Dribble Handoff: Big Ten title predictions as Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin jockey for crown

The Big Ten title race is shaping up as one of the most intriguing in college basketball as the home stretch of the regular season arrives with at least three teams legitimately in contention for the crown.

While No.

12 Michigan is in solo possession of first, that will change instantly if the Wolverines (20-5, 12-2 Big Ten) lose Friday to No.

14 Michigan State.

Following a brief February funk, the Spartans (21-5, 12-3) got back on track with victories over Illinois and Purdue in the past week.

Another team to watch in the title race is No.

11 Wisconsin , which has won five straight after running roughshod over Illinois on Tuesday.

The Badgers (21-5, 11-4) play four of their final five games against teams with sub-.500 league records.

At the beginning of last week, Purdue would have been a popular choice to win the league.

But after losing three straight games for the first time since 2019-2020, the Boilermakers (19-8, 11-5) have some ground to make up.

One wild card to watch is Maryland .

The Terrapins (21-6, 11-5) would need a roaring finish.

But considering that Michigan State and Michigan are both on the docket over the next couple weeks, coach Kevin Willard's team has an outside chance to thread the needle and backdoor its way to a share of the title.

So, who is going to win the Big Ten crown? Our writers made their picks in this week's Dribble Handoff: Michigan Wisconsin is the highest-rated Big Ten team in my Top 25 And 1 based on a body of work featuring a 14-5 record in the first two quadrants highlighted by eight Q1 wins and zero losses outside of Q1.

Nobody else in the conference can match that.

But the issue for the Badgers, as it pertains to the Big Ten race, is that they already have four league losses and will probably finish with at least five.

Meantime, Michigan is 12-2 in the Big Ten and projected to be a favorite in five of its final six regular-season games.

In other words, as long as the Wolverines simply win the games they're supposed to win going forward, starting Friday vs.

Michigan State -- Dusty May should soon have an outright Big Ten title to go with the outright C-USA title he won at Florida Atlantic two years ago.

-- Gary Parrish Michigan No team in the Big Ten is playing better right now than is Michigan.

The Wolverines have won six straight by riding the dynamic 1-2 punch of 7-footers Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, who together have formed one of the most consistent mismatches to opposing teams in league play.

Tre Donaldson's steady hand at guard, combined with Nimari Burnett , Roddy Gayle or Rubin Jones popping on any given night, makes this team deep, dynamic and lethal.

Their bench goes deep, the skill and talent is comparable to any other team in the country, and the experience of the core of this team has all the trappings of a club primed to make a deep March run.

In short, there are few obvious holes for the Wolverines and a litany of strengths on the roster.

That has been good enough to get them to 20-5 on the season thus far with wins over the likes of Wisconsin and UCLA on the road, among others.

And my bet is it'll be good enough to get them over the hump to their first regular-season Big Ten title since 2021, too.

-- Kyle Boone Wisconsin Michigan's last seven victories are by four points or fewer.

Credit to the Wolverines for getting it done.

But they have been teetering on the brink, even when playing non-NCAA Tournament teams.

The Big Ten team playing the best basketball is Wisconsin.

Though the Badgers are technically two games back in the loss column, their closing stretch is easier than the closing stretches for Michigan and Michigan State.

Winning the league title outright might be a longshot, but it's easy to see this team finishing 4-1 or 5-0 and sharing the title with a final league record of 16-4 or 15-5.

If nothing else, the Badgers deserve some love for their transformation into an offensive juggernaut.

Gone are the days of walking up the ball up the floor, dumping it into the post and then settling for a contested 2-point attempt late in the shot clock.

This team has multiple proficient 3-point shooters, including an all-American candidate in John Tonje , who has been the most unexpected transfer star in college basketball.

Wisconsin is willing to push the pace and whip the ball around the arc in search of open looks or driving lanes.

It's a fun team to watch, and it's positioned to keep surging late.

-- David Cobb Michigan To counter Cobb's point about Michigan winning close games, there are two ways to look at it.

You can argue that the way Michigan is winning is unstable long-term, or look at it through a different lens and conclude that's how a (majority) of games are won during March.

I'm going with Michigan to win the Big Ten title.

This Friday's matchup against Michigan State will go a long way towards determining a champ, but the final day of the regular season will see these teams play again.

That game may ultimately determine an outright or co-championship.

It's hard not to love what you see from this Michigan team under May.

The Wolverines have one of the most unique frontcourts in the country with Goldin and Wolf.

I had a chance to watch Michigan in person last month against USC .

The fluidity with which Wolf moves as a big man reminds me of Houston Rockets All-Star Alperen Sengun.

Michigan makes 59.1% of its 2-pointers, which ranks fifth in the country, per KenPom.com.

The Wolverines also do a good job of defending shots inside the arc, allowing just 46.8%, which ranks No.

31.

May deserves some legitimate buzz for National Coach of the Year.

It will only intensify if Michigan wins the league in his first season running the program in the post-Juwan Howard era.

-- Cameron Salerno.

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