Week 7: BTPowerhouse Big Ten Game of the Week: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Georgetown Hoyas

With conference play approaching, the Big Ten is beginning to close out the non-conference season. As such, the conference only has a few key games remaining against quality competition and are looking to head into conference play with a lot of momentum.  Overall, the non-conference season has been inconsistent for the Big Ten, but there have been some great games and there looks to be more in the coming week.  Let's take a look at which games made the cut and at the Game of the Week:

Game Of The Week:

Indiana vs. Georgetown: This was a pretty easy pick for Week 7.  Not only do you have two very good programs facing off in New York City, but you also have two teams that have looked pretty good this year as well.  Indiana is sitting at 10-2 on the season and heads into the game with a 3 game winning streak.  In fact, if you exclude Indiana's neutral court loss to a very good Louisville team, the Hoosiers have 6 in a row.  Georgetown may seem to be sitting at an underwhelming 6-3, but the Hoyas have yet to lose a bad game.  Their 3 losses came against Butler, Kansas, and Wisconsin, which are all good teams.  Add in a win over Florida and Georgetown has a pretty good non-conference resume so far.  Perhaps the most interesting thing in this one will be whether a pretty good Hoyas defense can slow down Indiana's elite offense.  Georgetown is a more balanced team than Indiana on paper, but they don't have the raw offensive firepower of Indiana.  Along with this, it will be interesting to see whether Indiana's frontcourt of Hanner Mosquerea-Perea and Troy Williams can match up with a solid Hoya frontcourt of Mikael Hopkins and Joshua Smith, who have been pretty solid over the last few games including 20 points from Smith against Kansas and a 11 offensive rating in his last game against Charlotte.  Williams has been huge for Indiana recently, but will have his work cut out for him.  A win here would be huge for Indiana's hopes of making the NCAA Tournament in March.

Honorable Mention:

Wright State at Ohio State: On paper, this is not a matchup that is going to turn a lot of heads, but this game made the cut for a few reasons.  First, to be frank, it's better than the remaining games.  There are some other Big Ten games that are intriguing like Oakland at Maryland, but Wright State looks like the most intriguing game right now.  The second reason this game made the cut is because Ohio State needs this win.  The Buckeyes are very likely going to enter conference play without a marquee victory after losing to Louisville and North Carolina.  With that being the case, it means Ohio State must win these type of games.  By season's end, this will probably be a decent victory.  Not a huge win, but a resume booster nonetheless.  The Buckeyes also open Big Ten play with a talented Iowa team at home, so this will be an important tuneup for what many view as the conference's second best team.

Buffalo at Wisconsin: The Badgers might have had one of the most intelligently scheduled weeks of the non-conference season by any team.  That might sound odd, but Wisconsin got California on the road on Monday night and will get Buffalo at home on Sunday.  Wisconsin already beat California and has a very good shot at beating Buffalo.  This was a great scheduling move because both of these teams are good, but not quite good enough to likely hang with Wisconsin.  If the Badgers play anywhere near their potential, this should be a solid win that actually will be a resume boost.  Watch to see if Nigel Hayes can continue trending up and if Wisconsin can bring a lot of momentum into conference play.

Season Stats

Game of the Week Appearances By Team:

• Wisconsin - 2
• Illinois - 1
• Indiana - 1
• Michigan State - 1
• Minnesota - 1
• Ohio State - 1

Game of the Week Honorable Mention Appearances By Team:

• Ohio State - 3
• Indiana - 2
• Iowa - 2
• Illinois - 1
• Maryland - 1
• Michigan - 1
• Michigan State - 1
• Nebraska - 1
• Rutgers - 1
• Wisconsin - 1

Total Appearances By Team:

• Ohio State - 4
• Indiana - 3
• Wisconsin - 3
• Illinois - 2
• Iowa - 2
• Michigan State - 2
• Maryland - 1
• Michigan - 1
• Minnesota - 1
• Nebraska - 1
• Rutgers - 1