Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: December 16

Welcome to Finals Week, where the staff of Hammer & Rails works to create content while no games are actually happening. It’s not quite the desert of mid-June, but as the players work fervently on cashing in more NIL deals and increasing their brand Finals this week there is not a lot of actual sports action to talk about. That means it is time for the ol’ downtime standby.

POWER RANKINGS!

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Everyone is now through the two-game early December amuse-bouche of conference play and has played at least 10 games overall, so we’re starting to see the early stratification in the standings. Five teams made it through the early slate 2-0, and one of those five was definitely a surprise. Conference play starts anew in a few weeks and right now ESPN projects the Big Ten as a 10-bid league, but it is still early. How will Indiana survive the loss of Tucker DeVries? Is Nebraska really that good? When will Penn State bite someone in the ass in State College like they always do? Who will struggle the most after the dreaded West Coast road trips?

I won’t fully stratify into “Contenders”, “NCAA teams”, and “also-rans” just yet, but early on the top of the league looks very, very strong.

1. Michigan Wolverines – 10-0, 2-0 – Michigan is not only really good, they are crushing teams. They already have four Quad 1 victories and after a couple early scares against Wake Forest and TCU they have turned into a juggernaut.

2. Michigan State Spartans – 10-1, 2-0 – As usual, Michigan State has played a brutal non-conference schedule, but they have handled it well with wins over Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky. A six point home loss to Duke is the lone blemish. They did nearly become the Bryce Jordan Mausoleum victim this past Saturday though.

3. Purdue Boilermakers – 10-1, 2-0 – I think Purdue is, top to bottom, the most talented team in the conference. The Boilers can play both outside and in, defend well, and they have a deep bench. I still have us third because a 23-point home loss to ANYONE is shocking, even if it is mostly the result of the worst game Purdue has played in Mackey in maybe a decade. When Purdue is on offensively they are lethal.

4. Nebraska Cornhuskers – 11-0, 2-0 – What’s more shocking: That Indiana is ranked No. 1 in football headed to the Rose Bowl or Nebraska is ranked 15^th in basketball and looking more and more like a contender? Opening with wins over Wisconsin and at Illinois is quite a statement. Nebraska remains the lone power conference team that has never won an NCAA Tournament game (0-8), which might be worse than Indiana football, at least historically.

5. USC Trojans – 10-1, 1-1 – USC has been in the top 25 this year and they won the Maui Invitational. They also have one of the wildest games of the year in a 107-106 buzzer-beating win in triple overtime over Troy. They may not hang on as a contender, but they are gonna be fun to watch when we remember they are still in the Big Ten.

6. Iowa Hawkeyes – 9-2, 1-1 – Speaking of surprising things like competent Nebrasketball, Iowa plays defense now! They nearly sprung an upset at Iowa State! Their two losses are to teams currently in the top 10, but they have handled business otherwise.

7. Illinois Fighting Illini – 8-3, 1-1 – Illinois might have played the toughest league schedule so far with games against Texas Tech, Alabama, UConn, Tennessee, and Nebraska, but they have done okay. Still, late game struggles against the Tide and Huskers has them a step lower, for now. We will see how they improve when Toni Bilic gets to campus soon because apparently free agency can happen in season in college basketball now.

8. UCLA Bruins – 7-3, 2-0 – UCLA gets the asterisk 2-0 for not having to cross multiple time zones in order to win their first two league games, much to the dismay of Mick Cronin. The good: They played No. 1 Arizona to a four point game. The bad: They struggled with 1-8 Eastern Washington at home and won by only 6.

9. Ohio State Buckeyes – 8-2, 2-0 – Ohio State is the Molly Hatchet team in the Big Ten, because they are 8-2, but have flirted with disaster big time. Two wins (and one loss) have come by a single point. They gave up over 100 points to IU, which is troublesome because it was IU-Indianapolis and not the Hoosiers. Saturday against North Carolina will be a good test.

10. Indiana Hoosiers – 8-3, 1-1 – The Hoosiers are wildly inconsistent. They have shown that they deeply hate the city of Milwaukee with a 100-77 win over Marquette and 101-70 win over Milwaukee. Their 7-0 start did include a far-to-close win over Incarnate Word, but they have now dropped three of four and just lost a 17 ppg scorer.

11. Wisconsin Badgers – 7-3, 1-1 – The Badgers started the year in the top 25, but have since fallen off. I’d say they are… fine? They haven’t beaten anyone good, but they also don’t have a bad loss.

12. Washington Huskies – 7-3, 1-1 – Al UWs are the same, apparently. Washington is… fine? They’d be in the 2-0 group if they had held on at home against UCLA, but they did beat UCLA.

13. Penn State Nittany Lions – 8-3, 0-2 – Penn State gets credit for a nice bounceback against Michigan State after getting run off the court in Bloomington, but little is expected of them. Their next two conference home games are where they usually shine once a year: A ranked team that falls asleep thanks to their lack of a home court.

14. Northwestern Wildcats – 6-4, 0-2 – The Wildcats dropped 4 of 5 after a hot start, losing to Virginia, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Their last shot at a decent non-conference win is Saturday in Indy against Butler.

15. Minnesota Golden Gophers – 6-5, 1-1 – Minnesota got taken to overtime by Doug Gottleib and Green Bay, which should be cause for expulsion from the Big Ten at least this year so we can get some more double-play options between good teams. Then they beat a ranked Indiana team. Who knows.

16. Maryland Terrapins – 6-5, 0-2 – Maryland is a great team for about 30 minutes a game. Double digit losses to Gonzaga, Alabama, Wagner, and Michigan shows they can’t hang on against good teams though. Also, what is up with Alabama?

17. Oregon Ducks – 5-5, 0-2 – Oregon went 0-3 in the Players Invitational, losing all three games by 10+. Their best win is a one point home win over Hawaii.

18. Rutgers Scarlet Knights – 5-6, 0-2 – Has Steve Pikiell forgotten how to coach? That man got Rutgers as a regular tournament team on sheer grit and gumption, then he gets two lottery picks and they suck again. They lost at home to Central Connecticut by 13!