The Big Ten probably had its most entertaining week of the season over the last seven days, highlighted by some marquee matchups for teams like Illinois, Michigan State, and Purdue. Of course, all those
games also shook up these rankings as well.
So, let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings.
Big Ten Week Three Power Rankings
#1 – Purdue Boilermakers (+1)
The Boilermakers had a fantastic week of play, beating Memphis on Thursday and Texas Tech on Friday in the Bahamas. The wins pushed Purdue to 6-0 on the season. The latter win was particularly impressive, as the Boilers absolutely embarrassed the Red Raiders, winning 86-56 at the final buzzer.
While the Raiders will likely prove overrated, Texas Tech still projects as a pretty solid team and what Purdue did to it on Friday should have turned some heads. Winning by that kind of margin against a quality opponent is difficult to do at anytime, let alone after a quick turnaround in the Bahamas. It’s a statement about what Purdue can be if the team hits its potential.
Purdue will now get a relatively quiet week, with just one game on Black Friday against Eastern Illinois at home. It projects as the Boilers’ weakest opponent of the season. Expect the bench to be unloaded.
#2 – Michigan State Spartans (+2)
The Spartans also had a great week, beating Kentucky in New York on Tuesday and Detroit Mercy at home on Friday. Both wins came by lopsided margins, including an 83-66 final score against the Wildcats. The wins pushed Michigan State to 5-0 overall.
Generally speaking, Spartan fans have to be thrilled with how things have gone so far this season. The team is not only a perfect 5-0 on the year, but has built that record against quality competition. Michigan State has two wins against SEC teams and two others against top 150ish KenPom opponents, which will help boost the team’s long-term resume as well. It’s been an impressive run and has many believing the Spartans can be in the Big Ten title picture yet again.
Michigan State will now head to Fort Myers, where the team will get East Carolina on Tuesday and North Carolina on Thanksgiving Day. KenPom projects two wins.
#3 – Illinois Fighting Illini (-2)
The Illini split the team’s games last week, falling in Chicago to Alabama on Wednesday, but rebounding with a 40-point win over LIU at home on Saturday. The mixed results left Illinois sitting at 5-1 overall. The team’s biggest win remains its victory over Texas Tech on the 11th.
Through six games, it’s hard to complain too much about Illinois’ performance. The team annihilated four lesser opponents, beat a quality Texas Tech squad, and narrowly fell against Alabama away from home. The analytics look good as well, with Illinois currently sitting seventh nationally on KenPom. Andrej Stojakovic and David Mirkovic also look like stars on the wing. If they keep it up, watch out.
Of course, it’s still unclear whether Illinois is simply a really good team or an elite one. And while it will take time to figure out where things stand, we should find out a lot more this week, with Illinois facing UT Rio Grande Valley at home on Monday and UConn in Madison Square Garden on Friday. The latter matchup should be an epic one. KenPom narrowly favors the Huskies.
#4 – Michigan Wolverines (-1)
The Wolverines only had one game this week, where the team took care of business against Middle Tennessee at home. Some points of the game got a bit testy, but Michigan ended up scoring an 86-61 win. The team also regained a bit of its footing on the stats models with the win, moving up on KenPom after the effort.
Through four games, Michigan has been a relative success. Things haven’t always been pretty, but the team remains undefeated at 4-0 and has two wins against top 80 KenPom opponents away from home. The question is how things will translate against tougher competition, which will begin this week with San Diego State in Las Vegas on Monday evening and Auburn the next night. Two wins would do wonders for answering the critics’ concerns.
#5 – Indiana Hoosiers (+2)
The Hoosiers won the team’s only game last week, blowing past Lindenwood at home on Thursday to improve to 5-0 on the season. Indiana will now prepare for an intriguing game against Kansas State at home on Tuesday. The Hoosiers will then return to action against Bethune Cookman at home on Saturday. KenPom expects two wins. We’ll see if Indiana can take care of business.
#6 – Ohio State Buckeyes (+2)
The Buckeyes won their only game last week, blowing out Western Michigan at home on Thursday. The win pushed Ohio State to 5-0 on the season. The team is still relatively untested, with only one quality opponent on its schedule to date. However, that will change soon, as Ohio State gets Mount St. Mary’s at home on Tuesday and Pittsburgh on the road on Black Friday.
#7 – Nebraska Cornhuskers (+2)
The Huskers had another great week of play, scoring two wins in Kansas City. Nebraska beat New Mexico on Thursday and Kansas State on Friday. Both games were competitive, with the latter matchup going down to the wire. Fortunately for Husker fans, Nebraska found a way to get the job done and improved to 6-0. The team has now won 10 straight dating back to last season.
Nebraska will look to keep things rolling this week with Winthrop at home on Tuesday and USC Upstate on Saturday. KenPom favors the Huskers significantly in both games.
#8 – USC Trojans (-2)
The Trojans had a dramatic, but productive week. USC only had one game, which came on Thursday at home against Troy. The matchup went down to the wire and then some, eventually being decided in triple overtime. Chad Baker-Mazara proved to be the difference, finishing with 34 points and nine rebounds in the win. The game left USC sitting at 4-0 overall.
USC will now prepare for its biggest test of the season, beginning on Monday in Maui against Boise State. The Trojans would then face either Seton Hall or North Carolina State and someone else after that. It should be a great opportunity for USC to build its resume.
#9 – Wisconsin Badgers (-4)
The Badgers had a disappointing week. While things started off well with a win over SIUE at home on Monday, Wisconsin fell flat in Salt Lake City against BYU on Friday. In fact, the latter was a complete blowout, as the Cougars ran the Badgers off the floor en route to a 98-70 win. The mixed results left Wisconsin sitting at 4-1.
At this point, it’s hard to know how to take Friday’s loss and what it projects about Wisconsin’s long-term prospects. Obviously, it was a disappointing result, but did it have to do more with BYU or Wisconsin? It’s hard to know at the moment, considering the Cougars are the only decent opponent Wisconsin has faced to date. It’s a single data point in a season that’s going to last months — it could easily be an outlier. The important part for the Badgers will be bouncing back and avoiding one loss turning into more.
Wisconsin will return to action this week in San Diego, facing Providence on Thanksgiving. The team will then get Florida or TCU on Friday. It presents as quite an opportunity for the Badgers if the team plays well.
#10 – UCLA Bruins (—)
The Bruins scored two comfortable wins last week, beating Sacramento State at home on Tuesday and Presbyterian at home on Friday. Both games were decided by at least 30 points. The wins pushed UCLA to 5-1 overall. The team will now prepare for rival California in San Francisco on Tuesday. KenPom favors the Bruins, though it’s expected to be a close game.
#11 – Oregon Ducks (—)
The Ducks had a productive week, beating rival Oregon State at home on Monday in Oregon’s only game of the week. Nobody was quite sure about what to expect given some of Oregon’s lackluster performances to date, so it had to be encouraging for fans to see the team not only beat a rival, but do it by double-digits.
The win pushed Oregon to 4-0 and the team will now head to Las Vegas for a few marquee matchups. The Ducks will get Auburn on Monday and then San Diego State on Tuesday. KenPom projects two losses for Oregon, but both games are expected to be competitive, so Duck fans should have some hope.
#12 – Iowa Hawkeyes (—)
The Hawkeyes took care of two bottom feeders last week, cruising past Southeast Missouri at home on Tuesday and Chicago State at home on Thursday. The wins pushed Iowa to 5-0 on the season. The team will now prepare for a trip to Palm Springs, where Iowa will open up against Ole Miss on Tuesday.
#13 – Northwestern Wildcats (+1)
The Wildcats split the team’s games last week, falling to Virginia on Friday, but bouncing back against South Carolina on Sunday. Both games were played down to the wire, so it’s probably fitting that Northwestern split the games. Nick Martinelli came up huge in the win over the Gamecocks, finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds. The win left Northwestern sitting at 5-1 overall.
Northwestern will now prepare for a marquee matchup against Oklahoma State on Thanksgiving in Chicago. KenPom favors the Wildcats. Northwestern has outperformed expectations to date, so fans are hoping the team can deliver with another win.
#14 – Maryland Terrapins (-1)
The Terrapins won the team’s only game last week, getting past Mount St. Mary’s at home on Wednesday. The game was a close one, needing overtime for Maryland to score a win. The victory pushed Maryland to 4-1 through five games. The team is currently on a three-game winning streak.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to feel great about Maryland’s prospects right now. The Terps have regressed significantly from the team’s preseason projections, dropping 31 spots on KenPom since the season began, and Pharrel Payne went out with injury as well. There’s still time for Buzz Williams and his staff to figure things out, but things are only going to get more difficult with the upcoming slate, so the clock is running.
Maryland will return to action this week in Las Vegas on Monday against UNLV. The team will then get Gonzaga on Tuesday. KenPom currently projects a split.
#15 – Washington Huskies (—)
The Huskies escaped in the team’s sole game last week, narrowly surviving against Southern at home on Tuesday in double overtime. Wesley Yates finished with 23 points and six rebounds in the win to push Washington to 4-1 on the season. The team will now prepare for a trip to Palm Springs, where it will open up play on Thanksgiving against Nevada. KenPom projects a close win for the Huskies.
#16 – Penn State Nittany Lions (—)
The Nittany Lions had a disappointing week. Things started decently with a win over Harvard on Wednesday, but regressed quickly on Saturday, as Penn State fell by 12 points to Providence. The game was particularly rough, as Penn State continued to lose ground in the second half. The mixed results left Penn State sitting at 5-1 overall.
Penn State will try and bounce back this week against Boston University at home on Tuesday and Sacred Heart at home on Saturday. The Nittany Lions will be major favorites in both games.
#17 – Minnesota Golden Gophers (+1)
The Gophers fared slightly better this week than they did the week prior, but still came up with another loss. Minnesota opened things up with a win over Chicago State at home on Tuesday, but fell flat against San Francisco in Sioux Falls on Saturday. The loss dropped Minnesota to 4-2 overall.
Minnesota will try and regain some momentum this week in Palm Springs, beginning with a beatable Stanford team on Thanksgiving. The Gophers will then face either Saint Louis or Santa Clara on Friday.
#18 – Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-1)
The Scarlet Knights easiest had the worst week of anyone on this list. While the team opened with a win over American on Tuesday, it followed it up by face planting against Central Connecticut at home on Friday. The Blue Devils came into the game rated 296th on KenPom, but somehow managed to not only pull off the upset over Rutgers, but to do it by double-digits. It was an embarrassing effort from the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers didn’t have high expectations entering this season, but even those have fallen by the wayside through just five games. For perspective, KenPom had the Scarlet Knights rated 85th nationally, but the team has already fallen 41 spots to 126th as of Monday morning. That’s the lowest in the league (by 23 spots), which could set Rutgers up for a disastrous conference season if the trend doesn’t reverse. Nobody wants to go into a 20-game slate where every opponent rates as a better team.
We’ll see if Rutgers can get things back on track this week. The Scarlet Knights get Tennessee in Las Vegas on Monday and Notre Dame on Tuesday. KenPom has Rutgers as a massive underdog in both games, so even one upset would be a boost.
