Up is down. In is out. Black is white. Welcome to Big Ten basketball 2012, a season filled with twists and turns that have jumbled the race (standings). And the conference season isn’t even half over. This past week was filled with tumult that scrambled the league standings and made one thing perfectly clear: This is going to be a wild race for the Big Ten championship.

It’s certainly been an interesting start to the Big Ten season. Wisconsin looks vulnerable, Indiana looks much improved, and Minnesota is still fighting after losing its star. But what do that numbers say at the one-third mark?

Northwestern knocked off No. 7 Michigan State 81-74 (box score) just after Iowa dropped No. 13 Michigan 75-59 (box score) to complete a Saturday of upsets in the Big Ten. Get up to speed on the latest numbers from around the conference with Big Ten stat leaders, Big Ten standings, team-by-team schedules, and our full scoreboard.

That was quite a week in Big Ten men’s basketball. When I wrote Monday about Wisconsin’s struggles, I didn’t imagine they’d shake it off at Purdue later in the week. Then I spoke with Jerry Palm and he told me the Big Ten had eight tourney teams as of right now – we’ll check back with him next week to see if that’s changed. The week got better when I attended the Illinois game and witnessed Brandon Paul’s amazing 43-point night. That will surely shake up my weekly Big Ten Player Rankings.

How do you break a Big Ten losing streak? Last night, the unlikely answer was to take a trip to snowy Indiana. Wisconsin and Minnesota got their seasons back on track with impressive wins in the Hoosier state.