It was a great week of action across the league. While there wasn’t a ton during the weekdays, Saturday had a gargantuan slate, highlighted by marquee opportunities for teams like Illinois, Nebraska, and UCLA. Of course, all that action shook things up considerably.
So, let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings.
Big Ten Week Six Power Rankings
#1 – Michigan Wolverines (—)
The Wolverines had another exceptional week, blasting a solid Villanova squad at home on Tuesday and beating Maryland on the road on Saturday night. Both wins came by at least 18 points and pushed
Michigan to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. Michigan has now beaten seven consecutive opponents by at least 18 points dating back to a close win on the road against TCU in early November.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Michigan’s performance last week is that neither win included a particularly favorable set of circumstances for the Wolverines. Michigan shot just 27.3 percent from three against the Wildcats and still won by 28 points. Most teams wouldn’t come out on top shooting like that, let alone do it in blowout fashion. Then, on Saturday night, Maryland went ballistic from three, hitting 51.9 percent of its looks from deep while Michigan still won big. Beating any team on the road that hits more than half of its three is incredibly difficult, but doing it by 18 (!!!) points deserves mention.
The wins pushed Michigan to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines will now get a reprieve on the slate, with most of this week off before facing La Salle at home on Sunday.
#2 – Purdue Boilermakers (—)
The Boilermakers swept the team’s games last week, beating Minnesota at home on Wednesday and Marquette at home on Saturday. Both games were lopsided results, as Purdue cruised to at least 20-point victories in both games. The wins left Purdue sitting at 10-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play.
By any objective measure, Purdue enters the last stretch of December in great position. The team is not only 10-1, but has already beaten five top 100 KenPom opponents. The wins over Alabama and Texas Tech have also continued to hold up well, which wasn’t entirely clear when they happened. It’s a truly great resume.
The only remaining thing left to answer is whether the team is truly elite this season. The Boilers are certainly good, but is the team good enough to tangle with the nation’s best in March and come out on top? Purdue’s only game against a top 10 team to date was Iowa State and the Boilermakers got run off the court at home. It was a rough result that’s going to stick with fans, at least for awhile. Until we see Purdue beat a team like that, there’s always going to be some level of hesitation.
The good news is Purdue can really start to turn the page this week, with a matchup against a talented Auburn squad in Indianapolis on Saturday. The Boilers are solidly favored. Get a win there and the loss to the Cyclones starts looking more like a blip.
#3 – Michigan State Spartans (—)
The Spartans won the team’s only game last week, besting Penn State on the road on Saturday. The win was hard fought, as Michigan State needed some heroics in the closing minutes of the game to hold off the Nittany Lions. Divine Ugochukwu came through brilliantly, finishing with 23 points in the win. It left the team sitting at 9-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play.
Much like Purdue above, Michigan State’s overall resume and metrics are looking pretty impressive through a month and a half of the season. The depth also seems to be sorting out as well. The question is whether the Spartans will have that “extra gear” to get across the finish line. The team is going to get a lot more challenging games (and environments) than what it saw on Saturday, so improving is essential.
Michigan State will return to action on Tuesday at home against Toledo. The Spartans will then get Oakland in Detroit on Saturday in a fun Christmas-themed matchup.
#4 – Nebraska Cornhuskers (+1)
The Huskers shocked the world last week, winning both of the team’s games and jumping from an NCAA bubble contender into the Big Ten title conversation. Nebraska opened things up with a 30-point win over Wisconsin at home on Wednesday and followed it up by beating Illinois on the road on Saturday. It pushed Nebraska to 11-0 overall, 2-0 in Big Ten play, and to the nation’s longest active winning streak at 15 (!!!) games. The team is unblemished since falling to Iowa to close last year’s regular season.
While the analytics have still yet to fall in love with the Huskers, last week’s results were so impressive that Nebraska saw a 21-spot jump on KenPom in the process. The team is now up to 21st nationally, which is 30 spots above where it began the season. And you can see why on the court — this is a good team where the role players continue to improve. Sam Hoiberg is improving in the backcourt, Braden Frager has moments upfront, and Pryce Sandfort is looking like a star. If that keeps going, Nebraska’s potential is immense.
The team will now get some time off to celebrate before returning to action on Sunday at home against North Dakota. The Huskers will be significant favorites in that one.
#5 – Illinois Fighting Illini (-1)
The Illini had a respectable week, beating Ohio State on the road on Tuesday, but falling at home to Nebraska on Saturday. And while the latter game turned a lot of heads nationally, it probably had more to do with Nebraska’s rise than anything Illinois did poorly. It was a well played game where Illinois simply came up short. The split left Illinois sitting at 8-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
At this point, it’s hard to view Illinois as a top tier Big Ten squad. There’s certainly time for Brad Underwood and his staff to get things figured out, but this group is undeniably playing a step or two behind the top four. It’s still a good team that should make the NCAA Tournament comfortably. However, it’s probably looking a lot closer to last year’s result than fans were hoping for as we approach the new year.
Illinois will now get a week off before returning to action on December 22nd in St. Louis against Missouri. That should be a nice opportunity to grab a resume win.
#6 – USC Trojans (—)
The Trojans added two wins to the resume this week, beating San Diego on the road on Tuesday and Washington State at home on Sunday. The wins left the team sitting at 10-1 overall. USC will get two more lesser opponents on the docket this week, with UTSA at home on Wednesday and Brown at home on Sunday.
#7 – Iowa Hawkeyes (—)
The Hawkeyes had a mixed week. Iowa played its heart out on the road against rival Iowa State on Thursday, but fell short in the second half, falling by just four-points to an excellent Cyclone squad. The team then rebounded with a blowout win over Western Michigan at home on Sunday. The split left Iowa sitting at 9-2 overall. Iowa will now get much of the week off before returning to action on Saturday in Des Moines against Bucknell.
#8 – Indiana Hoosiers (—)
The Hoosiers disappointed this week. Indiana opened with a blowout win over Penn State on Tuesday, but fell on the road on Saturday night against rival Kentucky. The latter game ended up not even being all that competitive, with a final score of 72-60. It was a crushing result for all the Hoosier fans who had campaigned for years to get Kentucky back on the schedule. The loss left Indiana sitting at 8-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
KenPom still has Indiana sitting at 26th after last week, but it’s hard to feel the team is playing at that level, especially offensively. The offense is entirely too dependent on Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries to carry it. The team needs to find some others who can step up. We’ll see how that process goes when the team returns to action against Chicago State at home on Saturday.
#9 – UCLA Bruins (+1)
The Bruins lost the team’s only game last week, falling in Seattle to Gonzaga on Saturday night. The loss dropped UCLA to 7-3 overall. It snapped a two-game winning streak for UCLA. The team played respectably. It just fell short against a superior Bulldog squad.
UCLA will get two chances to get back on track this week, with Arizona State at home on Wednesday and Cal Poly at home on Friday. KenPom favors the Bruins in both games.
#10 – Ohio State Buckeyes (+1)
The Buckeyes had mixed results last week, falling to Illinois at home on Tuesday, but bouncing back with a win over West Virginia in Cleveland on Saturday. The latter was an absolute thriller, eventually getting decided in double overtime. The split left Ohio State sitting at 8-2 overall.
Through 10 games, Ohio State remains on track to be on the bubble on Selection Sunday. The question over the coming weeks (and months) will be whether the team can do enough to avoid the drama and look up a comfortable bid. That effort will continue on Saturday in Atlanta against North Carolina.
#11 – Wisconsin Badgers (-2)
The Badgers lost the team’s only game last week, falling on the road to Nebraska on Wednesday. And while the loss by itself would have been understandable, the 30-point final margin turned plenty of heads. Wisconsin was utterly uncompetitive in a game that should have been close. The loss dropped the team to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
Wisconsin’s overall projections remain respectable enough, but its profile has clearly taken some hits over the last few weeks. The team peaked at 15th on KenPom before the BYU debacle a few weeks ago. Since then, it’s slid all the way to 39th. And while that isn’t terrible, that’s probably not going to cut it in this year’s Big Ten. KenPom currently only projects the Badgers to finish conference play with a .500 record. It’ll make for quite a Selection Sunday if that holds true.
Fans will hope Wisconsin can begin the process of turning things around this weekend. The Badgers get Villanova in Milwaukee in what looks like a winnable game.
#12 – Northwestern Wildcats (—)
The Wildcats won the team’s only game last week at home against Jackson State on Saturday. The win pushed Northwestern to 6-4 overall on the season. Northwestern will now prepare for Valparaiso at home on Tuesday and Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday. KenPom projects a split.
#13 – Washington Huskies (—)
The Huskies beat Southern Utah at home on Saturday to improve to 7-3 overall in the team’s only outing of the week. Washington will now prepare to return to action on Friday against Seattle in Climate Pledge Arena. It’s expected to be a competitive game.
#14 – Oregon Ducks (—)
The Ducks started getting back on track last week after a rough start, beating UC Davis at home on Saturday by 42 points. The win pushed Oregon to 5-5 overall. Fans are hoping it can ignite a midseason turnaround. That effort will continue this week at home against Portland on Wednesday and in Portland on Sunday against Gonzaga. Obviously, two wins would be huge for Oregon’s postseason hopes.
#15 – Penn State Nittany Lions (—)
The Nittany Lions had a horrid week, falling in blowout fashion to Indiana on Tuesday and Michigan State at home on Saturday. While there were a few good moments against the Spartans, it was never enough to get the win and the team dropped to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play following the losses. Penn State also drifted to 107th nationally on KenPom, which is nowhere close to cutting it in this year’s Big Ten.
Penn State will try and get some positivity going again this week against Pittsburgh in Hersey on Sunday. KenPom favors the Nittany Lions right now, but only narrowly.
#16 – Maryland Terrapins (—)
The Terrapins suffered another tough Big Ten loss on Saturday, falling at home to Michigan to drop to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play. Maryland actually shot the ball well and led around halftime, but just couldn’t get enough stops against the Wolverines to get a win.
Maryland only has one game this week, which will come against Virginia on the road on Saturday. It projects as an uphill battle for the Terps.
#17 – Minnesota Golden Gophers (—)
The Gophers had a decent week. Minnesota opened things up by losing on the road to Purdue on Wednesday before rebounding with a win over Texas Southern at home on Sunday. The split left Minnesota sitting at 6-5 overall. The team will try and get back on track this week at home against Campbell on Sunday.
#18 – Rutgers Scarlet Knights (—)
The Scarlet Knights had another tough loss this week, falling to rival Seton Hall on the road on Saturday. The game wasn’t particularly competitive and Rutgers didn’t look great in any respect during the outing. The loss dropped the team to 5-6 overall. Rutgers will try and get back on track this week at home against Penn on Saturday.
