This B1G Week 2/22-28

Hello and welcome friends to another edition of This B1G Week. We're in the homestretch of the Big Ten season. Just two weeks remain and we're about to get a lot of games played in those 14 days. Michigan has pulled away a little in the standings but due to them still having five games left there's plenty of reason to keep a few teams in the hunt for the conference crown. This week will prove a lot but the most shocking thing is that one of us has selected Nebraska as a favorite to win a Big Ten game, dun dun dun. 

Big Ten Game of the Week

Thursday - 7 pm - ESPN - Iowa @ Michigan - The Wolverines has been the most impressive team in the Big Ten this season while Luka Garza has been the most impressive individual player. A win in this game will only further move Michigan ahead of the pack. 

Nonconference Game of the Week

Saturday - 8 pm - ESPN - Baylor @ Kansas - Time is quickly running out for Baylor to lose a game this season. Multiple Covid pauses has given the Bears less games than usual which makes it seem likely they'll enter post season play undefeated. This will will be testing with games against West Virginia and Kansas. 

Team of the Week

Michigan Wolverines - The Wolverines haven't lost anything from their multiweek pause. Michigan beat Rutgers in a game they didn't play particularly well in and followed it up by winning what was the best basketball game played so far this season. 

Team of the Weak

Rutgers Scarlet Knights - The Scarlet Knights bounced their way back into the Bubble with two loses last week. No one in the world will blame them for losing to Michigan but their failure to win at home against Maryland doesn't bode well for New Jersey's Big Ten team. 

Bracketology Report

Teams In The Field (According to Bracket Matrix) - Ten Teams In The Field - Michigan (1 Seed), Ohio State (1 Seed), Illinois (2 Seed), Iowa (2 Seed), Wisconsin (5 Seed), Purdue (6 Seed), Rutgers (7 Seed), Indiana (11 Seed), Minnesota (11 Seed), Maryland (12 Seed)

Actual Rankings

1. Michigan - 11-1 - 16-1
2. Illinois - 12-3 - 16-5
3. Ohio State - 12-5 - 18-5
4. Iowa - 11-5 - 17-6
5. Purdue - 10-6 - 15-8
6. Wisconsin - 10-7 - 16-8
7. Maryland - 8-9 - 14-10
8. Rutgers - 8-9 - 12-9
9. Indiana - 7-8 - 12-10
10. Minnesota - 6-10 - 13-10
11. Michigan State - 5-9 - 11-9
12. Penn State - 4-11 - 7-12
13. Northwestern - 3-13 - 6-14
14. Nebraska - 1-12 - 5-15

B1G Picks

Tuesday

7 pm - FS1 - Illinois @ Michigan State

Grant's Pick: , Troy's Pick: Illinois

TBD - BTN - Penn State @ Nebraska

Grant's Pick: Penn State, Troy's Pick: Nebraska

Wednesday

8 pm - BTN - Indiana @ Rutgers

Grant's Pick: Indiana, Troy's Pick: Indiana

Thursday

7 pm - ESPN - Iowa @ Michigan

Grant's Pick: Michigan, Troy's Pick: Michigan

7 pm - BTN - Nebraska @ Illinois

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois

9 pm - ESPN - Ohio State @ Michigan State

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State

9 pm - BTN - Northwestern @ Minnesota

Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota

Friday

7 pm - FS1 - Purdue @ Penn State

Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue

Saturday

Noon - Fox - Michigan @ Indiana

Grant's Pick: Michigan, Troy's Pick: Michigan

2 pm - ESPN - Illinois @ Wisconsin

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois

7 pm - BTN - Minnesota @ Nebraska

Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota

Sunday

2 pm - CBS - Michigan State @ Maryland

Grant's Pick: Maryland, Troy's Pick: Maryland

4 pm - CBS - Iowa @ Ohio State

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State

Grant's Previous Week Pick Record: 12-3

Grant's Total Pick Record: 135-44

Troy's Previous Week Pick Record: 12-3

Troy's Total Pick Record: 132-47



To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)

This B1G Week 2/15-21

Hello and welcome friends to another edition of This B1G Week. We are officially less than a month away from Selection Sunday. This weekend the Selection Committee released their Top 16 Bracket Preview and four Big Ten teams (Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa). Michigan and Ohio State were both projected as 1 Seeds and Illinois were the highest rated 2 Seed. There is a strong possibility that half the 1 Seeds will be coming from the Big Ten Conference. 

Big Ten Game of the Week

Sunday - 1 pm - CBS - Michigan @ Ohio State - This game on Sunday might be the biggest game so far this season nationwide. Both teams are ranked in the top five and currently listed as 1-Seeds. Ohio State is as red hot as it gets and Michigan has only lost once all year. 

Nonconference Game of the Week

Tuesday - 9 pm - ESPN - Texas @ Oklahoma - The race for second place in the Big 12 is one of the most hotly contested competitions in the country. Baylor is clearly number one but it's harder to pick from many strong teams who is the second. This game on Tuesday will go a long way to help decide this.

Team of the Week

Nebraska Cornhuskers - I picked Nebraska mainly as a joke but in a year where they had to go on a multi-week hiatus and play in the most competitive conference in the country, Nebraska finally picked up their first, and probably only, win in conference play. 

Team of the Weak

Penn State Nittany Lions - Come on guys! You seriously lost to Nebraska? That's Team of the Weak material if I've ever seen it. 

Bracketology Report

Teams In The Field (According to Bracket Matrix) - Nine Teams In The Field - Michigan (1 Seed), Ohio State (1 Seed), Illinois (2 Seed), Iowa (3 Seed), Wisconsin (5 Seed), Purdue (6 Seed), Rutgers (7 Seed), Minnesota (9 Seed), Indiana (10 Seed)

Actual Rankings

1. Michigan - 9-1 - 14-1
2. Illinois - 10-3 - 14-5
3. Ohio State - 11-4 - 17-4
4. Iowa - 9-5 - 15-6
5. Wisconsin - 9-6 - 15-7
6. Purdue - 8-6 - 13-8
7. Rutgers - 8-7 - 12-7
8. Indiana - 6-7 - 11-9
9. Minnesota - 6-8 - 13-8
10. Maryland - 5-9 - 11-10
11. Michigan State - 4-8 - 10-8
12. Penn State - 4-9 - 7-10
13. Northwestern - 3-11 - 6-12
14. Nebraska - 1-9 - 5-12

B1G Picks

Tuesday

7 pm - ESPN - Michigan State @ Purdue

Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue

7 pm - BTN - Maryland @ Nebraska 

Grant's Pick: Maryland, Troy's Pick: Maryland

9 pm - BTN - Northwestern @ Illinois

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois

Wednesday

7 pm - BTN - Maryland @ Nebraska

Grant's Pick: Maryland, Troy's Pick: Maryland

9 pm - BTN - Minnesota @ Indiana

Grant's Pick: Indiana, Troy's Pick: Indiana

Thursday

7 pm - ESPN - Iowa @ Wisconsin

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin

8 pm - BTN - Ohio State @ Penn State

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State

9 pm - FS1 - Rutgers @ Michigan

Grant's Pick: Michigan, Troy's Pick: Michigan

Saturday

Noon - ESPN - Michigan State @ Indiana

Grant's Pick: Indiana, Troy's Pick: Indiana

3:30 pm - Fox - Illinois @ Minnesota

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois

5:30 pm - BTN - Purdue @ Nebraska

Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue

Sunday

1 pm - CBS - Michigan @ Ohio State

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Michigan

3 pm - BTN - Maryland @ Rutgers

Grant's Pick: Rutgers, Troy's Pick: Rutgers

5 pm - FS1 - Penn State @ Iowa

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa

7 pm - BTN - Wisconsin @ Northwestern

Grant's Pick: Wisconsin, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin





Grant's Previous Week Pick Record: 10-3

Grant's Total Pick Record: 123-41

Troy's Previous Week Pick Record: 9-4

Troy's Total Pick Record: 120-44

To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant) 

This B1G Week 2/8-14

Hello and welcome friends to another edition of This B1G Week. Well we officially have less than a month remaining in the regular season. Do we know who is going to win the league? No idea. There's too many teams still left to make a real guess. I can tell you that Nebraska is going to finish 14th in the league but that's about it. We'll see if things become more clear in the near future. 

Big Ten Game of the Week

Sunday - 1 pm - CBS - Michigan @ Wisconsin - This is going to tell us a lot about the final stretch in the title race. Michigan is finally coming off of their COVID pause and we've seen mixed results from teams coming off extended pauses. Some have picked off where they left off and others have struggled. If the latter happens Michigan will have a rough go of things as they have one of the toughest remaining schedules remaining plus the five games they have to make up. 

Nonconference Game of the Week

Saturday - 5 pm - Fox - Villanova @ Creighton - This is a big one in that great eastern city of Omaha. Nova currently has three fewer loses than Creighton in the Big East standings but pauses have it where Villanova has plenty of opportunities to gain those loses. 

Team of the Week

Illinois Illini - Illinois is start to take shape in the conference season. The picked up a tough overtime win at Indiana midweek then beat Wisconsin on Saturday in a game that wasn't as close as the score would dictate. 

Team of the Weak

Iowa Hawkeyes - Folks the February Fran Flop is very much in effect. Iowa has a history of falling off come January and if last week where they picked up two loses is any indication, things aren't changing this year.  

Bracketology Report

Teams In The Field (According to Bracket Matrix) - Ten Teams In The Field - Michigan (1 Seed), Ohio State (1 Seed), Illinois (2 Seed), Iowa (3 Seed), Wisconsin (4 Seed), Purdue (6 Seed), Rutgers (7 Seed), Minnesota (9 Seed), Indiana (11 Seed), Maryland (12 Seed)

Actual Rankings

1. Michigan - 8-1 - 13-1
2. Illinois - 9-3 - 13-5
3. Ohio State - 9-4 - 15-4
4. Wisconsin - 8-5 - 14-6
5. Purdue - 8-5 - 13-7
6. Iowa - 7-5 - 13-6
7. Rutgers - 7-6 - 11-6
8. Indiana - 5-6 - 10-8
9. Minnesota - 4-7 - 11-7
10. Penn State - 4-7 - 7-8
11. Maryland - 4-8 - 10-9
12. Michigan State - 3-7 - 9-7
13. Northwestern - 3-9 - 6-10
14. Nebraska - 0-6 - 4-9

B1G Picks

Monday

8 pm - BTN - Nebraska @ Minnesota 

Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota

9 pm - FS1 - Ohio State @ Maryland

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State

Tuesday

7 pm - ESPN 2- Penn State @ Michigan State

Grant's Pick: Michigan State, Troy's Pick: Penn State

Wednesday

7 pm - BTN - Rutgers @ Iowa

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Rutgers

9 pm - BTN - Indiana @ Northwestern

Grant's Pick: Indiana, Troy's Pick: Indiana

Thursday

5 pm - ESPN 2 - Wisconsin @ Nebraska

Grant's Pick: Wisconsin, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin

8 pm - BTN - Purdue @ Minnesota

Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Minnesota

Saturday

Noon - ESPN - Indiana @ Ohio State

Grant's Pick: Ohio State, Troy's Pick: Ohio State

2:30 pm - Fox - Iowa @ Michigan State

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa

5 or 5:30 or 6 pm (Get it together BTN) - BTN - Northwestern @ Rutgers

Grant's Pick: Rutgers, Troy's Pick: Rutgers

Sunday

1 pm - CBS - Michigan @ Wisconsin 

Grant's Pick: Wisconsin, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin

3 pm - BTN - Nebraska @ Penn State

Grant's Pick: Penn State, Troy's Pick: Penn State

7 pm - BTN - Minnesota @ Maryland

Grant's Pick: Minnesota, Troy's Pick: Maryland

Grant's Previous Week Pick Record: 7-4

Grant's Total Pick Record: 113-38

Troy's Previous Week Pick Record: 7-4

Troy's Total Pick Record: 111-40



To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)

This B1G Week 2/1-7

Hello and welcome friends to another edition of This B1G Week. Well we're about halfway through the Big Ten Conference season. Of course not everyone has played half their games yet but everyone except for Nebraska is close the ten game halfway point. What I'm interested in is how they'll go about making up these missed games. Multiple teams have multiple games to make up. Once Michigan comes back from their pause they'll need to make up four games. Nebraska won't play their first game back until this Saturday which means they'll have to play 15 games in 29 days. I think it's highly unlikely that everyone plays all their games, particularly Nebraska and whoever doesn't get their makeup game with Nebraska done. 

Big Ten Game of the Week

Saturday - 2:30 pm - Fox - Wisconsin @ Illinois - The title race is starting to get hot. Michigan is on a program pause right now but these two teams have a shot at catching up to them if the Wolverines come out cold when they start up again. 

Nonconference Game of the Week

Tuesday - 9 pm - ESPN - Baylor @ Texas - This might be the last best chance for Baylor to lose a game during the regular season. Sure the Big 12 is good but Baylor is incredible. If Texas doesn't beat them on Tuesday I don't see Baylor losing before the NCAA Tournament

Team of the Week

Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Rutgers hit a rough patch in January but really turned it around in the end. The Scarlet Knights obliterated MSU midweek and ended it with a hard fought win over Northwestern.

Team of the Weak

Michigan State Spartans - Sparty has not been good since conference play started. Michigan State has won the last three Big Ten titles yet is nowhere near competing for it this year. They got destroyed this week against Rutgers and weren't really in that game against Ohio State.

Bracketology Report

Teams In The Field (According to Bracket Matrix) - Nine Teams In The Field: Michigan (1 Seed), Iowa (2 Seed), Ohio State (3 Seed), Wisconsin (3 Seed), Illinois (3 Seed), Purdue (6 Seed), Minnesota (7 Seed), Rutgers (9 Seed), Indiana (11 Seed)

Actual Rankings

1. Michigan - 8-1 - 13-1
2. Illinois - 7-3 - 11-5
3. Ohio State - 8-4 - 14-4
4. Iowa - 6-3 - 12-4
5. Wisconsin - 7-4 - 13-5
6. Purdue - 7-4 - 12-6
7. Rutgers - 6-6 - 10-6
8. Indiana - 4-5 - 9-7
9. Minnesota - 4-6 - 11-6
10. Penn State - 3-6 - 6-7
11. Maryland - 3-7 - 9-8
12. Northwestern - 3-8 - 6-9
13. Michigan State - 2-6 - 8-6
14. Nebraska - 0-5 - 4-8

B1G Picks

Tuesday

6:30 pm - BTN - Purdue @ Maryland

Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue

7 pm - FS1 - Michigan State @ Iowa

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa

8:30 pm - BTN - Penn State @ Wisconsin

Grant's Pick: Wisconsin, Troy's Pick: Wisconsin

9 pm - ESPN 2 - Illinois @ Indiana

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Indiana

Thursday

7 pm - ESPN - Ohio State @ Iowa

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa

9 pm - FS1 - Minnesota @ Rutgers

Grant's Pick: Rutgers, Troy's Pick: Rutgers

Friday

7 pm - FS1 - Maryland @ Penn State 

Grant's Pick: Maryland, Troy's Pick: Penn State

Saturday

2:30 - Fox - Wisconsin @ Illinois

Grant's Pick: Illinois, Troy's Pick: Illinois

4:30 pm - BTN - Northwestern @ Purdue

Grant's Pick: Purdue, Troy's Pick: Purdue

6:30 pm - BTN - Nebraska @ Michigan State

Grant's Pick: Michigan State, Troy's Pick: Michigan State

Sunday

Noon - Fox - Iowa @ Indiana

Grant's Pick: Iowa, Troy's Pick: Iowa

Grant's Previous Week Pick Record: 6-2

Grant's Total Pick Record: 106-34

Troy's Previous Week Pick Record: 5-3

Troy's Total Pick Record: 104-36



To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)