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.

Bill Carmody’s Wildcats had the most impressive win (against Baylor) out of any other B1G team during this past week. (Photo credit: US Presswire).

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. Read the rest of this entry »