Feb. 5, 2007

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Tied for the Conference Lead: Wisconsin and Ohio State are tied for the Big Ten lead with matching 8-1 records. This is the first time under head coach Bo Ryan that the Badgers have been in first place in the conference standings after nine games. It is also UW's first 8-1 start to conference play since 1946-47, when the Badgers opened the Big Ten with a 9-1 record. The Buckeyes are off to their best start* in conference action since beginning the 1990-91 campaign with a 15-1 mark. (*OSU's 8-1 conference start during the 2001-02 season was vacated by the NCAA).

Tucker Nearing 2,000-Point Plateau: Wisconsin's Alando Tucker needs just 25 points to become the second Badger and 23rd player in Big Ten history to score at least 2,000 points in his career. Currently the senior forward has tallied 1,975 points and is nearing UW's all-time scoring record held by Michael Finley, whose 2,147 points ranks 12th in conference annals. The last 2,000-point producer in the Big Ten was Indiana's A.J. Guyton, who tallied 2,100 points from 1997-00.

Big Ten's Grand Company: Tucker is joined by eight other Big Ten standouts that have reached the 1,000-point milestone in their career, including Iowa's Adam Haluska (1,696), Michigan's Lester Abram (1,175), Dion Harris (1,420) and Courtney Sims (1,223), Ohio State's Ron Lewis (1,503), Purdue's David Teague (1,189), Penn State's Geary Claxton (1,119) and Wisconsin's Kammron Taylor (1,059). The Boilermakers' Carl Landry (975) is vying to become the next member of the conference's 1,000-point club.

Three Big Ten Standouts Named to Wooden Award Midseason List: Three Big Ten standouts - Michigan State's Drew Neitzel, Ohio State's Greg Oden and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker -  were among the 30 players selected as midseason candidates for the 2006-07 John Wooden Award Player of the Year and All-America Team. The 10-player Wooden Award All-America Team will be announced on Tuesday, March 27, 2007, while the recipient of the Wooden Award Trophy as the nation's top collegiate men's basketball player will be named on Saturday, April 7, 2007. Last year, Illinois' Dee Brown was named to the 2006 Wooden All-America team, while Purdue's Glenn Robinson was the last conference standout to win the Wooden Award in 1994.

NCAA RPI Rankings: The Big Ten has four teams in the top 30 of the RPI rankings which were released by the NCAA last Monday. Wisconsin leads the Big Ten contingent with a No. 3 ranking, while Ohio State (8th), Indiana (20th) and Michigan State (28th) round out the top 30.

Matta's 20-Win Streak: While leading the Buckeyes to a 20-3 record this year, Ohio State's Thad Matta becomes the fifth coach in Big Ten history to record three-consecutive 20-plus victory campaigns in his first three seasons in the conference. The third-year coach led OSU to 20 wins in his first year in Columbus and 26 triumphs a season ago. He joins Illinois' Bruce Weber (2003-present), former Illini mentor Bill Self (2000-03), former Indiana coach Mike Davis (2000-06) and former Iowa mentor Tom Davis (1986-99), who all began their Big Ten careers with three consecutive 20-plus win seasons. In addition, Matta is also one of only two coaches nationally to record 20 or more wins in the first six seasons of his coaching career. Mark Few of Gonzaga is the other head coach with 20-plus victories in all seven years with the Bulldogs.

Big Ten's Homecourt Records: Ohio State has the sixth-longest home winning streak in the country with 22 consecutive triumphs at Value City Arena while Wisconsin follows in ninth place with a 19-game home winning streak at the Kohl Center. Gonzaga leads the nation with a 49-game homecourt winning streak. The Buckeyes' last home loss was on Jan. 15, 2006, in double-overtime, 62-59, against the Spartans. Ohio State's current 22-game winning streak now stands alone as the third-longest in program history. Wisconsin last loss at home occurred on Jan. 31, 2006, when the Badgers fell to No. 6/6 Illinois, 66-51. OSU and UW still trail the Big Ten record of 53 straight home triumphs set by Michigan State from 1998 to 2002 -- a winning streak that was ended by the Badgers.

The Importance of Defending the Homecourt: Winning home games is crucial to a conference title run. In fact, no Big Ten team in the past 15 seasons has lost more than one conference home game and gone on to claim a share of the title. The last conference squad to accomplish that feat was Indiana, as the Hoosiers went 7-2 at home in 1991 but earned a tie with Ohio State. From 1990-2006, teams that won or shared the Big Ten title have compiled a cumulative home record of 177-15 (.922) in conference games only. This season, the top three teams in the Big Ten standings are currently undefeated at home. Wisconsin and Ohio State, which are tied for first place in the conference standings, are 5-0 and 4-0, respectively at home this season. Indiana is also undefeated with a 5-0 record in Big Ten home games, while four programs have dropped only one home contest in Iowa (4-1), Michigan (3-1), Michigan State (3-1) and Purdue (3-1).

Haluska's Scoring Explosion: On Saturday, Iowa's Adam Haluska led the Hawkeyes to an 81-75 victory over Indiana, while tallying 33 points. It marked the third 30-plus point performance for the senior guard this season. Haluska recorded 31 points against Coppin State on Dec. 2 and then followed with a conference season-best 36-point performance in a 101-59 win over Georgia State on Dec. 30. This year, a total of six different players (Iowa's Adam Haluska, Michigan State's Drew Neitzel, Ohio State's Ron Lewis, Penn State's Geary Claxton, Purdue's Carl Landry and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker) have tallied 30 or more points in a game.

Attendance Nears Two-Million Mark: The Big Ten will break the two million mark in total attendance this week, as 1,938,885 fans have flocked to conference arenas for 155 games. Last season, the Big Ten led the country in total attendance for the 30th-straight season and broke the two-million mark for the 14th consecutive year as the conference welcomed 2,255,332 fans through the turnstiles in 176 games.
Big Ten Turnaround: With a 69-59 victory at Penn State on Saturday, Purdue improved to 15-8 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten this season. With another victory this week, the Boilermakers will tie their win total from the last two years. The Boilermakers combined for 16 wins during the 2004-05 (7-21 record) and 2005-06 (9-19 record) seasons. Purdue is also vying for the most wins in Big Ten play since tallying a 7-9 mark during the 2003-04 season.

Big Ten Coaching Milestones: Earlier this year, Iowa head coach Steve Alford captured his 300th career victory and is now closing in on another coaching milestone. In his eighth season at Iowa, Alford only needs two victories to claim his 150th career win in Iowa City. Penn State's Ed DeChellis is also in reach of hitting the 150th career victory plateau. Currently, DeChellis boasts a career mark of 146-161 in his 11th season.

Big Ten Hosts 2007 NCAA First/Second Round: The Big Ten will host the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds on Friday and Sunday, March 16 and 18, at the United Center in Chicago. It marks the third time in league history that the conference has played host to the NCAA Tournament as the Big Ten welcomed eight teams to the United Center in both 1998 and 2002. Ohio State will also host first and second rounds (March 16 and 18)  at the Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.

Black History Month: The Big Ten announced the launch of its Black History Month website to commemorate the achievements of African-Americans on Big Ten campuses. During the month of February, the website, which can be accessed at www.bigten.org, will feature a story on a male and female student-athlete from each institution throughout the 28-day celebration. Former men's basketball standouts that will be featured are Illinois' Kendall Gill, Michigan State's Magic Johnson and Purdue's Eugene Parker.