Another View from Saturday Tradition:
Week 11 B1G basketball power rankings: More shifting at the top after tumultuous week
Kyle Charters
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Little makes sense in the Big Ten.
In the last week, Indiana scored a gigantic upset win vs. No. 4 Purdue, then was walloped by Michigan. Rutgers beat Iowa (by scoring 48 points), then lost to a Minnesota team that had only 7 scholarship players. Maryland, which hasn’t looked interested of late, steamrolled a Kofi Cockburn-less Illinois squad after losing 5 of its last 6.
Perhaps the only team showing any consistency is Michigan State, and even it lost to Northwestern at home only 10 days ago.
All that said, let’s take a look at the Week 11, Jan. 25, rankings in the B1G:
14. Nebraska
Record: 6-13 overall, 0-8 in the Big Ten | Last week: 14
Nebraska’s losing streak — currently at 6 games — hasn’t lengthened because the Cornhuskers are on a Covid pause, dealing with too many cases in their program to field a team of 7 scholarship players and a couple coaches. Nebraska had to postpone its date with Ohio State, then push back the tip with Wisconsin. It’s now scheduled to play a late afternoon game in Lincoln Thursday against the Badgers. Like last year, when infections caused a loaded schedule in the back half of the conference slate, it’s happening again: NU will play 3 games in 5 days starting with Wisconsin.
13. Northwestern
Record: 9-8, 2-6 | Last week: 10
In a league where nearly every team has a massive big man, why is Chris Collins refusing to start center Ryan Young? It makes little sense. Against Purdue Sunday, Pete Nance started in the post, and while trying to guard Zach Edey quickly got into foul trouble that limited him to 23 minutes. Why put one of your best players in that kind of position? Northwestern has the talent and experience to compete better than it is — the Wildcats have lost 6 of their last 7, with the only win the shocker at Michigan State — and someone needs to explain the slump.
12. Maryland
Record: 10-9, 2-6 | Last week: 13
Maryland took advantage of the absence of Illinois center Kofi Cockburn Friday night to put up one of the Terrapins’ best offensive performances of the season. With a defensive void in the middle of the Illini defense, Maryland could attack the basket, and scored 40 of its Big Ten season-high 81 points (in regulation) in the paint. But that scoring output is an anomaly for a Maryland team that hadn’t scored more than 69 in a 40-minute game since Jan. 3.
11. Penn State
Record: 8-8, 3-5 | Last week: 9
Coach Micah Shrewsberry is trying to get his team to maintain its focus through what has been a weird Big Ten season for the Nittany Lions, who are in the midst of playing 4 straight rescheduled basketball games. Facing those kinds of unknowns can be a challenge. After looking like a team that could compete with just about anyone in the Big Ten, Penn State has lost 2 straight, and the second was a 17-point drubbing at Iowa. Shrewsberry is changing the culture in Happy Valley, including keeping players’ attention, but the wins might be slow to follow.
10. Minnesota
Record: 11-5, 2-5 | Last week: 11
Minnesota might have turned in one of the more impressive victories of the Big Ten season on Saturday, when its short-handed crew beat Rutgers in The Barn. Only 7 scholarship players were available to Ben Johnson because of illness and injuries, leaving him to mix and match lineups as best as possible against the Scarlet Knights. It helped that Payton Willis had a career day, scoring a game-high 32 points, helping to make up for the absence of 3 other starters. The win was a good illustration of the us-vs.-the-world attitude that Johnson has helped cultivate at Minnesota in only a short tenure.
9. Michigan
Record: 9-7, 3-3 | Last week: 12
Michigan seems to have found its footing with back-to-back victories, including its best win of the season in a dominant performance at Indiana. In Bloomington, the Wolverines hit 11 3-pointers, finally taking some of the pressure off big man Hunter Dickinson. Can Michigan, the preseason choice as the team to beat in the Big Ten, still rally to an NCAA Tournament bid? The win at IU bounced its Net Ranking to 38, but still UM will need more victories. Provided the Big Ten finds dates for its postponed games vs. Michigan State and Purdue, it should have plenty of opportunity.
8. Iowa
Record: 14-5, 4-4 | Last week: 7
Iowa very nearly upset Purdue in West Lafayette in the Big Ten opener way back in early December, when it played without star Keegan Murray. It’ll get another chance — this one at full strength — late Thursday night in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes could use a signature Big Ten victory, and the Boilermakers represent an opportunity. Iowa has to be pleased with its defense of late (which is usually a sore subject), considering it has given up only 51 and 48 in the last 2 games, although the 48 came in a loss at Rutgers.
7. Rutgers
Record: 11-7, 5-3 | Last week: 8
Rutgers might represent the rest of the Big Ten: It beats Iowa at home to pick up a huge victory, then follows that up by losing at a depleted Minnesota squad. And the Scarlet Knights, after absorbing bad losses during the non-conference, need to find some consistency in the Big Ten. Lately, they’ve gotten a bit of an assist from what had previously been a non-productive bench. The last 2 games, the Rutgers reserves have scored 21 points, and Dean Reiber has given the Knights quality minutes as a backup 5, which had been a glaring weakness previously.
6. Indiana
Record: 14-5, 5-4 | Last week: 6
Even though Indiana scored a major upset of Purdue in Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers’ margin for error is way too thin to sustain any sort of mental letdown. But that’s exactly what happened, as IU was throttled by Michigan at home only a few days after the Purdue victory. A win over Michigan could have validated the Hoosiers and probably put them back in the top 25. The defense, atypically of Indiana this season, was abysmal vs. UM, as the Hoosiers gave up 11-of-17 shooting on 3-point attempts. That’s not a recipe for an IU victory.
5. Ohio State
Record: 11-4, 5-2 | Last week: 5
Ohio State created its own Covid-related layoff in December, when the Buckeyes didn’t play for nearly 3 weeks. Now, it’s delaying with another pause, because Nebraska had to postpone its game last week. Now, OSU is in the middle of a 9-day rest, before it resumes — we assume — against Minnesota on Thursday. Maybe it’s a chance to get Justin Ahrens to snap out of his funk. The sharp-shooter, and one of Ohio State’s most important players, is shooting only 21.2 percent (7-of-33) from beyond the arc over his last 7 games, as his scoring average has dipped to less than half of what it was in the first 9 games of the season.
4. Illinois
Record: 13-5, 6-2 | Last week: 2
Illinois is riding a 2-game losing streak, first falling in double-OT to Purdue at home before its road loss at Maryland. Like much of the rest of the season, Brad Underwood is left trying to figure out who will be available on a daily basis. He finally got Andre Curbelo back for the Purdue game — and the sophomore guard, who had been out with lingering concussion symptoms, was fantastic — only to lose Kofi Cockburn for Maryland. And now it’s questionable whether the All-America center can play vs. Michigan State today.
3. Purdue
Record: 16-3, 5-3 | Last week: 1
Maybe adversity can be a good thing for the Boilermakers, who are facing a bit of it right now. After falling to rival Indiana on Thursday, when the Boilermakers couldn’t stop reserve guard Rob Phinisee from going bonkers and scoring the game-winner, Purdue was forced to play Northwestern Sunday in Mackey without star Jaden Ivey. But Purdue got others to step up, including point guards Isaiah Thompson and Eric Hunter Jr., who combined for 18 points, 6 assists and only 1 turnover in a 20-point victory. Ivey is day-to-day with a hip pointer, but the Boilermakers need him back sooner than later.
2. Wisconsin
Record: 15-3, 6-2 | Last week: 3
The importance of Tyler Wahl to the Badgers has never been more evident than Friday, when his absence vs. Michigan State in the Kohl Center was glaring. Not often does Wisconsin give up 86 points at home, but it did against the Spartans, because they couldn’t match the physicality. Even at full strength, Wisconsin is thin on bodies in the paint, so losing Wahl — he’s day-to-day with an ankle injury — is a big problem. He’s gotten a couple extra days this week to rest up and see whether he can go vs. Nebraska Thursday.
1. Michigan State
Record: 15-3, 6-1 | Last week: 4
Michigan State got an early jump on the rest of the Big Ten by feasting on lower-division opponents. But that changed vs. Wisconsin, where the Spartans played arguably their best game of the season, and continues this week, with a road game tonight at Illinois, then a home date Saturday vs. Michigan. The Spartans’ offense has been great during the Big Ten, when they’re hitting 49 percent of their field goals, including nearly 40 percent from 3-point range. It was hugely impressive that the output kept up at Wisconsin.
This week's matchups should continue the sorting process.
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