There is home court advantage in basketball but it has taken on a whole new level in the Big Ten this year. As we have hit Mid-January it has seemed almost impossible to win on the road in the Big Ten this season. Statistically as of January 16th the home team is 36-6 in the Big Ten.
The next best conference when compared to this is the SEC where the home teams are 16-8. Home court advantage has played a huge factor in every game this season in what some would say is the best conference in college basketball.
With how hard it is to win on the road this year it makes every road win even bigger. The biggest one being Illinois getting a road win at Wisconsin which is considered one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin is the other team to pick up big road wins, they knocked off the then number five team in the nation, Ohio State on the road. They also took down number twenty in the nation Penn State on the road. These road wins explains why Illinois and Wisconsin are in the top two of the Big Ten standings right now.
The Big Ten is going to beat each other up all season long but a lot of experts are projecting up to eleven Big Ten teams in the NCAA tournament. That would be the most by any conference by a long shot. My favorite team, Illinois, hopes to be one of these teams come March.
We will see how much that 36-6 home record changes over the rest of this season. I'm very interested to see how the rest of this season plays out!
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