With the obvious caveat that it's only Thanksgiving weekend, we believe it's worth noting that the teams predicted to be at the top of the Big Ten have underperformed.
There were five Big Ten teams in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 men's poll: No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 11 Indiana, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 15 Purdue and No. 25 Maryland. The Terrapins are unbeaten, but as for the others?
Wisconsin lost at Creighton and to North Carolina in Maui — both good teams, but the Badgers were not really close to winning either game. Purdue also lost to its toughest foe so far, falling at home to national champion Villanova. Indiana looked great against Kansas … and then shockingly lost at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne.
And then there's Michigan State. Neutral-court losses to Arizona, Duke and now Baylor don't even tell the whole story. The Spartans also nearly lost at home to Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, escaping in part because of a timing error.
No one wants to play their best basketball in November, of course. But the Big Ten's best clearly have room for improvement.
KEN CHIA
