Ad Disclosure
BTN’s Jon Crispin predicts B1G champion
Published:
With two weeks remaining in the B1G regular season, there’s a tight three-team race atop the leaderboard, with Michigan State currently owning a half-game lead over Purdue and a full game lead over Michigan.
Over the next 13 days, things will be plenty interesting.
Now that we’re in the home stretch of the 2018-19 basketball season, Big Ten Network analyst Jon Crispin predicted who he thought would emerge from the conference as the regular season champion. And he’s not going with the Spartans or Wolverines.
Crispin believes the Boilermakers will be holding the B1G title at the end of the season, even though he thinks Michigan State might be the best team in the conference.
“I think, ultimately, it starts with Purdue’s schedule,” Crispin said. “Purdue has the best remaining schedule. They’re not playing the best and that’s been an issue. But they have the best remaining schedule. No top 25 opponents, a couple good games at home, an opportunity to close things out on the road at Northwestern.
“This is a team that continues to just do their work. I feel as if they’re made for the Big Ten. The question is whether they can do as much outside of the conference.”
Purdue has four games remaining and none of its opponents have a winning B1G record: Illinois (6-10), Ohio State (7-9), Minnesota (7-10) and Northwestern (3-13). Meanwhile, Michigan State still has to play No. 9 Michigan in a rematch, as well as travel to Indiana and host Nebraska.
Michigan ends its season with two straight road games, at No. 17 Maryland and No. 6 Michigan State. The Wolverines will take on Nebraska, too.
While Michigan State and Michigan may be the better teams, Purdue is in great position to steal the B1G title this season. The final two weeks of the season should be incredibly entertaining.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB