Big Ten is not what it first seemed to be

Everyone who predicted the Big Ten Conference would be at its strongest this season was right. They just had some of the teams wrong.

Four of the six Big Ten teams ranked in last week’s Associated Press top-25 poll suffered staggering losses to unranked teams. Three of them let one loss add up to two.

Michigan, No. 15 last week, was stunned in consecutive losses to Marquette and Alabama in the Old Spice Classic. Minnesota, No. 22 last week, dropped games to Portland and Texas A&M in the 76 Classic at Anaheim. Illinois, No. 20 last week, was tripped near the Strip, falling to unheralded Utah and Bradley in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Michigan State, considered the conference’s best team, was kicked out of the No. 2 spot by Florida because of a 77-74 loss.

The Big Ten has plenty to prove when it tries to remake itself in the historically lopsided Big Ten/ACC Challenge this week.

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said the Big Ten losses can be chalked up to scheduling.

“When you leave home and go to far places or you play a tougher schedule, you’re going to lose some games,” Izzo said. “We could sit there and play a cupcake sked and be a No. 2 team. Who knows? We might not be a top-20 team next week.”

The conference does have some teams to believe in.

Purdue and Ohio State have played their parts so far. Each drew a tough Atlantic Coast Conference opponent in the Challenge, with the Boilermakers facing Wake Forest today and Ohio State going up against Florida State on Wednesday.

The conference also has some teams that look promising despite being second thoughts in the preseason.

Wisconsin is off to a solid start, losing only to Gonzaga and taking out quality opponents such as Maryland and Arizona.

Northwestern was written off when the Wildcats lost Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan to injuries, but at 5-1 and winners of the Chicago Invitational, which included a win over Notre Dame, who can argue that the Wildcats still might make an NCAA tournament run?

Big start

The Big West Conference is dominating Southern California college basketball, with Long Beach State’s victory over UCLA on Sunday only the latest success story.

Big West teams are 8-1 against teams from the region, the loss coming when USC defeated UC Riverside.

The victories: Fullerton over UCLA, Long Beach State over Pepperdine and UCLA, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara over Loyola Marymount, and Pacific over Pepperdine, San Diego and San Diego State.

Against conferences in the West, the Big West is 7-2 against the West Coast, 2-1 versus both the Western Athletic and Big Sky, and 2-3 against the Pacific 10.

Swish of the week

Portland.

How apropos that the Pilots would set foot on the national map in the shadows of Disneyland. Portland wrote quite a sweet story line by beating UCLA and Minnesota in the 76 Classic and advancing to the title game, where it lost to highly regarded West Virginia.

Brick of the week

Michigan State.

The Spartans were a favorite pick for the Final Four, but Izzo warned that chemistry and leadership might be an issue. It looked like it in their loss to Florida.

But don’t panic yet, Michigan State fans. The Spartans were 4-2 only a week into December last season and wound up in the national title game.

Game to watch

Michigan State-North Carolina, 6 PST, tonight.

These nonconference opponents meet for the third time in a year and the Spartans are trying to avoid embarrassment for the first time in those get-togethers.

They’ll face off in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C., the first reunion since last season’s national championship game. Michigan State lost both meetings last season by a combined 52 points.

“They’ve taken it to us on the chin the last two times pretty good, but I don’t think that has anything to do with [tonight’s] game,” Izzo said. “It’s not like it’s a big revenge thing in my mind. But if I said I wasn’t looking forward to going down there and playing, I’d be lying.”

The game will feature Michigan State’s outstanding guards and North Carolina’s impressive post players.

“They belong in Oregon,” Izzo said. “Those are the tallest trees I’ve ever seen. It’s a big redwood convention down there.”

sryan@tribune.com

Times staff writer Mike Hiserman contributed to this report.