Is the B1G Super Competitive? Or Just Mediocre?

Just a year ago, the B1G sent as many teams to the NCAA tournament (seven) as any conference in the country for the second year in a row, but as we near Feburary, at best, the B1G would hope that five teams from the conference would receive a bid. This begs the question, is the entire conference (minus Rutgers of course) good enough to be on the bubble? Or, are the majority of the schools just mediocre?

During non-conference play , the B1G only won five games against Top 25 opponents, and two of those (Syracuse 13-9, Texas 8-12) find themselves far from the Top 25 at this point in the season. 

Also of note, the only team that won games against the Top 25 teams that are still ranked (Kansas and North Carolina), Indiana, has also sustained losses to IPFW, Nebraska, and a 30 point drubbing on the road against Michigan.

As it stands, only four B1G teams have less than six losses, and those same four teams are the only teams to have an above .500 record in conference play. Of the remaining 10 teams, nine of them have records of 4-4 or 3-5, including the Hoosiers.

The only real suggestion that the conference has just gotten better top to bottom, is the apparent emergence of Northwestern, who looks poised to make their first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament come March. The Wildcats are 17-4, and 6-2 in B1G play, and only play the top three teams in the conference in a combined four games this season with only two on the road.

Of course, Northwestern's apparent success could be a product of a mediocre B1G this season, but for Northwestern's sake (and the rest of the B1G), we'll just have to wait and see.

As for the rest of the conference, right now the only "locks" for the tournament are Maryland (18-2, 6-1), Wisconsin (17-3, 6-1), Purdue (17-4, 6-2), and the aforementioned Wildcats. 

After the top four, Michigan (14-7, 4-4) and Indiana (14-7, 4-4) seem most likely to make a push for March, but they have just one win away from home between the two of them. That wouldn't be so bad in a regularly strong B1G, but both teams have looked pitiful on the road at times. Michigan shot a dismal 19.2% from the field earlier this year at South Carolina, lost in overtime at 11-10 Iowa,and lost by nearly 20 on the road against an Illinois team that has looked far from a powerhouse. For the sake of the Hoosier fans, we'll just say read above for their road resume, but they do have the only road win between the two schools (albeit it was at Penn State...).

It is still possible that in the last month or so of conference play a few teams go on runs and the B1G is again well represented in March, but as it stands, the conference could see its least number of teams in the Big Dance since 2010 when only five teams represented the conference in March.