Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: A new Number One (02-17-25)

18. Penn State Nittany Lions

In early January, the Nittany Lions upset Purdue and looked ready to have a great season. Since then, they have lost eleven out of their last twelve games and were beaten at home by Washington over the weekend.

17. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers are five and three in their last eight games, and Coach Johnson has done an excellent job at Minnesota this season.

16. Washington Huskies

The Huskies are getting better, as they have won three of their last five games. The Huskies have improved; don’t be surprised if they pull off another upset or two before the season is over.

15. Northwestern Wildcats

The Wildcats have lost their last three games and will be lucky to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.

14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers came into this season with high hopes because of two of the top high school players in the country. Injury issues have plagued this team, but even when healthy they have not been that good.

13. Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes lost Owen Freeman, and it has been a free fall ever since. Iowa has lost four of their last five games.

12. USC Trojans

The Trojans have lost four of their previous six games, I expected a little more from this team this season. At times we have seen it like the win at Illinois, but all too often this team has fallen short of what they are capable of.

11. Indiana Hoosiers

The Hoosiers are ranked this high because the entire bottom half of the Big Ten has struggled, including the Hoosiers. Indiana surprised everyone with an upset win in East Lansing against Michigan State. They followed that up as Mike Woodson teams do, with a loss at UCLA in a game they could have easily won. The biggest question for the Hoosiers now will be whether they can get a home game in the NIT.

10. Oregon Ducks

The Ducks have won their last two games against Northwestern and Rutgers, which is not that impressive, but those wins ended a five-game losing streak. The Ducks need a couple more wins to secure a spot in the March Madness field.

9. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes had played well as of late, and guard Bruce Thornton was on a heater; then TTUN came to town, and like it does in football, the Michigan Wolverines beat the Buckeyes, putting the Buckeyes’ March Madness dreams firmly on the bubble.

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers

A six-game losing streak would destroy most teams’ season, but not Fred Hoiberg and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Huskers have won five of their last six games and got a massive road win over Northwestern this past weekend.

7. Illinois Fighting Illini

At times this season, the Illini have looked like the best team in the Big Ten, but consistency has been the issue, and it was again this week. The Illini beat a red-hot UCLA Bruins squad earlier in the week, but they followed that up with a terrible performance against the struggling Michigan State Spartans at home.

6. Maryland Terrapins

The Terps have won three straight games and seven of their last eight. This team is not very deep. That being said, the starting five is excellent, led by Derik Queen and Julian Reese. The Terrapins will be a dangerous out during March Madness.

5. UCLA Bruins

The Bruins had been on a roll, but the role was stopped once they headed east to face Illinois, where they came up short again. With all their wins coming on the West Coast, people were questioning their toughness on the road. They answered that on Friday night with a grind-it-out win over the Indiana Hoosiers.

4. Michigan State Spartans

The Spartans hit rock bottom on Tuesday night after a shocking home loss to the Indiana Hoosiers. They rebounded big time this past weekend with a massive win at Illinois that has made Spartans fans let out a collective sigh of relief.

3. Purdue Boilermakers

With a good week, the Boilermakers would have been firmly in control of their Big Ten Title hopes. Instead, the Boilermakers lost at Michigan, which is not a killer, but they followed that up with a loss to Wisconsin at home. Now the Boilermakers need to get right quick if they want a shot at another Big Ten Title.

2. Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers were 9-4 heading into a matchup at Purdue, and it was a soft 9-4, but the Badgers handled Purdue at Purdue and are now rolling with a shot to win a Big Ten Championship. Head Coach Greg Gard has done a great job with this team, but are they good enough to sustain it? I would not bet against them, as this is a well-rounded team.

1. Michigan Wolverines

Five consecutive wins by a total of 13 points. Will this be the stretch that clinches the Big Ten championship for the Wolverines? Dusty May has done great things in his first season with the Wolverines, and this past week, his Wolverines took over first place in the Big Ten with wins at Purdue and Ohio State.