Big Ten basketball power rankings: New team at the top, Nebraska shoots up six spots

Michigan Wolverines basketball is near the top of the Big Ten, but there are two teams currently ranked ahead of them in our power rankings.

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.

SUPERLATIVES
New No. 1: Purdue
Biggest jump: Nebraska (17th to 11th)
Biggest fall: Minnesota (11th to 16th)

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1. Purdue (17-5 overall, 9-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 2nd (+1)
Last week: vs. Indiana (W, 81-76)
This week: at Iowa (Feb. 4), vs. USC (Feb. 7)

Purdue was in a hotly-contested game against Indiana Friday night at Mackey, but pulled away late and snatched the victory. With Michigan State losing, the Boilermakers have the top spot in the Big Ten.

2. Michigan State (18-3 overall, 9-1 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 1st (-1)
Last week: vs. Minnesota (W, 73-51), at USC (L, 70-64)
This week: at UCLA (Feb. 4), vs. Oregon (Feb. 8)

Michigan State stands atop the Big Ten standings with a 9-1 record, but it’s played the easiest schedule in the conference, according to Kenpom. Just before the road gets much tougher — beginning with Tuesday’s game at UCLA — the Spartans dropped one they shouldn’t have, losing to USC at the Galen Center. The offense flatlined in the loss.

3. Michigan (16-5 overall, 8-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 3rd (—)
Last week: vs. Penn State (W, 76-72), at Rutgers (W, 66-63)
This week: vs. Oregon (Feb. 5), at Indiana (Feb. 8)

Michigan survived both of its tests last week, gutting out victories over Penn State and Rutgers. Neither were pretty games, but they continue to stack wins while adjusting to the physicality of the Big Ten. They responded from the embarrassing, 27-point loss at Purdue.

4. Maryland (17-5 overall, 7-4 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 5th (+1)
Last week: vs. Wisconsin (W, 76-68)
This week: at Ohio State (Feb. 6), vs. Rutgers (Feb. 9)

Maryland is legit. Head coach Kevin Willard‘s crew proved it could win on the road with victories over Illinois and Indiana, then took care of business at home last week, beating Wisconsin 76-68.

Guard play can carry a team down the stretch, and Maryland has good ones, highlighted by Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who’s ascending just as his team is. Don’t sleep on big men Julian Reese and Derik Queen, either. Right now, the Terrapins have a look of a team that knows exactly what it is, and that can take them a long way.

5. Wisconsin (17-5 overall, 7-4 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 4th (-1)
Last week: at Maryland (L, 76-68), at Northwestern (W, 76-69)
This week: vs. Indiana (Feb. 4), at Iowa (Feb. 8)

Wisconsin was in danger of losing Saturday at Northwestern, trailing in the middle of the second half. That would’ve been two-straight setbacks, since they lost at Maryland earlier in the week, but they gutted it out led by a 27-point performance from wing John Tonje, who made 5 threes. The Badgers swap places with Maryland.

6. UCLA (16-6 overall, 7-4 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 7th (+1)
Last week: at USC (W, 82-76), vs. Oregon (W, 78-52)
This week: vs. Michigan State (Feb. 4), vs. Penn State (Feb. 8)

The lighter schedule has had something to do with UCLA’s five-game win streak, but there’s no question Mick Cronin‘s team is playing better after he called them out publicly early last month.

Since Jan. 17, when the win streak started, UCLA has been the third-most efficient team in the country, according to Bart Torvik’s T-Rank, including ranking No. 1 in the nation in offense. The Bruins have really found something with 7-foot-3 Spanish big man Aday Mara, who’s playing more minutes and has scored in double figures three of the last four games.

UCLA fended off USC across town and then dominated Oregon Thursday night. The Bruins bludgeoned the Ducks on the interior and made 11 threes — a deadly combo.

7. Illinois (15-7 overall, 7-5 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 6th (-1)
Last week: at Nebraska (L, 80-74 in OT), vs. Ohio State (W, 87-79)
This week: at Rutgers (Feb. 5), at Minnesota (Feb. 8)

Illinois is the second-highest ranked seven-loss team in America on Kenpom, and it’s still in a bit of a funk. The Fighting Illini are 3-4 in their last seven games, with part of the reason being health. They’ve dealt with illnesses over the last couple weeks.

Starting center Tomislav Ivisic (mono) finally returned to the lineup for Sunday’s win over Ohio State, but the team had already fallen to Nebraska in overtime earlier in the week. They couldn’t get anything going on the inside — instead taking 42 three-pointers — in a loss in Lincoln.

8. USC (13-8 overall, 5-5 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 9th (+1)
Last week: vs. UCLA (L, 82-76), vs. Michigan State (W, 70-64)
This week: at Northwestern (Feb. 4), at Purdue (Feb. 7)

USC is 2-2 in its last four games, but it’s clearly a team on the ascent. The Trojans have found their identity as a tough shot-making and defensive rebounding team — and they just collected their biggest win yet.

The Trojans impressively beat Michigan State, 70-64, Saturday in Los Angeles, handing the Spartans their first Big Ten loss of the season. They exposed MSU’s inability to hit three-point shots by sagging off multiple players and packing the paint, risks that paid off.

9. Oregon (16-6 overall, 5-6 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 8th (-1)
Last week: at UCLA (L, 78-52), vs. Nebraska (L, 77-71)
This week: at Michigan (Feb. 5), at Michigan State (Feb. 8)

Oregon is in a rut, having three in a row and four of its last five games, before a tough road trip where it’ll play Michigan and Michigan State. The Ducks led for just over one minute of game time during the three-game skid.

Oregon started out 9-0 but is 7-5 since. Something is just off in Eugene.

They’ve struggled on the defensive end lately, allowing over 1.1 points per possession in each of the last three games. They’re not playing with confidence anymore, which is less than ideal with what’s ahead.

10. Ohio State (13-9 overall, 5-6 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 10th (—)
Last week: vs. Iowa (W, 82-65), at Penn State (W, 83-64), at Illinois (L, 87-79)
this week: vs. Maryland (Feb. 6), at Nebraska (Feb. 9)

Ohio State was on a three-game winning streak before getting outhustled and outmuscled in the final 10 or so minutes of an 87-79 loss at Illinois Sunday afternoon. The Buckeyes have some quality wins under their belt, including over Kentucky and Purdue, but have been very up and down all year.

11. Nebraska (13-8 overall, 4-7 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 17th (+6)
Last week: vs. Illinois (W, 80-74 in OT), at Oregon (W, 77-71)
This week: at Washington (Feb. 5), vs. Ohio State (Feb. 9)

There’s not much separation between the bottom eight teams in the Big Ten, allowing Nebraska to shoot up to No. 11 with an incredible week. The Cornhuskers beat Illinois and won at Oregon, looking like a completely different team than we saw just weeks ago.

Sixth-year senior guard Brice Williams is putting together one of those seasons, carrying Nebraska in critical moments. He should be up for Big Ten Player of the Week honors, scoring 27 at Illinois and 28 versus Oregon. He’s a bucket, with eight games scoring 25-plus points this year.

12. Northwestern (12-10 overall, 3-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 12th (—)
Last week: vs. Rutgers (L, 79-72), vs. Wisconsin (L, 75-69)
This week: vs. USC (Feb. 4), at Washington (Feb. 8)

Northwestern is on a three-game losing streak and has lost seven of its last nine contests. The Wildcats have had a tough schedule, so we’ll see if they can grab a couple wins as it lightens up a bit over the next few weeks.

13. Indiana (14-8 overall, 5-6 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 13th (—)
Last week: at Purdue (L, 81-76)
This week: at Wisconsin (Feb. 4), vs. Michigan (Feb. 8)

Indiana led for 17:14 of game time at Purdue and was right in it until the end, holding a one-point advantage with just over 10 seconds remaining, but couldn’t quite hang on in a tough environment at Mackey.

The next couple weeks will tell us if Indiana is in a free fall or they can actually salvage things and become a bubble team. They have an incredibly difficult slate coming up, against the following opponents: Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA and Purdue.

14. Rutgers (11-11 overall, 4-7 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 15th (+1)
Last week: at Northwestern (W, 79-72), vs. Michigan (L, 66-63)
This week: vs. Illinois (Feb. 5), at Maryland (Feb. 9)

No Dylan Harper, no problem for Rutgers Wednesday night at Northwestern. Fellow five-star freshman Ace Bailey dropped 37 points, and his surrounding cast shot better than 50 percent from the field. But Saturday against Michigan, Bailey shot 3-of-15 from the field and the rest of the Scarlet Knights didn’t make enough shots.

Rutgers is a tough out, but nothing more than that at the moment. Getting Harper (ankle) healthy is paramount, otherwise Bailey is going to have to do everything on the offensive end.

15. Penn State (13-9 overall, 3-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 14th (-1)
Last week: at Michigan (L, 76-72), vs. Ohio State (L, 83-64)
This week: vs. Minnesota (Feb. 4), at UCLA (Feb. 8)

Penn State nearly knocked off Michigan at Crisler but lost a late lead. Then it went home and played Ohio State at the old Rec Hall. Neither the environment at the 6,502-seat alternative home gym nor the team had any juice that night, and the Buckeyes ran them out of it. Penn State couldn’t get a stop or a rebound.

16. Minnesota (11-11 overall, 3-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 11th (-5)
Last week: at Michigan State (L, 73-51), vs. Washington (L, 71-68)
This week: at Penn State (Feb. 4), vs. Illinois (Feb. 8)

Hand up, we were over ambitious ranking Minnesota 11th in the league last week, but it was playing well. There’s no shame in losing big at Michigan State, but falling to Washington in Minneapolis is a black mark on the résumé.

17. Washington (11-10 overall, 2-8 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 18th (+1)
Last week: at Minnesota (W, 71-68)
This week: vs. Nebraska (Feb. 5), vs. Northwestern (Feb. 8)

Washington got off the mat. The Huskies had dropped six-consecutive games before beating Minnesota this week. We’ve moved them ahead of Iowa because of their road win and the Hawkyes remaining lifeless.

18. Iowa (13-8 overall, 4-6 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 16th (-2)
Last week: at Ohio State (L, 82-65)
This week: vs. Purdue (Feb. 4), vs. Wisconsin (Feb. 8)

Iowa simply can’t rebound or play defense. This is a Fran McCaffery team that has to score well over 1.1 points per possession to win, meaning victories are going to be hard to come by in the Big Ten.