six teams claimed at least a share of the Big Ten title and all four finished no worse than third.

The 1,000 Point Milestone: Illinois' Luther Head (992) and Wisconsin's Sharif Chambliss (993) will look to reach the 1,000 career point plateau when they face each other on Tuesday. The Conference currently boasts eight active members of the 1,000-point club in Iowa's Pierre Pierce (1,032), Michigan's Daniel Horton (1,033), Illinois' Dee Brown (1,076) and Michigan State's Kelvin Torbert (1,035) joining this season. Four Conference players entered the 2004-05 campaign with more than 1,000 career points in Indiana's Bracey Wright (1,328), Michigan State's Chris Hill (1,390), Ohio State's Tony Stockman (1,368) and Wisconsin's Mike Wilkinson (1,274). Two other Big Ten standouts are on pace to crack the 1,000-point plateau this season in Illinois' Roger Powell (953) and Michigan State's Paul Davis (940).

Big Ten Scoring Explosion: Four different Big Ten standouts have broken loose for 29 or more points in a game in the opening weeks of Conference play, led by Iowa's Pierre Pierce and Purdue's Carl Landry, who have both posted 31-point performances. Pierce tallied a career-high 31 points against Ohio State on January 8, while Landry poured in a career-best 31 at Michigan State on January 18. Indiana's Bracey Wright registered 30 points against Wisconsin on January 8, while the Badgers' Mike Wilkinson produced a career-high 29 points versus Michigan State on January 16.

On the Boards: Penn State's Aaron Johnson currently leads the nation with three 20-plus rebound performances this season after tallying 21 caroms in a 65-62 victory over Northwestern last Saturday. Johnson opened the season with a career-high 24 rebounds against Western Carolina on Nov. 15, 2004. He followed with another 20-board performance against Sacred Heart on Nov. 27. Johnson becomes the first Nittany Lion to boast three 20-plus rebound games in a season since Jesse Arnelle in 1955. The PSU junior currently leads the Big Ten with 10.5 rebounds per outing in all games.