The New Year has arrived, and that means full-time B1G conference play is finally here as well! A few teams started 2026 with a buy game before playing their first conference games, but the start of conference play across the country also led to a ton of movement in the bracket. So after a few important B1G games and a very eventful weekend across the country, it’s time to revisit where all the teams in the conference stand from a bracketology perspective.
Michigan – No. 1 Seed (No. 1 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 1 Seed (No. 1 overall)
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The Wolverines absolutely dominated two quality teams this week. First, Michigan claimed a 112-71 win against McNeese State and although the Cowboys lost head coach Will Wade in the offseason and aren’t a school with a big brand, they are a top-50 team according to the NET, and this win was a Quad 2 victory for the Wolverines, and a tone-setter heading into conference play. Speaking of conference play, USC wasn’t much more of a challenge for Michigan than McNeese State was, as the Wolverines cruised to a 96-66 victory, despite injuries limiting the second-half minutes of Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett. Michigan will hope to get those two players fully healthy for a road game against Penn State tomorrow night.
Purdue – No. 2 Seed (No. 5 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 2 Seed (No. 7 overall)
The Boilermarkers kept the train rolling this week with two very comfortable victories. Purdue defeated Kent State 101-60, but that game was more of a warmup for a road game against Wisconsin. The Boilermakers were down 9-2 in the early minutes, but promptly responded with an 8-0 run and outside of a bit of back-and-forth action throughout the first half, Purdue cruised to an 89-73 win. The Boilermakers’ biggest achievement of the week came from Braden Smith, who had eight assists against Kent State early in the week and then 12 assists against the Badgers to set the B1G career record with 893 assists, surpassing Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (890).
Nebraska – No. 3 Seed (No. 10 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 3 Seed (No. 12 overall)
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How about those Cornhuskers? Nebraska started out the week with a dominant 86-55 victory against New Hampshire, but the story of the week was the 58-56 win against Michigan State that led to a court storm at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The ‘Huskers’ undefeated record was more than indicative of the high level basketball this team is currently playing, and now (as long as Oklahoma remains in the top 50 of the NET this season), the resume has an impressive 3 Quad 1 wins to really match the strength of a 14-0 start, leading to the big jump in seeding.
Illinois – No. 4 Seed (No. 13 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 Seed (No. 14 overall)
The Fighting Illini demolished Missouri heading into the holiday break, and they picked up exactly where they left off. Illinois beat Southern 90-55 to shake off the rust before B1G play, where the Illini took on Penn State. Although the final score was 73-65 against the Nittany Lions, Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 start, built up a lead of 15 early in the second half and led wire-to-wire in the victory. Next up for the Illini are matchups against Rutgers and Iowa, with the latter of the two serving as an important litmus test in the early conference schedule.
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Michigan State – No. 4 Seed (No. 14 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 3 Seed (No. 10 overall)
The Spartans had two complete opposite performances in the same week. Michigan State started very slow and didn’t play up to its standard on defense despite winning 114-97 against Cornell in its first game back from the holiday break. But the Spartans completely flipped that script over the weekend, and even though they put the clamps on a high-powered Nebraska offense, Michigan State fell 58-56 on the road. The defense definitely held its own, but Michigan State just was not good enough on the offensive end to afford having 19 turnovers in a game like it did on Friday in Lincoln.
Iowa – No. 4 Seed (No. 16 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 5 Seed (No. 20 overall)
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The Hawkeyes mirrored the Illini’s path this week, returning from holiday break with a 90-62 victory against UMass Lowell, and then grinding out a close win in a conference game. Iowa led UCLA by 18 points at the half, and closed the game out with a 74-61 victory. Maybe the most important thing Iowa did in that game, though, was sustain some offense without Bennett Stirtz on the floor. Stirtz has played 35.9 minutes per game this season, but he committed his fourth foul with 8:23 left in the second half, and yet the Hawkeyes’ lead only dropped from seven points to five until the 4:57 mark when he came back in. A lot of doubts about this team arise from the thought that Iowa is way too reliant on Stirtz, so the ability to keep a game against a solid team at a comfortable margin with him on the bench was very impressive.
Indiana – No. 9 Seed (No. 34 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 10 Seed (No. 37 overall, Last Four Byes)
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The Hoosiers defeated Washington 90-80 at home Sunday night to improve to 2-1 in B1G play. Surprisingly, that was just Indiana’s second win of the season against an opponent better than Quad 3 (the Huskies are currently a Quad 2 opponent at home). Indiana will go on a brief road trip to Maryland before starting a gauntlet of four straight conference games against ranked opponents (Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa and Michigan). The Hoosiers are still hanging onto a tournament spot for now, but will need to win a few of those games against marquee opponents to stay on the right side of the bubble.
USC – No. 9 Seed (No. 36 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 7 Seed (No. 27 overall)
USC lost 96-66 in their second road game of the conference season. The Trojans have been committing fouls at a very high rate throughout the season, and it came back to bite them in their biggest game of the season. Starting forward Jacob Cofie picked up two fouls in just five minutes in the first half, and Chad Baker-Mazara picked up four fouls of his own in the first half. Despite holding Michigan to a 6-for-30 (20%) night from behind the arc, USC gave up 46 points in the paint and 26 fastbreak points, which is way too much if you want to keep it close with the Wolverines.
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UCLA – No. 10 Seed (No. 40 overall, Last Four Byes)
Previous seeding: No. 10 Seed (No. 38 overall, Last Four Byes)
The Bruins continued their struggles in games against marquee opponents this season. This time, UCLA went on the road to take on Iowa, and lost 84-71. Although the Bruins’ ability to cut the lead all the way down from 24 to just five points near the end of the game was a good sign, UCLA still needs to find some more wins against good opponents. Currently, the Bruins’ 10-4 overall record consists of a 9-0 mark against Quads 3 and 4, but just a 1-4 record against Quads 1 and 2. UCLA will have another Quad 1 opportunity this week when it takes on Wisconsin, although the Kohl Center is a notoriously tough environment for opposing teams.
Ohio State – No. 11 Seed (No. 42 overall, Last Four In)
Previous seeding: No. 11 Seed (No. 45 overall, Last Four Byes)
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The Buckeyes fought off a 15-point Rutgers lead to claim an 80-73 win and improve to 2-1 in conference play. Bruce Thornton had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the victory, but Ohio State will need to play better to beat the top dogs in the conference. For now, the Buckeyes remain barely on the right side of the bubble, with a big game against undefeated Nebraska looming before heading out west to face Oregon and Washington later in the week.
Washington – Next Four Out
Previous seeding: In Consideration
The Huskies continue to show signs of competing with good teams, but they need to get over the hump and win one of those games soon. This week, Washington lost 90-80 to Indiana on the road. It was a Quad 1 loss, so it doesn’t hurt the Huskies’ resume too much, but a 2-5 overall record against Quads 1 and 2 frankly isn’t a good enough pace for a team that wants to secure an NCAA Tournament bid. Next up for Washington is a trip to Mackey Arena to face Purdue, before returning home for three straight games against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. While it is unlikely the Huskies can defeat the Boilermakers, beating Ohio State at home on Sunday is a must.
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Wisconsin – In Consideration
Previous seeding: Next Four Out
As much as it hurts to say it, this Badgers team continues to underachieve. Wisconsin did defeat Milwaukee 80-60 in its return to action after more than a week off, but the Badgers couldn’t hang with Purdue at home, losing that matchup 89-73. The Boilermakers are a great opponent, so the loss isn’t all too surprising, but Wisconsin teams of the past had the tendency to keep these types of games close at the very least. The Badgers’ struggles with three point shooting also continued in that game, as the team shot 4-for-25 from deep, including a 2-for-21 mark excluding Braeden Carrington’s efficient 2-for-4 day. Wisconsin has made the NCAA Tournament in four of the last five seasons, but it looks like that history is in jeopardy early in the season.
Oregon – Out
Previous seeding: Out
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The Ducks might have finally found their groove for the season. Despite the absence of Jackson Shelstad, Oregon beat Maryland 64-54 on the road. Nate Bittle had 16 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three assists in the victory, but the Ducks still have to close out the east coast swing with another victory against Rutgers to have a truly productive road trip. Oregon will also return home later in the week with a chance to claim its first win of the season against a Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponent (the Ducks are currently 0-6 in those opportunities).
Minnesota – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Don’t look now, but the Golden Gophers are above .500 in conference play. Minnesota’s home win against Indiana to start conference play was a shocker, and the Gophers got another win as an underdog this weekend with an 84-78 win on the road against Northwestern. Suddenly, Minnesota has reversed its fortunes, winning five of six games after a three-game losing streak. Even some of the Golden Gophers’ early-season losses have started to look more respectable as the season has gone on (see Missouri’s upset against Florida and Stanford’s upset against Louisville). Minnesota still isn’t in the tournament conversation, but with both the Indiana and Northwestern wins on the borderline of Quad 1, it’s not unfathomable that after another win or two – maybe against Iowa or USC this week – that conversation could be necessary.
Northwestern – Out
Previous seeding: Out
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The ‘Cats pulled away from Howard in the second half to claim an 80-60 win and carry some momentum into conference play. But in perhaps the most surprising result of the week in the conference, Northwestern fell at home against Minnesota 84-78. Nick Martinelli and Cade Tyson both reached their expected outputs of 20+ points, but the story of the game was the Wildcats’ defense falling apart in the second half and giving up 50 points to the Golden Gophers. Northwestern remains winless in conference, and will have to win on the road against either Michigan State or Rutgers to get on the board in B1G play this week.
Maryland – Out
Previous seeding: Out
The Terrapins once again failed to show signs of improvement on offense. Maryland scored just 54 points in its return to conference play, and outside of the scorers who reached double figures – Solomon Washington’s 17-point, 12-rebound performance and Isaiah Watts’ 11 points (including 3-for-7 shooting on threes) – the Terrapins shot 18.6% from the field (8-for-43) and 12.5% on threes (3-for-24). No matter how well the team plays on defense, that lack of offensive production will always lead to losses.
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Penn State – Out
Previous seeding: Out
The Nittany Lions haven’t shown anything too impressive in conference play, or really against any team outside of Quad 4, and that continued this week. Penn State defeated North Carolina Central 90-67, but fell 73-65 to Illinois later in the week. The consistent bright spot for an otherwise uncompetitive team has been freshman Kayden Mingo, who had 19 points, six assists and five steals against NC Central, and then scored 16 points to go with five assists and four steals against the Illini. However, as a team, Penn State is still winless in games against Quads 1, 2 and 3, including a rough 0-2 record in Quad 3 games.
Rutgers – Out
Previous seeding: Out
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The Scarlet Knights returned from the holiday break with a 65-50 win against Delaware State, but Rutgers had a bigger game looming over the weekend. The Scarlet Knights took a 41-37 lead into the half against Ohio State, but even though Rutgers secured 18 offensive rebounds, they also gave up 13 offensive rebounds to the Buckeyes. That rebounding advantage helped Ohio State seal an 80-73 victory. The Scarlet Knights’ Quad 3 win against UNLV on a neutral court remains their best win of the season.
