Feb. 27, 2006

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Four Teams Remain in Big Ten Title Chase: Entering the final week of Big Ten play, four conference squads still have an opportunity to claim the league crown as Ohio State (10-4) is in first place, while Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin are all tied for second place in the conference standings with matching 9-5 records. The Buckeyes can clinch a share of the title with a win at Northwestern on Wednesday or win it outright by winning their final two games. It would mark Ohio State's first Big Ten crown since the 2001-02 season when the Buckeyes shared the conference title with three other teams. Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin remain in the hunt for the Big Ten title and can ensure a share of first place by winning their final two regular-season contests this week, but only if Ohio States loses a game as well. The Fighting Illini are aiming for their third consecutive Big Ten crown and fifth in the last six seasons. They will face Minnesota and Michigan State this week. The Hawkeyes, who will be vying for their first Big Ten crown since the 1978-79 season, will host Penn State and Wisconsin to close out the regular season. The Badgers will meet Michigan State on Thursday before taking on Iowa. Wisconsin has a chance to claim its third league title in the last five seasons and first since 2003.

The Battle for Byes: Ohio State has clinched a first-round bye in the 2006 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament, while Illinois (9-5), Iowa (9-5), Wisconsin (9-5), Michigan (8-7), Michigan State (7-7) and Indiana (7-7) are vying for the final four spots. Five league teams will get the first day off at Conseco Fieldhouse, as the top five seeds open play on Friday while the bottom six seeds start on Thursday. While a first-round pass is important, teams have proven that it is not essential as Illinois (1999),  Ohio State (2003) and Iowa (2001 and 2002) have all advanced to the finals despite beginning play on Thursday, with the Hawkeyes winning the tourney as a No. 6 seed in 2001.

Television Wildcard Game Selections: The Big Ten announced that CBS Sports has selected the regular season-ending Illinois at Michigan State game to be nationally televised on Saturday, March 4 at noon EST. The Indiana at Michigan contest will be broadcast on ESPN Plus Regional at 2:31 EST on Saturday. ESPN Plus Regional will also air the Wisconsin at Iowa game at 3:40 CST, while Saturday's Minnesota at Northwestern matchup at 7 CST will be broadcast on ESPN Plus Local. On Sunday, March 5, the Purdue at Ohio State game will be televised on ESPN Plus Local at noon EST.

Big Ten Hits Attendance Milestone: The Big Ten reached two attendance landmarks last weekend as the conference broke the two-million mark in all games for the 14th straight season, while also reaching the one-million plateau for league games only for the 29th consecutive season. So far in 2006, 2,025,426 patrons have passed through the turnstiles for 161 games for an average attendance of 12,580. In league contests, 1,061,367 fans have flocked to conference arenas for 78 games.  In 2004-05, the conference led the nation in total attendance for the 29th-straight season with 2,255,332 total patrons and led the way with an average attendance of 12,530 per game/session.

Big Ten's 30-Plus Point Scorers: Last week, both Michigan's Daniel Horton and Michigan State's Maurice Ager tallied their second 30-plus point performances of the season. Horton registered a conference season-best 39 points in an upset victory over Illinois on Feb. 21, while Ager followed with a 30-point outing against Indiana on Sunday. This year, the conference has recorded 12 30-plus point performances, the most since the Big Ten closed out the 2000-01 season with 14. Michigan State leads the league contingent with three individuals who have recorded 30 or more points this season in Ager  (36 vs. Gonzaga, Nov. 22 and 30 vs. Indiana, Feb. 26), Shannon Brown (31 vs. Wisconsin, Jan. 8) and Paul Davis (30 vs. IPFW, Nov. 27).

Tucker in the Lead: With one week left in conference play, Wisconsin's Alando Tucker remains in first place among the league's scoring leaders with 20.5 points per game in Big Ten only contests. Tucker is followed by Michigan's Daniel Horton and Michigan State's Shannon Brown, who are both averaging 18.8 points per game. If Tucker closes out the season leading the league in scoring, he would be the first Badger to accomplish that feat since Don Rehfeldt won back-to-back scoring titles in 1949 and 1950.

Double-Double For Brunner?: Iowa's Greg Brunner, who is currently registering 15.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per conference game this year, is vying to become the only Big Ten standout to finish the conference season averaging a double-double. Brunner would be the first player since Minnesota's Kris Humphries tallied an average of 21.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game during the 2003-04 season.

Horton Eyes Big Ten Free Throw Season Records: With one week left in the conference season, Michigan's Daniel Horton continues to keep pace with two Big Ten records. Overall, he is shooing 93.0 percent (106-of-114) from the free throw line, which is currently ahead of the all-time Big Ten record held by former Hoosier and current Iowa head coach Steve Alford, who shot 92.1 percent (116-of-126) during the 1984-85 season. In addition, Horton is shooting 97.4 percent (76-of-78) in just Big Ten games, which is ahead of Alford's record of 93.5 percent (58-of-62) set in 1985.

Big Ten Career Records Update: Several Big Ten standouts are vying to move up the league's career records list this week. Illinois' Dee Brown currently ranks sixth on the league's all-time assists list with 643 and only needs three more to move past Michigan's State's Scott Skiles, who is fifth with 645. In addition, Brown ranks sixth on both the career three-point field goals made (288) and steals (219) lists. Iowa senior Jeff Horner is also ranked among the league's top 10 in career assists with 586 dishes for ninth place, while listed eighth on the all-time three-pointers chart (246). In the rebounding category, Illinois' James Augustine (981) and Iowa's Greg Brunner (952) are on pace to become just the 11th and 12th player, respectively in Big Ten history to record 1,000 career rebounds. The last Big Ten standout to record more than 1,000 all-time boards was Indiana's Alan Henderson, who concluded his four-year career with 1,091 rebounds to rank fifth on the conference's career list. Ohio State's Jerry Lucas (1959-62) is the Big Ten's rebounding leader with 1,411 boards.

Brown and Ager Named Finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy: Illinois' Dee Brown and Michigan State's Maurice Ager have been selected as finalists for the 2006 Oscar Robertson Trophy, given to the National Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. The winner will be announced at the USBWA's second annual awards breakfast at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday, March 31.

NCAA RPI Rankings: The Big Ten continues to lead the nation with five teams ranked in the top 15 of the RPI rankings which were released by the NCAA last Wednesday. Ohio State ranked No. 7, followed by Michigan State (8th), Iowa (10th), Illinois (12th) and Wisconsin (13th).

Big Ten Homecourt Winning Streak: With Michigan State falling to Ohio State at the Breslin Center last Wednesday,  Iowa currently holds the league's longest homecourt winning streak as the Hawkeyes boast 16 consecutive wins at home. Iowa, who will close out the regular season with two home games, is undefeated at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season with a school-record 15 wins and has broken the arena record with 16 consecutive home victories going back to last season. The Hawkeyes have not lost at home since Illinois defeated Iowa, 76-65, on Feb. 19, 2005.