College Basketball Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 13
Purdue Boilermakers
Last week: (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten)
Last rank: 3rd
One of the Big Ten’s most exciting budding rivalries has to be Michigan State vs. Purdue and the Boilermakers have now won two straight in the series. Last year, the teams met just once and Purdue won. This season the Boilermakers took care of business again, this time at the Breslin Center. The game was back-and-forth for a half, but Purdue pulled away late.
Caleb Swanigan took it too his former team — he was committed for a couple of weeks to MSU — and the Spartan fans gave him everything they had, but he finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds. However, the Boilermakers squandered an opportunity to potentially move up in the power rankings by losing to Nebraska on the road Sunday. Defense was the major issue against the Cornhuskers.
Northwestern Wildcats
Last week: (18-4, 7-2 Big Ten)
Last rank: 4th
Northwestern is the hottest team in the conference right now and the Wildcats are trying to avoid reading the newspaper at all costs. Why do I say that? Well, everywhere you turn, there’s chatter about how Northwestern could finally break the streak of NCAA Tournament-less seasons. Chris Collins has done a great job with this team and he has a couple of guys leading the way offensively.
Vic Law and Scottie Lindsey have made a major difference this season for the Wildcats. No longer is this team struggling to put the ball in the hoop, but Northwestern is averaging about 75 points per game while giving up just 64. The Wildcats added two more wins to their resume in Week 12, beating Ohio State on the road as well as Indiana at home. Barring a major meltdown, this team will be dancing.