Big Ten men’s basketball power rankings (Feb 3): there's a new No. 1 in town

This week of Big Ten hoops was filled with upsets, excitement, and competitive action. Just as always, the Big Ten is a jumbled mess, with the middle chunk of the conference on as level of a playing field as you’ll see in any conference.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were easily the best team this past week, defeating Illinois at home and Oregon on the road after a six-game losing streak. Sunday's win was Nebraska’s fourth ranked victory of the season, tying a program record.

Sixth-year senior Brice Williams has averaged 27.5 points per game in Nebraska’s last two games, surging his squad back on the bubble. Nebraska will likely be on Joe Lunardi’s “First Four Out” graphic in his next update and look-out doubters (myself included), the Cornhuskers want a piece of March Madness basketball.

Let’s get right into the ranking, and there is a new top dog:

Purdue slides up to the No. 1 ranking among Big Ten teams this week. The Boilermakers only played one game this week, narrowly defeating archrival Indiana by six at home. Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn combined for 47 of Purdue’s 81 points in the contest. Since Michigan State is no longer undefeated, Purdue is the best team in the conference.

Michigan State follows Purdue in this week’s ranking. The Spartans have a 9-1 record in conference play, losing its “0” to USC on the road on Saturday. I’m not losing any prior faith in the Tom Izzo-led squad, and I’m still going to have them above the 16 other Big Ten teams. Michigan State caps off its Los Angeles trip with red-hot UCLA on Tuesday.

Michigan stays in the top three with two wins in the past week. Dusty May’s team narrowly escaped Penn State at home then defeated Rutgers on the road. The Wolverines have been shaky lately but have found ways to win its last three close games. Michigan will have to rely on seven-foot duo Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin to chase a Big Ten regular season title.

The No. 4 team in this ranking is the surging Maryland Terrapins. The Terps took care of home court with an impressive eight-point win over Wisconsin. Maryland has won six of its last seven, including three consecutive quad-one wins. With Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Derik Queen, Julian Reese, Selton Miguel and Rodney Rice, Maryland might have the best top-to-bottom starting five in the conference.

Wisconsin stays in the top five after a 1-1 week. A road loss to Maryland is nothing to complain about, and the Badgers had a solid road victory over Northwestern on Saturday. Wisconsin struggled in the first half against Northwestern but stayed the course and proceeded to score 50 second-half points in a six-point win. John Tonje keeps showcasing why he’s an All-Big Ten player, averaging 25.3 points in his last four games.

Illinois slots in at No. 6 again this week. The Illini lost to Nebraska in overtime in Lincoln, but rebounded with a comeback victory over Ohio State at home, as star center Tomislav Ivisic returned to action for the first time in two weeks.

UCLA stays at No. 7 in this week’s power ranking, as Mick Cronin’s team is currently playing some great basketball. The Bruins have won five straight, including victories over USC and Oregon last week. UCLA battles Michigan State at home on Tuesday, a huge opportunity to take down one of the conference’s best teams.

Ohio State enters the top eight in these power rankings. Before dropping a tough road test against Illinois, the Buckeyes blew out both Iowa and Penn State. Its three-game week is not followed by easy matchups, as Ohio State has Maryland and Nebraska on tap on Thursday and Sunday.

USC (!!) surges inside the top ten this week. USC began the week with a loss to UCLA but followed it by topping the last unbeaten Big Ten team; Michigan State. Eric Musselman’s team has won four of its last six, and the Trojans have a real shot at the tournament. 

Oregon drops to No. 10 as the Ducks have been in a real slump. The Ducks have lost three straight games and four of its last five. The offense has been an issue lately, and head coach Dana Altman needs to search for answers quickly as they fall under .500 in conference play.

As mentioned, Nebraska had a fantastic week with wins over Illinois at home and Oregon in Eugene. The Cornhuskers look to keep it rolling with matchups against Washington and Ohio State this upcoming week.

Indiana battled Purdue hard in Mackey Arena, but could not finish the job down the stretch. The Hoosiers are outside the bubble looking in at the moment and have no easy games in the next few weeks.

Iowa only played one game last week, a road blowout loss to Ohio State. The Hawkeyes have two huge opportunities at home, as Purdue and Wisconsin visit Iowa City on Tuesday and Saturday. You’d think the Hawkeyes need both games to put themselves in realistic NCAA tournament conversations.

Rutgers defeated Northwestern on the road behind Ace Bailey’s 37 points, but narrowly lost to Michigan at home over the weekend. The Scarlet Knights look to get Dylan Harper back in the lineup, who has been suffering from nagging injuries all season and missed Rutgers’s last few contests.

Penn State is playing ifself out of any NCAA tournament chances, losing six of its last seven games, including a heartbreaker to Michigan earlier in the week. The Nittany Lions look to get back in the win column against Minnesota at home on Tuesday, but every game is not an easy one the way Penn State is playing at the moment.

Northwestern has lost star wing Brooks Barnhizer for the season, according to CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein. This is brutal news, as the Wildcats will likely steer to a bottom-three finish in the conference.

Washington jumps out of the last spot due to a victory in Minneapolis against Minnesota on Saturday. The Huskies have two home games against Nebraska and Northwestern this week.

Minnesota drops back to the 18th spot with losses to Michigan State and Washington last week. Besides watching Dawson Garcia, there is nothing to look forward to for Golden Gopher fans anymore this season.