Big Ten +/- standings (through Feb. 2) & remaining schedules

Here's the updated B1G +/- standings. The +/- rating is relative to finishing .500 in conference play. Also included is each team's point differential. Currently the Gophers are in a dead heat with Illinois and Indiana.

B1G +/-
1. Ohio State (+2, +174) -- 2 road wins, 0 home losses
2. Michigan State (+2, +97) -- 2 road wins, 0 home losses
3. Wisconsin (+2, +43) -- 4 road wins, 2 home losses
4. Michigan (+1, +25) -- 1 road win, 0 home losses
5. Purdue (+1, -12) -- 3 road wins, 2 home losses
6. GOPHERS (E, -4) -- 2 road wins, 2 home losses
7. Illinois (E, -5) -- 1 road win, 1 home loss
8. Indiana (E, -10) -- 1 road win, 1 home loss
9. Iowa (-1, -64) -- 2 road wins, 3 home losses
10. Northwestern (-2, -52) -- 0 road wins, 2 home losses
11. Nebraska (-2, -103) -- 1 road win, 3 home losses
12. Penn State (-3, -89) -- 0 road wins, 3 home losses

Record/Winning Percentage of Remaining B1G Opponents (toughest to easiest)
1. Ohio State (50-35, 58.8%)
2. Illinois (48-40, 54.5%)
3. Michigan State (47-41, 53.4%)
4. GOPHERS (41-37, 52.6%)
5. Wisconsin (39-37, 51.3%)
6. Penn State (39-38, 50.6%)
7. Indiana (32-33, 49.2%)
T-8. Northwestern (43-45, 48.9%)
T-8. Purdue (43-45, 48.9%)
10. Michigan (36-38, 48.6%)
11. Nebraska (37-40, 48.1%)
12. Iowa (27-42, 39.1%)

Saturday Slate
Ohio State @ Wisconsin
Indiana @ Purdue
Penn State @ Iowa

Sunday Slate
Michigan @ Michigan State
Northwestern @ Illinois
GOPHERS @ Nebraska

Beating Nebraska would be a good start. But they GOTTA start taking care of home. There's some huge opportunities there to get tourney resume boosting wins. I can't lie though, Becky with 4 road wins is quite impressive.

Certainly winning in Lincoln would take some of the pressure off heading into the rather large 2-game homestand (Bucky & OSU). I like the fact most of our toughest games (on paper) are at home. It's what a bubble teams wants & needs toward the end of the season. ... opportunites for multiple quality wins at home. I'm glad we have the remaining schedule we have, as opposed to what Iowa has.

It would take a Herculean effort to pull it off (not counting on it), but if the Gophers win any 4 of their remaining 5 home games, I think their NCAA chances (even at 8-10) would be pretty decent no matter the results of the 3 remaining road games. But we can't afford to just beat our fellow middlin' teams (Nebraska twice, Northwestern, Indiana) and lose the rest (Wisconsin twice, OSU, Sparty). That 8-10 wouldn't cut it.