By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Winning on the road in the Big Ten is no easy feat, regardless if it entails long-distance travel.
Conference leader Michigan State finished a trip to Los Angeles with two losses, falling to USC and UCLA.
The Trojans followed up their upset of the Spartans with a two-point loss at Northwestern, and they did it without the services of Desmond Claude.
For the week that was, Big Ten teams that had to travel two-plus time zones went 3-4, with only Washington and Nebraska getting road dubs.
That brings the league’s record in such games this season to 14-16.
UCLA on the Rise as Oregon Falters
Just like that, UCLA is the hottest team in the Big Ten.
The Bruins demolished Oregon last week by 26 points, then notched their sixth-straight victory, prevailing by two points over Michigan State.
Those two wins give UCLA five triumphs over ranked opponents this season.
Riding their win streak, the Bruins host Penn State this weekend with a chance to make some noise in the conference race.
While the Bruins are surging, the Ducks find themselves struggling. Oregon has lost four in a row, including an inexplicable loss at home to lowly Nebraska.
Remarkably, in the first three of those games, the Ducks held a lead for a combined total of just one minute and eight seconds.
Oregon simply has not been getting it done, and a big issue has been rebounding.
UO has had a rebound rate of just 46% in the losing streak and the offensive rebounding rate has been just 19.3%.
Wednesday’s trip to Ann Arbor didn’t provide the elixir for what ails the Ducks, though they did play better.
The rebounding between the two schools was even, but the Spartans still outscored Oregon 21-14 on second-chance points.
The Ducks hope to end their slide in a big way at No. 9 State on Saturday.
On the plus side, Oregon still owns eight Quad 1 wins this season with opportunities to get more on the resume before March.
Washington Looks to Rebound After Snapping Six Game Skid
At the other end of the standings, Washington snapped its six-game losing streak last weekend, picking up their first Big 
Ten road win with a victory at Minnesota.
The six-game slide was the longest for Washington since the 2020-21 season.
Leaving the Twin Cities with a win was no easy feat as the Gophers have been tough to beat on their home court of late.
The Huskies didn’t fare as well on Wednesday, however, falling on their home court to suddenly hot Nebraska, setting back their efforts to climb out of the conference cellar.
SuperWest Big Ten Player of the Week: Brice Williams, G, Nebraska
The Cornhuskers had themselves a week and the senior guard had some huge games.
In the three wins, including two over-ranked opponents, Williams averaged 27.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists.
SuperWest Big Ten Freshman of the Week: Will Riley, F, Illinois
The Fighting Illini did not have their best week, to say the least, going 1-2, but the freshman from Canada started to come into his own.
In three games, he averaged 18.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and an assist per game.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
