Rush The Court

This is the fifth installment of our weekly Big Ten Power Rankings which we will publish each Friday. This week’s voters were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan of the Big Ten microsite.

1. #1 Indiana (8-0): There’s a pretty good debate about who deserves to be No. 1 in the country, but there’s no reason why the Hoosiers don’t deserve the top spot in our power rankings. Indiana took care of business against all of their cupcakes, and after a scare in a win against Georgetown, blew out North Carolina. This team is unbelievably deep, and that will be an asset as the tough games start to pile up in Big Ten play. Their next big test will be against Butler next weekend, but there is a high likelihood that the Hoosiers will not lose before the conference season.
2. #3 Michigan (8-0): Michigan has its fair share of impressive wins, including a Big Ten/ACC Challenge win against NC State and victories over Kansas State and Pittsburgh. The Wolverines, like the Hoosiers, are very deep, and their freshmen seem to have lived up to the hype so far. While the play of the freshmen has been a major storyline so far this season, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. have combined to form one of the best backcourt duos in the nation. Will Michigan be consistent enough inside to take down Indiana and Ohio State? Time will tell, but their progression has been encouraging.
3. #7 Ohio State (5-1): It is tough to know what to really think about the Buckeyes, who haven’t done much to hurt themselves this season  (a respectable loss at Duke is nothing to be ashamed of), but haven’t done much to help, either. Their easy schedule doesn’t give us much by which to judge them, but as long as they remain steady, we know this team is capable of doing great things. They should continue to roll until their game against Kansas which will tell us more about Thad Matta’s team.
4. #14 Minnesota (9-1): The Gophers are clearly the fourth best team in the conference and could even give the Buckeyes a run for their money at the third spot. But wins over South Dakota State and North Florida are expected and haven’t given us enough reason to put them over Ohio State in this week’s power rankings. If they can beat a desperate USC squad on the road, it will prove further that they could be a top-tier B1G team rest of the season with their depth on the roster.
5. #19 Michigan State (7-2): The Spartans are still trying to work out some kinks, getting Gary Harris and Travis Trice back in the regular rotation and figuring out how Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne can co-exist down low. But they’ve hit the cupcake portion of their schedule, allowing them perfect opportunity to do so. A December 22 meeting against Texas will be a good litmus test to see how things are going.
6. #13 Illinois (9-0): How can an unbeaten squad be ranked below the Spartans who have two losses? Close wins and strength of schedule. The Illini’s record is impressive but they barely beat Hawaii and Gardner-Webb with their clutch three-point shooting during the final possession. We eagerly await their first true road game in Spokane against a rugged Gonzaga squad this weekend. If John Groce’s team can somehow come out with a victory, they could leap Michigan State into the top half of the conference’s power rankings.
7. Northwestern (7-2): The typical Northwestern team is pretty easy to predict: It wins the games it’s supposed to win and loses the games it’s supposed to lose, with one or two surprise home wins during conference season. This year’s young Wildcats team has completely defied that in the past week, losing to Illinois-Chicago at home then coming back to beat Baylor. NU has struggled shooting everywhere on the court and it’s struggled inside, but the Wildcats figured some of those struggles out against the Bears. Now they must find some consistency. An impending match-up against Butler should help us learn a lot about this team.
8. Wisconsin (6-3):  The Badgers’ wins against California and Nebraska-Omaha should give them some momentum heading into their game against Marquette on December 8. The Golden Eagles were thumped by Florida during their last game (82-49) but they will give Bo Ryan’s squad a tough time at home. That should be expected because the Badgers are still trying to figure out their identities on both ends of the court. Freshman guard Sam Dekker has seen more minutes during their home wins and may provide the spark that Ryan’s team needs after their loss to Virginia during the Big Ten/ACC challenge.
9. Iowa (7-2): Just like the Badgers, the Hawkeyes benefit from some home cooking (wins over Texas A&M-CC and South Dakota) during the last week. A win over their in-state rival Iowa State will help them continue their momentum and answer questions about their toughness against competitive teams. But for now, they are ranked near the bottom of the conference because they beat the teams that they were supposed to beat but couldn’t compete against their best opponents so far — Virginia Tech and Wichita State — both of whom will be in the hunt for an NCAA bid in March.
10. Purdue (4-4): If the Boilermakers can scarcely win at home (two of their four losses this season have come at Mackey Arena) then what’s to say they’ll be a force at all in the Big Ten race? This season might be different from years past in that trips to West Lafayette won’t strike fear in the hearts of opponents. Freshman A.J. Hammons has the size to be very successful in the B1G but it will take some time for him to be an effective force.
11. Nebraska (6-2): After two wins against Wake Forest and USC to get off to a 6-1 start, Nebraska fell back down to earth with a loss at Creighton. The start symbolized where Nebraska basketball is at right now — it’s improving and certainly headed in the right direction, but it definitely has a long way to go. The Huskers will have a few more games to pad their record before Big Ten play starts, but Tim Miles’ team is still a ways off from being regularly competitive in the Big Ten.
12. Penn State (4-4): This year has to be about growth for some of Penn State’s younger players. They don’t stand a chance against many of the mid-major schools they come up against in the non-conference slate, which means the Big Ten schedule should be even more brutal.