Another great week of Big Ten hoops in the books means another Monday morning Big Ten power ranking.
The slate of Big Ten matchups this week was capped off by Michigan State taking care of home court against Illinois in a thrilling finish. Aside from the Spartans staying undefeated in conference play, we had six teams seemingly separate themselves from the rest.
Now the only undefeated team in Big Ten conference play, Michigan State claims the top spot in this week’s ranking. After a shaky, close win over Penn State at home on Wednesday, the Spartans finished the week strong defeating Illinois 80-78 at home.
Tom Izzo’s roster includes a plethora of talented players shaping up one of the deepest rotations in college basketball. Michigan State will stay at the top until further notice due to its undefeated record, even though I believe this next team is better.
Purdue began its conference schedule with a loss to Penn State but has looked like one of college basketball’s finest since. A sweep in the Pacific Northwest has Matt Painter’s team at 7-1 in the conference, and ranked No. 2 in the power ranking.
Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and the rest of the team look more comfortable and synergized since their last loss. Look out Big Ten, Purdue is coming.
Illinois climbs up a spot to No. 3 this week. The Fighting Illini wrecked Indiana 94-69 at Assembly Hall early in the week, then lost to Michigan State at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
The 5-3 record does not stop them from being omitted from the top three, as this team is as dangerous as anyone in the conference. Brad Underwood has NBA talent all over his roster, and they return home this week for clashes with Maryland and Northwestern.
Michigan had the worst week among the cream of the crop in the conference, sliding to the four spot in the ranking. The Wolverines lost their first conference game in Minneapolis on Wednesday and nearly lost another at home to Northwestern on Sunday.
Dusty May’s squad had a really poor shooting performance against Northwestern and was way too sloppy with the ball against Minnesota. As they look to shrug last week off, only a road battle with Purdue on Friday is on tap for the Wolverines this week.
Wisconsin rounds out the top five after two wins in the week over Ohio State and USC. The Badgers nearly had a late-game collapse against the Buckeyes, but they fended off the comeback effort.
Wisconsin has looked great this season, and the development of John Blackwell has been awesome to watch. He scored a combined 43 points in the two wins this week, and look for him to keep this Badgers squad in the top five every week.
Oregon and Maryland rank No. 6 and 7, respectively. The Ducks lost its only game to Purdue at home this week, catching the Boilermakers in peak form. Jackson Shelstad still looks as good as he’s been in his collegiate career, and expect the Ducks to continually hang near the top five of these weekly power rankings.
The Terrapins played three games in six days this week, winning against Minnesota and Nebraska at home, and losing to Northwestern in overtime on the road.
Maryland did not look great in all of those games, as the team trailed Minnesota for most of that game and only beat Nebraska at home by three. Credit to Maryland as they still found ways to win those games, but they might not be as good as originally advertised.
Penn State slides in at No. 11 for this week. The Nittany Lions lost their only game to Michigan State by just five points on the road, an impressive showing against the conference’s only undefeated team.
The Nittany Lions had a solid 80-72 win over Rutgers on Monday night, and look to build some momentum after their first win in two weeks.