Big Ten men's basketball power rankings: Who will rise atop the morass in the middle?
The margins between the majority of Big Ten men's basketball teams continue to shrink.
Atop the league, Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois continue to keep themselves floating just above the melee that is the battle for spots 4-14. Half of the Big Ten’s teams sit with four losses, six teams have three wins and sifting through the carnage is a challenge at best. Even the league’s front-runners have taken on water: Wisconsin’s first loss was a surprising defeat at Penn State, Purdue has two road losses and Illinois continues to navigate life without the indefinitely suspended Terrence Shannon Jr.
Who will rise atop the morass in the middle? Tom Izzo’s Spartans are showing signs. So is Maryland, finally, alongside Northwestern and … Iowa?
Just past the midpoint of January, here’s how the Big Ten shakes out to this point of the season. Rankings reflect games played through Jan. 18.
1. Purdue (Last week: 1)
The Boilermakers keep writing new pages to their history this year. The latest: their 87-66 win at rival Indiana was Purdue’s most lopsided win in Bloomington since a 47-13 win in 1934. That was 90 years ago.
2. Wisconsin (Last week: 2)
Congrats to the Badgers, who held the mantle of the Big Ten’s final unbeaten team through the quarter mark of league play. The road caught up with Wisconsin, as it seemingly does for everyone this year, but a road loss to Penn State doesn’t change Wisconsin’s contender status.
3. Illinois (Last week: 3)
Add Ty Rodgers to the list of players to seamlessly step into bigger roles in place of Shannon’s absence. His double-digit scoring game in a win against Michigan was the seventh of his career, three of which have come in the six games without Shannon.
4. Michigan State (Last week: 4)
The Spartans have won their past six home games by double figures. Most recently, that meant outlasting a dogged Minnesota team that’s showing no quit under Ben Johnson, making that 76-66 win against the Gophers an especially memorable 500th Big Ten game for coach Tom Izzo.
5. Northwestern (Last week: 10)
The only way to combat a 36-point effort from Maryland’s Jahmir Young is with the sweet, steady play of Boo Buie, whose layup in the final 30 seconds answered a Young 3-pointer and put Northwestern back ahead for good. It moved the Wildcats to 9-1 at home this year, with the one loss coming to … Chicago State.
6. Iowa (Last week: 11)
Don’t look now, but the Hawkeyes are starting to find themselves. Iowa still loves to score and largely hates to defend, but Fran McCaffery is now the school’s all-time winningest coach and the Hawkeyes have won six of their last seven entering a weekend showdown with Purdue.
7. Maryland (Last week: 8)
Maryland’s home win against Michigan is the early clubhouse favorite for least aesthetically appealing game of the season, but a win’s a win and the Terrapins are starting to stack a few of them together. Maybe Maryland is on the path to becoming the upper-echelon Big Ten it was forecasted to be during the preseason.
8. Nebraska (Last week: 7)
Nebrasketball is one of the most entertaining shows in the Big Ten. That spectacle hasn’t traveled, though, and the Cornhuskers fell to 0-4 in conference road games after they lost a 12-point second half game and, eventually, an 87-82 overtime game at Rutgers.
9. Ohio State (Last week: 5)
The vibes are not good in Columbus. The Buckeyes put together a 16-0 second-half run at Michigan and still managed to lose a third straight game. Maybe the shooting improves and Ohio State starts winning again, but it’s been more than a year since it last won on the road.
10. Indiana (Last week: 6)
Something is not right with Xavier Johnson, and that keeps putting the Hoosiers in a bad spot. Whether he’s being ejected for a deliberate low blow or delivering a two-forearm shiver to Zach Edey, it’s clear things are off for Indiana’s experienced floor general. Oh, and they got boat-raced by rival Purdue.
11. Penn State (Last week: 12)
A home win against Wisconsin was another sign that this Mike Rhoades team is far from a pushover. The Nittany Lions still look to be a year away from being able to make any real noise in the league, but the Bryce Jordan Center is going to claim more victims this season.
12. Rutgers (Last week: 13)
The Scarlet Knights are among the 50 worst-shooting teams from 3-point range (29.9%), inside the line (43.8%) and the free-throw line (65.4%), but that didn’t stop them from defending their home court with a much-needed win against Nebraska.
13. Michigan (Last week: 14)
The Wolverines got the Fab Five back together and handed rival Ohio State a third straight loss, snapping a five-game losing streak in the process, but followed by getting outplayed by Illinois at home. No program struggles to maintain positive momentum in the Big Ten like Michigan
14. Minnesota (Last week: 9)
Give some credit to Minnesota: Ben Johnson entered year three with real pressure, and the Golden Gophers are clearly playing hard for their coach. But a three-game losing streak is still a three-game losing streak, and like Ohio State this year is starting to feel uncomfortably familiar.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Ten men's basketball power rankings: Who will rise atop morass?
