Big Ten foes meet in Bloomington

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time rivals will meet in Bloomington this afternoon, as 23rd-ranked Indiana and Michigan collide in a Big Ten Conference contest.

Michigan carried a two-game win streak into Wednesday's clash with Wisconsin, the top team in the league, and the result was a 71-55 setback. Still, the Wolverines are 16-5 overall and 4-2 in league play, and a win today would allow the club to inch closer to a spot in the national poll.

Like Michigan, Indiana is 4-2 against Big Ten opponents and has only lost five games all season. One of those defeats came on Tuesday, as the Hoosiers had a five-game win streak halted with a 51-43 setback to Illinois. The 43 points marked the worst offensive output of the season for Indiana, which is a perfect 10-0 at home heading into today's clash.

The Hoosiers own a 96-51 lead in the all-time series with Michigan, and the Hoosiers have won the last 10 meetings.

Michigan is not an explosive offensive team by any means, as the club is only averaging 66.8 ppg this season. Fortunately, the Wolverines have been outstanding at the defensive end of the floor, as they are limiting opponents to 58.0 ppg on 39.3 percent shooting from the field. Michigan is outrebounding foes by 7.3 rpg, and the positives mentioned have enabled the club to overcome an average of 15 turnovers per contest. Dion Harris is the leading scorer for the Wolverines, as he is netting 13.2 ppg despite his inconsistent shooting. Harris is also tops with 88 assists and 26 steals. Courtney Sims is scoring 12.1 ppg, and Lester Abram checks in with 9.6 ppg. In the 13-point loss to Wisconsin earlier this week, Sims scored 16 points to lead Michigan, but he was responsible for seven of the team's 19 giveaways. Abram tallied 10 points for the Wolverines, who permitted the Badgers to connect on 54.2 percent of their field goal attempts.

Indiana is scoring 72.2 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 60.2 ppg on 40.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Hoosiers have committed 50 fewer turnovers than their foes, but they have attempted 76 fewer free throws. D.J. White is the leading scorer for Indiana with 14.2 ppg, and he is tops with 7.3 rpg and 46 blocks as well. The only other double-digit scorer in the lineup is Roderick Wilmont, as he is posting 11.3 ppg. On Tuesday, the Hoosiers shot a lowly 38.6 percent from the floor, including 5-of-17 from three-point range. They were also outscored 13-4 from the foul line by Illinois, and those factors led to the eight-point setback. White scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but he got little help from his mediocre supporting cast.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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