NFL
By: Melo Williams
Heading into the second half of the conference season, Illinois and Michigan were at the top of the Big Ten standings at 10-1, followed by Michigan State and Nebraska in a tie for third at 9-2.
Purdue and Wisconsin are tied for fifth at 8-3, UCLA in seventh a 7-4, Iowa in eighth at 6-4, and Indiana and Ohio State in a tie for ninth at 6-5. All 18 teams had recorded at least one league victory.
Seven Big Ten players were recently named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List.
Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith list among the 25 members on the midseason watch list.
The Oscar Robertson Trophy is the longest-running Player of the Year award in college basketball. The award is handed out annually at the men’s Final Four to the best player in college basketball and has been named after Robertson since the 1997-98 season. Its origins date back to 1958-59.
Entering Tuesday’s games, Big Ten teams have combined to win 48 Quad 1 games, with 14 teams scoring at least one Quad 1 win. Only the Big 12 has more Quad 1 victories (49).
The Big Ten is the only conference with five teams with at least six Quad 1 wins and four teams with at least 10 combined Quad 1 and 2 victories. Michigan (8-0) and Illinois 97-30 are two of just four teams with at least seven Quad 1 wins.
Michigan State, Nebraska, and Purdue join Michigan and Illinois in a group of just eight teams with six Quad 1 victories.
Through games on Monday, Feb. 2, the Big Ten boasted 13 teams in the top 75 spots in the NET Rankings, including four in the top 10 and 12 in the top 50.
Michigan leads the Big Ten contingent at No. 3, followed by No. 6 Illinois, No. 8 Purdue, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 11 Michigan State, and No. 19 Iowa. Indiana, Ohio State, Wisconsin, UCLA, Washington, and USC also claimed spots in the top 50.
No other conference in the country has more teams in the top 10 (Big 12 – 3), top 25 (Big 12 – 6), top 50 (SEC – 10) or top 75 (Big 12, SEC – 12).
The Big Ten currently ranks second in today’s Kenpom conference rankings (+18.32), behind only the SEC (+19.36).
Thirteen of the Big Ten’s 18 teams are ranked in the top 75 of the Kenpom rankings after Mondays’ games, including six in the top 25 and 12 in the top 50.
Michigan tops the list at No. 1, followed by No. 5 Illinois, No. 8 Purdue, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 13 Nebraska, and No. 19 Iowa. No other conference has more teams in the top 10 (Big 12 – 3), top 25 (Big 12 – 6), or top 50 (SEC – 11).
Seven different Big Ten teams were ranked or received votes in this week’s AP and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on Monday, Feb. 2, including five ranked in the top 12.
Michigan led the way at No. 2 on the AP list, followed by No. 5 Illinois, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 10 Michigan State, and No. 12 Purdue. The Wolverines stayed No. 2 in Coaches poll, while Illinois sits at No. 6, followed by No. 9 Nebraska, No. 10 Michigan State, and No. 12 Purdue.
Iowa and Wisconsin received votes in one or both polls.
Iowa senior guard Bennett Stirtz and Michigan State redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. were each named Big Ten Co-Players of the Week on Monday.
Stirtz was honored after he averaged 26 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 rebounds, while shooting 66.7% from the floor, 60% from three-point range, and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
He opened the week with 20 points, three steals, three rebounds, and two assists in a 73-72 win over USC. Stirtz went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, including the game-winning free-throws with 4.6 seconds to play.
He then led the Hawkeyes to an 84-66 win at Oregon with a career-high 32 points, along with seven assists and two steals, with no turnovers. In the second half of the win, Stirtz eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his collegiate career, becoming the eighth active player with 2,000+ points.
Fears claimed his second consecutive Co-Player of the Week laurel after he averaged 30 points and 8 assists, with 4.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals, in a 1-1 week for the Spartans.
He scored a career-high 29 points, including 27 in the second half and overtime, to go with nine assists and four rebounds in an 88-79 (OT) win at Rutgers.
He then set a new career-best with 31 points, with seven assists and five boards, in an 83-71 loss to Michigan.
Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler earned his fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on Monday after averaging 25 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in a road win at Nebraska and a home win over Washington.
He tallied 22 points, 8 assists, 5 boards and 2 steals in the 75-66 win over Washington. He also recorded 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half on just 6 shot attempts in the 78-69 win at Nebraska.
With the completion of the traditional nonconference schedule, the Big Ten owns a nonconference record of 157-39, the second-best win percentage (.801) of any conference, behind only the Big 12 (.806).
Big Ten teams have defended home court to the tune of an 118-4 (.967) record in non-conference home games, the highest non-conference home winning percentage of any D-I conference. Big Ten teams have just two nonconference games remaining on the schedule, both in February.
Milestone Watch
Congratulations to Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz who recently became the third active player in Division I and the eighth player in all divisions to eclipse 2,000 career points.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter is three wins shy of 250 conference victories.
Big Ten Tournament
The 29th annual TIAA Big Ten Tournament will be played at the United Center in Chicago, March 10th – 15th, 2026.
For the first time, all 18 Big Ten teams will compete for the tournament title. The tournament will open with a pair of games on Tuesday, March 10 and culminate with championship on Sunday March 15.
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