This is the ninth 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. Michigan – With a 14-0 start, Michigan is off to its second-best start in school history, and after Thursday night’s 94-66 win at Northwestern, the Wolverines look as strong as ever. The Trey Burke-Tim Hardaway Jr. duo looks like the best guard duo in the country right now and the freshmen are living up to their lofty expectations. While this is a guard-dominated team, the big men have also been extremely effective. A home game against Iowa could be a bit of a test, but it’s tough to pick against these Wolverines right now.
Trey Burke Has The Wolverines Rolling
2. Indiana – Indiana picked up a big road win at Iowa — its first win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in five years. The game was in doubt until the final minute, but the Hoosiers pulled away in the end thanks to Cody Zeller scoring 15 of his 19 points in the second half. While Zeller has been good, Victor Oladipo has been sensational. He’s versatile and extremely dangerous in the open court, and he made some big buckets against the Hawkeyes to help the Hoosiers go on some runs. Indiana gets an easy game at Penn State this week before a huge home match-up against Minnesota.
3. Minnesota – The Gophers made it clear to rest of the conference that The Barn will be a tough place to win with their first conference game against Michigan State. Tubby Smith’s squad is deep and they have been hot since their loss to Duke during Thanksgiving. Smith is still controlling Mbakwe’s minutes, but the forward has been extremely efficient by pulling down 7.5 RPG in just 18.8 MPG this season. One concern for the Gophers may be their three-point shooting – as a team they are shooting just 32% from the long range. It may be tough for them to play catch-up without a consistent long-range shooter, but they play such great defense it is unlikely they will fall behind by too much in a game.
4. Ohio State – The Buckeyes’ Big Ten slate began much of the way their season has gone — they disposed of a lesser opponent. We haven’t really seen Ohio State rise to the occasion against a peer school this year, but they continue to beat up on the little guys with Nebraska being the most recent example. Saturday will be their first and biggest test of the early conference season, with a trip to Illinois looming. The Illini should be plenty fired up after a tough road loss to Purdue, wanting to prove their early season success wasn’t a fluke. This is where the leadership of Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas will need to come into play.
5. Michigan State – A road loss in this conference, particularly at the hands of surging Minnesota, is nothing to be ashamed of, but it is clear that the Spartans are not clicking on all cylinders. Brandan Kearney’s transfer last week didn’t mean much in terms of the stat sheet, but it was a body taken out of the Spartans’ rotation midway through the season, and it seemed to have an effect on the stamina of Michigan State’s players (particularly the guards) last weekend at The Barn. Tom Izzo always likes to whittle down his rotation as the season progresses, but he may now need to factor in a few extra players during this gauntlet of a conference slate.
6. Illinois – If John Groce didn’t already know the intensity of road games in the Big Ten, he certainly got a taste after their loss to the Boilermakers on Thursday night. The Illini have a rough three-game stretch ahead of them: Ohio State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The road game against Wisconsin is not an easy out and there is a fairly decent chance that the Illini could start the conference season at 0-4. But Brandon Paul receives the benefit of the doubt that he will step up against the Buckeyes at home to avoid a losing streak. Senior guard D.J. Richardson needs to find his rhythm after being held to single figure scoring over the last four games.
7. Iowa – The Hawkeyes hung with the Hoosiers despite Roy Devyn Marble’s dismal shooting (1-of-14) on New Year’s Eve. Marble will continue to see the best defender from the opposition but needs to stay patient and aggressive rather than settle for jumpers. Their next trip to Michigan may not be a pleasant experience but it will be interesting to see if Fran McCaffery makes the necessary adjustments on the offensive end. Similar to the Illini, the Hawkeyes need to play with a sense of urgency over the next few games to avoid a losing skid to tip off conference play.
8. Wisconsin – The non-conference season is out of the way and the Badgers are ready for their specialty – Big Ten play. Bo Ryan has never finished worse than fourth in conference action but he has his challenge cut out for him this year. The frontcourt is set with Jared Berggren, Ryan Evans and Mike Bruesewitz. As long as Ben Brust (11.8 PPG) stays healthy and out of foul trouble, the backcourt should be in decent shape. Holding home court is absolutely essential and they took care of business against Penn State to begin conference play. They can definitely beat the Illini at home and with a win another win against Nebraska, Ryan’s team could gain more confidence by starting off 3-0 in the Big Ten.
9. Purdue – Have the Boilers turned the corner? It’s hard to say, but an early signature conference win against the previously-undefeated Illini at least proved how difficult it is to win on the road anywhere in the league. D.J. Byrd played down the stretch the way he has been expected to play all season and Terone Johnson looked like an All-Big Ten player. The Boilermakers have been and continue to be one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, despite their ugly losses, and that could factor into some wins for them.
10. Northwestern – One of the first things John Beilein mentioned in his postgame press conference after the Northwestern-Michigan game is that he felt bad for all of the Wildcats’ injuries. Northwestern was without star guard Reggie Hearn after already losing top forward Drew Crawford (shoulder) and top guard JerShon Cobb (suspension) for the season. While next year is looking bright in Evanston, this year figures to be a struggle as coach Bill Carmody tries to work with a team filled with promising but inexperienced freshmen. Things don’t get any easier as it’s tough to envision more than one win in the next stretch — at Minnesota, at Penn State, vs. Iowa, at Illinois, vs. Indiana, vs. Minnesota.
11. Nebraska – The Huskers were thoroughly outmatched in their Big Ten-opening 70-44 loss at Ohio State, which is to be expected, since the Buckeyes’ talent is far superior to theirs. Tim Miles’ team must find a way to score, as it ranks 305th in the country with just 60.4 points per game. Brandon Ubel must be more of a scoring threat and the frontcourt in general must step up. Things don’t get easier, with a visit from Wisconsin and trips to Michigan and Michigan State on the horizon. That doesn’t inspire too much confidence in the possibility of a surprising start.
12. Penn State – You know it’s been a tough year when a four-game non-conference winning streak against the likes of Army, Delaware State, New Hampshire, and Duquesne represent the high-water mark, but these Nittany Lions have to take what they can get. D.J. Newbill is going to be a major factor in the Big Ten for years to come.