It's not the big dance, but tonight for the first time since December we get to see how the Big Ten fares against good teams from other conferences. We're hoping that Iowa doesn't become the first team to lose in the NIT because they are just happy to there. Northwestern, in the same bracket as Iowa, shouldn't have that problem. They're feeling slighted by being named a 4 seed after being on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament all season.

Of course, Bill Carmody is giving the impression that his men are motivated. In his press conference prior to the NIT selection show, Carmody said of his team playing its best, "I don't think they need that much convincing." That was back when we were under the impression that the 'Cats would get a 1 or 2 seed. Now that they've been disrespected, they should have all the motivation they need, but some fans are still not feeling it. Thanks to KenPom in advance for all the neat stats.

Akron at Iowa, 6:30 PM CT on ESPN

I've always wondered why the University of Dayton went by the nickname "Flyers." Turns out, the Wright brothers, who conducted the first airplane flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, lived most of their lives in Dayton. Thanks to them, UD now has a freaking sweet mascot to go with a pretty good basketball team.

About that basketball team: Black Heart Gold Pants does a great job on the analysis, but I'll try to summarize.

Dayton is coached by the ridiculously young (and even younger looking) Archie Miller. Miller, who is 33 years old, played point guard for NC State from 1999-2002 and worked under Thad Matta at Ohio State as an assistant in 2007 before joining his brother Sean Miller's staff at Arizona in 2009. Now in his first season coaching the Flyers, Miller had coached to a 19-11 record.

In the Atlantic 10, Dayton was 2nd in offensive efficiency with 111.2 points per 100 possessions, but 11th in defensive efficiency with a 106.6 rating. The offense was hindered by a high 20.4% turnover percentage, but it reached such a high status thanks to a league-leading 39.9% offensive rebounding rate. At shooting the ball, Dayton was just 5th in conference with a 50.2% eFG rate, so the Flyers really depended a good deal on grabbing their own misses.

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I sure do hope you've all saved up your sick days, because the Big Ten Basketball Tournament starts bright and early on Thursday morning, and right off the bat there are a couple of intriguing match-ups worth watching. They day starts at 11:30 AM ET when Iowa and Illinois tip off in Game 1 and continues with Indiana vs. Penn State right after that. In the evening, starting at 5:30 PM ET will be Minnesota vs. Northwestern and afterwards Nebraska takes on Purdue. This is your preview for the morning/afternoon early session.

Iowa vs. Illinois

There were points at different times during the 2012 Big Ten basketball season when it seemed like either of these teams might have a chance at making the NCAA Tournament. Illinois started hot with wins in four of its first five conference games, including a riveting victory over Ohio State in which Brandon Paul got the Assembly Hall rocking with 43 points on 11 of 15 shooting.

At that point, the Illini's prospects seemed brighter than their orange-colored jerseys, but the program has since fallen on hard times. In losing 11 of their last 13 games, Illinois has fallen completely out of the at-large picture and will very likely be looking for a new coach in the off-season.

Bruce Weber has done a lot of good during his tenure at Illinois, but this season he's failed to get the performance necessary to win games out of his star players Brandon Paul, Meyers Leonard and D.J. Richardson. Although there is obvious talent at the top of the roster, Illinois could only finish the Big Ten season ranked 9th in effective field goal percentage, 10th in turnover percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding percentage and 9th in free throw percentage.

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Michigan State and Indiana tip off in just a few hours, so let's get this started with a quick bracketology update. My favorite bracket-obsessed peeps at B101 are on hiatus this season, so we have to settle for Joe Lunardi over at ESPN. He's pretty friendly to the Big Ten, so I guess we can live with it. Here's how he sees the Big Ten teams fitting in:

Michigan State: 1 seed out West

Ohio State: 2, Michigan: 3, Wisconsin: 4, Indiana: 4, Purdue: 8

Northwestern: 13 seed and a first four game vs. Texas

The Purple Cats are also on the "last four in" list. No love for Iowa or Illinois.

A Return to Assembly Hall

As for the big game tonight, it marks a homecoming of sorts for Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife, who Hoosier fans no doubt hold in great regard for his role as defensive anchor of the 2002 national runner-up team. Fife was briefly an assistant under Mike Davis before becoming the head coach at IPFW at the age of 25. After six seasons in Fort Wayne, Fife decided to return to the Big Ten as an assistant under Tom Izzo.

Although Fife had some good times as a student and player for IU, he makes it clear that this is a business trip.

"I grew up wanting to play for Indiana, and I wanted to play for Bob Knight. I fell in love with the school. I fell in love with Indiana basketball. I created a lot of memories there. On the flip side, I’m a Spartan now, and it feels good. Indiana always, always, always will be of great importance to me, but I’m a Spartan now, and I’m proud to be part of this great program. Job 1 is going there and winning the game."

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There are three games tonight on the Big Ten schedule. I'm from the east coast and as a result don't totally understand these midwestern battles, so I'll let Hail to the Orange set the tone.

Ask which team I want to beat most every year, and it is Indiana without even the slightest moment's hesitation.

The midwest is a wasteland in February. Drive across the state of Illinois, down 74, through Champaign, Danville, and cross the Indiana border into Covington and on down one of the state highways to Bloomington, and you probably wont see one growing thing, or even appreciable sign of civilization all that often. It's cold and wet and miserable in this part of the country this time of year. Good passive aggressive midwesterners like we are, we internalize our hatred for our lives and our surroundings, allowing it to spill out in a socially acceptable manner, screaming til you're purple at college basketball players. There is a reason basketball is so popular in the midwest, and it is to distract us from the fact that when we look out of the window it looks like a Cormac McCarthy novel.

Now I'm psyched!

Illinois at Indiana

8:00 PM ET, BTN

It's the Battle of Assembly Hall! Meyers Leonard versus Cody Zeller! Crean versus Weber! Assembly Hall (the one in Bloomington) should be a pretty exciting place to be tonight as Illinois and Indiana meet for the only time this season. By the way, shouldn't Big Ten basketball teams have protected rivalries just like in football? It seems like a shame that these two teams only play once in the regular season.

Anyway, Illinois has lost four of five since their season peaked with a win over Ohio State on January 19. The Illini's schedule does not get any easier for them any time soon, so this is a big one. Certainly with Leonard and the amazing Brandon Paul, Illinois is capable of beating anyone on a given night, but on the road this season they've only defeated Maryland and Northwestern (the latter by a single point).

Indiana has to be feeling a little better about themselves after a victory over hated Purdue on Saturday, but the Hoosiers are another team who has seen their season peak too early. However, they finish the Big Ten schedule with 4 of 6 games at home, where they are much more comfortable.

When Indiana has the ball, Zeller versus Leonard will be the match-up to watch. If Leonard can slow down IU's phenom, there is a chance for Illinois to pull off the upset. Committing just one defender to Zeller should allow Illinois to get out on the perimeter shooters, but of course there is also Christian Watford to deal with.

Brandon Paul will be the main focus of IU's defense when Illinois has the ball. The Hoosiers don't really have a pair of guys who match up well with Paul and Leonard, but that's what makes them so tough. Look for the Hoosiers to swarm the Illini stars and force someone else to beat them.

Hit the jump to preview the other two Big Ten games tonight.

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This Saturday, pre-season favorite Ohio State travels to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, while Pat Chambers's Penn State team, which has struggled through some pretty vicious growing pains, hits the road for Iowa City to take on Fran McCaffery and the Iowa Hawkeyes. To cap off the night and Indiana-Purdue HATE WEEK, the Hoosiers face the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, looking to stabilize their conference record at 6-6.

On Sunday, Minnesota, 2-4 on the road, travels to Lincoln to take on a not-quite-dead Nebraska team. Michigan concludes their regular season series with Michigan State looking for a 4th consecutive win over the Spartans. Finally, Illinois and Northwestern tip-off during the Super Bowl in Assembly Hall, NU bringing in a 1-5 road record where Illinois is 12-1 at home.

Previews, Predictions and Prognostication After The Jump!

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There's no football this weekend (the Pro Bowl doesn't count), so all sports eyes should be on college hoops this weekend. Let's see what the Big Ten has coming up. All times are CT.

SATURDAY

Purdue at Northwestern 3:00 ESPN2
The Boilers have already lost two conference games at home this season, and need to start piling up some wins to make sure they make the tournament. Northwestern has dropped a couple of games since their big win against Michigan St. The Cats are in danger of falling off of the bubble if their conference record doesn't improve.

Illinois at Minnesota 7:00 BTN
The Golden Gophers have only won one of three at The Barn in conference play. A win over Illinois would go a long way to keeping their tourney hopes alive. Illinois would like this win to stay within shouting distance of the conference leaders.

SUNDAY

Michigan at Ohio St. 12:00 CBS
Two of the conference leaders face off in Columbus. If Michigan can pull this off it would be a major upset; the Buckeyes have been dominant at Value City Arena.

Iowa at Indiana 5:00 BTN
Which Iowa team will show up: the one that beat Wisconsin on the road or the one that lost to Nebraska at home? Which Hoosier team will show up: the on that beat Kentucky and OSU, or the one that lost to Minnesota at Assembly Hall?

What do you guys think will be the best game this weekend? Any predictions?

Was that a fun weekend for you? If you're a fan of a Big Ten basketball team, it was probably either a really good weekend or a stupendously bad one, because only two of the six games played were very close. Despite a brave comeback attempt, Michigan could not recover from getting blitzed by a fierce Arkansas press in the first half of their non-conference roadie. Meanwhile, Purdue was in East Lansing suffering their worst setback of the season in a 83-58 beatdown at the hands of Michigan State.

If there's one game to watch this weekend, it's Thursday night's brawl in Madison between Wisconsin and Indiana. After some early struggles in conference play, Wisconsin finally seems to be gaining some steam. Indiana, meanwhile has pulled out of a losing streak just in time to take just a little pressure off of this crucial match-up. Let's hit it.

Indiana at Wisconsin

Thursday at 9:00 PM ET, ESPN2

Four straight wins have the Badgers back in the middle of the Big Ten title race, and point guard Jordan Taylor has just been named Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts versus Illinois and Northwestern (17 points, 5.5 assists and 6 rebounds on average). Perhaps thanks to the absence of his partner in crime Jon Leuer, Taylor is not playing as efficiently has he was last season. He's only shooting 40% from the field and 33% from three point range while averaging 4 less points per game than last season.

Wisconsin plays elite defense, but Taylor's shooting woes combined with the lack of a consistent second scorer means that Wisconsin still has issues on offense. Against Illinois, Jared Berggren pitched in 18 points and 5 rebounds on 50% shooting. That's the kind of effort the Badgers need more often from their role players if they want to make a run.

Indiana, on the other hand, sports a much more well-balanced offense that is not short on athletic play makers. Cody Zeller, Christian Watford and Victor Oladipo can all create their own offense while Matt Roth and Jordan Hulls are lethal from three point range when left open. The main reason for IU's modest 4-4 conference record then, is their porous defense that is second-to-last in the Big Ten at 1.10 points per possession allowed. Coach Tom Crean will probably be focusing on which man should guard Taylor (probably either Oladipo or Verdell Jones III) as well as keeping the ball out of Berggren's hands in the low post.

Preview the rest of the week after the jump...

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OK, it's New Year's Day weekend and you're probably planning on getting sloshed on Saturday night. However, it's important that you don't forget about all the Big Ten basketball going on. It's hard to keep track of all the games when you've got a social life to live, but we at BT Powerhouse will help out by ranking this weekend's games according to potential excitement so the fans out there can decide which games are more important than their errands/friends. Let's get it started.

Ohio State at Indiana

When: Saturday at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN2

Why: Sure, Indiana just suffered their first setback of the season with a road loss to Michigan State in a game they led by 9 points with just over 10 minutes left. That's no reason to think that Ohio State will roll them, though. The Hoosiers are returning home to Assembly Hall, the same arena in which they upset Kentucky earlier in December. Indiana is also a deeper team than Ohio State. Tom Crean will likely bring three or four guys off the bench in order to out hustle the Bucks. Another big key for IU will be finding a way to get more touches for freshman sensation Cody Zeller, because OSU is a bit lacking on the interior defensively.

On the other hand, Indiana could barely keep Michigan State's Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne in check and now they have to deal with Jared Sullinger. Also, William Buford is coming off one of his best games ever in a romp over Northwestern. Ohio State is the clear favorite in this game, but Indiana's home court advantage will make things interesting. So will Christian Watford, if he goes nuts again.

Illinois at Purdue

When: Saturday at 4:00 PM ET on ESPN2

Why: This game will serve as a nice appetizer to the Ohio State vs. Indiana hoops supper. The two games are even on the same channel, so you won't even have to find the clicker. Anyway, both of these teams just had close calls against seemingly inferior opponents in their Big Ten openers, so this game may be a race to see who can get their act together first. Purdue will probably win because they're coming home after a tough road win and they have the best player on either team in Robbie Hummel. The super senior leads the Makers in points, rebounds, blocks and awesomeness, and he's got an underrated supporting cast that includes Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith.

Illinois, though, does have a not-so-secret weapon on their hands. Meyers Leonard is a sophomore sensation despite not reaching diaper dandy status last season. He is a big dude who can score and I'm not sure Purdue bigs Jacob Lawson and Travis Carroll have what it takes to guard him. Purdue is better equipped to defend the explosive guard duo of D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul. One of them must have a big game for Illinois to grab the road win.

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