There are six games set for today with most of the games pairing some of the better teams in the league against opponents from the middle of the pack. Let’s take a look at the upcoming action.

Oregon Ducks at #9 Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State had a 13 game winning streak but they also benefitted from a soft start to league play. That 9-0 start to the season came to a halt with back-to-back road losses over the past week. Even more problematic was the loss to USC, and now the Spartans have slipped out of first place and behind Purdue. With a schedule that includes two games against Michigan and games against Illinois, Purdue, Maryland and Wisconsin, things will only get more difficult from here on out. Luckily for Tom Izzo and company the team returns home to host Oregon.

Michigan State has had a highly rated offense all year even though they’ve been incapable of shooting from three all season long. Their struggles from range continued in their last two games, shooting 10 of 37 from three. An uptick in turnovers, 29 in the two losses, and a declining field goal percent proved to be their undoing. Luckily returning at home should help solve some of those struggles, especially with Oregon having a bit softer of a defense compared to UCLA.

Oregon is another team with a strong start to the season that has turned into a long winter. Entering the game against Purdue at 15-2 (4-2), the Ducks have gone 1-5 since. The defense is so-so and while there’s pieces on the offensive side of the ball, Oregon has been far too inconsistent.

A third loss in a row for the Spartans would be a huge blow, especially with their remaining schedule. Look for Izzo to get the most out of his team on their home floor and for Sparty to bounce back with a win.

Michigan State

#21 Wisconsin Badgers at Iowa Hawkeyes

Wisconsin jumped all over Indiana and then cruised to a 12 point win. They’ll look to continue that success on the road against Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 1-5 over the last six games and while they got the offense rolling against Purdue they once again couldn’t piece things together defensively. Iowa sits at 4-7 in the league and with four of the next six games after today on the road really need a home win.

The problem is Iowa’s defense is penned at 166th per KenPom and they’re facing a Badgers offense ranked inside the top ten. Iowa has been more than capable of scoring the ball, though the lack of a true playmaker has led to a handful of lackluster offensive performances. Their inability to stop anyone mixed with a Wisconsin team that is highly efficient and limits mistakes means Iowa will likely pick up their third home loss in their last four games.

Wisconsin

#24 Michigan Wolverines at Indiana Hoosiers

The 2-6 run over the last month has been tiring on Indiana fans and has once again led to plenty of speculation and desire for the team to move on from head coach Mike Woodson. The team played arguably their best game of the year at Purdue last week and still couldn’t land the win. That loss spilled over to an absolute dreadful start to a Wisconsin game that was never close. Now with reports that Woodson and the Hoosiers are working on a plan to let the embattled coach step down at the end of the season...things aren’t looking good. You would think maybe his team would rally around their coach, especially at home, but there hasn’t been much fight all season long.

Enter Michigan, who has managed to scrape by the last couple of weeks. Outside of a 27 point loss at Purdue the Wolverines have beat Northwestern, Rutgers, Penn State and Oregon by a combined 15 points, with each game being a 3-4 point margin. Michigan playing everyone close creates some hope for the Hoosiers but the last two times they played at home they blew a winnable game to Maryland and got blown out by Illinois. The Hoosiers are turnover prone and struggle shooting from outside and once again are limited by a poor backcourt.

There’s likely at least some interest in Michigan’s pair of centers heading up against Oumar Ballo but at the same time it’s hard to think the Hoosiers will even come out today with any fight. A Hoosiers team that has caved in time after time entering the rest of the season with a likely lame duck head coach doesn’t bode well against a Michigan team well within reach of a potential league title.

Michigan

Penn State Nittany Lions at UCLA Bruins

Penn State is 1-8 over the last nine games and have gone off the rails from their 12-2 start to the season. In their last home stand they were blown out by Ohio State and then lost to lowly Minnesota by eight points. They’ve played a lot of the teams they’ve lost to pretty close but they’ve been incapable of landing wins and are 0-5 on the road in league play.

A six game winning streak by UCLA has them sitting at 8-4 in the league and in contention for a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins defense has been on point, giving up 61 or less points in three of the last four games. Look for that defense to hold down a Penn State squad and the Bruins to pick up a seventh win in a row.

UCLA

#23 Illinois Fighting Illini at Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Illini have had a rough month, going 3-5 over their last eight games. Even worse is a handful of those losses are against teams most would have expected them to win against, including USC, Nebraska and Rutgers. Things do not get any easier down the stretch, with UCLA, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Duke, Michigan and Purdue all on deck. Today’s game at Minnesota is one of two games where the Illini should be favored, with a decent chance they could be underdogs in almost the rest of their games through March.

Minnesota bounced back from a home loss to Washington by knocking off Penn State on the road. Dawson Garcia has now led the team in scoring in the last eight games. Garcia has thrived this year but the rest of the offense has been largely subpar. With Minnesota set to face a top 20 offense that is fully capable of scoring it’s hard to see Minnesota doing enough to land an upset. With the way Illinois has played lately it could very well be closer than you’d expect, but the Illini should get a much needed win today.

Illinois

Northwestern Wildcats at Washington Huskies

Closing out the night Northwestern heads west to Washington. The Wildcats snapped a three game losing streak with a two point win at home against USC but are still in a rough spot without guard Brooks Barnhizer, who is out for the season. Washington has gone 1-7 over their last eight and lost a home game by 14 to Nebraska last time out. The offense hasn’t been there consistently enough, with KenPom placing them at 128th in the country. Great Osobor has excelled all year, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. While Northwestern is likely the better team, even without Barnhizer, look for the Huskies to take advantage of home court to pick up a win tonight.

Washington