The Big Ten men’s basketball season is bearing down on the end of the season, and the finish might just be so close this year that they’re actually going to hire the horse race guy who says “AND HERE THEY COME DOWN THE STRETCH” just to give it the proper perspective.

Iowa is currently sitting at the top of the Big Ten throne by the slightest of margins. The Hawkeyes (20-7, 9-4 Big Ten) have a half-game lead over four teams that are chasing relentlessly. Illinois, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State are all in the Hawkeye rearview mirror. Each team has a great chance to win the Big Ten outright, or there could even be three or four-way tie for first.

Lets start with Iowa and why they could win. First of all, right now it’s their race to lose. They have been in first place for a month, and while Iowa has given other schools a chance to tie or take the Big Ten lead, the rest of the Big Ten just doesn’t seem to want to be the crown jewel. IowaIllinois and two at home against Penn State and Wisconsin. Iowa will most likely go 2-1 to finish at 11-5 in the Big Ten. has three games left, one at

However, Iowa won’t win the Big Ten title outright because they left the door wide open after losing at Minnesota this past Saturday, giving the rest of the Big Ten a huge second wind and chance. They will lose probably at IllinoisPenn State is playing everyone tougher then they did at the beginning of the season, and they still have to play Wisconsin, whose style of play sucks for everyone except Wisconsin. (most teams do),

Illinois certainly has a chance to win. After Illinois got spanked in Columbus two weeks ago they could have just stumbled into the Big Ten and NCAA tourney, but instead they have had two easy victories last week, pushing their record to 22-4, 8-4 in the Big Ten. The Illini have four games left and will most likely go 3-1 over that period. They will win at home against Michigan and Iowa, then do something Iowa couldn’t do and win at Minnesota before they lose at Michigan State.

But here’s why Illinois will lose. They have four games left, which means four games to mess up in the Big Ten. Two games are home and two are on the road. They will lose the last game of the year at Michigan State and just might end the year on a two game losing streak, playing a tough Minnesota team on the road before the Spartans. I still think Illinois goes 3-1 during that stretch, but they will finish at 11-5 in the Big Ten.

So the team next in line to take the title is my beloved Buckeyes. Ohio State is playing good basketball for the first time since 1999, when they went to the Final Four. Up until the last two games, the Bucks were shooting lights out and playing tough defense. They have four games left as well. Like Iowa and Illinois, they will probably lose once more this season. They will likely fall Wednesday at Michigan State, but then finish the season up with three straight victories; home wins against Michigan and Purdue and a road win against Northwestern will assure the Buckeyes their best finish since 2001.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of reasons for the Buckeyes to lose it. First of all, they blew a lead at Wisconsin with five minutes to go. Had they won, they could have set the team on cruise, coasted into the AP top 10 and just showed up until the Big Ten tourney. Instead, they blew it at Madison, had a difficult time winning at home against the “mighty” Northwestern Wildcats, and have to go to Michigan State Wednesday. It feels like the Bucks have not won at MSU since I was born. While I do believe they will win the last three, they will still lose one to end up a trend-setting 11-5 in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin (18-7, 8-4 Big Ten) of course has their shot to win. While they may have the toughest road to go schedule-wise, this football school’s basketball team has been tremendous over the past several years. How they recruit kids to go play basketball in Madison is beyond me, but their style of ball grinds on you and wears you down. The Jordan-led Bulls would walk out of Madison only scoring 63 points. The Badgers also overcame a three-game losing streak in the Big Ten and still are only a half game out.

Unfortunately for Badger Land, their schedule is brutal. They have two “gimme” games at home against Minnesota and Northwestern, but then they end the season with two road games. They’ll be trembling from the screaming of MSU’s Izzone, then travel to Iowa, the first place team in the Big Ten. Most likely, the Badgers will lose their last two games to go 2-2 over their last four and finish up at 10-6 in the Big Ten.

That brings us to why Michigan State will win. The Spartans, (19-7, 7-5, Big Ten) have four games left. Three out of the four are against quality teams, at the top of the Big Ten. They will win all three of those games against OSU, Wisconsin, and Illinois. All those games are at home. Then they will beat what has become a terrible Indiana team, worse then Mike Davis has already verbally abused them. They will end the year on a four-game winning streak.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they already have five losses. If you have been doing the math along with me, the winner of the conference will probably be 11-5. At best, MSU will tie. While they have all of their tough, important games at home, they could still slip up. OSU, Wisconsin, and Illinois are very capable of beating the Spartans. I don’t think they will and I think the Spartans finish with three other teams at 11-5.

So it appears no one will win the Big Ten, but there will be a four-way tie. Who knows, maybe it will become a horse race, if it does; the end of the Big Ten season will surely be a photo finish.

Andrew Forsbach is a Journalism major at The Ohio State University and a contributing writer to Atomic Sports Media. He can be reached on andrew.forsbach@atomicsportsmedia.com.