Conference Basketball begins tonight

Wisconsin (10-2) at Michigan (4-8) 7:00 BTN The Badgers are coming off a big 67-66 win at Texas on Saturday to close out non-conference play. With only two losses (at Duke, vs Marquette), Wisconsin has to be considered one of the favorites to win the Big Ten with Michigan State and Indiana. Michigan has struggled under first year coach John Beilein and hasn't played since their loss to UCLA on December 22nd. BTC Prediction: Wisconsin 72 Michigan 54 Penn State (8-4) at Northwestern (5-4) 9:00 ESPN2 Tonight marks only Penn State's second true road game of the season. The Nittany Lions lost at St. Joseph's back on December 1st. Northwestern should look at this game as one of very few real opportunities for them to capture a conference win. Expect the Wildcats to be competitive, but why in the world is this game on ESPN2? BTC Prediction: Penn State 68 Northwestern 63 Indiana (11-1) at Iowa (7-6) 9:00 BTN The Hoosier's only non-conference loss came over the Thanksgiving weekend to a very solid Xavier team. If Indiana can stay healthy, they have as good a team as any in the Big Ten. Iowa has struggled tremendously thus far, especially on the offensive end, and things will only get worse with starting freshman forward Jarryd Cole's ACL injury that will force him to miss the remainder of the season. BTC Prediction: Indiana 72 Iowa 52 Thursday, January 3rd: Ohio State (9-3) at Illinois (8-5) 8:00 ESPN Ohio State has rattled off five straight wins since their 19-point loss at Butler, including a 62-49 win over defending champ Florida. The Illini have struggled recently with stunning home losses to both Miami (Ohio) and Tennessee State on Sunday. Illinois needs to find someone other than Shaun Pruitt that can provide consistent scoring if they want to finish in the upper half of the conference. BTC Prediction: Ohio State 57 Illinois 56