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Big Ten Power Rankings (Feb. 8): Upsets Make Pecking Order Difficult - Sports Illustrated

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – There's only a month left to the college basketball regular season, and my weekly chore of putting together the Big Ten's pecking order keeps getting harder and harder.

The depth of the league is making it tough on me.

For instance, Ohio State is really good but Purdue has beaten them twice and all those Boilermakers fans think the Buckeyes stink. They'd be wrong, of course, but they can think that. So how do you rank the Buckeyes?

It's the same with Iowa. The Hawkeyes have lost twice to unranked Indiana now, including on Sunday in Bloomington. Sure, the Hoosiers are 2-0 against Iowa, but there's no way I can rank them any higher.

So all I can do is look at the big picture, and rank them all from the perspective of an ENTIRE season. And doing that this week means a whole lot of shuffling.

Here are my rankings, from No. 1 to No. 14, as we moved into mid-February. Please weigh in with your thoughts.

1. Michigan Wolverines

  • Record so far: 13-1 overall, 8-1 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 3, Coaches No. 3, kenpom.com No. 3
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 1
  • Last week: At Northwestern (ppd.).
  • This week: Versus Illinois (ppd.); At Wisconsin (Sunday, 1 p.m.)
  • The skinny: I'm a little disappointed that Michigan has postponed its return to play this week, deciding not to play Thursday's game with Illinois. Those two, as you can see, are the league's best right now, and that's a matchup we all wanted. Now it looks like Sunday for the Wolverines, who still have just one loss this season.

2. Illinois Fighting Illini

  • Record so far: 13-5 overall, 9-3 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 6, Coaches No. 6, kenpom.com No. 4
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 3
  • Last week: Beat Indiana 75-71 in OT; Beat Wisconsin 75-60.
  • This week: At Michigan (ppd.);
  • The skinny: The Illini were impressive in finding a way to win that overtime slugfest with Indiana, especially with 54 fouls called and no rhythm ever getting established in the game. Saturday's blowout win over Wisconsin might have been their best game of the year. This team is rounding into form at the right time.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes

  • Record so far: 15-4 overall, 9-4 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 4, Coaches No. 5, kenpom.com No. 8
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 5
  • Last week: Beat Iowa 89-85
  • This week: At Maryland (Monday, 9 p.m. ET); Versus Indiana (Saturday, Noon ET).
  • The skinny: Ohio State was still at No. 5 a week ago, and I said ''show me.'' They went to Iowa and did exactly that, getting another road win against a highly ranked team. The Buckeyes are on a roll now.

4. Purdue Boilermakers

  • Record so far: 13-7 overall, 8-5 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 24, Coaches No. 25, kenpom.com No. 24
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 4
  • Last week: Lost to Maryland 61-60, beat Northwestern 75-70.
  • This week: At Minnesota (Thursday, 8 p.m. ET);
  • The skinny: Purdue should probably be a spot lower, but I'm figuring that the Boilermakers will be much better now that Sasha Stefanovic has returned. That Maryland loss was a bad one, and Stefanovic definitely would have made a difference there. Showing some bias, I suppose.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes

  • Record so far: 13-6 overall, 7-5 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 15, Coaches No. 16, kenpom.com No. 5
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 3
  • Last week: Beat Michigan State 84-78, lost to Ohio State 89-85, lost to Indiana 67-65
  • This week: Versus Rutgers (Wednesday, 7 p.m.); at Michigan State (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: I used the word ''freefall'' for the Hawkeyes this week and caught some grief for it, but that downward trend continued again on Sunday in a bad loss at Indiana. This team really misses C.J. Fredrick and his stability. They continue to go through bad stretches offensively, which is surprising for a team that still ranks No. 2 in scoring in the country.

6. Wisconsin Badgers

  • Record so far: 14-6 overall, 8-5 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 21, Coaches No. 21, kenpom.com No. 11
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 4
  • Last week: Beat Penn State 72-56, lost to Illinois 75-60
  • This week: At Nebraska (Thursday, 5 p.m. ET); Versus Michigan (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: Wisconsin still continues to confound me. The Badgers had a nice bounce-back win over Penn State, but then really struggled in that 15-point loss to Illinois this weekend. I can NEVER recall a Wisconsin team getting outrebounded 46-19. Doesn't that say something about effort?

7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

  • Record so far: 11-6 overall, 7-6 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 25, Coaches No. 29, kenpom.com No. 24
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 9
  • Last week: Beat Minnesota 76-72
  • This week: At Iowa (Wednesday, 7 p.m.); Versus Northwestern (Saturday, 5 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: Rutgers is bouncing back nicely and has won four in a row now. Really looking forward to that Wednesday matchup at Iowa, especially with Luka Garza and Myles Johnson doing battle in the middle.

8. Indiana Hoosiers

  • Record so far: 10-8 overall, 5-6 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 25
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 8
  • Last week: Lost to Illinois 75-71 in OT, Beat Iowa 67-65.
  • This week: At Northwestern (Wednesday, 9 p.m.); at Ohio State (Saturday, Noon ET).
  • The skinny: Indiana had two tough home games and split, leaving them stuck at No. 8, but I think this is where the line stops for NCAA tournament bids right now. The others below have work to do, but so does Indiana, of course. They need to follow up a win with another win, and that starts Wednesday at Northwestern.

9. Penn State Nittany Lions

  • Record so far: 7-8 overall, 4-7 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 30
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 10
  • Last week: Lost to Wisconsin 72-56, beat Maryland 55-50.
  • This week: At Michigan State (Tuesday, 7 p.m.); Versus Nebraska (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: Penn State has won four of six now after beating Maryland to go to 4-1 at home in the league. They're still winless on the road, though. Can that change on Tuesday?

10. Minnesota Golden Gophers

  • Record so far: 11-7 overall, 4-7 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: AP No. 35, Coaches No. 35, kenpom.com No. 42
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 9
  • Last week: Lost to Rutgers 76-72
  • This week: Versus Nebraska (Monday, 8 p.m. ET); Versus Purdue (Thursday, 8 p.m.); At Maryland (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: The Gophers are now 0-6 on the road in the Big Ten, and don't think for a minute that the NCAA selection committee won't notice how different this team is away from home. This is a huge week for the Gophers, playing three teams that are all beatable. Winning all three completely flips the script.

11. Maryland Terrapins

  • Record so far: 10-9 overall, 4-8 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 44
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 12
  • Last week: Beat Purdue 61-60, lost to Penn State 55-50.
  • This week: Versus Ohio State (Monday, 9 p.m. ET); Versus Minnesota (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: The Terrapins did a great job of getting a win against Purdue despite trailing by five late. Eric Ayala was terrific in the closing minutes. But the offense once again failed to show up in the loss at Penn State. Scoring 50 will never be in enough to win Big Ten games.

12. Michigan State Spartans

  • Record so far: 9-7 overall, 3-7 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 62
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 13
  • Last week: Lost to Iowa 84-78, beat Nebraska 66-56.
  • This week: Versus Penn State (Tuesday, 7 p.m.): Versus Iowa (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: The Spartans finally got a win, which had to be a real shot in the arm. Now it will be interesting to see if they can start to put some sort of win streak together. They have no business being rated this low in our power rankings, of course.

13. Northwestern Wildcats

  • Record so far: 6-10 overall, 3-9 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 72
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 12
  • Last week: Versus Michigan (ppd.); Lost to Purdue 75-70.
  • This week: Versus Indiana (Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET); At Rutgers (Saturday, 5 p.m. ET)
  • The skinny: Northwestern has lost nine in a row now after the loss at Purdue. How long can this go on? They really need to be better on transition defense. Purdue got too many easy baskets on Saturday.

14. Nebraska Cornhuskers

  • Record so far: 4-9 overall, 0-6 in the Big Ten
  • Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 123
  • Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 14
  • Last week: Lost to Michigan State 66-56
  • This week: At Minnesota (Monday, 8 p.m.); Versus Wisconsin (Thursday 5 p.m. ET); At Penn State (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET).
  • The skinny: It was good to see Fred Hoiberg's team back on the floor Saturday, even if it came in a loss to Michigan State. There was clearly rust for a team that hadn't played a game since Jan. 10 because of COVID. Leading scorer Teddy Allen was held to a season-low three points.

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Big Ten Power Rankings (Feb. 8): Upsets Make Pecking Order Difficult - Sports Illustrated
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