After an eventful Week 15 of college basketball filled with quality games, do we have a new No. 1 in the Big Ten power rankings for Week 16?
Each week, the college basketball rankings are released and we get a better idea of which teams top certain conferences. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, there have been just a few teams in the AP Poll at a time so there’s no real exposure for the conference.
Luckily, that’s what the Big Ten power rankings are for. While it might seem like a down year for the conference, which it is, there is still plenty of solid competition. Week 15 saw a number of overtime games and top teams suffering scares.
Purdue and Wisconsin may be the favorites to win the conference right now as they’re tied atop the standings, but who comes in at No 1? Last week’s action did prove who the better team was, but is it a surprise?
Take a look at the Week 16 Big Ten power rankings and see if there’s a new No. 1 on the list.
Still at the bottom of the conference after a short, one-week stint at No. 13, Rutgers continues to falter. The Scarlet Knights didn’t make many improvements this season despite piling up nearly twice the amount of overall victories compared to last year already. Still, this team is struggling to find its way and that may need to happen soon or they will be forced to shuffle through another head coach.
Still sitting at .500 on the season entering Week 15, the Scarlet Knights knew they had a tough week ahead in order to maintain the same number of wins as losses. They traveled to Purdue to begin the week and were completely outmatched, losing by 19. They then went to Northwestern and lost by only four.
You may need to rub your eyes again or pinch yourself in order to believe this. Yes, the Ohio State Buckeyes are flirting with last place in this week’s Big Ten power rankings. Why? The Buckeyes have been dreadful over the past few weeks, losing 5-of-7 games included a home contest against Nebraska on Saturday — that just can’t happen for a ‘bubble’ team.
The Buckeyes may have effectively eliminated themselves from NCAA Tournament contention last week after losing to Michigan State Tuesday and then to the Cornhuskers over the weekend. The lack of depth is becoming an issue and even though they have a different player seem to step up every night, it’s not enough when only three guys come off the bench.