Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings (02/26/24)

The hard-charging Ohio State Buckeyes have turned the Big Ten head over heels. Since firing Head Coach Chris Holtman, the Buckeyes have beaten Purdue and Michigan State. Purdue and Illinois are the only two Big Ten teams that have cemented going to March Madness, and a lot of teams have business to attend to in these last two weeks of regular season action.

14) Michigan Wolverines

Michigan has been a bad team this season, and going 0-2 against Northwestern and Purdue is now to be expected.

13) Indiana Hoosiers

The Hoosiers were smacked again this week by Nebraska and Penn State. Michigan being a mess all season is the only thing keeping the Hoosiers out of the bottom spot. Indiana will try to get back on track against Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

12) Rutgers Scarlet Knights

A week or two ago, Rutgers looked like they were getting back into the bubble conversation for March Madness; that talk is gone as Rutgers has lost their last three games since. The Scarlet Knights have struggled on offense, and the defense is good but not good enough to cover for the offense.

11) Maryland Terrapins

Maryland has been struggling recently, but this week proved positive for them. On Sunday, they secured an important win against Rutgers that gave them hope heading into their final three regular-season games.

10) Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State continues to demonstrate its mettle on any given night, which was shown undoubtedly with its upset victory against Illinois and dominant victory over Indiana this past week.

9) Michigan State Spartans

Can we stop the charade that these Spartans are an NCAA Tournament team? The Spartans are not a well-coached team at this moment in time, and losing two home games against Iowa and Ohio State should be damming to their hopes.

8) Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State used a solid defensive performance during the final six minutes of Sunday’s road game at Michigan State to pull off an astonishing upset victory and remain competitive in their pursuit of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Their victory also demonstrated they will be difficult to beat for any other team this season.

7) Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes are starting to get the feel of a dangerous Big Ten Tournament team. This past week saw them battle at Illinois before losing and earlier in the week saw a big road win at Michigan State.

6) Minnesota Golden Gophers

Head Coach Ben Johnson has turned this ship around, but an NCAA Tournament bid doesn’t look like it will happen for the Gophers. Minnesota split their two games this past week, and the loss at Nebraska was a possible death blow to March Madness’s hopes.

5) Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin held off Maryland and earned a much-needed home win this week to maintain hopes for this season and gain some much-needed confidence heading into next week. I still can’t quite figure out what’s up with Wisconsin, but at least they seem to have found some stability following recent struggles. The game at Indiana will tell us what we need to know moving forward!

4) Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern continues to impress after losing Ty Berry, with no sign of faltering yet. They played Michigan last week and won convincingly, making a statement they intend to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this year.

3) Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska may have locked up a bid in the NCAA Tournament this week — at the very minimum, moved to a point where one more win should probably seal the deal. The Cornhuskers picked up a pair of double-digit wins this week, including a road blowout of Indiana during the week. Nebraska is a dangerous team right now.

2) Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois remains No. 2 in the Big Ten, but their hopes of winning a regular-season title may have taken a hit this week in State College, Pennsylvania, after they gave away a late lead against Penn State. Illinois now needs help to catch Purdue on its home field down the stretch.

1) Purdue Boilermakers

The Boilermakers took care of business again this week — dominating Rutgers and Michigan for easy wins. Purdue appears destined for another Big Ten regular season title, and I don’t see them losing this top spot in our power rankings anytime soon.