After an unsuccessful ACC-Big Ten Challenge and equally unsuccessful Gavitt Games the perception of the Big Ten is not a good one right now. Sure, teams like Maryland, Michigan, and Purdue won their exempt tournaments, but overall the conference perception has taken it on the chin a bit. Michigan State has played hard, but hasn’t knocked off any of its big name opponents. Penn State and Illinois have a couple of ugly home losses to low majors.
The Big Ten currently has only three teams in the AP top 25 with Indiana the highest at No. 13 (though they will go up on Monday).