Big Ten

The final day of 2010 gives college basketball fans the treat of watching one of the sport's most intense rivalries. Kentucky makes the trek up to the KFC Yum! Center to take on a Louisville squad that while ranked has been dealing with a number of injuries. The latest loss was that of forward Rakeem Buckles, who had surgery on a broken finger and will be out a few weeks while the digit heals.

If there was one area of concern for Wisconsin going into their game against Minnesota on Tuesday night it would have been rebounding given the Golden Gophers' size up front. And sure enough Minnesota won the battle convincingly, out-rebounding the Badgers 42-24 and scoring 16 second-chance points (34-12 edge in points in the paint) on the night. But the Gophers also shot just 39% from the field, and with Wisconsin turning the ball over just two times (and going 17-18 from the foul line) it proved to be too much for the visitors at the Kohl Center.

Despite making the quick climb through the rankings, from not being ranked in anyone's Top 25 to finding themselves in the Top 5, there were still questions about Jim Calhoun's Connecticut squad. Biggest question: how would they handle playing in a hostile environment like the Petersen Events Center? That question obviously didn't stand for the experienced Kemba Walker but the team as a whole received quite the lesson from Big East preseason favorite Pittsburgh.

The Kohl Center should be rocking for the Big Ten opener between Wisconsin (10-2) and border rival Minnesota (11-1), a game that could hold even more importance come March for resume reasons. Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers have an in-season tournament title (Puerto Rico Tipoff) to their credit already, a run that includes likely valuable wins over North Carolina and West Virginia.

While the overall schedule for Monday is a light one Big East play opens up with a heavyweight battle in Pittsburgh. Undefeated Connecticut (10-0) plays their first true road game of the season, leaving the friendly confines of home to take on sixth-ranked Pittsburgh (12-1) in what should be a physical battle. Junior point guard Kemba Walker (26.5 ppg, 4.0 apg) has been one of the best players in America to this point in the season and no one's found the right answer in terms of how to slow him down.

A familiar argument early in the season is which conference is tops. The preseason hype tended to go in the direction of the Big Ten, but with strong starts by the Big East and Big 12 there has been room for discussion. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum: which BCS conference member is the worst team to this point in the year? Unlike the best conference question, that answer has been rather straightforward as the Auburn Tigers have put forth quite the display of ineptitude through the first ten games of the Tony Barbee era.

Wednesday is the final day of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and with a 4-2 lead following Tuesday's action all the Big Ten needs in order to win the competition for a second consecutive season is two victories. Will one of those two wins come at Cameron Indoor Stadium? That's the question that the Michigan State Spartans hope to answer in the affirmative in the marquee game of the event. Tom Izzo's team won two of three at the Maui Invitational (losing to eventual champion Connecticut), returning home to beat Tennessee Tech with an effort that left the coach less than pleased.

Overall Rank: #2

Overall Rank: #3

Overall Rank: #11