The Big Ten leads the nation’s college basketball conferences with nine teams in the Ratings Percentage Index top 50 and an average Sagarin rating of 83.81. What do these numbers mean? The Big Ten has been refurbished, and math majors rule the world.

As deep as the conference might be, it can look top-heavy on occasion. So it did last night at Value City Arena, where No. 4 Ohio State hammered Penn State 78-54 before a crowd of 16,907.

The Buckeyes built a big lead early, the Nittany Lions missed a litany of shots and Aaron Craft practiced alley-oops with Sam Thompson. Once, one of Craft’s passes went awry — his 35-foot alley-oop went into the hoop for a three-point field goal.

He called it, nudge-nudge, wink-wink.

“It’s just how we drew it on the sideline,” Thompson said. “I was going to streak up the left side and Craft was going to throw it up from half-court and it was going to go in. I was just a decoy.”

Yes, for all practical purposes, this was the last tune-up of the season for the Buckeyes (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten). It had all the sights and sounds. Penn State (10-12, 2-7), the last-place team in the conference, was the visitor and the game played to form.

The building was not full, the Nuthouse was not certifiably crazy and OSU coach Thad Matta had another opportunity to spread out the minutes, which he did. Jared Sullinger had 20 points (7-of-11 shooting) and 13 boards and sat down with nearly 11 minutes remaining in the second half.

“Every team we play is a great team,” Craft said. “There’s no off night in the Big Ten, and Penn State is no exception. Now we are focused on Michigan (which visits on Sunday). March is a long way off, and there’s a lot of time for us to get better.”

Now, another kind of fun starts.

Ohio State moved into a tie for first place in the Big Ten with No. 20 Michigan, which snuck past Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Tuesday night, and No. 10 Michigan State, which beat pesky Minnesota in East Lansing, Mich., last night.

The Buckeyes have 10 regular-season games remaining, and none is against North Florida. It is Big Ten season, a trek through hot gyms strewn across snow-swept vistas, with each game offering a potential trap.

The Buckeyes have two games remaining against Wisconsin, two against Michigan and two against Michigan State. Probably, this trio will wrestle for the conference title. Maybe someone else will elbow into the picture. Certainly, there are no more easy games left on the schedule, not hereon.

The Buckeyes are the favorites. They have won or shared four of the past six regular-season titles. They have won the past two conference tournament titles. Everyone is chasing them, and everyone is getting faster.

Are they ready? They are not really saying. They are good at that, not really saying. They respect every opponent and play one game at a time. You know? We ask anyway.

“I like the fact that I think we’re improving,” Matta said. “I think one thing with this team is it has to continue to draw closer together, continue to build a unity and understanding on both sides of the ball, and it takes everyone. I think guys are starting to understand their roles better. With what lies ahead, we know we have great challenges ahead of us.”

There are 35 days until March and 45 days to Selection Sunday. The way things have gone during this resurgent season in the Big Ten, it is likely the regular-season title will come down to the last day.

Are they ready?

“I think we’ve got good guys,” Craft said with a little smile.

He had to run. He had an exam for which to cram. He could not expound.

“I think we’re up to it,” he said, “but we’ll see.”

To figure this, there is no algorithm, so roll out the ball cart 10 more times, and we’ll see.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

marace@dispatch.com