After an eventful Week 13 of college basketball filled with upsets, here are the Big Ten power rankings.
Less than a month stands between college basketball fans and March Madness. The season is beginning to wind down and conference play is past the halfway point. The Big Ten has been in somewhat of a down-year, but that doesn’t mean the competition is lacking.
In fact, even the best teams in the conference have struggled with those in the bottom half. There are about 6-8 teams, at least, that should make the NCAA Tournament come March and it seemed like there would be more at the start of conference play. The field has leveled itself out considerably and outside of the top-two spots, everyone is about even from 3-10.
There was some movement in the Week 14 power rankings after another wild stretch pf play including a ranked team falling at home.
Here are the Week 14 Big Ten basketball power rankings. Who tops the list?
We have a new last place team in the power rankings. So, let’s give a big congratulations to Illinois — well deserved. The Fighting Illini, like in previous seasons under John Groce, seem to be regressing in the middle of the Big Ten season and that’s not a good sign for the future. There is talent on this team, led by Malcolm Hill, but the Fighting Illini are not playing well.
Illinois has lost 8-of-11 games, including 6-of-7 and the Fighting Illini haven’t won two straight since Dec. 21. It’s been a long season for this team and it’s not going to get much easier with a tough slate of games remaining. They lost to Wisconsin and Minnesota last week, falling to 3-8 in the conference after a 2-2 start.
Rutgers has finally climbed out of the basement of the Big Ten and the Scarlet Knights have some positive momentum to build off of. They took down Penn State on the road in Week 13, right after losing to Iowa at home by 20. While it was a difficult decision to move the Scarlet Knights up, that win over the Nittany Lions was more impressive than anything Illinois has done recently.
After losing six straight games to start Big Ten play, the Scarlet Knights have won two out of the last five games, which is progress. Corey Sanders is starting to play like he did a season ago as a true freshman and he could be a key piece to the future.