My Two Cents: Winning on the Road in Big Ten Seems Impossible

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sure, it's always hard to win on the road in the Big Ten, but this little two-week December window of conference games has been crazy.

So far, the league road teams are an astonishing 0-13. No one—not even teams ranked in the top-5 nationally like No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Maryland and No. 5 Michigan—can find a way to win in their road jerseys.

Even Indiana, which was unbeaten when it traveled to Wisconsin, got trounced by 20 in Madison.

Michigan State is the last hope for the road warriors on Wednesday night when the Spartans take on Northwestern. There is an 83.2% chance that Michigan State wins, according to ESPN's Power Ranking Index, but don't put it past the Wildcats to pull off something crazy.

Because it can happen—and we have proof.

For instance:

Minnesota has struggled out of the gate—just 4-4 in the nonconference—and looked awful on the road in the conference opener at Iowa, losing by 20. But Marcus Carr, who was 1-for-10 shooting against Iowa, scores 35 at home and the Gophers crush unbeaten and No. 3-ranked Ohio State 84-71. Minnesota fans storm the court.
Penn State, which lost its conference opener to Ohio State by 32 points, comes home and beats No. 4-ranked Maryland 76-69. Penn State fans storm the court.
Illinois, the only conference school that had to play two ranked teams the first week, thrashes No. 5 Michigan at home, 71-62. Illini fans storm the court.
Lowly Nebraska, predicted to go 0-20 in the league in the kenpom.com rankings and a 13-point underdog at home against Purdue, wins easily, 70-56. Cornhusker fans storm the court.

Court-storming in December, night after night, no less, and four times in week.

What's going on around here?

"These are maybe the best fans in the country, outside of Purdue's," Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said after losing the Nebraska in a raucous Pinnacle Bank Arena. "You like the way I worked that in there?''

There's a lot that goes into it, really. The noise factor, for one, is a big issue. So are different sight lines for shooters. Indiana, for instance, opened its season with eight straight home games in Assembly Hall before playing at Wisconsin. The Hoosiers shot poorly in Madison and lost by 20 to fall from the ranks of the unbeatens.

That's happening everywhere.

Here are all the results so far in the first 13 Big Ten games, with the games bolded that were won by underdogs or lower-ranked teams:

Dec. 6: No. 4 Michigan 103, Iowa 91
Dec. 7: Wisconsin 84, Indiana 64
Dec. 7: No. 4 Maryland 59, Illinois 58
Dec. 7: No. 3 Ohio State 106, Penn State 74
Dec. 8: No. 11 Michigan State 77, Rutgers 65
Dec. 8: Purdue 58, Northwestern 44
Dec. 9: Iowa 72, Minnesota 52
Dec. 10: Penn State 76, No. 4 Maryland 69
Dec. 11: Illinois 71, No. 5 Michigan 62
Dec. 11: Rutgers 72, Wisconsin 65
Dec. 13: Indiana 96, Nebraska 90, OT
Dec. 15: Nebraska 70, Purdue 56
Dec. 15: Minnesota 84, No, 3 Ohio State 71

Some places are just hard to win at, even when the home team isn't the better squad. When Minnesota beat No. 3 Ohio State, the Big Ten Network showed a graphic that the last time they beat a top-three team was in 2013 when they beat No. 1-ranked Indiana. Hoosiers fans remember that one well.

So does former Illinois great Stephen Bardo, who also has bad memories of The Barn. As soon as the game ended and they went back to the studio, Bardo had to relive the time his Illini team went to Minnesota as a top-three team back in the late-1980s and got waxed.

It happens, yes.

But every time? Come on.

It's been 13 years since a league has opened the season with a streak this long. It may not last past Wednesday, but it's unique all the same. And it's just further proof that this is going to be another knock-down, drag-out Big Ten season.

In this league, there are places that are just notoriously hard to win at, even when teams are down a bit. At Minnesota, the ancient Barn, you have to deal with the raised floor, too. Purdue is tough because of the noise, and Indiana is spooky because of the banners and the history. And on and on.

So when a home team wins, don't call it an upset anymore.

Because, in reality, it never is.