Big Ten basketball power rankings: Michigan makes a move after fourth-straight win

Michigan Wolverines basketball has moved up to No. 2 in this edition of our Big Ten power rankings. Only Purdue stands ahead of them in the league, and the two teams will square off Tuesday night at Crisler Center.

These rankings (attempt to) strike the balance of properly weighing recent performances more heavily than ones in the distant past, while not overreacting to one or two results, with the acknowledgment that Big Ten play is a grind, and there’s a lot of parity in the league.

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1. Purdue (19-5 overall, 11-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 1st (—)
Last week: at Iowa (W, 90-81), vs. USC (W, 90-72)
This week: at Michigan (Feb. 11), vs. Wisconsin (Feb. 15)

Purdue was challenged at Iowa, but led wire to wire in a home win over USC Friday night. It was an uneventful week for the Boilermakers, and that’s exactly what they wanted considering the competition.

Head coach Matt Painter‘s crew is still the best team in the league and has the chance to prove it with a big week ahead.

2. Michigan (18-5 overall, 10-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 3rd (+1)
Last week: vs. Oregon (W, 80-76), at Indiana (W, 70-67)
This week: vs. Purdue (Feb. 11), at Ohio State (Feb. 16)

Michigan is on a four-game win streak and just picked up Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories this week. The final score margins have been close lately, but Michigan has had a lead for 27:05 per game against Big Ten opponents, and trailed for only 5:33 last week.

The rest of Michigan’s schedule is extremely challenging, with all but the home tilt vs. Rutgers being Quad 1 opportunities, so we’ll continue to learn more about just how good head coach Dusty May‘s first team is.

3. Michigan State (19-4 overall, 10-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 2nd (-1)
Last week: at UCLA (L, 63-61), vs. Oregon (W, 86-74)
This week: vs. Indiana (Feb. 11), at Illinois (Feb. 15)

What’s holding Michigan State back from being the No. 1 team on this list, a spot it held two weeks ago, are strength of schedule (18th in the Big Ten per Kenpom) and two losses on the West Coast. The Spartans fell to USC and followed that up with a setback at UCLA, which dropped them below Michigan. Both U-M and MSU won close games against Oregon, with the Spartans mounting a comeback to make it comfortable at the end.

4. Maryland (18-6 overall, 8-5 Big ten)

Previous ranking: 4th (—)
Last week: at Ohio State (L, 73-70), vs. Rutgers (W, 90-81)
This week: at Nebraska (Feb. 13), vs. Iowa (Feb. 16)

Maryland has played as well as anyone not named Nebraska ever since returning from its West Coast trip to Washington and Oregon in early January. The Terrapins lost at Ohio State by three points but played well at home Sunday against Rutgers.

5. Wisconsin (19-5 overall, 9-4 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 5th (—)
Last week: vs. Indiana (76-64), at Iowa (74-63)
This week: at Purdue (Feb. 15)

Just like Purdue, Wisconsin took care of business last week, doing exactly what it needed to. The Badgers jumped on Indiana, going up 26-4 early on, before winning by 12, then went on the road to beat Iowa.

6. UCLA (18-6 overall, 9-4 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 6th (—)
Last week: vs. Michigan State (W, 63-61), vs. Penn State (W, 78-54)
This week: at Illinois (Feb. 11), at Indiana (Feb. 14)

UCLA’s seven-game win streak is the product of improvement and a lighter schedule. The Bruins have beaten Wisconsin, Oregon and Michigan State during that stretch, but have left Los Angeles just once, going at Washington, since a Jan. 13 loss at Rutgers. Head coach Mick Cronin‘s group is headed to Illinois and Indiana this week, but we do suspect they’re more prepared for life on the road in the Big Ten than they were last month.

The win over Michigan State was impressive, with forward Eric Dailey Jr. banking in a game-winning shot in the paint. The call between Wisconsin and UCLA for the No. 5 spot was a really tough one.

7. Illinois (16-8 overall, 8-6 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 7th (—)
Last week: at Rutgers (L, 82-73), at Minnesota (W, 95-74)
This week: vs. UCLA (Feb. 11), vs. Michigan State (Feb. 15)

Illinois is No. 14 in the nation and No. 3 in the Big Ten on Kenpom, but the Illini are good for one loss a week (at least) right now, and they’ve already dropped six conference games. There’s still immense talent on the roster, but all those newcomers are still learning to come together. It’s up to head coach Brad Underwood to get the pieces to fit.

8. Ohio State (14-10 overall, 6-7 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 10th (+2)
Last week: vs. Maryland (W, 73-70), at Nebraska (L, 79-71)
This week: vs. Washington (Feb. 12), vs. Michigan (Feb. 16)

Ohio State beat Maryland and had control of the game early at Nebraska Sunday but couldn’t hang on. This was a week that’s typical of a middle-of-the-pack team in the league.

9. Nebraska (16-8 overall, 6-7 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 11th (+2)
Last week: at Washington (W, 86-72), vs. Ohio State (W, 79-71)
This week: vs. Maryland (Feb. 13), at Northwestern (Feb. 16)

It might be seen as an overreaction, but Nebraska is playing incredible basketball right now, with four-straight wins after a six-game losing streak. The Cornhuskers have beaten three top-40 teams on Kenpom in that stretch, too, in Illinois (14th), Oregon (40th) and Ohio State (27th).

Since Jan. 30, the start of the win streak, Nebraska has been the 27th-most efficient team in the nation, per Bart Torvik’s T-Rank, notably checking in 19th on offense. It’s not like it’s been a product of three-point luck, either — Nebraska is creating good looks and shooting 56.2 percent from inside the arc during this stretch.

10. USC (13-10 overall, 5-7 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 8th (-2)
Last week: at Northwestern (L, 77-75), at Purdue (L, 90-72)
This week: vs. Penn State (Feb. 11), vs. Minnesota (Feb. 15)

USC went 0-2 this week, but they didn’t drop far, just one spot, because context is important.

Starting point guard Desmond Claude was out with a bone bruise for both games, and the Trojans nearly came back to beat Northwestern in Evanston. Getting shelled at Purdue without your starting point guard isn’t a black mark, either. Claude has been extremely productive all season, averaging 16.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He makes them go.

11. Oregon (16-8 overall, 5-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 9th (-2)
Last week: at Michigan (L, 80-76), at Michigan State (L, 86-74)
This week: vs. Northwestern (Feb. 11), vs. Rutgers (Feb. 16)

Oregon is on a five-game losing streak, but what’s really changed from a week ago? The Ducks aren’t going to get docked much for losing by four at Michigan and leading by 14 but losing at Michigan State. The reason why they slid is more because of Nebraska’s emergence than anything else.

Oregon has a lot to figure out, but they have eight Quad 1 wins to fall back on, still likely to receive an NCAA Tournament bid.

12. Rutgers (12-12 overall, 5-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 14th (+2)
Last week: vs. Illinois (W, 82-73), at Maryland (L, 90-81)
This week: vs. Iowa (Feb. 12), at Oregon (Feb. 16)

Rutgers got point guard Dylan Harper back, and it beat Illinois. Yeah, it lost at Maryland, but forward Ace Bailey fell ill early in the second half and didn’t return. The Scarlet Knights covered the point spread and have shown improvement.

13. Indiana (14-10 overall, 5-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 13th (—)
Last week: at Wisconsin (L, 76-64), vs. Michigan (L, 70-67)
This week: at Michigan State (Feb. 11), vs. UCLA (Feb. 14)

Indiana has been the story of college basketball this past week, for all the wrong reasons. The Hoosiers fell behind by 22 points in the opening minutes against Wisconsin, head coach Mike Woodson announced later in the week he’ll step down at the end of the season and they lost at home to Michigan.

They continue to trend down, even though it’s fair to admit this has been a really tough stretch on the schedule and they could pick up some wins down the line.

14. Minnesota (12-12 overall, 4-9 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 16th (+2)
Last week: at Penn State (W, 69-61), vs. Illinois (L, 95-74)
This week: at USC (Feb. 15)

Minnesota can beat anyone but lose to anyone, and a lot of it depends on whether or not Dawson Garcia can carry the team on a given night. He’s more than capable but can’t do it by himself every time out. Lu’Cye Patterson is stepping up lately, a welcomed sight.

15. Northwestern (13-11 overall, 4-9 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 12th (-3)
Last week: vs. USC (W, 77-75), at Washington (L, 76-71)
This week: at Oregon (Feb. 11), vs. Nebraska (Feb. 16)

Northwestern lives off of tough twos, but one of its top shot-makers, Brooks Barnhizer, is out for the season with a broken foot. On top of that, the program announced Sunday that guard Jalen Leach, who was having a breakout start to the Big Ten season, will miss the rest of the year with an ACL injury. We didn’t knock USC for losing without Claude, who should return soon, but Northwestern has moved down because of how these injuries will affect them moving forward.

Credit the Wildcats for gutting out a victory over USC Tuesday night, but losing at Washington shows just how tough the rest of the season could be.

16. Penn State (13-11 overall, 3-10 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 15th (-1)
Last week: vs. Minnesota (L, 69-61), at UCLA (L, 78-54)
This week: at USC (Feb. 11), vs. Washington (Feb. 15)

Penn State has won one game since Jan. 2, a home victory over Rutgers Jan. 20. The schedule gets easier coming up, which will help, but losing at home to Minnesota moves them down in the rankings.

17. Washington (12-11 overall, 3-9 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 17th (—)
Last week: vs. Nebraska (L, 86-72), vs. Northwestern (W, 76-71)
This week: at Ohio State (Feb. 12), at Penn State (Feb. 15)

Washington is the least dangerous team in the Big Ten, even though they’re ranked ahead of Iowa. At least the Hawkeyes can score, whereas Washington is a poor shooting team that turns the ball over a lot and doesn’t have a defensive presence on the interior.

18. Iowa (13-10 overall, 4-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 18th (—)
Last week: vs. Purdue (L, 90-81), vs. Wisconsin (L, 74-63)
This week: at Rutgers (Feb. 12), at Maryland (Feb. 16)

Iowa hung in there against Purdue and Wisconsin at home last week, but their only win in weeks was a one-point victory over Penn State.