Week 17: B1G Game of the Week: Pitino Looks To Secure NCAA Bid

Last week's Game of the Week (Michigan State at Michigan) largely lived up to the hype and Michigan took firm control over 1st place with the win. Some of the other highlighted games from last week like Wisconsin at Iowa were also fantastic. As we start to reach the homestretch, we still have a boatload of great games left. Teams are fighting for postseason seeding or even bids at all. With that, let's look at the Game of the Week:

Game Of The Week:

Iowa at Minnesota: The Game of the Week will take place on Tuesday between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This game is highlighted for a few reasons. First, Minnesota is the Big Ten's most likely bubble team, which adds a lot intensity to this game on their side. This is one of their last opportunities to face a big opponent this season and especially at home. Many people have circled this as a big game for their NCAA Tournament chances. A win would be huge. For Iowa, they are hanging on by a thread to Big Ten title hopes and are now in the battle for a 1st round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Going on the road will be a major challenge, but the Hawkeyes need a win after losing to Wisconsin last week. This is Iowa's 3rd appearance in BTP's Game of the Week and this is Minnesota's 1st appearance in the Game of the Week. This is also the first week in well over a month that one of the Michigan schools did not earn a slot here, which is certainly a welcome occurrence for those outside of the mitten state.

Honorable Mention:

Ohio State at Indiana: Though this game does not likely feature a Big Ten title contender and Indiana's NCAA Tournament hopes are virtually nonexistent, there are a lot of interesting storylines to this one. The Buckeyes are vying for a 1st round Big Ten Tournament bye and this is also the first matchup between these two teams since Tom Crean's infamous net cutting ceremony following a loss to the Buckeyes last year. The Hoosiers will certainly want to make up for OSU spoiling their homecourt celebration last season.

Iowa at Indiana: This was a narrow selection to make this list as there are many entertaining games on the slate, but sending a Big Ten title contender on the road to a place like Assembly Hall will certainly add excitement. Along with this, the game was rescheduled due to Assembly's Hall's falling beam. This won't have any impact on the game, but it does make it a tad more interesting.