Hoosier State of Mind
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Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers in the middle of a muddled Big Ten

By Adam Childs

COLUMBUS, OHIO - FEBRUARY 01: Trayce Jackson-Davis #4 of the Indiana Hoosiers catches the ball while being guarded by Kyle Young #25 of the Ohio State Buckeyes during the first half of their game at Value City Arena on February 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - FEBRUARY 01: Trayce Jackson-Davis #4 of the Indiana Hoosiers catches the ball while being guarded by Kyle Young #25 of the Ohio State Buckeyes during the first half of their game at Value City Arena on February 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – FEBRUARY 01: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers goes in for a layup during the first half of their game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena on February 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO – FEBRUARY 01: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers goes in for a layup during the first half of their game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena on February 01, 2020 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

The muddled middle (7-12 in any order)

Wisconsin Badgers

Indiana Hoosiers

Purdue Boilermakers

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Michigan Wolverines

Ohio State Buckeyes

It is next to impossible to rank this group of teams. You have six teams that have all in some way or another beaten each other. They have all looked great at times and looked like they could be the worst team in the conference.

If I told you one of these teams ended up winning the Big Ten you probably wouldn’t be surprised and at the same time wouldn’t be surprised if they lost the rest of their games.

Michigan is the only team to beat Gonzaga this year, won the Battle 4 Atlantis, and beat Rutgers in Madison Square Garden. But yet they have lost three straight games at home and struggle for long stretches to score.

Ohio State, once viewed as possibly the best team in the country, has six conference losses, but have won three games in a row including road wins at Northwestern and Michigan.

Minnesota has Daniel Oturu, who is a force down low, but can’t seem to win on the road. Wisconsin beat Michigan State and Indiana at home, and has two road wins, but has also lost to New Mexico and Richmond earlier in the year.

Purdue whipped Virginia and Michigan State at home by over 20 points, but only scored 37 in a game against Ilinois. Matt Painter is doing a good job with this team, but they don’t have a lot of scorers either.

Indiana, like we have said a ton of times, looked poised to make a run after beating Michigan State at home, but turned around and lost their next three games. Trayce Jackson-Davis has been great, but even though he is scoring a lot, Devonte Green is struggling to find his rhythm within the offense.

All of these teams are in great shape to make the tournament, but if they ended up in the NIT, would anybody really be surprised? It is one of the biggest groups of like teams in the whole country and they all sit in the same conference. This last month should be fun to see if any team can get separation or if they all will be grouped together.

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