What is going on in the Big Ten?

Indiana has become the spoiler in the Big Ten.

Last week, it was a 52-49 upset of Illinois at home. Then after nearly knocking off Michigan State on the road in overtime, the Hoosiers held off a furious rally by the Gophers to beat Minnesota 60-57.

Making this run all the more impressive is that Indiana is going it without four players that were expected to start in the preseason.

Christian Watford is out after having surgery on his broken hand. Maurice Creek is out after fracturing his left patella. Guy-Marc Michel was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. And Verdell Jones came off the bench to see his first action in three games due to a sore knee.


I think we can officially forget about all that talk of Tom Crean being on the hot seat. He has this team playing hard, playing smart, and competing in the Big Ten. Imagine what will happen when he starts putting better talent on the floor.

At the other end of the spectrum in Michigan State.

The Spartans suffered what may be the worst loss in the Tom Izzo era on Wednesday night. The Spartans went into Iowa City and were utterly embarrassed by a bad Iowa team.

The Hawkeyes jumped out to leads of 15-2 and 30-8 before coasting to their second Big Ten win this season.

Can anyone figure out what is wrong with the Spartans? This is no longer an on-the-court issue, in my opinion. Say what you will about this team's talent level, there is no way that Iowa is 20 points better. Not a chance.

Think about this -- Michigan State has lost five of their last eight games. The three wins in that stretch all came in overtime, and their last win before this downward spiral was a three point win against Northwestern that was preserved thanks to a missed box out on the front end of a one-and-one by the Wildcats.

The Spartans are four possessions away from being in the midst of a nine game losing streak.

But hey, at least Izzo should look at the bright side.

The Cavs have lost 22 straight games and 32 of their last 33.

I guess that's the lesser of two evils, right?