As the top of the Big Ten gets interesting, the middle just about stays the same.

Unless one of these squads gets hot in the Big Ten Tournament, none of them will be playing for a title. That doesn’t mean they have nothing to play for with tournament seeding on the line and all.

Let’s talk hoops.

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USC has had maybe the most interesting season out of all the teams in the Big Ten.

The Trojans looked truly awful early on, which made sense. It was year one for Eric Musselman at a new program with all new players learning an all-new league. This was always going to be a rough go of it.

But, dare I day it, this could be a best case scenario? USC went from struggling in buy games to being a tough out in Big Ten games. They’re certainly not good but you can see a foundation being built.

The Trojans just can’t string multiple wins together. They can win a game here and there, but they can’t go on a run.

Maryland is interesting. Kevin Willard combined high-end talent like Derik Queen with some nice additions in the transfer portal and has the Terps looking nice again. They haven’t been without their disappointments, but they’re overall a really solid group.

Were it not for a 3-point loss at Ohio State, Maryland would be sitting on a very impressive winning streak. I like the Terps here.

Northwestern has just been a lost team without Brooks Barnhizer. It’s nobody’s fault but there’s just not enough players left on this roster who can make the offense go. It’s a shame, overall.

The Wildcats are feisty and will still put up a fight, especially on the defensive end of the floor, but that can only do so much.

Ohio State is weird in that their metrics are pretty sound but the record just isn’t good enough. This is a team that could probably play its way into the field with a few wins down the stretch, starting here.