Big Ten play got a tad quieter this week, as teams started going into their holiday/exam breaks. However, fans still got to enjoy some quality matchups, including some marquee matchups for teams like Illinois, Ohio State, and Purdue. Of course, all that action shook things up somewhat.
So, let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings.
Big Ten Week Seven Power Rankings
#1 – Michigan Wolverines (—)
The Wolverines took care of business in the team’s only game last week, crushing a flawed La Salle squad at home on Sunday. Michigan was utterly dominant in the performance,
scoring a 102-50 win over La Salle where the bench would have won the game by itself. The win pushed Michigan to 11-0 overall.
The team will now get a week off before wrapping up non-conference play at home against McNeese on December 29th. Notably, McNeese actually beat the Wolverines two years ago in Ann Arbor on the same date (December 29th) while Juwan Howard was still the head coach, so Michigan will be looking for some revenge.
#2 – Purdue Boilermakers (—)
The Boilermakers impressed in the team’s lone outing last week, blasting Auburn in Indianapolis on Saturday. Purdue performed well on both sides of the ball, getting quality offensive play from Braden Smith and defending pretty well. It also helped push the team’s rough Iowa State loss further in the rear view mirror.
Purdue now sits at 11-1 overall and the group has looked every bit the part of an elite unit. While the loss to the Cyclones remains a rough spot, it’s hard to complain about entering the final week of December with a single loss against the slate Purdue has played. The Boilers will have plenty of competition in the Big Ten and beyond, but this certainly looks the part of a team capable of delivering on those high expectations.
The team will be off this week before wrapping up non-conference play against Kent State at home on December 29th. It’s actually a pretty solid MAC opponent that could make things testy for the Boilers. We’ll see how it shakes out.
#3 – Michigan State Spartans (—)
The Spartans swept the team’s games last week, taking care of Toledo at home on Tuesday and Oakland in Detroit on Saturday. The game against the Grizzlies was closer than Spartan fans would have liked, but Michigan State still took care of business in a Christmas-themed setting. The wins left the team sitting at 11-1 overall.
Through 12 games, it’s hard to complain about how Michigan State has performed so far. The team has been perfect, outside of a loss to an elite Duke squad, and already has some quality wins on its resume. Michigan State is also up to 12th nationally on KenPom, which should put it firmly in the Big Ten title race and in pursuit for a great seed in March. And that’s about all fans can ask for heading into the final weeks of December.
Michigan State will get the next week off before returning to action against Cornell at home on December 29th. It projects as a lopsided affair.
#4 – Nebraska Cornhuskers (—)
The Huskers won the team’s only game last week, taking care of an awful North Dakota team at home on Sunday. The win came by 23 points and pushed Nebraska to 12-0 overall. The squad remains one of the nation’s last unbeatens and all eyes are circled on some major matchups on the deck in January. However, Nebraska will have to take care of business against New Hampshire at home on December 30th to get there unblemished.
#5 – Illinois Fighting Illini (—)
The Illini had more than week off to recover from the team’s heartbreaking loss to Nebraska earlier in the month. However, when Illinois finally returned to action on December 22nd, the group looked focused, blowing out rival Missouri in St. Louis. The game was largely over in the first half and Illinois ran away with it in the closing minutes. The win pushed Illinois to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
Through 12 games, Illinois continues to look like a top 25 unit. The group is taking care of lesser opponents and already has multiple marquee wins as well. The only question is whether the group can compete with the top tier of the Big Ten. So far, Illinois is looking a step or two behind. However, there’s still plenty of time to improve. We’ll see how that effort goes on December 29th, when the group wraps up non-con play against Southern at home.
#6 – USC Trojans (—)
The Trojans swept the team’s games last week, blasting UTSA on Wednesday and UC Santa Cruz at home on Sunday to improve to 12-1 overall. Neither game was all that intriguing, but they continued the momentum growing in Los Angeles around this squad. The team will now get a week and a half off before going on the road to face Michigan and Michigan State in the first week of January. Even a split would be a huge accomplishment.
#7 – Iowa Hawkeyes (—)
The Hawkeyes cruised in the team’s only game this week, blowing past Bucknell at home on Saturday. The win left Iowa sitting at 10-2 overall. Iowa will now get a week off before resuming play against UMass Lowell at home on December 29th.
#8 – Indiana Hoosiers (—)
The Hoosiers swept the team’s games last week, beating Chicago State at home on Saturday and Siena at home on Monday. The wins pushed the group to 10-3 overall. Despite a rough December, the group now prepares to enter the new year having won three of its last four games by double-digits. Indiana will return to action on January 4th at home against Washington.
#9 – UCLA Bruins (—)
The Bruins swept the team’s games last week, beating Arizona State and Cal Poly at home on Wednesday and Friday. The win against the Sun Devils particularly stood out, as UCLA was able to score a 13-point win against what had been perceived as a pretty solid Arizona State squad. The win left UCLA sitting at 9-3 overall.
At this point, it’s still hard to get a great read on this UCLA squad. The group isn’t playing at an elite level, but it also clearly isn’t struggling either, having scored multiple quality wins already. The question is whether the group is good or just mediocre. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell with how the Bruins have played up and down to competition so far. For example, the group narrowly beat Eastern Washington, but played Arizona down to the wire a few weeks later. The results simply don’t make a ton of sense when paired together.
UCLA will close out non-conference play this week against UC Riverside at home on Tuesday. It’s not expected to be a close game.
#10 – Ohio State Buckeyes (—)
The Buckeyes lost the team’s only game last week, falling to North Carolina on a neutral court on Saturday. The game was an absolute thriller, going down to the final minutes before Ohio State fell short. It wasn’t a “bad loss” under any reasonable evaluation. However, it still weighed heavily, given the missteps against Illinois and Pittsburgh earlier in the year and also means Ohio State will enter 2026 without a win over a top 50 KenPom team, which is never a great sign for Selection Sunday.
Ohio State now finds itself sitting at 8-3 overall and teetering on the NCAA bubble. KenPom currently has the Buckeyes sitting 40th on KenPom, which comes with a regular season projection of 18-13 overall and 10-10 in Big Ten play. While that’s solid enough to get into the NCAA conversation, it’s hardly good enough to feel comfortable about where things will land. The team’s has to find some ways to win some of these marquee games and/or improve over the coming weeks.
The group will return to action on Tuesday to wrap up non-con play against Grambling State at home. It’s not expected to be a competitive matchup.
#11 – Wisconsin Badgers (—)
The Badgers fell in the team’s first game last week, falling by 10 to Villanova in Milwaukee on Friday. Many fans had that game circled as an opportunity for Wisconsin to score its first marquee win of the season. Unfortunately, it ended up being the team’s second straight double-digit loss, with the first being a 30-point loss to Nebraska on December 10th. The team then rebounded with a win over Central Michigan at home on Monday. The mixed results left the Badgers sitting at 8-4 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.
Like a few other teams on this list, it remains difficult to slot the Badgers in the league pecking order. The team still hasn’t beaten anyone great, but it also hasn’t lost to anybody terrible either. KenPom has Wisconsin sitting 44th nationally and that feels about right. Unfortunately, just as with Ohio State above, if that rating holds, it’s going to end up being a dramatic (or worse) Selection Sunday in Madison. That KenPom rating comes with a 17-14 overall projection, which could easily put the team on the outside looking in.
Wisconsin will now get a week off before returning to action on December 30th at home against Milwaukee. It should be a good final tune up before Big Ten play resumes.
#12 – Northwestern Wildcats (—)
The Wildcats split the team’s games last week. While Northwestern beat Valparaiso at home on Tuesday, the team fell short against Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday. Unfortunately, star forward Nick Martinelli missed the Butler game due to a concussion and the Wildcats ended up losing. The loss dropped Northwestern to 7-5 overall. The team will now get a week off before returning to action against Howard at home on December 30th.
#13 – Oregon Ducks (+1)
The Ducks performed respectably last week, blowing past Portland at home on Wednesday and falling to Gonzaga in a competitive game in Portland on Sunday. While it was tough for Duck fans to see the team drop another game, few thought Oregon was going to be able to beat an elite squad like Gonzaga on a neutral court, so a loss hardly changed expectations. The team now sits at 6-6 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play.
Oregon will get one final non-conference game this week to get ready for the heart of Big Ten play starting in January. The matchup comes against Nebraska Omaha at home on Sunday. It figures to be a comfortable win. Fans will hope Dana Altman can work on his rotations to avoid a rough opening to the new year.
#14 – Washington Huskies (-1)
The Huskies had a disappointing week of play, falling to Seattle in the team’s first game of the week on Friday. The game came down to just a few buckets, but Washington’s offense was simply too underwhelming to get the win. While the group rebounded with a win over San Diego at home on Monday, the split left Washington sitting at 8-4 overall.
Washington will now get a week off to celebrate Christmas before resuming play against Utah at home on December 29th. It figures to be a competitive game.
#15 – Minnesota Golden Gophers (+2)
The Gophers won the team’s only game last week, beating Campbell at home on Sunday. The win pushed the group to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Minnesota will now get a week off before wrapping up non-conference play at home against Fairleigh Dickinson on December 29th.
#16 – Maryland Terrapins (—)
The Terrapins had another rough week, falling on the road to former ACC foe Virginia on Saturday. Maryland showed some progress in the outing, keeping it close at the final buzzer, unlike the team’s prior two games. However, it still wasn’t enough, as Maryland fell to 6-6 overall. The team has now lost three straight and five of its last six games.
At this point, things aren’t looking great for the Terps. Writing off teams in December is always a risky endeavor, but it’s going to take a massive turnaround for Buzz Williams to even get Maryland in the NCAA discussion after the last two months of play. The team is just 98th on KenPom and projected to be well under .500 at season’s end. The clock is running and time is growing short for the group to get things figured out. We’ll see how that effort goes this week against Old Dominion at home on Sunday.
#17 – Penn State Nittany Lions (-2)
The Nittany Lions lost the team’s only game last week, falling in Hershey on Sunday to rival Pittsburgh. The game was completely uncompetitive, as Penn State ended up falling by 34 points at the final buzzer. It was Penn State’s third straight loss and dropped the group to 8-4 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play.
If there was any doubt Penn State’s quick 8-1 start was a mirage, that can now be put to bed after last week’s loss. This is a highly flawed squad that will be heading nowhere in March without substantial improvement. The good news is it’s a young team, so improvement is possible. We’ll see how that goes on the team’s final non-con outing on December 29th against North Carolina Central at home.
#18 – Rutgers Scarlet Knights (—)
The Scarlet Knights won the team’s only game on Saturday at home against Penn, but it certainly didn’t feel that way, as Rutgers needed a desperate comeback to avoid a crushing upset. The win left Rutgers sitting at 6-6 overall. The team will now get a week off before returning to action at home against Delaware State on December 29th. At this point, who knows what to expect.
