5 to 4

Not 25 or 6 to 4 (anyone know what that means, by the way? I've been wondering since the late '70s). After Wisconsin's lopsided loss at Minnesota tonight, you can basically call this a four-team Big Ten race.

    Welcome back, Jon Leuer. Good-bye, Badgers. The champion of this league is not going to have five losses.
    Will this league have more than five teams in the NCAA Tournament? Forget Northwestern now. Minnesota has been left for dead, but this was a big win for Tubby Smith's crew.
    The Gophers get Indiana at home Saturday, a chance to build some confidence. Then Purdue visits Thursday. A chance to beat a top-5 team. At Illinois, at Michigan, Iowa at home. Win four of the last five -- and make sure one of them is Purdue -- and you're sitting at 19 wins and with a 10-8 league record entering the BTT. So yeah, there's a chance.
    On the MSU front tonight...
    * Kalin Lucas practiced fully and looked good, says he's at 85 percent on that right ankle. Lucas also says he'll be checking Evan Turner to start on Sunday. That makes sense because it's better to have as much quickness as possible and try to keep Turner out of the lane, where he sets up his shooters. Obviously, Raymar Morgan and others will see time on Turner as well, and he's definitely a "six eyes" guy.
    * Speaking of Lucas and Turner, an ESPN fan poll during Tuesday's MSU-IU game resulted in Lucas winning the fan vote for Big Ten Player of the Year (a skewed vote, obviously, considering it was during an MSU game). I think Turner is the national player of the year, let alone the Big Ten, but there's at least some debating going on out there about Lucas and others for BTPOY.
    “Well, I have great respect for Evan Turner because of the multitude of things he does," Izzo said when asked his take on the award. "He’s a multi-, multi-dimensional player, you know. And yet, I think Kalin’s now made a race of it again. You realize when he’s come back, how important he is not only to our team but how important a guard is that can control tempo. Some of the stats –- and Turner deserves, like I said, all he’s gotten –- but when you’re playing 40 minutes every night, more minutes than 30 or 32, so you’re gonna have a few more stats. But because of his size he can do a lot of things. I’ll tell you more after Sunday.”
    * Izzo said Dion Sims' recent return to the football team was based on the fact that football is gearing up for spring ball, and he and Dantonio felt Sims was better off doing the football workouts now. And the fact that Sims came in cold in January and isn't in a position to help (sorry to those of you who thought he'd be starting by late February). Izzo did say he expects Sims to play hoops again next year, and that the past few weeks should help him adjust quicker next year.
    * It sounds like the Spartans were rooting for Ohio State on Wednesday night (they certainly should have been), but not Draymond Green.
    "“I wasn’t rooting for anyone," Green said. "You know, we control our own destiny from here on out, so there’s no reason to root for anyone.”