Around the Big Ten Basketball: Week 14

Audio/Story posted February 7, 2020 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

 Host Ben Geller and analysts Jordan Hession and Ethan Cook preview the remaining games in the Big Ten this week.

The “Wild West” label that the Big Ten has grown this season continued to prove itself this week with an unranked Purdue destroying Luka Garza and the Iowa Hawkeyes and Penn State recording a statement win in East Lansing being some of the most notable results from this week. There are still five ranked teams at the top, but even those five could see some major shuffling come next week’s new AP Top 25 Poll.

The top two teams in the Big Ten standings are still Maryland and Illinois, as Michigan State is currently on a two-game losing streak. Maryland has won its last five straight, which is tied for the longest streak in the Big Ten with Penn State. The Terps’ last two wins have come against teams that were both in the top 25, beating both Iowa and Rutgers. Illinois, meanwhile, lost to that very same Iowa team by seven points and hasn’t recorded a win since Jan. 30 when the Fighting Illini beat Minnesota. Maryland and Illinois will go head-to-head on Friday to kick off a big weekend for the Big Ten.

The next four teams in the standings all sit one game behind the leaders, with Michigan State only being a half game behind, as the Spartans boast a conference record of 8-4 following back-to-back losses. Their schedule doesn’t get much easier, as they face a two-game road stretch next, first traveling to Ann Arbor for a bout with in-state rival Michigan, then to Champaign against Illinois.

Penn State managed to return to both the upper echelon of the Big Ten as well as the national rankings, sitting at fourth in the conference standings and 22nd in the latest AP Poll. The Nittany Lions’ chances to extend their winning streak are sitting pretty, as they have two unranked opponents up next, those being Minnesota and Purdue.

Both Iowa and Rutgers have a 7-5 conference record, as Iowa fell back a bit after an embarrassing blowout loss against Purdue, while a once-ranked Rutgers squad has started to fall after losing its last two games. Both teams will have games against the bottom of the conference, as Iowa faces off against Nebraska on Saturday while Rutgers takes on Northwestern on Sunday.

With just a couple weeks before the Big Ten Tournament starts, these next few games are going to mean a lot regarding seeding, as 11 Big Ten teams are separated by three games or fewer.

Logan Bourandas is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email lxb5412@psu.edu.

About the Contributors

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Ethan Cook

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Ethan is a play-by-play announcer for CommRadio who is aspiring to be a college football analyst for either a major sports network or a college radio station.

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Jordan Hession

Junior / Broadcast Journalism

Jordan Hession is a junior from Annapolis, Maryland majoring in broadcast journalism. Jordan is the co-host of CommRadio’s longest running live radio show The Sin Bin with Kyle Cannillo. In the summer of 2020, Jordan interned at SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio as a sports programmer. When Jordan is not discussing sports, he is writing various articles for collegiate and professional sports leagues and teams. Jordan has a love for all sports but has a genuine passion to spread ice hockey and baseball globally. Away from broadcast journalism, Jordan enjoys lifting weights and cooking. Jordan’s role models in the broadcast journalism industry include Doc Emrick, Gary Thorne and Mike Lange. In the future, Jordan sees himself working as a producer or host in sports talk radio and potentially television. To contact Jordan, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Logan Bourandas

Third-Year / Broadcast Journalism

Logan Bourandas is a third-year broadcast journalism major from Long Island, NY. He is a the news director for CommRadio and the host of Ducks on the Pond, which is an all-baseball talk show on CommRadio. He is also a sports writer, broadcaster and podcaster for CommRadio. He got his start as the station manager for his high school radio station WPOB in his hometown of Plainview, NY, where he hosted numerous radio shows and was involved in sports broadcasts. You can contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).