The Big Ten’s first season of expansion will likely cause even more chaos for its basketball programs than ever before, as the number of teams from the conference that make the 2025 NCAA tournament might be astronomical.
Before the season, Purdue was the clear favorite by the media and fans to claim the top spot at the end of the regular season. After the Boilermakers got throttled by Penn State, along with a couple of other losses, the consensus shifted off of the Boilermakers. There is now no clear favorite in the Big Ten, which will make the conference even more intriguing to watch.
All of the eighteen Big Ten conference teams have completed their first two conference matchups of the season. Three teams went 2-0, twelve teams went 1-1 and another three teams went 0-2.
The three teams that have started 2-0 are UCLA, Michigan, and Michigan State. UCLA will take the top spot for me at this point in the season, as they defeated Oregon and Arizona for two quad-one wins. The balanced offensive attack along with the fierce defense that Mick Cronin has deployed this season has been working better than most expected.
Oregon started their season 9-0 before losing to UCLA on a buzzer-beater, but they still will claim the No. 2 spot here. They already have three quad-one wins against Alabama, Texas A&M, and San Diego State. Two former Pac-12 teams begin these rankings, but how will they combat the rigorous travel schedules when conference play picks up back after the New Year?
Michigan State and Illinois slide in at No. 3 and 4, respectively. Michigan State defeated Minnesota and Nebraska by a combined 55 points, not a bad start for the Spartans. They beat North Carolina earlier in the season as well but dropped two close games to Memphis and Kansas. Illinois lost an overtime thriller against Northwestern but bounced back by handling Wisconsin at home. They hosted No. 1 ranked Tennessee over the weekend, but lost on a Jordan Gainey buzzer-beater.
Purdue stays in the top five, even after a shaky start to their 2024-25 season. They have great wins over Alabama, Ole Miss, and Maryland, but have lost three games already this year. To Purdue’s credit, they’re playing a difficult non-conference schedule, and I do expect them to be ultra-competitive for the top spot.
Michigan, Maryland, and Penn State follow the top five.
I had all of these teams higher than the Big Ten preseason media poll, and all have exceeded expectations so far. Michigan began conference play with victories over Wisconsin and Iowa, yet lost a couple of non-conference games. Michigan should have Big Ten champion aspirations with Dusty May.
Maryland and Penn State have had very similar seasons so far. They split their first two conference games, lost their only other quad one matchup (Maryland w/ Marquette, Penn State w/ Clemson) and have taken care of business with the rest of their weak non-conference schedules. Maryland has four 12+ point per game scorers this season, and I believe they look slightly better than Penn State so far.
Penn State was ranked 18th in the preseason Big Ten media poll, and that was always disrespectful to head coach Mike Rhoades. He has this team looking like an NCAA tournament squad, and they started their conference play with a huge win over Purdue. The Nittany Lions lost a near-epic comeback win against Rutgers, but the effort fell just short. Penn State’s No. 8 ranking is a fantastic start for the team, and I envision this ranking getting better throughout the season.