Monday, March 06, 2000
Big Ten tournament preview
Michigan State on a roll, has edge
TEAM TO BEAT: Michigan State. The defending tourney champion tied Ohio State for the regular-season title, and with the teams splitting their two meetings, Ohio State drew the tournament's top seed. But after what the Spartans (23-7) have done the last two games — blowing out Minnesota by 36 and Michigan by 51 after losing at the buzzer at Indiana — they've re-established themselves as the league's most feared team.
DARK HORSE: Illinois. The talented but young fourth-seeded Illini (19-8) lost their big games at Michigan State and Ohio State. But they won eight of nine to close the regular season, and their impressive collection of individual talent is starting to play together. And remember what they did last year, when as the No.11 seed they made a shocking run to the title game.
TOUGHEST DRAW: Indiana. The Hoosiers (20-7) were near the top of the league 21/2 weeks ago. Then they fell to Ohio State and Illinois (and Sunday to Wisconsin) and dropped to the No.5 seed, drawing a second-round date with the Illini, who beat them by 24 just three games ago. If they win that, they probably will face Ohio State.
WEAKEST DRAW: Ohio State. The top-seeded Buckeyes (22-5) will play the winner of the Penn State-Iowa game, then either Illinois or Indiana, which they beat in the season's final two weeks.
MOST TO PROVE: Purdue. The Boilermakers (21-8) got little publicity until the season's final week, when they moved into a tie for first — then promptly were blown out in their season finale at Indiana. They must prove that loss was just a bump in a 21-8 season. Runners-up: Michigan and Wisconsin.
MOST LIKELY MVP: Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State. His teammates Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell will score more points, but Cleaves, a 6-foot-2 senior point guard, has been Michigan State's glue for three years and was the tournament MVP last year. You need look no further than his Big Ten-record 20 assists in Saturday's 114-63 beating of Michigan to see how much he does.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: A.J. Guyton, Indiana. No one means more to his team's ability to score than Guyton, who led the league in scoring at 20.4 points a game.
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