Week 10: BTPowerhouse Big Ten Game of the Week: Michigan State Spartans at Maryland Terrapins

The Big Ten is coming off one of its wildest weeks in recent memory, highlighted by a major upset of Rutgers over Wisconsin.  Now, with the conference race as open as ever, there are some great games on the slate for fans all over the conference.  In fact, this is the real start of the rivalry games in the conference, including some great games on Tuesday night.  Rivalry games add an extra element and they should be a lot of fun.  Let's take a look at the games that made the cut this week.

Game Of The Week:

Michigan State at Maryland: This will be the third week in a row that the Spartans make the Big Ten's Game of the Week and again, it's for good reason.  Although the first matchup between Maryland and MSU was pretty ugly in the 1st Half, it ended up being a fierce battle in East Lansing that ended 68-66 in double overtime with Maryland on top.  Now, with a bit of time from the first matchup, both teams should be more than ready to go at it yet again.  As of Tuesday morning, both Maryland and MSU sat at 3-1 overall in Big Ten play and at 1st place in the standings.  Maryland will have to face Rutgers before getting MSU at home, but it's a good bet that these two teams will come in with winning streaks heading into this game.  The big matchups many will be watching will be Jake Layman against Branden Dawson and Melo Trimble against Travis Trice.  There is a lot of talent and depth on both squads and a win in this game would be huge for both teams in making a run at a Big Ten title.

Honorable Mention:

Michigan at Ohio State: Oh boy, this should be a good one.  The last few matchups between Michigan and Ohio State have been fantastic and although these two teams appear a bit down from where they have been in recent years, this should still be a tough battle with a ton of intensity on both sides.  Michigan will enter the game on a 3 game winning streak in the rivalry and Ohio State will look to win its first game since they beat Michigan in January of 2013, when Michigan was the last undefeated team in the nation.  However, Michigan has won just 1 of their last 10 trips to Columbus.  Likely, the key matchups will be in the backcourt with Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton against D'Angelo Russell and Shannon Scott.

Ohio State at Iowa: One matchup that appears to be a really interesting one will be Ohio State's trip to Iowa over the weekend.  Although this is a rematch, the Buckeyes will be looking for revenge for Iowa's earlier win against Ohio State on the road.  This was a game that appeared to be in Ohio State's pocket until the wheels fell off in the 2nd Half and Iowa grabbed a win.  The Buckeyes will have to hope to slow down Jarrod Uthoff and Aaron White in this one, who both had 18 points a piece in Round 1.  Still, with both these teams battle for solid wins to add to their resumes and for the upper echelon of the Big Ten, this will be an important game.

Season Stats

Game of the Week Appearances By Team:

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

Game of the Week Honorable Mention Appearances By Team:

• Ohio State - 7
• Iowa - 4
• Indiana - 3
• Maryland - 3
• Michigan - 2
• Illinois - 1
• Michigan State - 1
• Minnesota - 1
• Nebraska - 1
• Purdue - 1
• Rutgers - 1
• Wisconsin - 1

Total Appearances By Team:

• Ohio State - 8
• Iowa - 5
• Maryland - 5
• Michigan State - 5
• Indiana - 4
• Wisconsin - 3
• Illinois - 2
• Michigan - 2
• Minnesota - 2
• Nebraska - 1
• Purdue - 1
• Rutgers - 1