There were only 65 possessions in the game, only the 11th time all season Michigan played in a game with less than 70 possessions. Two of Michigan’s three losses this season came in games with 65 or less possessions.

Michigan had an effective field goal percentage of only 40%, their single worst shooting performance of the entire season.

UConn had an offensive rebounding percentage of 44.9%, meaning they gathered almost 1 in every 2 of their misses. This was Michigan’s worst defensive rebounding performance of the season.

Michigan made only 2 threes and shot 13.3% from beyond the arc on the game. Both of these were their worst numbers of the entire season.

Michigan scored only 11 transition points all game. They had scored fewer than that just 7 times all season, and all three of their losses came in those games.

You could continue to go down the line of what went wrong for Michigan, and how this game was almost nothing like how they wanted it to go.

And yet, despite all of this, Michigan is not only National Champions, but they have a case to be in discussion for most dominant college basketball team of the last 10 or 20 years. At the end of the day, Michigan was going to dominate when they played their way, but they flexed in the championship that they could win in whatever way was needed.

In this game, and all season long, Michigan relied on their defense, the single best in the country. In a season and era where offense has reigned supreme, Michigan’s defense proved to be one of the key separating factors in their ability to bend opponents to their will.

UConn ended with just 0.963 points per possessions in this one, their 3rd worst offensive performance of the season. This was headlined by UConn shooting just 12/35 from 2, their worst interior shooting performance of the season. Per StatBroadcast, the Huskies took just 10 shots at the rim, making only 4 of them. They ended with 22 points in the paint, but 14 of those points came on shots away from the rim still. It’s not coincidence that Michigan, the defense with the 2nd best two point defense in the country, also consistently forced the longest two point attempts for opposing offenses.

In this one, Michigan stuck to switching 1-4, and having their 5 man in drop. For the most part, they did a great job of not letting UConn’s plethora of actions create open looks as UConn took 22 jumpers that were either off the dribble or contested catch and shoot 3s.

Michigan was daring UConn to go 1-on-1 in the post with their star and former Wolverine, Tarris Reed. UConn ended with 8 post ups but on low efficiency pretty early in the game. The Huskies quickly adjusted from not trying to go at Mara or Morez in the post because success simply wasn’t there for them.

No matter what, Michigan had the counters they needed defensively.

It wasn’t a pretty night offensively for Michigan, but staying true to themselves, they dominated the paint. 36 of their 69 points came inside of the paint, and when you factor in that Michigan went 25/28 from the free throw line with a large majority of the drawn fouls coming from barreling into the paint, it’s safe to say that number is even higher than 36. They went 11/19 at the rim, being relentless on their attack downhill.

Morez Johnson opened up with some early scoring, but it was Elliot Cadeau’s ability to navigate screens and get into the paint that kept Michigan with a bit of space on the scoreboard. The Wolverines, and Cadeau especially, showed patience with their ability to wait for driving lanes to open up. Multiple times, Michigan would screen and re-screen until Cadeau or someone else was able to find themselves with two feet in the paint for a shot or a foul.

Michigan showed in Vegas and throughout Big Ten play that if you let them play their way, they were going to wipe the floor with you. But in the single biggest game of the season, nothing in terms of game plan or flow went their way, yet they still found themselves raising the trophy in Lucas Oil Stadium. To me, that’s the truest definition of a champion and ultimately why Michigan was inevitable this season.

Michigan 71 - Ohio State 67

MVP - Aday Mara

• 28 minutes - 17 points - 7 rebounds - 1 assist - 2 blocks - 1 steal

• 7/11 2s (63.6%) - 0/0 3s - 3/3 FTs (100%)

In what was a pretty fun opening game, Ohio State gave Michigan a good run, but at the end of the day, Michigan is arguably the best team in the country for a reason.

Despite Ohio State winning the rebounding battle, turning it more into a half court game (especially in the 2nd half), having Michigan uncomfortable and no where near their A game, and Michigan shooting sub 30% from 3, the Wolverines were still the team that ended up being victorious.

Aday Mara led with 17 points and 7 rebounds, but even more than that, Ohio State simply seemed scared to try him at the rim (which is fair). Ohio State shot just 6/14 at the rim on the game. Down the stretch, they had a 4 possession stretch which included

• Royal 12 foot post fade (miss)

• Thornton 10 foot post fade (miss)

• Thornton trying to finish at the rim through Mara (miss)

• Mobley missing a fairly open layup

That was all Michigan needed to be able to pull this one out.

Michigan started 3/3 from three, but finished jut 5/17 overall. In a game where Ohio State for large portions of the game did a good job of making it a half court one, Michigan had to rely on interior post play a lot. It started early with Morez and finished with Mara.

Michigan had 22 fastbreak points total in this one, and it’s no secret that the Wolverines are at their best when they can get out and run. They had 13 of those in the first half, but didn’t have any for roughly the first 10-15 minutes of the 2nd half, resulting in Ohio State being able to keep it close. Down the stretch though, they got back out and running a bit, opening that lead back up.

Ohio State still had the chances to win, but the shot making wasn’t good enough. Gabe Cupps was the only Buckeye to shoot above 50% on the game, going 2/3. Mobley had a quick stretch to start the 2nd half but otherwise went cold. Christoph Tilly, Amare Bynum, and Devin Royal all struggled to consistently be able to put the ball in the hoop. Even Bruce Thornton didn’t have a super efficient game, scoring 22 points on 7/15 shooting with 4 assists and 4 turnovers.

Michigan heads onto the semifinals where at the time that I’m writing this at the United Center, I don’t know who their matchup is yet. If I remember, I’ll update it here. If not, then that means you just read what I typed. Regardless, I’ll have the preview for Michigan against the correct opponent below.

Ohio State seems headed to being an 8 or 9 seed in the tourney, which is a big win compared to where they were just 2 or 3 weeks ago. However, with how good the 1 seeds are this year, being in that 8/9 slot makes it tough to try and make the second weekend.

Wisconsin 91 - Illinois 88 (OT)

MVP - Nick Boyd

• 40 minutes - 38 points - 6 assists - 5 rebounds - 3 steals - 3 turnovers

• 10/12 2s (83.3%) - 2/8 3s (25.0%) - 12/13 FTs (92.3%)

In what was the most entertaining game of this Big Ten Tournament so far, Wisconsin looked dead in the water after trailing by 15 with 11 minutes left in the 2nd half. Per Kenpom, Wisconsin had just a 2% chance to win at that point in the game.

But never fear, for Nick Boyd and John Blackwell are here, arguably the top backcourt in the country.

The superstar, backcourt duo combined for 69 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting 15/17 from 2 and 21/22 from the free throw line. They scored 75.8% of Wisconsin’s points in the game, including 50 of Wisconsin’s 61 points in the 2nd half and overtime.

Illinois tried different things between switching, playing drop, and going zone a lot down the stretch. At the end of the day though, they simply couldn’t keep Boyd out of the paint, and when they did, Blackwell was able to do something.

Wisconsin did a good job of setting screens against the zone so Boyd could get downhill, and even though the Badgers shot only 10/41 from three, they ended up winning the rebounding battle just barely, and that made a big difference.

If you read my preview from yesterday, you knew coming into this game that 3s were going to be flying up. Wisconsin took 41 and Illinois took 31, but the two teams combined to only make 19. At the end of the day, all of the other things were what decided this one. Both teams shot well from two, but Wisconsin shot well from two while ALSO getting to the free throw lie. The Badgers went 25/30 from the line as a team, compared to only 9/15 for Illinois.

Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic each had 19 points, and they combined for 13 assists as they were the primary initiators for Illinois in this one. Andrej Stojakovic added in 17 points on 13 shots.

Illinois heads into March being just 4-5 in their last 9 games, and their wins were against Indiana, USC, Oregon, and Maryland. They slot to be probably a 3 seed come Selection Sunday, with the chance of still trying to grab a 2 seed.

Wisconsin is now winners of 5 in a row, with their last loss being to Oregon. They have among the best collection of high quality wins in the country (and some puzzling losses). I know the road win against Michigan will be considered their best win (as it should), but I’d argue this win was their most impressive. It’s their first win against a top 250 Kenpom team this SEASON while shooting worse than 33% from 3 (previously 0-8). They get a rematch with Michigan tomorrow.

Purdue 74 - Nebraska 58

MVP - Oscar Cluff

• 34 minutes - 12 points - 9 rebounds (4 off) - 2 assists - 1 block - 1 steal - 1 turnover

• 6/8 2s (75.0%) - 0/0 3s - 0/1 FTs

This game started out in a very similar fashion to the matchup in Lincoln this season, with Purdue getting out to a big lead (13-3 in this one). Similarly, Nebraska gave Purdue a bit of a scare in the 2nd half, cutting the lead to 8. The difference in this one though was that the Boilermakers never let it get closer than that, hitting shots in critical moments.

Despite taking over 50% of their shots from three, Purdue shot only 10/31 as a team from beyond the arc, the same exact as Nebraska. The difference in the final score then simply came down to rebounding and interior play. Purdue shot 16/27 from 2, including 6/9 at the rim. Nebraska was only 12/25 from 2, and Purdue also made 8 more free throws.

It isn’t the prettiest box score for Smith as he went 1/8 from the field, but he had 10 assists and 5 rebounds. This was a game where he contributed much more than the box score indicated as he consistently was able to force the issue and either draw out Nebraska’s high hedge, or simply turn the corner and get into the paint. When Purdue generated a paint touch offensively, good things happened.

On top of that, they strongly won the rebounding battle with 8 more total rebounds but also 11 more 2nd chance points. That was in large part thanks to Cluff and TKR on the glass, although the guards crashed hard.

Nebraska was able to get some things going for a bit offensively with Mast pick and pops or Sandfort coming off of screens. Purdue’s adjustment though was to stunt at the ball whenever possible, especially if they were guarding a non shooter. It didn’t solve everything, but it at least made Nebraska have to think. Sandfort and Mast were the only two Cornhuskers to get into double figures. This was Purdue's 4th best defensive performance of the season per Kenpom efficiency.

Nebraska looks like they’re headed probably to be a 3 or 4 seed. Despite the late season struggles, this Cornhuskers squad is still in great position to get Nebraska’s first ever NCAA Tournament win.

UCLA 88 - Michigan State 84

MVP - Donovan Dent

• 38 minutes - 23 points - 12 assists - 6 rebounds - 4 steals - 2 turnovers

• 5/13 2s (38.5%) - 3/5 3s (60.0%) - 4/5 FTs (80.0%)

It was a shotmakers game in this one as UCLA averaged 1.32 points per possession, and Michigan State was at 1.26. UCLA shot 13/27 from three, including multiple ones down the stretch, and UCLA was 11/23 from three.

It was the Donovan Dent show for UCLA, and he came through big time. Down the stretch, UCLA was simply setting ghost screen after ghost screen for Dent, and it ultimately resulted in him generating a paint touch nearly every time. These led to Dent pull ups or kickout to the corners for Clark and Perry, who went a combined 7/16 from 3.

Michigan State really struggled to finish on the interior, shooting 17/39 from two, and even worse than that at the rim. Fears did what Fears does, scoring 21 points and adding 13 assists as well.

Michigan State won the rebounding battle, having 10 more offensive rebounds than UCLA, but the Bruins had 5 of their 6 offensive rebounds in the 2nd half, with most of them coming in really big spots.

UCLA got a double digit lead for most of the 2nd half, but Michigan State was able to claw their way back. The Spartans simply couldn’t get enough stops, in large part because of Dent’t playmaking ability combined with the duo of Perry and Clark making seemingly every clutch three.

Michigan State still is in position to make a run in March, but it is concerning where the defense has been. Since February 1st, the Spartans have been the 64th best defense in the country, although they have been the 13th best offense.

UCLA gets another matchup with Purdue tomorrow, with a spot in the Big Ten Tournament Championship on the line.

Semifinals Preview

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Ohio State 72 - Iowa 69

MVP - Bruce Thornton

• 38 minutes - 24 points - 6 rebounds - 3 assists - 1 turnover

• 8/10 2s (80.0%) - 2/4 3s (50.0%) - 2/2 FTs (100%)

It was largely a back and forth game in the first half before the Buckeyes took control for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, leading 51-35 with 14 minutes left and 66-54 with 5 minutes left.

Then, a few turnovers combined with a few jumpers from Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras put Iowa right back into the game. Ultimately though, it was too little too late.

In their matchup in the regular season, Iowa dominated the paint, but that reversed in this one. Christoph Tilly had 16 points on 5/6 shooting, and 6/9 from the free throw line. Ohio State ended with 36 points in the paint while Iowa only had 20, with a lot of those coming late in the game.

Ohio State’s ability to work off ball with Bruce Thornton really put Iowa in a bind as Thornton ended with 24 points on 14 shots. In the 2nd half especially, Ohio State allowed Thornton to work off ball a lot, coming off of pin downs and stagger screens. Iowa would either get caught not getting through screens, or over helping to allow cuts to the rim.

Bennett Stirtz had 17 points for Iowa, and the Hawkeyes had 5 other players score either 8 or 9 points. Ultimately, they couldn’t guard the interior at all as Ohio State went 20/27 from 2.

With this win, Ohio State is 100% in the tournament, and they could see their seed climb with a win tomorrow against Michigan. Iowa has now lost 7 of their last 10 games. They’ll still find themselves in the tourney, but with a much lower seed than they were hoping for.

Wisconsin 85 - Washington 82

MVP - John Blackwell

• 37 minutes - 34 points - 10 rebound - 2 assists - 2 steals - 1 turnover

• 8/12 2s (66.7%) - 6/12 3s (50.0%) - 0/0 FTs

In what ended up being a very close game, Wisconsin was the team that was able to pull it out in the end. John Blackwell and Nick Boyd combined for 55 points in this one while shooting 22/39 from the field. Wisconsin did a good job of being able to break Washington’s zone by putting Blackwell in the middle, getting the ball to him, and then allowing him to attack 1 on 1 against Lathan Sommerville once he stepped out.

Wisconsin went 15/39 from three, but didn’t make a three over the final 10 minutes of the game, ultimately allowing Washington to claw back into it. Such is the highs and lows of Wisconsin this season, as they live and die by the three more than most teams in the country.

Zoom Diallo and Hannes Steinbach combined for 49 points, and Steinbach also added in 16 rebounds. Washington was able to figure out a way to claw back because of Steinbach and also the Huskies work on the offensive glass as they ended with 20 offensive rebounds and 18 2nd chance points.

Wisconsin takes on Illinois tomorrow in what should be a fun matchup.

Washington most likely will have played their final game of the season, unless they get an invitation to The Crown. Injuries derailed this season a lot, but it also never seemed to fully get going in general. Hannes Steinbach was incredible, and Zoom Diallo really did have a breakout season. It’ll be interesting to see what Sprinkle does heading into year 3.

Purdue 81 - Northwestern 68

MVP - Braden Smith

• 36 minutes - 5 points - 2 rebounds - 16 assists - 1 block - 2 steals - 1 turnover

• 1/4 2s (25.0%) - 1/4 3s (25.0%) - 0/0 FTs

The final score doesn’t quite indicate what this game looked like as Purdue led by 26 very early in the 2nd half, and ultimately still was pretty much in complete control in the 2nd half.

Purdue mixed in both drop coverage and hedge in this one, stifling Northwestern’s offense early on. In the 2nd half, Northwestern was able to get loose in transition more, while also getting crazy hot from three to at least put a bit of scare into the Boilermakers.

At the end of the day though, Purdue dominated pretty much every aspect. They ended with 16 offensive rebounds, getting 50% of their own misses. They also had 3 more defensive rebounds than Northwestern and 2 fewer turnovers.

Braden Smith had 16 assists, the most in a Big Ten Tournament game ever, and that’s also a big chunk towards him potentially getting the all time assist record. Both TKR and Cluff had 19 points, shooting a combined 15/19 from 2.

Nick Martinelli’s career as a Northwestern Wildcat (probably) came to an end, unless they get invited to The Crown. Martinelli did what Martinelli does, scoring 25 points while shooting 9/15 from 2 and 1/1 from 3. Nick Martinelli will go down as one of the all-time Wildcats because of his scoring ability, but also his loyalty in an era where jumping ship has become much more common.

UCLA 72 - Rutgers 59

MVP - Donovan Dent

• 12 points - 12 assists - 10 rebounds - 1 steal - 2 turnovers

• 6/13 2s (46.1%) - 0/1 3s (0%) - 0/0 FTs

Rutgers was able to keep this one close, but ultimately UCLA was able to pull away in the end behind a triple double from Donovan Dent. Tyler Bilodeau also poured in 21 points while shooting 2/4 from 2, 3/7 from 3, and 8/8 from the free throw line. Rutgers lost both the rebounding and turnover battle, a very key formula for UCLA to win. Lino Mark led the way for Rutgers, scoring 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the game.

Rutgers ends their season probably slightly better than expected, but still wasn’t a season to write home about. There was a lot of growth from younger players, and hopefully Rutgers is able to have some retention. There’ll be a lot of questions surrounding the Scarlet Knights heading into next season.

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Iowa 75 - Maryland 64

MVP - Bennett Stirtz

• 39 minutes - 17 points - 8 assists - 6 rebounds - 2 steals - 2 turnovers

• 4/9 2s (44.4%) - 2/9 3s (22.2%) - 3/3 FTs (100%)

Maryland got out to an early lead in this one, leading by double digits about 10 minutes into the game. Maryland looked like a team playing free, and Iowa looked like a team knowing they needed to win this game.

As is the case though, the better team eventually settled down and was able to turn the tides, in large part because of the shooting outburst from Cooper Koch, who went 5/8 from three. The rest of the Hawkeyes went 4/15.

4 different Hawkeyes scored in double figures (Koch - 19, Stirtz - 17, Banks - 12, Manyawu - 10). Maryland struggled to contain the bigs on the roll to start the 2nd half, and that combined with Koch and Stirtz knocking down some threes allowed Iowa to go on a 21-0 run.

If you read the preview from yesterday, you know one thing I called out was that Iowa needed to force turnovers, since they were probably going to lose the rebounding battle. That happened in this one as Maryland had 5 more offensive rebounds, but they also had 5 more turnovers than Iowa.

Maryland ends their season at 12-21 overall. Losing Pharrel Payne didn’t help at all, but this roster had a lot of flaws from the start. Despite that, this team seemed to be having fun and still playing hard, which at least stands for something. Darius Adams didn’t quite have the freshman season he was hoping for, but we know the talent is there. Andre Mills was a big bright spot, really coming on strong in the 2nd half of the season as a scorer from 2 and 3. Return those 2, get Pharrel Payne back healthy, and that’s at least a solid core to try and be able to build around this off season.

Washington 83 - USC 79

MVP - Zoom Diallo

• 43 minutes - 22 points - 11 assists - 7 rebounds - 4 turnovers - 1 steal

• 6/16 2s (37.5%) - 1/4 3s (25.0%) - 7/8 FTs (87.5%)

In what turned out to be a pretty fun, but messy, game, Washington was able to overcome a double digit deficit in the 2nd half to eventually force overtime and win by 4. Despite their being overtime, Washington only played 7 total players, and USC only had 6 players play more than 6 minutes.

It was a defensive game for most of it as both defenses were daring the other team to shoot a bunch of jumpers. Washington mixed in plenty of zone defensively to try and force USC to be a jump shooting team. It largely worked, except Kam Woods was able to really get going with 24 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.

The game flipped when Washington went ultra small, playing Steinbach at the 5 with 6’1 Quimari Peterson, 6’2 Courtland Muldrew, 6’4 Zoom Diallo, and 6’4 Wesley Yates. Despite the small lineup, Washington still stayed about even on the glass and shot one more free throw in the game. USC on defense essentially said “We’re not letting Hannes Steinbach score. Anyone else is free to beat us.” To their credit, Steinbach had only 10 points on 10 shots, the fewest points he’s scored in a game all season long. However, Zoom Diallo once again showed why he’s quietly taken one of the biggest sophomore jumps in the Big Ten, scoring 22 points and adding 11 assists. Washington got enough shooting in Quimari Peterson (5/10 from 3) and shotmaking from Wesley Yates and Courtland Muldrew to figure things out.

USC most likely ended their season today, finishing 18-14 overall and 7-13 during Big Ten play. After starting 12-1 overall and being 18-6 at one point in the season, this was an ultimate, late season collapse. Granted, a large part of that is simply because USC started running out of bodies, and their two best players both got hurt this season. Regardless, they probably just needed to win a couple games down the stretch to find the post season, and instead ended with 8 straight losses. If Musselman gets Rice and Arenas to return to USC, the Trojans would immediately have one of the best projected backcourts in the conference next season. Mix in potential jumps from Jerry Easter and Jacob Cofie, and there’s a lot to like about the potential returning core.

Northwestern 74 - Indiana 61

MVP - Nick Martinelli

• 37 minutes - 28 points - 4 rebounds - 3 assists - 3 steals - 2 turnovers

• 9/15 2s (60.0%) - 1/3 3s (33.3%) - 7/9 FTs (77.7%)

This game was eerily similar to the first matchup between these two schools, just a couple weeks ago.

Indiana got out to a hot start, leading 22-13 after the first 10 minutes. Then over the next 20 minutes, Northwestern outscored the Hoosiers 44-25 and the game was basically over.

Martinelli continues to play exactly how you expect a superstar who doesn’t want his collegiate career to end to play. He went out and got 28 points on 18 shots and really helped break open the game.

The main reason it wasn’t an even bigger lead for Indiana early though was the play of Jake West. He ended with 18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal, including hitting his first 4 shots of the game. The ultra quick point guard showed confidence early and often, keeping the Wildcats in striking distance until Martinelli was able to take over.

Northwestern settled in defensively after the first few minutes, really extending outward and switching a lot defensively. Once this happened, Indiana didn’t have much of an answer.

It’s a very disappointing end to the season for the Hoosiers. With how bad the bubble has been, Indiana still has an outside shot of making the tournament, but it seems most likely that they’ll be heading to The Crown, or skipping post season play altogether. If this is the last game for Indiana, they’ll be looking to more or less start their roster over again with 8 seniors on the roster this season.

Rutgers 72 - Minnesota 67

MVP - Tariq Francis

• 35 minutes - 29 points - 4 assists - 3 rebounds - 1 steal - 1 turnover

• 4/9 2s (44.4%) - 5/7 3s (71.4%) - 6/7 FTs (85.7%)

It was largely a back and forth game that featured slowed down tempo, and both teams being able to knock down threes at a high rate. Rutgers went 10/23 from three while Minnesota went 9/21. Minnesota actually shot better from two, going 16/27 compared to 15/31 for Rutgers. BUT…

Rutgers ended the game with 3 more offensive rebounds and 5 fewer turnovers, meaning that they were ultimately able to win the possession battle. In a game where the shooting splits are fairly even, getting extra possessions is going to be what decides it.

Darren Buchanan and Jamichael Davis were able to have 7 and 6 assists respectively. There were 45 assists on 50 made field goals between the two teams, which feels like it has to be close to some sort of record.

Rutgers went deep in their bench as they tend to do, playing 10 guys total with 8 of them playing 10+ minutes. Minnesota played their normal 6 man rotation, which featured just 13 bench minutes.

Minnesota most likely ends their season today, although they’ll potentially have a chance to play in The Crown. Regardless, this was truly one of the more impressive 15-17 seasons I’ve seen. For basically the last two months, Minnesota has only had 6 or 7 scholarship players healthy, and yet they still found a way to be competitive, including wins over Michigan State, UCLA, Iowa, and Indiana. There’s a very realistic scenario where a few bounces went their way and we could’ve been talking about them as a bubble team (I guess a lot of teams you could say this).

Cade Tyson and Langston Reynolds will be the only two players who run out of eligibility this off season, meaning that Minnesota could in theory retain a lot of their players. Now, losing Tyson and Reynolds, two of their three best players, is no easy task to replace. Regardless, I think Minnesota fans have to be thrilled with Year 1 of Niko Medved.

Day 3 Preview

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Regardless, the first two of seventeen games, stretched across 6 days took place at the United Center in Chicago, and no team in totality scored more points than Bam Adebayo did for the Miami Heat last night (83).

For the first time in history, the 17 seed won a game in the Big Ten Tournament. That moves their career record to 1-0. Maryland secured the first win of the tourney with a 70-60 win over Oregon, after leading 33-12 at half.

Northwestern got the win over 18 seed Penn State with a final score of 76-66. For the first time in history, the 18 seed has now lost a Big Ten Tournament game (sorry for making the joke twice).

RECAPS

Maryland 70 - Oregon 60

MVP - Elijah Saunders

• 15 points - 5 rebounds - 2 blocks

• 0/0 2s - 5/6 3s (83.8%) - 0/0 FTs

The final score doesn’t quite indicate how much Maryland controlled this game. The Terrapins led 33-12 at halftime and led by 24 points with 9 minutes left. Oregon then proceeded to go on an 18-3 run to tighten the gap and at least make Maryland have a bit of a sweat, but ultimately it was just too large of a deficit to overcome.

It was a balanced scoring effort for the Terrapins as they had 5 different players score in double figures (Coit - 17, Saunders - 15, Washington - 12, Mills - 12, Adams - 10).

If you look at Maryland’d Kenpom profile, there’s one thing they do pretty well - rebound.

They did that in this one, gathering 13 offensive rebounds, good for a 38.2 ORB%. They also gathered 78% of their defensive rebounds. It wasn’t the prettiest game, as has been the style for Maryland this season, but they’ve largely been able to play better ball later in the season. Now they get to play at least one more game.

Oregon finishes the season at 12-20 overall, and 5-15 during Big Ten regular season.

Some idiot (me) really thought Oregon could be something this season. There’s definitely a bit of ‘what if’ with this team as Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad played just a couple early season game together before Shelstad was done for the year. Bittle also battled injuries all season long, and with Oregon already being a team with little to no depth, there was just simply no way to overcome it.

When Bittle started getting fully healthy again though, the Ducks at least had some life to them, winning 4 of their last 7 regular season games. It’s far from the season they wanted, but the biggest positive was KJ Evans looking like closer to what we know he can be. His 3 point shooting jumped up, he still showed the defensive versatility, and he also became more of a facilitator (by necessity to some degree).

Northwestern 76 - Penn State 66

MVP - Nick Martinelli

• 24 points - 9 rebounds - 3 assists - 2 steals - 1 turnover

• 8/13 2s (61.5%) - 2/4 3s (50.0%) - 2/2 FTs (100%)

Northwestern led by only 2 at half in a game that Penn State shot 44% from 3. There wasn’t any super big run from the Wildcats, but rather, they just methodically increased their lead in the second half until Penn State simply had no time left.

As would be expected, Nick Martinelli led the way with 24 points and 9 rebounds while shooting 10/17 from the field. Penn State had no answer for him all night long, and they also let Jayden Reid, who finished with 14 points and 9 assists, into the paint at will. Despite not having Arrinten Page due to injury, Northwestern dominated the glass, doubling Penn State in total offensive rebounds.

College basketball fans should rejoice as we get Nick Martinelli for at least one more game.

Penn State ends the season 12-20 overall, including 3-17 during Big Ten play. When Yanic Konan Niederhauser left late for the NBA draft last summer, Penn State had to scramble, and there simply wasn’t enough time to put a competitive Big Ten roster together. Penn State ended with by far the worst defense in the Big Ten, something that Niederhauser would’ve helped tremendously.

Freddie Dilione did take a big step up, and if both he and Kayden Mingo return, they give Penn State much more of a base to build on for next year than Penn State had going into this season. Eli Rice also showed some things as a stretch 4. Penn State was one of the youngest teams in all of college basketball, but there’s some optimism if they can return their core.

PREVIEWS

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Smith is currently averaging 8.9 assists per game, leading all of college basketball in that category. He’s been a 4 year starter for Purdue, and in that span, he’s racked up 954 assists in his career, 122 short of the all time NCAA record set by Bobby Hurley at Duke.

He’s already broke the all time Big Ten assists record, and assuming Purdue gets at least 3 post season games, Smith is on track to break the all time assist record.

But how is a 6’0 point guard who was ranked #198 in his class coming out of high school, and didn’t have any formal high major offers outside of Purdue, end up being one of the premier passers in the history of the sport?

It starts with his pick and rolls, and his incredible ability to adapt to what the defense throws at him.

The way this is setup is that the video above shows all of the clips I want to talk about, and below has accompanying analysis and stats.

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Early in his career, Smith had some struggles, as would be expected for any true freshman who starts at point guard. However, it was also evident right away (even back to the high school film) that Smith had something different to him.

When I watched the high school film, way back in 2022, this singular play led me to believe that Purdue had their point guard of the future. I’m not going to take credit for thinking Smith would become this incredible of a player, but the signs were there that he could be, before even stepping foot at Purdue.

The play above is in the Indiana State Sectionals, the first section of the State Tournament. In there, Smith buries a contested pull up 3, immediately starts talking to the opposing student section, sprints back to get a steal, and finishes it off with a left handed, off the dribble drop off. All within the first 90 seconds of the game.

All of the other film still very much popped, but that play in particular stood out. Why? Well, because Braden Smith has simply been someone who just makes plays happen.

Smith has also evolved and developed throughout his entire career.

Below is the number of pick and rolls Smith has ran, along with points per shot in his 4 seasons.

Obviously, there are still plenty of games left in the 2025-26 season, so the pure number of pick and rolls will increase. It’s worth noting though that Smith is running about 2.5 fewer pick and rolls per game this season compared to last, coinciding with playing about 4 fewer minutes per game.

It shows the level of skill that Smith has that even after losing Zach Edey and becoming the focal point of the offense, his efficiency not only didn’t decrease, but actually has increased during his senior season. We’ll get more into it below, but the evolution of his pull up jumper has been a big part of that.

We’ll start with simply looking at the stats for Smith’s pick and rolls this season, including

• Efficiency in different types of sets

• Efficiency against every coverage

• Efficiency in every type of action (pull up jumpers, lob passes, short rolls, etc.)

Then we can really get into what has made Braden Smith so elite out of pick and roll.

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Note - stats are updated through 12/29/2025

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Illinois Fighting Illini

Stat - 40.3 Offensive Rebounding Percentage

Illinois is currently rebounding 40.3% of their own misses. This is a top 10 rate in the country, and it also would be the best offensive rebounding team Brad Underwood has ever had. Illinois currently ranks 6th in the country with 16.9 2nd chance points per game. Even without the second chance opportunities, this would be an elite offense, but their ability to generate 2nd and 3rd looks has catapulted this to be a top 5 offense in the country.

Indiana Hoosiers

Stat - 18.4% Defensive Mid-Range Rate

On the season, Indiana is forcing teams to take 18.4% of their shots from the mid-range area, defined as twos not taken from inside the paint. That is the 2nd highest rate in the country, and it’s a big reason why Indiana has had success defensively. Despite not having the best defensive personnel on the roster, and lacking some interior size, Indiana has found success defensively by forcing teams to take tough 2s. Against Indiana, teams have taken 20.8% of their shots as pull up jumpers, one of the highest rates in the country.

Iowa Hawkeyes

Stat - 24.2 Defensive Turnover Percentage

Iowa currently ranks 4th in the country in defensive turnover percentage, forcing turnovers on nearly 25% of opponents possessions. As we get into Big Ten play more, there’ll be concerns with how this roster is able to defends the interior and rebound the ball. However, if Iowa is able to generate a lot of turnovers, some of those concerns go away. The Hawkeyes load up in gap help, and they make it difficult for teams to generate paint touches on a consistent basis.

Maryland Terrapins

Stat - 50% Field Goal Percentage At the Rim

Per Synergy, Maryland is shooting exactly 50% on shots at the rim on the season. Here is the list of teams who are shooting worse.

• Rice

• Valparaiso

• Lafayette

• NJIT

• Chicago State

• Southern Indiana

• Alabama A&M

• Canisius

• Jackson State

Maryland has been one of the worst interior finishing teams in the country, and they currently ranked #303 in 2P%. This is a smaller team, and especially now with Pharrel Payne out, Maryland doesn’t really have a bruiser they can rely on down low. Outside of Payne, the next best 2P% on the team is Isaiah Watts, and he’s only 10/20 from 2 on the year.

Michigan Wolverines

Stat - 38.61 Kenpom Net Rating

It’s hard to pick just one stat for Michigan, so I picked the summary of them all. Right now, Michigan has a net rating of 38.61 on Kenpom. To put that in perspective, Arizona is the next best this season at 34.26. That 4.35 difference between #1 and #2 is the same difference between #2 and #9. To put the net rating into even more perspective, only Duke from 1999 has a better Kenpom rating before entering March Madness. Michigan has been elite.

Michigan State Spartans

Stat - 6.3 Defensive 2nd Chance Points

Michigan State is currently allowing only 6.3 2nd chance points per game on the defensive side of the ball. That is the single best ranking in the entire country. This Spartans defense has been elite this season, and their dominance on the glass has played a part in it. They have the best defensive rebounding percentage in the country, and teams simply aren’t able to generate 2nd looks against them.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Stat - 74.7 Assist Rate

Minnesota is assisting on 74.7% of their made field goals, the highest rate in the country. On top of that, all 9 players that have been in the rotation are posting an assist rate of at least 10%, headlined by Isaac Asuma at 30.4%. This Minnesota offense is built on cuts and movement, and it’s generated a lot of their looks. The offense still has struggled though overall, but it hasn’t been necessarily because of quality of looks.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Stat - 50+% 3PA Rate

On the season, Nebraska is currently taking 50.1% of their shots from the three point line. Teams who are facing Nebraska are taking 51.2% of their shots from the three point line. There are only 7 teams in the country who allow opponents to take over 50% of their shots from the three point line, and there are 20 teams in the country who are taking at least 50% of their shots from three.

Nebraska and Central Arkansas are the only two teams to appear on both lists.

No team in the country embodies “live by the three, die by the three” more than Nebraska.

Northwestern Wildcats

Stat - 14.2 Fast Break Points Per Game

On the season, Northwestern is averaging 14.2 fast break points per game. That’s the most for Northwestern since averaging 9.0 fast break points per game in the 2020-21 season, and it’s the most fast break points per game under Chris Collins at Northwestern.

Right now, Northwestern has the fastest offense under Chris Collins, which makes sense given the roster. This is a roster with a lot of wings and guards, and very few bigs. When you combine that with the speed of some lead guards like Jayden Reid, Jake West, and Jordan Clayton, it makes sense that Collins has had his team out and running more this season.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Stat - 57.9 Assist Rate

Ohio State is currently generating assists on 57.9% of their makes on the season. That ranks around 75th best in the country, but it’d be the highest assist percentage since the 2019 at Ohio State, and it’d be the 2nd highest assist rate at Ohio State in the last two decades. A big complaint from me about Ohio State’s offense last season was how the ball seemingly would get stuck and not move. That hasn’t been the case this season, in large part because of what Ohio State is able to now do with Christoph Tilly at the 5.

Oregon Ducks

Stat - 0.896 Points Per Possession Defending Pick and Rolls

Oregon is allowing 0.896 points per possession (PPP) when facing pick and rolls on the season. That number in itself isn’t the worst, as it’s just a bit below D1 average, but when you compare to that of previous seasons, it helps show why Oregon’s defense has been struggling. Last year teams averaged 0.831 PPP out of pick and roll against Oregon, and although that may not seem like a big different, it adds up as Oregon will likely face close to 1000 pick and rolls this season.

Penn State Nittany Lions

Stat - 56.2 Defensive eFG%

Penn State has a defensive eFG% of 56.2% on the year, which ranks 313th in the country. eFG% (called effective field goal percentage) is a way to account for three point shots being an extra point when looking at field goal percentage. It’s calculated as

(Field Goals Made + 0.5 * 3-Pointers Made) / Field Goal Attempts

Penn State hasn’t had success defending the interior or perimeter, and this shows it. Outside of forcing turnovers, this Penn State team hasn’t had any success at all defending this season.

Purdue Boilermakers

Stat - 21.0 Defensive Rim Rate

We knew the offense would be elite for Purdue heading into the season, but the defense was the big question. Purdue has had a top 20 defense in the country in large part because of their ability to deter shots from the rim. Teams are only taking 21% of their shots at the rim against Purdue, the 8th best rate in the entire country. Despite maybe not having the best defensive personnel, Purdue has found success because of their heavy help defensive scheme that forces teams to be on the perimeter more.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Stat - 45.9 eFG%

Rutgers currently has an effective field goal percentage of 45.9% (definition of eFG% is under the Penn State part). That ranks 321st in the entire country. Rutgers is 336th in 2P%, and they’re 229th in 3P%. Simply put, Rutgers has struggled to score the ball, and they’re going to need to turn that around in order to have any short of a shot at taking positives away from this season.

UCLA Bruins

Stat - 18.1 Points Off Turnovers Per Game

This stat goes two ways. The first is that forcing turnovers is generally what allows this UCLA team to get easy looks offensively, especially given that when they’re in the half court, they take (and make) a lot of tough shots. Probably the more important aspect though is that when UCLA is forcing turnovers, it means teams aren’t putting the ball in the hoop. UCLA has around the 50th ranked defense in the country, and it’s as high as it is because of how many turnovers they force. When they aren’t forcing turnovers though, teams have been able to generate quality looks and convert.

USC Trojans

Stat - 53.3 FTA Rate

USC has the highest free throw attempt rate in the country at 53.3. This essentially means that for every two field goals USC attempts, they’re also attempting one free throw attempt. This is the highest free throw attempt rate since 2014 when North Carolina A&T had a free throw rate of 58.6. USC is currently getting 26.3% of their points from the free throw line, the 9th highest in the country. This is led by Ezra Ausar who has attempted more free throws and field goals on the season, and he’s also shooting a career high in free throw percentage. Unfortunately for him it isn’t a high bar to clear as he’s still only shooting 65.2% from the free throw line.

Washington Huskies

Stat - 32.2 Three Point Attempt Rate

Washington is taking only 32.2% of their shots from three, which ranks 324th in the country and dead last in the Big Ten. That doesn’t immediately mean that a team can’t find success. Michigan State last season shot just 32.9% of their shots from three on the season. However, it does mean your margin of error decreases a lot, and you have to have the ability to rely on your defense a bit more.

Wisconsin Badgers

Stat - 16.4 Seconds Per Offensive Possession

16.4 seconds is the average length of an offensive possession for Wisconsin on the season. It ranks as the 57th fastest offense in the country, and it’d also be the fastest offense at Wisconsin since Brad Soderberg was the coach in 2001. Wisconsin is getting out and running even more than they did last season, and this will be the highest transition usage rate Wisconsin has had under Greg Gard or Bo Ryan.

Below is a breakdown of every game from the week and some notes on all 18 Big Ten teams.

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Previous Content

Bruce Thornton’s Efficiency

Big Ten Zone Defenses

Michigan’s 2P Defense

Nebraska’s Offensive Breakout

Indiana’s Modern Offense

Illinois Creative Pick and Rolls

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (6-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • Delaware State - Monday 12/29 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Ohio State - Friday 1/2 - 8:00 - Peacock

This hasn’t been a season to remember so far for Rutgers, and there doesn’t seem to be a ton to look forward to. For me, I’ll be really watching a lot of the younger guys to see what their development looks like throughout Big Ten play. Getting them as many minutes as possible could be what’s needed to try and help setup next season.

17. Penn State (8-4, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • North Carolina Central - Monday 12/29 - 1:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Illinois - Saturday 1/3 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

Outside of almost beating Michigan State, this hasn’t been a season to write home about for the Nittany Lions. The defense has been a major issue, and they really don’t have any sort of interior defense. Looking at how they start Big Ten play, they face Illinois, Michigan, and Purdue in a row. This is a team with a lot of young players, so continuing their development and growth should be priority number one.

16. Minnesota (7-5, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • FDU - Monday 12/29 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ Northwestern - Saturday 1/3 - 5:00 - Big Ten Network

I don’t want to fully write off this season for the Gophers, but between the injuries and roster, it feels like a season in which Medved just needs to learn about the Big Ten and then start putting together next year’s roster. Minnesota should pick off a couple bigger games, but this is a team that could in theory return a lot of their rotation from this season. Being able to develop continuity within this system should set them up better for next season.

15. Maryland (7-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 73-58 vs Old Dominion

• Next Week

  • Oregon - Friday 1/2 - 7:30 - Peacock

Maryland got the win over Old Dominion behind a hot start in the first half from the three point line. After starting 10/17 from three, Maryland went just 1/18 the rest of the way, but the early lead was enough because the defense stepped up enough. Darius Adams had 18 points, and Solomon Washington had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Worth noting that Maryland started the game with Saunders and Washington as the 4 and 5.

The injuries have been brutal for Maryland, and although they don’t cover up everything, I feel like Buzz Williams gets a bit of a pass in year one. He’s found success everywhere he’s gone, but it’s generally taken time. The same may be true for Maryland.

14. Oregon (7-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 80-57 W vs Omaha

• Next Week

  • Maryland - Friday 1/2 - 7:30 - Peacock

Oregon controlled for a good chunk of the game as they beat Omaha by 23 points. Can’t overreact to a game against a team ranked below 200 in Kenpom, but there were at least some signs that maybe Oregon is headed in the right direction. Bittle had 26 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks, and 1 steal. Takai Simpkins and Jackson Shelstad had 15 and 13 points respectively, and the defense looked a bit better in this one.

This has been one of the more surprising teams to me. I figured the offense would have some issues, but the defense seemed like it should be much much better than what it is. There’s still time to turn this season around, but their margin of error moving forward is close to zero.

13. Northwestern (7-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • Howard - Tuesday 12/30 - 5:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Minnesota - Saturday 1/3 - 5:00 - Big Ten Network

The development of Arrinten Page has been a nice outcome for Northwestern, but this Wildcats team isn’t deep, and they haven’t figured out how to win games just yet. They’re 2-5 against high major competition, and their two wins have come against DePaul and South Carolina, two teams who aren’t very good. Out of those 5 losses, 4 of them have been by 5 points or less though. This is a team that could maybe surprise some people in Big Ten play, but they have to be able to put a full 40 minutes together.

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12. USC (12-1, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • @ Michigan - 7:00 - Peacocok

What started out as a season with some hope has turned into a season of question marks to me. With Rodney Rice out for the season and Alijah Arenas most likely out for the season (or coming back late in the year), USC has lost a lot of their depth. They still have enough talent to win games, and they do enter 2026 at 12-1, but it’s hard to have 100% faith in this team.

11. Washington (8-4, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 86-56 W vs San Diego

• Next Week

  • Utah - Monday 12/29 - 11:00 - FS1

  • @ Indiana - Sunday 1/4 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

After dropping a game to Seattle, Washington got back on track with a dominant win over San Diego. Hannes Steinbach was once again impressive with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Desmond Claude and Zoom Diallo seem to be the next scoring options as they had 13 and 17 points respectively.

I don’t think Danny Sprinkle is on the hot seat by any means, but it would be nice to see him get this team together during Big Ten play. Injuries have played a part of the early season up and downs, and Wesley Yates missed last game with no clear timetable to return yet. However, the offense isn’t what I’d call modern, and they rely on a lot of tough twos with individual creation. The defense has been better than I expected, but if this team is going to go dancing, they have to figure out a way to be more efficient offensively.

10. Ohio State (9-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 89-63 W vs Grambling State

• Next Week

  • @ Rutgers - Friday 1/2 - 8:00 - Peacock

As has been the case in these buy games, Ohio State dominated. All 5 starters scored in double figures, and they shot 25/32 from 2 as a team. This team isn’t deep at all, and I think this game showed that with only have 7 guys play 10+ minutes in a game where Ohio State won by 26.

Bruce Thornton has been incredible this season, but the Buckeyes right now seem destined to once again be nervous heading into Selection Sunday. This team isn’t deep at all right now, and although some of the shot selection and ball movement has improved this season compared to last, they still rely on a lot of tough shot making. In addition, the defense hasn’t quite been good enough. This team has the talent to make the postseason, but they need some minor improvements to be able to hear their name called.

9. Indiana (10-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 81-60 W vs Siena

• Next Week

  • Washington - Sunday 1/4 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

Indiana jumped up big against Siena early, and they coasted through the 2nd half. Wilkerson had 23 points, DeVries and Conerway each had 16, and Dorn added in 11. Dorn has been a big addition as he’s gotten into the rotation more as he’s now shooting 44.7% from three on the season.

The positives of this Indiana team is that they’re fun and pretty enjoyable to watch. The negative is that they really haven’t beaten a single team with a pulse yet. The offense is very high variance, which makes for some very fun performances but also some very tough ones. The defense has been good so far, but there are some concerns about how it holds up during Big Ten play.

8. Wisconsin (8-4, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 88-61 W vs Central Michigan

• Next Week

  • Milwaukee - Tuesday 12/30 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Purdue - Saturday 1/3 - 8:00 - FOX

Wisconsin used a 26-6 run to start the 2nd half to pull away from Central Michigan and make it not a close contest. Nolan Winter had 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Austin Rapp had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. John Blackwell missed this game, although he’s expected to be back.

Wisconsin currently is 3-4 against high major competition, although all three of those wins have come against teams who aren’t projected to make the postseason. They’ve been blown out by Nebraska and BYU, but what has been more surprising is their lack of offense in the TCU and Villanova games. This defense seems to be right where I thought they would be, but in the preseason, it seemed like the offense would be much better than they are. There hasn’t been a consistent effort offensively, and their lack of depth has showed at times.

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7. UCLA (10-3, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 97-65 W vs UC Riverside

• Next Week

  • @ Iowa - Saturday 1/3 - 6:00 - Peacock

Tyler Bilodeau erupted for 34 points against UC Riverside, and Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey, and Trent Perry all got into double figures. UCLA forced 22 turnovers, and they won the rebounding battle in a game that wasn’t close at all in the 2nd half.

For UCLA to reach the peak that they can, Donovan Dent simply has to be better. The optimist in me hopes that this winter break allowed him to get closer to 100%, and we’ll start seeing more of the burst we saw at New Mexico. Beyond that, the defense has to be better across the board. The interior defense hasn’t been great, and even though this UCLA team doesn’t have the prototypical bruisers at the center spot, there’s still talent there that should allow this team to be better.

6. Iowa (10-2, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • UMass Lowell - Monday 12/29 - 5:00 - Big Ten Network

  • UCLA - Saturday 1/3 - 6:00 - Peacock

Iowa had one of the easier non-conference schedules this season, but they also showed flashes of what they could be. There’ll still be questions about how the interior defense holds up against the Big Ten, but Iowa went toe to toe with Iowa State. The combination of Stirtz and McCollum gives Iowa a higher floor, the question will be what the ceiling of this team can be.

5. Nebraska (12-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • New Hampshire - Tuesday 12/30 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Michigan State - Friday 1/2 - 9:00 - Peacock

Nebraska has been arguably the best story of the non-conference slate, as they look poised to go a perfect 13-0 before 2026. This includes wins over Illinois, Wisconsin, Creighton, and Oklahoma. The offense has been humming, relying a lot on the three point shot. The more surprising part is how good this defense has been. With how high variance this team plays, given the amount of threes that go up on both ends of the floor, the Cornhuskers will inevitably have a game where they get blown out, but this is a team that very well could end up winning the first tournament game in Nebraska history.

4. Illinois (9-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 91-48 W vs Missouri

• Next Week

  • Southern - Monday 12/29 - 3:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ Penn State - Saturday 1/3 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

Illinois dismantled Missouri, averaging 1.46 points per possessions behind shooting 60% from 2, 45.5% from 3, and also having an offensive rebounding percentage of over 50%. Keaton Wagler played like a first round draft pick, going for 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals while shooting 5/6 from three.

This offense that Illinois has is elite, and it’s going to be a big reason why they find success. They’re starting to find a blend of ball movement with their individual creation, and it’s going to lead to a lot of points. The question will be just how good the defense can be. They have talent and a system to find success, but the consistency on that end of the floor hasn’t always been there.

3. Michigan State (11-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • Cornell - Monday 12/29 - 7:00 - FS1

  • @ Nebraska - Friday 1/2 - 9:00 - Peacock

Tom Izzo has once again found himself with a team with an elite defense, and enough offense to be very scary. Jeremy Fears has been arguably the best facilitator in the sport, and he gets to the line a lot which helps balance out the scoring. Jaxon Koler has been a monster on the glass, and he’s been a major reason why Michigan State has been the best rebounding team in the country. This defense seems poised to be a top 10 defense once again, but the offense will remain the question going forward.

2. Purdue (11-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • Kent State - Monday 12/29 - 7:00 - B1G+

  • @ Wisconsin - Saturday 1/3 - 8:00 - FOX

Purdue had a blowout loss at home to Iowa State. Besides that game, Purdue had the non-conference you’d expect out of a team of their caliber. They have the best offense in the country, spearheaded by the best point guard in the country in Braden Smith. Purdue once again has an elite shooting team, and they also have a 1-2 punch down low with TKR and Oscar Cluff. Purdue’s defense has been surprisingly solid this season, as it’s been the one major area of concern going into the season. If it holds, this is a Purdue team that could get it done, even though they had that bad loss to Iowa State.

1. Michigan (11-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • McNeese - Monday 12/29 - 7:00 - B1G+

  • USC - Friday 1/2 - 7:00 - Peacock

After barely beating Wake Forest and TCU, Michigan went on a run in non-conference play that we just simply don’t see often. They’ve been the best defense in the entire country, and it hasn’t been close. The offense has also been elite though, and this Michigan team is the best team in the country. Michigan is a top 25 three point shooting team, and they’ve also been the best interior finishing team in the country. It feels at some point Michigan will have a bad game and lose, but there’s a chance given their schedule that they’re 20-0 when they head to Michigan State on January 30th.

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My personal tracker on the number of games I’ve watched of each team.

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Illinois - 2 Year NBA Draft Rule

Last year, Kasparas Jakucionis was expected to be a one and done, and it was known there was at least a possibility Will Riley would also be one. However, if the NBA made it so there had to be two years of college basketball, that’d help out the Illini a lot. Keaton Wagler is the name this season, who like Will Riley, seems headed towards being a potential one and done player before entering the NBA draft. Ranked #211 in his class, Illinois hit big on Wagler so far, and their reward may be that Wagler ends up playing less than 40 collegiate games.

Indiana - Consistency

Indiana fans are a bit distracted with football right now, but the basketball team has had its flashes. However, they’ve also had spurts where it looks like they don’t click at all. On the season, Indiana has had a game where they shot 54% from three, one where they shot 16%, and a lot spread out in between. This is a team built on three point shooting, and naturally the variance is going to happen, but it feels like this Hoosiers team is really built on being able to knockdown threes.

Iowa - Big Ten size

I do think Iowa can figure it out without having the traditional Big Ten size, but it’ll be the biggest thing going into conference play. They got pounced on by Michigan State, a very quick wake up call for the Hawkeyes. Iowa has talent, but they don’t really have the prototypical Big Ten size down low. Rebounding hasn’t necessarily been a strength for this team, and they have been just fine protecting the rim. Having someone they could throw in down low would at least alleviate some of the pressure.

Maryland - Year 3 Buzz Williams

If you look at what Buzz Williams did at his last two coaching stops, he had a bit of a rebuild for a year or two before reaching the tournament with Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. This seems like it may be on the same trajectory at Maryland, as they have a long way to go to try and make a tournament this season. However, Buzz has showed he can get programs there, but it just doesn’t happen early on.

Michigan - Blinders

What are you supposed to get the best team in the country? They got Yaxel to return from the NBA draft, have answered every question people have had about them in the preseason, and they have one of the best coaches in the country. I chose to give them blinders to just keep being focused on what they’re doing, because it has very clearly been working.

Michigan State - Jase Richardson

Let’s imagine a world for just a second where Jase Richardson doesn’t develop into a one and done player, but decides to return to East Lansing for one more season before going to the NBA.

If we think about what Michigan State needs on this year’s roster, Jase Richardson checks off all the boxes. He can be the shooter and perimeter scorer for this team, help with some point guard responsibilities, and make the perimeter defense of this team even better. Richardson wasn’t projected to be a one and done guy, but he quickly developed into one. Credit to him for being able to do so, but also he would’ve been exactly what this Spartans team needed.

Minnesota - Jump shot making

Minnesota is generating more open catch and shoot threes than almost anybody in the country. Unfortunately for them, they’re in the bottom 20% in the country in actually making those shots. The process has been there for the Gophers, and that isn’t something to completely ignore, but also at some point the results have to match up.

Nebraska - Rabbit foot

Nebraska has had one of the best starts of the season for any team in the country, and this has been one of the best starts in Nebrasketball history. This gift isn’t to say at all that they’re just a “lucky” team, and if you read any of my preseason content you’d know I thought this was a tournament caliber team. However, they play a very high variance style with taking a lot of threes and forcing other teams to take a lot of threes. It’s all gone their way right now (because they’re a good team), but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting a few more shooting bounces going their way.

Northwestern - More game reps

This Northwestern team has a solid top three in Nick Martinelli, Arrinten Page, and Jayden Reid, although Page and Reid haven’t been quite as consistent as of late. Still, there’s real talent there. The issue is that the rest of their roster really just doesn’t have a lot of games under their belt, and the guard/wing room has a lot of figuring out to do.

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Ohio State - Heart monitors

Ohio State fans have had maybe the most stressful non conference of any team in the country, having had 4 games decided by a single point, and two other games decided by only a couple of possessions. When facing a power conference opponent, there has been no such thing as a stress free night for the Buckeyes, and I’m sure the fans have had their heart rate increase a lot by watching these early games.

Oregon - Wing development

This Oregon season hasn’t gone how anyone has wanted early on, but when you look at their roster, they have a good top 3 of Nate Bittle, Jackson Shelstad, and KJ Evans. However, they don’t have a true standout wing, and T.K. Simpkins has been the one to somewhat consistently step up. This team has the talent to turn it around, but they feel a wing or two away, even though they have multiple options on the team.

Penn State - A time machine

Penn State has one of the youngest teams in all of D1 basketball. They have some talent there between guys like Freddie Dilione, Kayden Mingo, and Melih Tunca, but there’s also a ton of inexperience. This year Penn State may get an upset win or two, but this roster largely feels built to try and win next year, especially if Kayden Mingo’s brother commits to Penn State. Take the time machine and jump one year into the future to see where this Nittany Lions team really is at.

Purdue - A Neuralyzer from Men In Black

In the Men in Black movies, the agents are able to use a device called a neuralyzer to wipe memories from people that see the flash. Purdue gets this to be able to use it on college basketball fans and make them forget about the Iowa State game. It’s a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the heads of what has otherwise been a tremendous non conference schedule.

Rutgers - Hibernation

I don’t want to fully call this season over for Rutgers, but it feels very much like it’s already there. Rutgers fans should have the ability to simply just hibernate this winter and not have to endure the Scarlet Knights struggles. Wake up refreshed in the spring, looking to see what transfers and freshmen Rutgers has added for next season.

UCLA - Healthy Donovan Dent

Donovan Dent has dealt with some injuries this season, although he’s only missed one game. The injury and recovery doesn’t explain away all the faults for him and UCLA this season, but it’s been noticeable that he seems a bit hindered at times. I’m hoping that some rest around the holidays can help Dent get to the 100% player that UCLA needs.

USC - Pokemon Center

In the Pokemon video games, there are these things called Pokemon Centers. There’s one in every town, and what they do is allow you to bring any injured Pokemon in to be able to revive them and heal them up to 100% health. USC would look a lot different right now if those existed as their two starting guards in Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice have been hurt. Rice is done for the season, and Arenas is most likely done for the year, although there is a chance he could return late in the year. Amarion Dickerson is also presumably out for the rest of the season.

Washington - Modern offense

Washington has sort of fallen into the model that Mike Woodson ran at Indiana which included taking a lot of pull up 2s, isolations, and post ups. Things that aren’t necessarily included are three point shooting, spacing, and ball movement. Washington has the skill to win the way they play, but they could benefit a lot from having more floor spacing and shooting on the floor.

Wisconsin - Bench mob depth

Wisconsin last season obviously benefitted a lot from John Tonje dominating, but Wisconsin was sneaky deep with their roster, and Greg Gard was very comfortable utilizing his bench. There simply isn’t a Carter Gilmore or Kamari McGee on the roster right now, and it makes it difficult for Wisconsin to be able to trust their starting five, a bunch that all have had individual good games, but there hasn’t been the consistency needed.

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Previous Content

Big Ten Zone Defenses

Michigan’s 2P Defense

Nebraska’s Offensive Breakout

Indiana’s Modern Offense

Illinois Creative Pick and Rolls

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (6-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 70-69 W vs Penn

• Next Week

  • No games

Rutgers needed all 40 minutes to do it, but they were able to pull off the comeback win against Fran McCaffery and Penn. Tariq Francis carried this offense immensely, scoring 34 points which included going 8/10 from 2, 1/4 from3, and 15/19 from the free throw line. He was the only player that really had it going offensively, but it was just enough. Now, needing a pull up three from Tariq Francis to beat Penn at home doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the future of this season, but it’s still a cool moment for the Scarlet Knights in a season that projects to be pretty bleak the rest of the way.

17. Penn State (8-4, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 80-46 L vs Pitt

• Next Week

  • No games

Even with Penn State being a young team that hasn’t proven anything, this score against Pitt was shocking. Pitt is a team who is listed as the 4th worst team in the ACC, a conference worse than the Big Ten by metrics. Penn State completely no showed, and despite having 11 different players play over 5 minutes, only 4 of them scored the entire game. Freddie Dilione had 50% of Penn State’s points with 23, and both Kaydne Mingo and Josh Reed had 9 points. Justin Houser was the other player to score with 5. They couldn’t hit anything, and Pitt was the exact opposite as they were able to get whatever they wanted.

16. Minnesota (7-5, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week -

• Next Week

  • No games

This was another game for the Gophers in which all five starters scored in double figures, although they did only have two points off the bench. Cade Tyson continued to be dominant with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Isaac Asuma had an all-around game with 15 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. This is one of those games where not a ton can be taken away going forward, although it was good to see Minnesota dominate again.

15. Maryland (6-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 80-72 L @ Virginia

• Next Week

  • Old Dominion - Sun 12/28 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Without Pharrel Payne, the Terrapins fought hard against Virginia, although the final score probably isn’t quite indicative of how the game really went. Maryland was able to get balanced production with 7 guys scoring 8+ points, and the Buzz Williams offensive rebounding scheme from Texas A&M was in full force as Maryland got offensive rebounds on 48.6% of their misses. However, it ultimately wasn’t enough as turnovers from their guards killed them. They also struggled to defensive rebound, something they are really going to have to figure out without Pharrel Payne as Collin Metcalf is their only other center, and he doesn’t seem to be an integral part of the rotation. Not everything can be blamed on injuries for the Terrapins this season, but they definitely haven’t helped as Maryland has lost 5 of their last 6. All of them have been against top 25 Kenpom teams.

14. Oregon (6-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 94-69 W vs Portland, 91-82 L vs Gonzaga

• Next Week

  • Omaha - Sun 12/28 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

After a semi slow start to the game, Oregon dominated the middle twenty minutes to win by 25 against Portland. KJ Evans had another big game, going for 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. We’re starting to see the leap from Evans that many had hoped for, and him taking that leap combined with the duo of Shelstad and Bittle can at least give Oregon a bit of hope. However, they have to be able to put it all together against quality competition, something they haven’t done all season.

Oregon was able to keep it close for about 25 minutes against Gonzaga, before the Bulldogs were able to pull away a touch. Given Oregon’s season so far, this might be their best loss on the season, although I’m sure the Ducks don’t care about that. Oregon was able to score pretty easily, led by Nate Bittle with 28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. However, Gonzaga was also able to score easily, and they were able to get to the free throw line a ton.

13. Northwestern (7-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 86-70 W vs Valparaiso, 61-58 L vs Butler

• Next Week

  • No games

Northwestern used stronger starts to both halves to get a 16 point win against Valpo. It isn’t the most impressive win by any means, but having a down game against an inferior opponent at this point in the season isn’t uncommon. Nick Martinelli continues to be an elite scorer as he put in 29 points on 19 shots, although his incredibly hot three point shooting finally had a down game in which he went 1/4 from three. He’s still an incredible 14/23 from three on the year. Arrinten Page and Jayden Reid had 18 and 13 points respectively, and it seems like Northwestern has a clear Big 3.

Nick Martinelli was out against Butler with an injury, and the offense reflected that. Northwestern had a season low 0.87 points per possession while shooting just 17.4% from three. It was a good defensive effort, and looked more like the Northwestern defenses of a few years ago that forced a ton of threes and showed a ton of help baseline. That was in full force in this one as Butler took 51.7% of their shots from three while only shooting 23.3%. Jayden Reid was the only Wildcat in double figures with 14 points on 12 shots. In a game where neither team was efficient offensively, Butler being able to get offensive rebounds on 33.3% of their misses was a big reason they were able to get a three point win.

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12. USC (12-1, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 97-70 W vs UTSA, 102-63 W vs UC Santa Cruz

• Next Week

  • No games

The biggest news of the week for USC is that Rodney Rice would be done for the season, and that guard Kam Woods would be transferring to USC. The depth on USC is decreasing a ton now, and the Trojans are running out of ball handlers.

Against UTSA it didn’t matter though as 5 of the 8 Trojans who saw minutes scored in double figures. Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar both had 20+ points. Expect to see a very heavy dose of those two the rest of the season as they’re going to be the primary creators for this Trojans team.

With Brown suffering the tragic shooting, USC cancelled their game against Brown and picked up a game against D3 California Santa Cruz.

I don’t think there’s much to takeaway from a game against a D3 opponent, although it’s worth noting that Kam Woods played 22 minutes for the Trojans. It was a nice spot to get him a lot of run as he just transferred in mid-season, but since he wasn’t on a team at all, he becomes eligible as the 2nd semester is starting.

11. Washington (7-4, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 70-66 L vs Seattle

• Next Week

  • San Diego - Monday 12/22 - 10:00 - Big Ten Network

Seattle is a very good mid major, so the loss isn’t the biggest travesty in the world, but the game showed that the Huskies have a major weakness shooting the ball. Washington just shot 1/15 from three on the game, with Hannes Steinbach hitting the only three. Washington was able to generate a lot of looks in the paint, but it was an off night from there as well as they went 21/44 (47.7%) inside the paint. Washington had a ton of injuries early in the season that held legitimate blame for some of the poor moments they had. However, we’re already a third of the way through the season, and this offense really feels like it can get stuck in the mud. It’s a lot of isos and post ups from Desmond Claude and Hannes Steinbach to bail them out. Washington can still turn this around, but this is a team that relies a lot on 1 on 1 creation, mid range shots, and they don’t have the best defense to anchor them on that side of the ball.

10. Ohio State (8-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 71-70 L vs North Carolina

• Next Week

  • Grambling State - Tue 12/23 - 2:00 - Big Ten Network

Ohio State had a chance to win, leading with under a minute left before turning the ball over against the press. Ohio State once again felt like they played to the level of their opponent as three of their last 5 games have been decided by one point each. Amare Bynum got his first career start and put up 11 points and 6 rebounds. Ohio State had all five starters score in double figures, but you, the reader, had as many points as the entire Buckeyes bench combined (0). This isn’t a deep team at all, and they have to rely on some tougher shot making to find success. Guys like Bruce Thornton and Devin Royal can do it, but the margin of error for this team is pretty thin.

9. Indiana (9-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 78-58 W vs Chicago State

• Next Week

  • Siena - Monday 12/22 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

A year ago, no Hoosiers fan could’ve imagined putting up 46 threes in a single game, but Indiana did just that against Chicago State. This was a game they jumped out to an early lead and coasted for the second half. I do think there’s slight concern that they only took 16 total 2s against a Chicago State team they should be able to simply be better and bigger than. However, Indiana is going to stay true to who they are, and that includes generating a lot of good looks from three. At this point, we know they’re going to stomp on bad teams, but the question remains what they can do against quality teams.

8. Wisconsin (7-4, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 76-66 L vs Villanova (OT)

• Next Week

  • Central Michigan - Mon 12/22 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

I still think this Wisconsin team has the pieces to turn it around, but it’s been puzzling how poor the offense has been against good competition. Wisconsin shot the ball well from three agains Villanova, but they struggled to score at all on the interior outside of Nolan Winter. This team doesn’t have much front court depth, and Winter is the only one who can really get going down low. That puts a lot of pressure on Boyd and Blackwell to create, who can absolutely do it, but have struggled against better competition. The defense wasn’t great against Villanova, although the defensive rebounding played a decent part in that. The defense was right where I expected it to be preseason, but this team needs to figure out how to have better success offensively quickly.

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7. UCLA (9-3, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 90-77 W vs Arizona State, 108-87 W vs Cal Poly

• Next Week

  • UC Riverside - Tue 12/23 - 4:00 - Big Ten Network

UCLA looked like for a half second they might try and let the lead slip, but they finished strong against Arizona State to get the win. Skyy Clark was once again great for the Bruins, and he’s arguably been the Bruins best player this season. He had 18 points on 6/10 shooting from three while also adding 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 0 turnovers. Donovan Dent scored 20 points for just the 2nd time in a Bruins uniform, and his first time since the very first game of the season. He’s strung together 4 games that at least look closer to what people were expecting from Dent, although he may not quite fully be there yet. I do think getting him some time off over the winter break could help him come back strong to start Big Ten play.

UCLA is playing noticeably faster over the last two games, highlighted by 79 possessions in their game against Cal Poly, although Cal Poly plays incredibly fast to begin with which inflates the numbers. Skyy Clark once again put up big numbers with 30 points while shooting 6/12 from three. Tyler Bilodeau was hyper efficient, scoring 24 points on 9 shots, and Donovan Dent had 16 points, 11 assists, and 5 steals. The defense continues to struggle though, and it put UCLA in a spot where they were behind at half time. Xavier Booker only played 3 games as UCLA went to a 3 guard lineup that involved Bilodeau at the 5 and more minutes for Jamar Brown and Trent Perry. When this team isn’t forcing turnovers, teams are able to get good looks against UCLA.

6. Iowa (10-2, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 94-39 W vs Bucknell

• Next Week

  • No games

Iowa faced Bucknell, who is ranked 311th in the country per Kenpom. The final score is very indicative of Iowa playing a team ranked below 300. They forced 25 turnovers, only allowed 3 offensive rebounds for Bucknell, got 50% of their own misses, and the Hawkeyes shot 30/42 from 2. They did whatever they wanted the entire game. This Iowa team I think is a good basketball team who’ll struggle some against major physicality. That should be good enough to be a tourney team but there still is a semi question mark to me on how consistently this team will be competitive against great competition. They can do it, as shown by the Iowa State game, but we haven’t seen many opportunities from them yet this season.

5. Nebraska (12-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 78-55 W vs North Dakota

• Next Week

  • No games

Despite not shooting well from three in the game, Nebraska was able to get a big win over North Dakota, although Nebraska actually trailed by 2 at the half. Berke Buyuktuncel became the second Cornhusker this season to get a triple double as he had 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. As is designed by their defensive system, Nebraska once again did a good job of forcing teams to take tougher 2s and 3s, and North Dakota simply didn’t have the firepower needed.

4. Illinois (8-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - No games

• Next Week

  • Missouri (in St. Louis) - Mon 12/22 - 8:00 - FS1

Despite not playing any games last week, Illinois still made some news by adding Toni Bilic, who will be available to play at the start of the second semester. He seems to be more of a project player than someone who will most likely contribute right away, but he’ll get an opportunity to both showcase his skill and also develop within the Illinois system. Bilic is a longer forward who has upside due to his size and ability to handle the ball some. The shot is still a work in progress, and he’ll have to improve physically, but he gives Illinois someone that could potentially play spot minutes.

3. Michigan State (11-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 92-69 W vs Toledo, 79-70 W vs Oakland

• Next Week

  • No games

Michigan State put Toledo away early, leading by 33 points at one point in the second half. Jeremy Fears, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr, and Kur Teng all scored between 14 and 16 points for the Spartans, and quietly, Michigan State again shot the ball well from three. They still have one of the lowest three point attempt rates in the country, but they are shooting 36.5% from three after the Toledo game, good for 74th in the country. Jaxon Kohler has continued to shoot well, and Kur Teng has started to show the shooting capabilities that he was recruited for. Divine Ugochukwu is shooting 50% from three on the year, although I still think teams will want to make him prove it a bit more.

Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe had incredible, matching sweaters in their matchup in Detroit.

Michigan State only won by 9, but this is a very good Oakland team that also took Purdue to the brink early in the season. I’m sure Tom Izzo won’t use that as an excuse, but this isn’t a game to me that signifies anything other than this Spartans team will have some difficulties against teams that shoot very well from three, given their own inefficiencies at times. Coen Carr had his best game of the year with 22 points and 7 rebounds, and Jaxon Kohler had yet another double double.

2. Purdue (11-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 88-60 W vs Auburn

• Next Week

  • No games

Purdue hasn’t had a game decided by less than 16 points since November 20th, in a 9 point win against Memphis. This game was no different as for the 7th straight game, the outcome was decided well before the final buzzer (with one of those games being the big loss to Iowa State). Purdue was dominant on both ends of the floor, and they continue to answer questions about the defense. The Iowa State loss will linger for a while, but Purdue has done all they can since then, winning all three games by at least 20 points. Braden Smith was masterful with 11 points and 14 assists. TKR dominated down low with 18 points and 6 rebounds. But the biggest story may be the ‘others’ as CJ Cox, Gicarri Harris, and Jack Benter went a combined 11/16 from three. Purdue isn’t going to lose many games when that happens.

1. Michigan (11-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 102-50 W vs La Salle

• Next Week

  • No games

Another day, another 40+ point win for the best team in the country. Michigan jumped out pretty early to a double digit lead, but they also only allowed La Salle to score 17 second half points. As has largely been the case this year, it was a more balanced scoring effort as 5 different Wolverines got into double figures. Michigan has also now scored over 100 points in 5 of their last 6 games.

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My personal tracker on the number of games I’ve watched of each team.

We’re getting into winter break territory, meaning the number and quality of games decreases for just a bit. Conference play will be right around the corner though, and then it’ll be over 2 months of grind.

Below is links to my content from this season and then notes on all 18 Big Ten teams from the week.

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Previous Content

Michigan’s 2P Defense

Nebraska’s Offensive Breakout

Indiana’s Modern Offense

Illinois Creative Pick and Rolls

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (5-6, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 81-59 L @ Seton Hall

• Next Week

  • Penn - Sat 12/20 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

Basically nothing went right for the Scarlet Knights against in-state rival, Seton Hall. They once again struggled to finish on the interior, turned the ball over, and lost the rebounding battle. Harun Zrno and Dylan Grant shot well from three, going 4/8 and 1/1 respectively, and Lino Mark contributed 10 points.

Pikiell is looking for anything to stick as he once again tried a new starting lineup which is the 4th different starting lineup in 4 games. It’s unfortunate that it comes under these circumstances, but it’s been good to see the young guys for Rutgers get plenty of run.

17. Penn State (8-3, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 113-72 L @ Indiana, 76-72 L vs Michigan State

• Next Week

  • Pittsburgh (in Hershey PA) - Sun 12/21 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

Penn State got their first taste of Big Ten action against Indiana, and they looked like a roster who hasn’t had much experience. The defense let Indiana get going quickly, and the Hoosiers never looked back. Penn State had no answer defensively the entire night, and they couldn’t get much going offensively. Kayden Mingo continues to look good as he put up 19 points, but there isn’t much support outside of Freddie Dilione and Melih Tunca to a degree.

Penn State gave Michigan State all they could handle, but ultimately the youth of the Nittany Lions showed up as they struggled down the stretch of the close game. Kayden Mingo continues to look like a star as he had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Freddie Dilione bailed out the offense plenty with 23 points on 8/15 shooting. The Nittany Lions played one of their best games of the season, and they had a real chance to pull off the upset. When it came to crunch time though, the offense went a bit stagnant, and a couple quick mistakes ultimately led to the loss, in addition to MSU shooting lights out from three.

16. Minnesota (6-5, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 85-57 L @ Purdue, 89-53 W vs Texas Southern

• Next Week

  • Campbell - Sun 12/21 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Minnesota was able to hang on for a bit in Mackey Arena, but ultimately the star power and depth of Purdue wore Minnesota out. With the injuries that Minnesota has had, they’re essentially running a 7 man rotation right now, with freshman Kai Shinholster and redshirt freshman Grayson Grove being the two reserves. I’m high on Shinholster, and Grove has had some flashes early on, but neither of them should have to be in the spot of being relied on as much as they are right now. This also speaks a lot to where the coaching staff views Nehemiah Turner, someone that was sought after a bit in the portal. He played just one garbage time minute against Purdue, in a game where he’s the only true center for Minnesota as they went up against a loaded front court of Purdue.

Minnesota had a buy game against 326th ranked Texas Southern, and it went exactly how you’d expect. Cade Tyson erupted for thirty eight (38) points while shooting 8/12 from three. Bobby Durkin, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, and Isaac Asuma all got into double figures as well. It was good to see the jumpers fall as Minnesota shot 44.1% from three, their 2nd best effort this season. Lanston Reynolds added in 10 assists, and Minnesota currently has the highest assist rate out of any team in the country.

15. Maryland (6-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 101-83 L vs Michigan

• Next Week

  • @ Virginia - Sat 12/20 - 6:00 - ESPN

Maryland hung around for 20 minutes against Michigan, until Michigan dominated the second half. Pharrel Payne went down with a knee injury that at least on camera looked significant. Hopefully it looked worse than it actually was as news will eventually come out about it. In the game, David Coit went for 31 points while going 8/12 from three. He can light it up offensively, and he was the biggest reason why Maryland was able to keep it close. At the end of the day though, Maryland had no answer defensively, especially once Payne went down. Michigan shot 23/39 from 2 and averaged 1.44 points per possession for the entire game.

14. Oregon (5-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 104-62 W vs UC Davis

• Next Week

  • Portland - Wed 12/17 - 11:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Gonzaga (in Portland) - Sun 12/21 - 6:00 - Peacock

Oregon got as much of a get right game as you can get against UC Davis, as they started out on a 27-6 run and never looked back. This game doesn’t mean that Oregon is fixed, but UC Davis is a solid enough mid major, so it at least can maybe be a positive sign? Jackson Shelstad, KJ Evans, TK Simpkins, and Ege Demir all scored in double figures, and KJ Evans had another double-double. I’m not 100% out on this Oregon team quite yet, but it feels like they have very little margin for error the rest of the way.

13. Northwestern (6-4, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 93-53 W vs Jackson State

• Next Week

  • Valparaiso - Tue 12/16 - 8:00 - Peacock

Northwestern was able to end a 3 game losing streak as they dominated Jackson State. This was one of those games where Northwestern’s size and skill simply was more than what Jackson State could do. Nick Martinelli had 22 points on 10 shots, and he’s now shooting 13/19 from three on the season. Arrinten Page and Angelo Ciaravino both got into double figures, and 11 different Wildcats scored in this one. Looking at Northwestern’s schedule coming up, it isn’t unfeasible for them to go 5-1 and sit at 11-5 before getting into a really tough stretch of games.

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12. Ohio State (8-2, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 88-80 L vs Illinois, 89-88 W vs West Virginia (2OT)

• Next Week

  • North Carolina (in Atlanta) - Sat 12/20 - 3:00 - CBS

Bruce Thornton went nuclear in the first half in what was truly one of the most impressive shot making clinics I’ve seen. He ended up with 34 in the game, but it did confuse me a bit as to why Ohio State went away from him as much as they did down the stretch. Yes, Illinois obviously put more attention on him, but it wasn’t like Thornton was getting super easy looks when he was knocking down everything in the 1st half. Regardless, this game encapsulates where Ohio State is at. Because of their star power up top, they can be very competitive in any given game. However, they really struggle in close game situations for the most part, and the talent can only take them so far. Illinois picked them apart defensively, and Ohio State was the less aggressive team.

I said going into this week that Ohio State just couldn’t go 0-2. It took 2 overtimes and some elite shot making, but Ohio State was able to survive against West Virginia. Bruce Thornton dominated the 2nd half and OTs as he had 19 of his 21 in that span. Amare Bynum is the main bench player that Ohio State can trust right now, and he had a big time game in this one with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. It wasn’t pretty, and the game doesn’t necessarily instill confidence in this Buckeyes squad, but that was a big win for them in terms of not starting completely behind the 8 ball for tournament appearance hopes.

11. Washington (7-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 105-69 W vs Southern Utah

• Next Week

  • Seattle (in Climate Pledge Arena) - Fri 12/19 - 10:00 - ESPN2

Washington dominated the final 30 minutes against Southern Utah, averaging 1.48 points per possession on the game. It was a balanced scoring effort as 10 different players scored between 5 and 14 points, including Nikola Dzepina, who just joined the team. Dzepina could end up adding some front court depth to a team that badly needs it. As we look ahead, Washington should hopefully be getting Jacob Ognacevic back soon, in addition to the Dzepina addition. This team may get closer to fully healthy over the next couple weeks, and although they won’t have a lot of time to put it all together, this could be a team that surges later in February and March.

10. Indiana (8-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 113-72 W vs Penn State, 72-60 L @ Kentucky

• Next Week

  • Chicago State - Sat 12/20 - 1:00 - Big Ten Plus

Indiana got back on track in a big time way with their game over Penn State. Indiana averaged 1.55 points per possession while shooting 83.3% from 2, 54.8% from 3, and simply couldn’t miss. Lamar Wilkerson went for FORTY FOUR points while shooting 6/7 from 2 and 10/15 from three. Indiana got whatever they wanted from the jump and didn’t stop. It was also evident that the Indiana defense is built on being able to help in the gaps but still recover. They did a good job of being able to not let Penn State consistently get downhill.

Indiana looked good in the first half against Kentucky, getting out to a 7 point lead as the teams went to half. However, the second half was a different story. Indiana struggled on the glass and also controlling turnovers. Although the defense was good enough to win this, the offense sputtered as it has seemed to do against good competition so far. Indiana shot just 4/24 from three in this game, their worst shooting performance of the year. Lamar Wilkerson was the only player to consistently get something going offensively, but he dealt with foul trouble in the second half which also played into the offensive woes.

9. Iowa (9-2, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 66-62 L @ Iowa State, 91-51 W vs Western Michigan

• Next Week

  • Bucknell - Sat 12/20 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Even in a loss, it was a positive sign that Iowa was every bit capable of winning that game against Iowa State, despite Bennett Stirtz struggling to score. Iowa is going to have to continue to figure out how to improve on the margins, whether it be limiting turnovers or rebounding better, as they’re a team that to me doesn’t have much margin for error. We saw that in this one where they got out early to a solid lead, but it quickly evaporated to start the 2nd half. Tavion Banks and Cam Manyawu both have now flashed the ability to score at this level, and guys like Tate Sage and Cooper Koch can be great in their role. Iowa isn’t going to succeed much though on nights where Stirtz and Folgueiras combine for 14 points on 5/14 shooting.

Iowa did what it does to bad teams, dominate. They beat Western Michigan by 40 in a game that was over shortly after it started. Stirtz had 13 points and 6 assists in just 24 minutes of play. Cam Manyawu, Tate Sage, Brendan Hausen, and Alvaro Folgueiras all got into double digit scoring as well. Iowa got whatever they wanted offensively, and they did a good job of taking away the interior for Western Michigan.

8. USC (10-1, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 94-81 W @ San Diego,

• Next Week

  • UTSA - Wed 12/17 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Brown - Sun 12/21 - 4:00 - Big Ten Network

Shoutout to USC for going in a true road game to San Diego. USC wasn’t able to get out to a big lead, and they were tied at half. However, Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar combined for 60 points, and they got whatever they wanted offensively it felt like. Jaden Brownell pitched in 16, and that’s what the Trojans needed. It wasn’t a terrible defensive performance by any means, but it does feel like USC is more offensive weighted than I would’ve imagined to start the season. Having Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson out with injuries doesn’t help, but USC shouldn’t lose the rebounding battle like they did to San Diego, and they also should be able to force more turnovers.

USC was able to gut out a win against Washington State in a game that the offense looked far from impressive. Jacob Cofie had 21 points and 10 rebounds on 12 shots, and Chad Baker-Mazara added in 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. USC as a team shot just 1/13 from three, but their defense was enough as Washington State couldn’t get comfortable the entire game. This was a game where USC looked like they needed some of their star players back. They’re also a team that generally doesn’t take many threes, and although you can win that way, it makes your margin of error slimmer.

7. Wisconsin (7-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 90-60 L @ Nebraska

• Next Week

  • Villanova (in Milwaukee) - Fri 12/19 - 8:00 - FOX

I think that long term, this loss to Nebraska won’t look too bad. However, in the moment, it definitely stings. Nick Boyd was able to get to 20 points on 16 shots, and Winter had 10 points on 9 shots. The offense looked uncomfortable for the final 30 minutes of the game or so, and it reflected in their performance. John Blackwell had 7 points on 1/11 shooting. What’s interesting going through his game logs is he now has 5 games scoring between 7 and 15 points and 5 games scoring 24+ points. He has 0 games scoring between 16 and 23 points, so it’s been very boom or bust. Wisconsin needs the consistency out of him.

This is a team to me that should be relying more on their offense than defense. That’s reflected some in their offensive Kenpom ranking compared to defensive, but the offense still hasn’t quite clicked. Having no major shooting threat outside of Blackwell is hurting, especially since Wisconsin takes over 50% of their shots from 3. Aleksas Bieliauskas is shooting 7/16 from three, but outside of that, there hasn’t been great shooting. Nick Boyd is at 31%, Andrew Rohde is at 32.5%, Austin Rapp is at 29.1%, and Nolan Winter is at an abysmal 16.7% from three. Maybe they just need some shooting variance to go their way, but they need to start getting that sooner rather than later.

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6. UCLA (7-3, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 82-72 L vs Gonzaga

• Next Week

  • Arizona State - Wed 12/17 - 10:30 - FS1

  • Cal Poly - Fri 12/19 - 10:00 - Big Ten Network

UCLA kept things competitive, and they even led with 12 minutes left in the 2nd half. Gonzaga was able to pull away though behind big outings from their front court. Tyler Bilodeau poured in 24 points on 13 shots for UCLA, and Donovan Dent had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. UCLA mixed in their zone defense again, although Gonzaga was able to pick it apart. It was another game where UCLA showed that they have the talent to be competitive, but similar to the Arizona game, they let it slip away late. This is a team that is the worst rebounding team that Cronin has had at UCLA, and it hurt them a lot against Gonzaga. UCLA has the talent to be a good team, but it’s been difficult for them to put it all together for 40 minutes.

5. Nebraska (11-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 90-60 W vs Wisconsin, 83-80 W @ Illinois

• Next Week

  • North Dakota - Sun 12/21 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

Nebrasketball was in FULL FORCE as they routed Wisconsin to open up Big Ten play for themselves. In what was easily their toughest matchup of the young season, Nebraska dominated the end of the 1st half and didn’t look back. The offense is looking every bit the part I expected it to be in the preseason with a ton of shooting and having Rienk Mast be a playmaker. What I didn’t fully expect was for Braden Frager to be a star, and for the defense overall to be as good as it’s been. Frager was great in this one, scoring 15 points and adding in 6 boards and 3 steals. As a whole, I liked the emphasis they had defensively of not allowing Wisconsin to immediately rip baseline like they love to do. Nebraska forced into the help, and the rotations have really been there. Winning at Pinnacle Bank Arena isn’t going to be easy this year.

NEBRASKETBALL followed it up with a big time win at Illinois, giving Nebraska their best start in school history. Jamarques Lawrence hit the game winning shot to give the Cornhuskers a win, but Pryce Sandfort going for 32 points put them in the spot. Nebraska was able to get a great three point shooting night to help carry them. It was a slow paced game, despite both teams liking to run. Nebraska was able to get enough offense to outpace Illinois behind Sanford, Rienk Mast, Jamarques Lawrence, and Jared Garcia going for 10+ points. This Nebraska team continues to be arguably the best story in the Big Ten this season since they were a team that very few expected to be good.

This team is legitimate, and they’ve proved it at this point.

4. Illinois (8-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 88-80 W @ Ohio State, 83-80 L vs Nebraska

• Next Week

  • No games

Illinois has a multitude of guys who can go off in any given game. In this one it was the freshmen, Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic, whoe went for 23 and 22 points respectively. This Illinois team is comfortable beating you 1 on 1 and having the other guys fill in the gaps. They struggled defensively to contain Bruce Thornton in the first half, and there is a bit of a lack of defensive depth on the perimeter, but at the same time, they have a lot of length everywhere that can make up for it. This Illinois team showed in this game that they can get just enough defensively, while having an elite offense, to win them a lot of games.

Illinois has an elite offense, and this we know. However, the defense has cost them a couple games, including this one against Nebraska. It felt like a lot of their switching and normal defensive principles weren’t in full effect, and Nebraska was able to get loose a good bit because of it. Illinois had the offense to win this game, but they needed to be able to muster a few more stops. To me, Illinois is still a team that has a Final Four ceiling, but they have some things to iron out before fully getting to that level.

3. Michigan State (9-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 76-72 W @ Penn State

• Next Week

  • Toledo - Tue 12/16 - 6:30 - Peacock

  • Oakland (in Detroit) - Sat 12/20 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

Michigan State played hardly from their best, and looked for a large chunk of the game that maybe they didn’t deserve to beat Penn State. However, that’s exactly what makes the great teams great, the ability to simply just figure it out and do whatever is necessary to win. In this one it was Divine Ugochukwu who stepped up as he had 23 points on 8/10 shooting. He went 5/5 from the three point line, despite having made only 12 career threes coming into the game. In a game at large where Michigan State couldn’t get a ton going offensively, it was the three point shooting that bailed them out as Ugochukwu, Jordan Scott, and Kur Teng went a combined 9/14 from three. This is a Michigan State team that no one is going to be looking forward to playing in Big Ten play.

2. Purdue (10-1, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 85-57 W vs Minnesota, 79-59 W vs Marquette

• Next Week

  • Auburn (in Indianapolis) - Sat 12/20 - 6:30 - Peacock

Purdue struggled the last five minutes of the first half, before starting the 2nd half on a 29-2 run against Minnesota. Braden Smith had one of his most complete games of his career, going for 15 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks while going 5/9 from the floor. He was masterful from the jump and by far the player with the most energy for Purdue. Purdue looked sluggish at first, which was a bit jarring to see coming off the Iowa State beatdown they took. However, they eventually got there with dominating the interior and letting their superstar point guard lead the way.

Purdue didn’t play any tournament caliber teams this week, but they followed up the impressive second half against Minnesota with a 20 point win against Marquette that they controlled from the jump. Oscar Cluff was the big revelation in this one as he had 22 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, while not missing a shot the entire game. He won’t be able to do that every game, but he’s really developed as someone Purdue can dump the ball down to in the post when he has a smaller big on him, as was the case this week. The other positive is that the defense continues to be good enough for this to be a national title contender.

1. Michigan (10-0, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 89-61 W vs Villanova, 101-83 W @ Maryland

• Next Week

  • La Salle - Sun 12/21 - 4:00 - Peacock

Michigan picked up where they left off, routing Villanova in a game that was over shortly after being started. It was a pretty balanced effort offensively, with 9 different players scoring 5+ points. The defense was once again elite, and Villanova simply couldn’t do anything on that end. When they weren’t turning the ball over, Villanova had to settle for a ton of jumpers and couldn’t find anything on the interior. The defense has been elite, and the scary thing is that it’s still improving.

Did Maryland find the formula to beat Michigan??? I could see that being the headline somewhere, and I guess there is some truth to it maybe? It essentially involves hitting all of your tough, pull up 3s for an entire 40 minutes. Michigan was a bit sluggish defensively to start the game, but this was one where the offense couldn’t be stopped at all. Michigan averaged 1.44 points per possession while shooting 59% from 2, 63.2% from 3, and 86.4% from the free throw line. Yaxel Lendeborg once again looked like a true NPOY as he went for 29 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. Even in a game where Michigan was down at half, Michigan ended up looking like a dominant team.

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My personal tracker on the number of games I’ve watched of each team.

I wanted to dig into the data first to see if this seemingly uptick in zone usage was out of the ordinary or not.

The chart above shows the percentage of defensive possessions within the entire Big Ten that have been zone. Worth noting, this includes all 18 current Big Ten teams for the calculations, even for the years they weren’t in the Big Ten (sorry Pac 12).

The data clearly shows that this amount of zone is very much on track with previous years, and also zone defense is still more of a change of pace thing rather than full time defenses.

Regardless, it’s still worth noting that there are currently 5 teams in the Big Ten that are running zone on at least 9% of their defensive possessions.

Below will be an individualized breakdown of every team’s zone defense in the Big Ten.

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Last week I broke down Michigan’s defense and how they have the best 2P% defense in the country.

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Previous Content

Nebraska’s Offensive Breakout

Indiana’s Modern Offense

Illinois Creative Pick and Rolls

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (5-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 81-65 L vs Purdue, 101-60 L @ Michigan

• Next Week

  • @ Seton Hall - Sat 12/13 - 8:00 - FS1

You couldn’t draw up a much tougher start to Big Ten play than what Rutgers had this last week with having to face Purdue and Michigan.

The final score was respectable enough against Purdue, although Purdue looked like they couldn’t be less interested to be out there for the final 15 minutes of the game. Rutgers did a nice job of knocking down their threes, shooting 47.1% in the game, but they couldn’t get much else going. Purdue dominated the glass and got pretty much whatever shot they want.

It was a pretty similar story for Rutgers against Michigan, as Michigan shot 72% from 2 and 45% from 3. The hope coming into the season was that maybe this Rutgers team could be good enough defensively, but there just isn’t the talent on that end of the floor.

One thing I like that Pikiell is doing is he’s been very willing to play his young guys. In a season that feels pretty much washed at this point, getting the young guys live reps is probably the most valuable path forward. Kaden Powers put together a pair of solid games, or at least games where he showed some of what he can do as a scorer.

17. Penn State (8-1, 0-0)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 87-76 W vs Campbell

• Next Week

  • @ Indiana - Tue 12/9 - 8:30 - FS1

  • Michigan State - Sat 12/13 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

Penn State continued their trend of winning a game against a mid or low major by a margin that isn’t quite super comfortable. Kayden Mingo does continue to be quite comfortable on the floor, having 21 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers, and 3 steals. Penn State allowed Campbell to stay within arms reach because of their inability to fully defend the interior or work on the glass. Campbell finished with 15 offensive rebounds, and over 50% of their shots came at the rim. Campbell finished with 40 points in the paint.

In their 8 wins this season, none have come against top 175 Kenpom teams, and only 2 of the wins have been by 15+ points. It’s good that this young team is getting wins and experience against lower competition, but that starts to go away this week with games against Indiana and Michigan State. It doesn’t mean they can’t be competitive, but it is hard to fully trust their record right now.

16. Minnesota (5-4, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 73-64 W vs Indiana

• Next Week

  • @ Purdue - Wed 12/10 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Texas Southern - Sun 12/14 - 1:00 - Big Ten Network

Minnesota picked up both their first Big Ten win and simply big time win in the Niko Medved era. Despite not having much of a bench to use at all, Minnesota was able to figure out a way to get the job done against the Hoosiers. It was a balanced scoring effort as all 5 starters scored between 11 and 17 points. Turnovers were a bit of an issue, but there were able to help balance that out with dominating the glass. Their cutting offensively opened up a lot of gaps offensively and allowed them to convert at a high rate at the rim.

It was announced that Chansey Willis will be done for the season with a foot injury. The injury bug has hit Minnesota hard, and they only played a total of 21 minutes off the bench against Indiana. In addition to Willis being done for the year, Chance Stephens is also done for the year. BJ Omot has missed every game so far this season, although he’s expected to return at some point. Big man Robert Vaihola has also missed the last few games, but is expected to return at some point. As of now though, Minnesota only has 8 scholarship players available.

15. Maryland (6-4, 0-1)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 89-63 W vs Wagner, 83-64 L @ Iowa

• Next Week

  • Michigan - Sat 12/13 - 8:00 - FOX

Maryland dominated Wagner by simply being the bigger and stronger team. Wagner didn’t have anyone over 6’7 play, and Pharrel Payne took full advantage as he had 30 points and 10 rebounds. Maryland took 48.1% of their shots at the rim, and they rebounded 41.7% of their own misses. Despite the jumpers not falling, they were able to be more physical and put that game away in the second half.

Iowa started out hot from 3 against Maryland, and they never looked back. Turnovers were a really big issue for the Terrapins as they finished with 18 on the game, which was over 25% of their possessions. The Iowa pressure got to them and made it difficult for Maryland to try and work the ball down low, especially with the guard core not having a great game as a whole.

It was good to see Solomon Washington back out there for Maryland with his ability to be an elite, versatile defender. He can help cover up some of the holes for Maryland, but there still seems to be a lot of needed improvement from them, especially out on the perimeter.

14. Oregon (4-5, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 82-77 L vs USC, 74-63 L @ UCLA

• Next Week

  • UC Davis - Sat 12/13 - 4:00 - Big Ten Network

Without Nate Bittle in the first one, Oregon was able to put up a fight at home against USC. They shot really well from three, especially TK Simpkins who went 4/6. However, the defense wasn’t enough. USC was able to generate a lot of good looks throughout the game with not a ton of interference.

Oregon made a run to start the 2nd half of the UCLA game, but ultimately they scored just 7 points over the final 10 minutes to lose by double digits. In this one they had Nate Bittle back, but they didn’t have KJ Evans. Bittle didn’t look like himself at all coming off of injury, going 0/10 from the floor. Shelstad and Simpkins both had solid offensive games, but there wasn’t much contribution beyond them. Once again though, the defense was no where near what it needed to be as they gave. up 1.21 points per possession.

Oregon already doesn’t have much depth, and the injuries have just added on. They don’t explain everything though as this team has the personnel to be good defensively. The offense was expected to be hit or miss since they’d be so reliant on a couple guys, but the defensive personnel was there to put together performances much better than they have.

13. Northwestern (5-4, 0-2)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 85-73 L @ Wisconsin, 86-82 L vs Ohio State

• Next Week

  • Jackson State - Sat 12/13 - 2:00 - Big Ten Network

Northwestern was able to make the final score look respectable against Wisconsin, but the final score doesn’t tell the full story. They got ran out of the gym early, being down 23 at half. They had no answer offensively for the backcourt duo of John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, and the defense has been a big concern for Northwestern this season.

Northwestern put themselves in a good spot to win against Ohio State before falling apart late and dropping a home conference game. Nick Martinelli looked like he had something to prove, and he had a big game which included 32 points and 8 rebounds. The offense largely wasn’t the issue, but they had no answer at all on how to guard on the interior. Ohio State shot 31/41 (75.6%) inside the paint against Northwestern. 62 of their 86 points came from in the paint, and another 12 came from the free throw line.

The duo of Nick Martinelli and Arrinten Page combined with a roster of a few different guys who could pop off on any given game have given this Wildcats roster a productive offense. However, in order to get those lineups to work, they often have to sacrifice talent on the defensive side of the ball. Filtering for their 6 games against high major competition, teams have been taking 37.6% of their shots at the rim against Northwestern and converting at a 65.7% rate. Both of those aren’t good defensive numbers.

12. Washington (6-3, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 82-80 L vs UCLA, 84-76 W @ USC

• Next Week

  • Southern Utah - Sat 12/13 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Washington apparently loves second halves. After being down 16 with 4:45 left against UCLA, Washington was almost able to win the game as they lost by 2. Hannes Steinbach returned to the lineup and was masterful, putting up 29 points and 10 rebounds. Washington also got enough shooting against the UCLA zone to be able to punish it a bit. The defense was very bad though, allowing 1.26 points per possession as UCLA got whatever they wanted.

Against USC, Washington found themselves down 18 at half but utilized a 26-8 run to close out the game. Hannes Steinbach was once again elite with 24 points and 16 rebounds. The former USC duo of Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates poured in 22 and 16 respectively as it was Claude’s best game in a Huskies uniform. Washington went to a 1-3-1 zone a lot in the 2nd half, and it really forced USC off their game as they scored only 0.636 points per possession against it.

Washington is one of the more confusing teams to me still in the Big Ten. They have a lot of talent, but they also take a ton of tough 2s offensively and rely a lot on 1 on 1 creation. Defensively they’ve been very up and down, having moments where things work and others where offenses get what they want. Maybe as they’re getting healthier now, things will start to normalize a bit.

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11. Ohio State (6-1, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 86-82 W @ Northwestern

• Next Week

  • Illinois - Tue 12/9 - 7:30 - Peacock

  • West Virginia (in Cleveland) - Sat 12/13 - 8:00 - ESPNU

Ohio State got a much needed win on the road at Northwestern. Brandon Noel led the way with 29 points on 13/15 shooting. Northwestern had no answer for Ohio State on the interior, and this was a game the Buckeyes never settled. They dominated the paint, scoring 62 of their 86 points from in the paint in this one. Bruce Thornton was also elite once again as he had 17 points and 10 assists with 0 turnovers. The defense still leaves some to be desired, but the offense can be good enough to win them ball games.

Ohio State has a big week this week, getting Illinois at home and West Virginia in Cleveland. A 2-0 week would go a long way towards their hopes of March, but they absolutely can’t let this be an 0-2 week. This Buckeyes team isn’t super deep, but they’ve found a rotation that can work for them. The talent up top is enough so that even if one or two guys have off nights, they have other players who can step up and fill the void.

10. Nebraska (9-0, 0-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 71-50 W vs Creighton

• Next Week

  • Wisconsin - Wed 12/10 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ Illinois - Sat 12/13 - 4:00 - Peacock

Nebraska dominated in their rivalry game against Creighton as the train keeps rolling for Nebrasketball. It was maybe their best defensive performance of the season as Creighton couldn’t generate much at all offensively. They were forced to take a ton of threes, and a large majority of those were contested. Offensively, Rienk Mast led with 20 points, and both Sandfort and Hoiberg were in double figures.

Nebraska finds themselves at 9-0 on the season and currently having the longest active win streak in the country at 13 games, dating back to The Crown. They haven’t played a top 50 Kenpom team yet this season, and they get two of them this week with Wisconsin and Illinois. I do think this is a tourney level team, but they’re going to have to start showing it against tourney level talent as the opportunities start coming up.

9. Iowa (8-1, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 71-52 L @ Michigan State, 83-64 W vs Maryland

• Next Week

  • @ Iowa State - Thur 12/11 - 8:00 - FS1

Iowa got their first taste of Big Ten play against Michigan State in a game where they couldn’t generate anything offensively. Bennett Stirtz was the only player in double figures for Iowa, but he wasn’t his normal, efficient self. Iowa was forced to take a lot of threes, and they don’t have a ton of shooting depth on this roster. Defensively, they couldn’t handle MSU on the interior as the Spartans shot nearly 60% from 2, and they gathered over 50% of their misses on the offensive glass.

Iowa bounced back against Maryland though, controlling the game from the jump. The offense was clicking and shots were falling early on. Their defensive pressure forced a ton of turnovers from the Terrapins, and it really spearheaded their effort on that end. They had 12 steals in the game and 8 different players recorded at least one steal. Stirtz added in 25 points on 10/17 shooting.

At this point, it’s safe to say that this Iowa team is going to be able to be competitive towards at least the middle of the Big Ten. The question still remains whether they’ll be able to handle the super physical front courts of the top teams in the Big Ten though.

8. USC (8-1, 1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 82-77 W @ Oregon, 84-76 L vs Washington

• Next Week

  • @ San Diego - Tue 12/9 - 9:00 - ESPN2

  • Washington State - Sun 12/14 - 7:30 - FS1

It was a largely back and forth game against Oregon, but they were able to get the road win behind Chad Baker-Mazara going for 25 points and Jacob Cofie adding in 17. The offense looked good as they were able to get a lot of quality shots, despite having more turnovers than they would’ve wanted. Without Rodney Rice, CBM and Jerry Easter both stepped up with initiating some of the offense, although this Trojans team is really built on winning 1 on 1 matchups right now.

USC looked well on their way to starting 2-0 in Big Ten play, but then they had no answer for the Washington zone. Washington started making all of their jumpers in the 2nd half which didn’t help, but this was a game where USC just didn’t have any offensive flow in the 2nd half. When the ball was able to move around, they had success, but that wasn’t nearly as much as they’d want. They went just 4/18 on mid-range shots, and the Trojans settled a lot more than they have this season.

Jerry Easter was a real bright spot this week as he flashed the talent that had him ranked as high as he was coming out of high school. Ezra Ausar has had a great start to the season, but he really struggled against Washington. The Huskies put their big on him and just tried to bait him into jumpers. USC has loved letting Ausar iso, which has been fine when Ausar gets to the rim. However, there were far too many isolation pull up 12 footers from Ausar in this one. On the season, Ausar is shooting 39/52 (75.0%) at the rim, and he also has one of the highest free throw rates in the country. He’s shooting just 7/22 (31.8%) on shots not at the rim.

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7. Indiana (7-2, 0-1)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 73-64 L @ Minnesota, 87-78 L vs Louisville

• Next Week

  • Penn State - Tue 12/9 - 8:30 - FS1

  • @ Kentucky - Sat 12/13 - 7:30 - ESPN

Safe to say that this isn’t the week that Darian DeVries wanted, although somehow basketball wasn’t the most important game for IU fans this week. The Hoosiers really struggled against Minnesota as their off-ball defense was poor, and they couldn’t convert from the three point line. We know what this team can be when shots are falling, but we haven’t fully seen if they can figure out ways to win when the jumpers aren’t falling.

It was a somewhat similar story against Louisville. Louisville was able to really get whatever they wanted offensively, taking and making a lot of threes in the process. Indiana didn’t shoot poorly from three. Tucker DeVries and Nick Dorn went 9/18 from three, and the rest of the roster went just 3/16. If Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries aren’t being very efficient, this roster doesn’t have much consistency outside of it. They have a lot of guys who can pop off in any given game, but they didn’t get more than 1 or maybe 2 of those guys to get going in the same game this week.

I think how you view Indiana right now may largely be based on how you view their defense. They currently have the 25th defense in the country per Kenpom, but that’s helped a lot by having the 5th best 2P% defense in the country. They’ve largely done a good job of forcing teams to take bad twos, but Louisville and Minnesota both this week were able to poke at the interior defense of the Hoosiers.

6. UCLA (7-2, 2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 82-80 W @ Washington, 74-63 W vs Oregon

• Next Week

  • Gonzaga (in Seattle) - Sat 12/13 - 11:30 - ESPN

The offense really clicked against Washington, in a game they almost let slip. Donovan Dent started to get going a bit, although he still doesn’t look 100%. Skyy Clark scored 25 points, the 3rd most in his career, as he went 6/7 from three. Tyler Bilodeau had 21 points and it was enough for the Bruins. They busted out a zone defense against Washington, and it had success for a bit against them.

UCLA controlled the game late to not let their lead against Oregon slip. This was a more balanced scoring effort as all 5 starters scored between 12 and 18 points, led by Eric Dailey with 18. This was a game where a lot of the jumpers and mid-range looks were falling. The Bruins only took 5 total shots at the rim, but they also only allowed Oregon to take 9 shots at the rim and convert on 4 of them, thanks to their zone defense.

I guess UCLA is a team that runs zone now? They ran 34 possessions of it against Washington and 25 possessions against Oregon. This is a team that’s been trying to figure it out on both ends, and credit to Cronin for being willing to try this. Neither Washington nor Oregon had much success against it. It starts as a 2-3 zone but can morph into man when a ball screen happens at the top of the key or just if the shot clock is winding down.

5. Wisconsin (7-2, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 85-73 W vs Northwestern, 96-76 W vs Marquette

• Next Week

  • @ Nebraska - Wed 12/10 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

Wisconsin got back on track this week with two wins of good margin. John Blackwell and Nick Boyd combined for 46 points on 15/34 shooting. Both Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp also found their way to double figures. Wisconsin came out hot on both ends of the floor, stretching the lead to 27 points in the first half.

Wisconsin continued that effort against Marquette, in a game that all 5 starters scored in double figures. Blackwell once again led the way in scoring with 30 points on 17 shots. Marquette didn’t have an answer for Wisconsin all game, and the Badgers were striping from the three point line.

There are still some questions to be had about this Wisconsin team, but the offense can be so good on any given night that they can hang with anyone and blow out bad teams. The defense isn’t going to be elite, but it can be just good enough to allow them to compete. John Blackwell has now scored 26+ points in his last three games, and he’s scored 24+ in5 of the 9 games.

4. Michigan State (8-1, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 71-52 W vs Iowa, 66-60 L vs Duke

• Next Week

  • @ Penn State - Sat 12/13 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

Michigan State dominated against Iowa, holding them to just 52 points in a game that featured only 58 possessions per team. Iowa simply couldn’t get into the paint with any consistency, and the MSU perimeter defense made all of Iowa uncomfortable. Offensively, they were able to dominate the interior, and they only took 12 shots from three. They got 13 offensive rebounds, which is over half of their misses.

Michigan State had a chance to knock off Duke at home, but their inability to score on the interior cost them this one. They went just 13/44 (29.5%) from 2 in the game, their 4th worst 2P% in any game in Michigan State history, and the 3rd worst of the Rom Izzo era. (Number one was in 2012 in a 42-41 loss against Illinois in which they went 11/44 from 2.) MSU did a good job for 25 minutes of containing Cam Boozer, but he ultimately was still able to dominate the end of the game. Jeremy Fears had maybe the most Jeremy Fears statline ever, going 0/10 from the field, 6/6 from the free throw line, and having 13 assists to just 1 turnover. This isn’t a bad loss whatsoever, but would’ve been nice for MSU to be able to get it done.

3. Illinois (7-2, 0-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 75-62 W vs Tennessee

• Next Week

  • @ Ohio State - Tue 12/9 - 7:30 - Peacock

  • Nebraska - Sat 12/13 - 4:00 - Peacock

Despite letting up 23 offensive rebounds, Illinois was able to win by double digits against Tennessee. This was a game played more at Tennessee’s pace and physicality, but the Illinois defense did a good job of forcing turnovers and protecting the interior. Offensively they got contributions from a handful of guys, including Tomislav Ivisic and Keaton Wagler each having 16 points. Illinois fought hard in this one, and it’s been evident that this team can be incredibly good when they put it all together.

After struggling against UConn, it was good to see Wagler get it going against Tennessee. The freshman is a big time shot maker, and he showed that by hitting 4 threes against UConn. It was a game that Stojakovic didn’t really have it going, but Illinois has multiple options that they can go to. It feels like every single game there’s going to be a different leading scorer for Illinois.

2. Purdue (8-1, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 81-65 W @ Rutgers, 81-58 L vs Iowa State

• Next Week

  • Minnesota - Wed 12/10 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Marquette - Sat 12/13 - 2:00 - Peacock

Purdue coasted against Rutgers, dominating the first 25 minutes and simply looking like they were ready to get on the plane to head home for the final 15 minutes. Braden Smith and TKR did their things, and that was pretty much it for that one.

Purdue followed it up with one of their largest losses in Mackey Arena. They lost by 23 to Iowa State, the 3rd largest loss ever at Mackey Arena, and the 2nd largest under Matt Painter. Outside of Braden Smith, basically everyone on Purdue just looked like they weren’t ready for this game. TKR was flustered, Loyer couldn’t make shots, and they had no answers offensively for the perimeter trio of Milan Momcilovic, Tamin Lipsey, and Killyan Toure. This is a really good Iowa State team that Purdue played, but it was concerning how lost this Purdue team looked.

I do think this is more of a throw away game than truly indicative of the talent of Purdue. However, it very clearly reminded everyone that this Purdue team is flawed. They don’t have the defensive talent to win games on that end of the floor, so they have to win games with their offense. Against Iowa State, Braden Smith was consistently getting very good looks for the offense, and Purdue simply couldn’t make anything. They went 3/15 on OPEN catch and shoot threes in the game, and they only took 3 contested CnS 3s (going 1/3). When you combine that with TKR going 1/8 from the field, Purdue simply isn’t going to win many games at all.

1. Michigan (8-0, 1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 101-60 W vs Rutgers

• Next Week

  • Villanova - Tue 12/9 - 6:30 - FS1

  • @ Maryland - Sat 12/13 - 8:00 - FOX

Michigan played another game and won by 40 again, and apparently that’s just what they do now. They dominated Rutgers from pretty much the jump, and it got out of hand pretty quickly. 6 different Wolverines scored in double figures, Michigan shot 72.2% from 2, and they shot 44.8% from three. They also didn’t turn the ball over a ton and dominated the glass. That’s how you win a Big Ten game by 40.

It’s inevitable that Michigan eventually regresses just a bit, but this team is incredibly legit. The defense is as elite as I was hoping it could be, and it seems Dusty May has figured out how to maximize a lot of his guys. Lendeborg isn’t having quite the usage I expected, but he’s been hyper efficient in his looks. Despite shooting being a major concern coming into the season, Michigan is shooting 37.3% from 3 on the season, which slots them in at about 50th in the country. 5 different guys are shooting over 35% from 3 on solid volume.

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This last week I broke down how Nebraska is off to an 8-0 start, fueled largely by their movement offense.

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Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (5-3)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 85-60 L vs Tennessee, 68-63 L vs Notre Dame, 80-65 W vs UNLV

• Next Week

  • Purdue - Tue 12/2 - 8:00 - FS1

  • @ Michigan - Sat 12/6 - 4:00 - Big Ten Network

Rutgers was able to get a win in Vegas against UNLV, but there aren’t going to be many positives taken away from this week for the Scarlet Knights. They looked non-competitive against Tennessee, and although they fought back against Notre Dame, they still felt out classed for a large chunk of the game.

Offensively, it feels like they don’t run enough stuff to consistently get good looks. This team has one of the lowest Rim+3 rates in the country, and they’re also struggling to convert inside the paint, shooting just 29.1% on shots in the paint that aren’t at the rim.

Dylan Grant has maybe been the one bright spot early in this season. He’s scored in double figures in 7 of the 8 games this season while also being one of the most efficient scorers on the roster. He’s been one of the best rebounders and also has versatility on the defensive side of the ball. Getting him more on ball reps this season could be beneficial for next year as he still has a lot of room to grow in that area.

17. Penn State (7-1)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 96-87 W vs Boston, 90-59 W vs Sacred Heart

• Next Week

  • Campbell - Tue 12/2 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Penn State improves to 7-1 on the season, and although there’s a lot to improve defensively, the offense has been a surprise so far. Penn State has had one of the easiest schedules in the country, so that needs to be taken into account, but Penn State isn’t turning the ball over, and they’re efficient scoring the ball at all three levels.

Kayden Mingo and Freddie Dilione both have turnover rates under 10%, which is impressive given that they’re the two highest usage players on Penn State and they also have been facilitating the ball. Those two with Melih Tunca have given Penn State an intriguing backcourt trio that could give some Big Ten teams some issues at some point.

16. Minnesota (4-4)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 72-68 L vs Stanford, 86-75 L vs Santa Clara

• Next Week

  • Indiana - Wed 12/3 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

Minnesota is currently 4-0 against teams ranked worse than 250 in Kenpom, and they’re 0-4 against teams ranked better than 100 in Kenpom. With their roster being a heavy mid major roster, this makes some sense.

They dropped back to back games this week to Stanford and Santa Clara. Neither are inherently terrible losses for where Minnesota is at, but you want to get at least one of those, especially given that they have Indiana and Purdue in their next two games.

The Gophers are really struggling to score on anything that isn’t at the rim. No one on Minnesota is shooting over 37.5% from three, and the leader is Kai Shinholster who is 3/8 from three on the year. Outside of Cade Tyson, there hasn’t been much success being able to knock down jumpers.

Chansey Willis got hurt early against Stanford, and Minnesota ended up going with a 7 man rotation since Robert Vaihola is also out. This Minnesota team isn’t deep, and they aren’t getting really any consistent production outside Tyson.

Defensively, Minnesota has done a good job limiting looks at the rim, but teams have converted at a really high rate from three against them. Three point variance doesn’t explain all of Minnesota’s flaws, but it definitely contributes.

15. Maryland (5-3)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 74-67 W vs UNLV, 100-61 L vs Gonzaga, 105-72 L vs Alabama

• Next Week

  • Wagner - Tue 12/2 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ Iowa - Sat 12/6 - 4:00 - FS1

After sneaking by UNLV, Maryland got trounced by Gonzaga and Alabama in Vegas. This is a team right now that’s really struggling to score the ball, and they have no where near the offensive rebounding needed to be able to give them second chance looks.

The half court offense is really bogged down right now, and turnovers don’t help. There isn’t a ton of ball movement for Maryland, and they rely on having individual creators. The issue is that the people that need to create for Maryland have either been hurt or simply not able to create a ton of advantages.

After a good defensive outing against UNLV, the Maryland defense looked outmatched against Bama and Gonzaga. Obviously, that’s a big step up in competition, but it also shows where Maryland is at. Maryland’s defense is built sort of on just trying to fly around and figure out rotations as they go. Against Alabama and Gonzaga though, they weren’t able to recover nearly quick enough to be able to slow them down at all. As Buzz Williams said, getting Solomon Washington back will help, but he won’t solve every issue for the Terrapins.

14. Oregon (4-3)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 84-76 L vs Auburn, 97-80 L vs San Diego State, 76-66 L vs Creighton

• Next Week

  • USC - Tue 12/2 - 10:00 - FS1

  • @ UCLA - Sat 12/5 - 6:00 - Peacock

It felt like Oregon was bending without breaking to start the year, but they finally snapped during their play in Las Vegas.

The offense is struggling to be able to score the ball, and teams are really able to focus in on trying to take away Shelstad and Bittle. With Oregon not always running a ton of offensive sets, they rely on guys being able to win 1 on 1 matchups. That simply hasn’t happened enough this season, and it puts an incredible amount of pressure on Shelstad and Bittle.

What’s more surprising to me is that the defense has been so poor. Teams have been converting at a high rate from the mid range area, so maybe the defense will turn around a bit as variance goes their way, but this is a team with what feels like a lot of positive individual defenders. Nate Bittle, KJ Evans, and Sean Stewart give an imposing front court, and Devon Pryor at his best can be a very good perimeter defender. They’ve struggled at the point of attack though, and that’s allowed a lot of good looks.

13. Washington (5-2)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 83-66 W vs Nevada, 81-68 L vs Colorado

• Next Week

  • UCLA - Wed 12/3 - 11:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ USC - Sat 12/6 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Washington went 1-1 last week without Hannes Steinbach. This somehow feels like the healthiest Washington has been all season, but they’re still missing arguably their best player and another role player in Bryson Tucker. It’s tough to get a 100% complete picture of this team, but we definitely can draw out some trends.

Offensively, this team is going to live in the mid range. They don’t take many threes, and they struggle to get all the way to the rim. You can make this work as a team, but they’re struggling to convert in the mid range, which is an issue. There isn’t always a ton of ball movement within the offense, and they seem to rely on pick and rolls or just 1 on 1 creation. Guys like Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates can do it, but we’ve kind of already seen what that looks like (USC last season).

Wesley Yates has to be able to contribute more against big time competition. He’s scored 13+ points in the 5 games against non-Power 5 competition (incuding 3 straight games of 23+ points), and he’s scored 8 and 9 points against Baylor and Colorado respectively. He’s just 4/17 from 2 against those two teams on the season, and he’s had 5 turnovers against the two. He has the talent to be one of the better scorers in the conference, but he just has to figure out the consistency level of it. It is tough at times that he can almost be phased out of the offense though, given how the offense is ran.

12. Northwestern (5-2)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 86-81 L vs Oklahoma State

• Next Week

  • @ Wisconsin - Wed 12/3 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

After looking like a potential sneaky breakout team through the first three games, going 2-2 in the following 4 games hasn’t been ideal. Losing to Virginia and Oklahoma State aren’t season ending losses by any means, but it’d be nice to have at least one of those come March. Their two wins came against DePaul and South Carolina, both wins by two points.

The offense has been better than expected, helped by the emergence of Arrinten Page. Their is a pretty clear top two on this team, and Northwestern generally just needs one other guy to emerge from a scoring standpoint.

The concern is more of the defensive side of the ball. Page can help protect the rim to a degree, but their isn’t a lot of defensive prowess on this roster. Tre Singleton and Angelo Ciaravino have some defensive versatility that helps, and Jayden Reid can apply some on ball pressure. This defense has been better this season of rotating out of their help, but they can really struggle to rebound and consistently protect the paint.

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11. Ohio State (6-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 113-60 W vs Mount St. Mary’s, 67-66 L @ Pittsburgh

• Next Week

  • @ Northwestern - Sat 12/5 - 2:00 - Big Ten Network

Ohio State has pounded bad teams this season, but in their two games against Power 5 competition, they haven’t exactly invoked a ton of confidence in this team. They beat Notre Dame by one, and then they lost at Pittsburgh on a buzzer beater 3 for the 2nd year in a row. Neither of those teams project to be tournament caliber teams.

This game against Pitt showed that they still have holes on the interior defensively. Pitt was able to get a lot of extra possessions with their offensive rebounding, gathering 35% of their own misses. When you combine that with Ohio State having an off shooting night from three and struggling with turning over the ball, that’s how you end up in the spot to be beat on a buzzer beater.

This isn’t a particularly deep team, although they are very talented at the top. The trio of Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal, and Christoph Tilly have given good results for the Buckeyes. John Mobley went down with an ankle injury against Pitt, and hopefully he’ll be able to return soon. Gabe Cupps and Taison Chatman should get more run if he does have to miss time.

10. Nebraska (8-0)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 80-73 W vs Winthrop, 72-63 W vs USC Upstate

• Next Week

  • Creighton - Sun 12/7 - 5:00 - FS1

This week doesn’t exactly invoke a ton of confidence into Nebraska, but they did get two wins to start the season 8-0. Nebraska had their worst offensive performance of the young season against USC Upstate as they struggled to shoot from three while also turning the ball over some.

Nebraska isn’t a complete product though as they’re still waiting for the return of Ugnius Jarusevicius, someone who could end up starting at the 4 for them. It was also announced that Connor Essegian would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Since he’s only played 7 games, he should be eligible to get a medical redshirt and return to Nebraska, if he so chooses to do.

A breakdown of Nebraska’s offense is linked below.

https://feedthepost.substack.com/p/nebraskas-offense-has-nebrasketball

9. Iowa (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 74-69 W vs Ole Miss, 59-46 W vs Grand Canyon

• Next Week

  • @ Michigan State - Tue 12/2 - 7:00 - Peacock

  • Maryland - Sat 12/6 - 4:00 - FS1

Iowa got their biggest win of the Ben McCollum era, beating Ole Miss during Feast Week. The defensive side of the ball really carried them in both games as they held Ole Miss to 1.07 points per possession and Grand Canyon to just 0.76 PPP.

I think it’s fair to still have some concerns about whether the Iowa defense holds up during Big Ten play, when bigs are constantly trying to dominate the paint. However, Iowa has shown that they have a formula to try and counter it. They really want to be physical with their gap help, high hedge ball screens, and protect the paint by having a number of bodies in there rather than relying on an elite rim protector. From what I’ve seen, it feels like when there’s any sort of breakdown, Iowa’s defense is going to allow a pretty easy look. However, it isn’t easy to generate breakdowns because of Iowa’s ability to apply pressure on ball and really push teams out on the perimeter.

Bennett Stirtz is incredible offensively, and at times, he really has to bail out an offense that doesn’t consistently create advantages. He’s good enough to do so, and the rest of the team is good enough that he won’t have to do it 100% of the time, but it was noticeable that Iowa can become stagnant offensively if their initial actions don’t work.

8. USC (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 70-67 W vs Boise State, 83-81 W vs Seton Hall, 88-75 W vs Arizona State

• Next Week

  • @ Oregon - Tue 12/2 - 10:00 - FS1

  • Washington - Sat 12/6 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

It was a pretty weak Maui field, but USC still was able to pull out the championship, and they deserve credit for that. It hasn’t been complete dominant performances from the Trojans, but they’ve figured out ways to win every game that they’ve been in so far.

Rodney Rice’s injury is the biggest story for USC right now as he’s been their best player this season. USC was able to beat Arizona State without him, but they’ll need him back for Big Ten play. Looking at their schedule ahead, they have conference games against Oregon and Washington next week, games they’ll be favored in. They don’t play a Power 5 conference team until January 2nd after that though, so they make take their time with Rice returning. On a related note, there’s a chance USC is undefeated heading into 2026.

Ezra Ausar continues to produce, and he was a big reason why USC won the Maui tournament. He’s a wrecking ball on his drives, and he’s drawing over 10 fouls per 40 minutes of play right now. He’s taken 56 shots from the field and 69 free throw attempts on the season. USC is comfortable clearing out the side of the floor for him and just letting him try and drive all the way to the rim.

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7. UCLA (5-2)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 80-72 L vs California

• Next Week

  • @ Washington - Wed 12/3 - 11:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Oregon - Sat 12/6 - 6:00 - Peacock

Donovan Dent went down late in the loss to California, and his health will be by far the most important storyline for this Bruin team currently. He’s struggled this year, but he’s also what can get UCLA back on track. He simply hasn’t quite had the burst he’s usually had in his career, and it’s made it difficult for him to generate good looks on the interior. The facilitating has been great, but he hasn’t had the scoring complement to go with it.

UCLA definitely isn’t where they want to be right now, and having their two best players in Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau hurt doesn’t help at all. However, once they return, I think a lot of the mistakes UCLA is currently having are fixable. This doesn’t mean everything is all good in UCLA, but I don’t think all hope should be lost.

California had a pretty hot shooting night against UCLA. Some of it was due to some slower defensive rotations, and some of it was because of just good shot making. The issue with teams having those types of nights is that UCLA’s offense isn’t built to be able to have gigantic scoring runs. They have one of the highest mid range rates in the country, and this limits their margin for error. They got some good looks against the California hedge, but they simply couldn’t convert. Going 3-1 in their next 4 matchups feels very close to necessary though for this season to not fully get off the rails.

6. Wisconsin (5-2)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 104-83 W vs Providence, 74-63 L vs TCU

• Next Week

  • Northwestern - Wed 12/3 - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Marquette - Sat 12/6 - 2:00 - FS1

It hasn’t been the ideal start to Wisconsin’s campaign against power conference teams as they’ve been trounced by BYU, dominated Providence, and then lost to a TCU team that may be a bit better than anticipated.

Against TCU, Wisconsin got 30 from Blackwell and 15 from Boyd, meaning they got a combined 45 points from their star backcourt duo. However, they got only 18 points from the rest of their roster combined. Nolan Winter played 36 minutes this game but only took 3 shot attempts. He still contributed in other areas with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal, but Wisconsin needed one more scorer to step up.

Wisconsin had that in bunches against Providence as 4 scorers were in double figures, and another player had 9 points.

This isn’t a super deep team, but the star power up top is good enough to make this team be very competitive.

5. Indiana (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 86-69 W vs Kansas State, 100-56 W vs Bethune Cookman

• Next Week

  • @ Minnesota - Wed 12/3 - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Louisville - Sat 12/6 - 2:15 - CBS

Maybe this Indiana defense is legit? Similar to Iowa, there were concerns for me about how they’d defend. Also similar to Iowa, I think it’s fair to want to see it against Big Ten competition. Also also similar to Iowa, Indiana is having good interior defense by simply not allowing teams to get into the paint. They’re forcing teams to take a lot of mid range attempts with their drop coverage and help from the low man.

Indiana hasn’t played a top 50 Kenpom team, but they’ve taken care of the two top 100 Kenpom teams they have played in Marquette and Kansas State. I don’t think their matchup against Louisville decides their fate for the season, but it will be the biggest chance for Indiana to show just how good they can be.

One thing that stood out in the Kansas State game is just how willing teams are going to be to allow players like Conor Enright, Tayton Conerway, and Nick Dorn to beat them from the perimeter. Teams are sagging off of them a lot in order to try and limit touches for DeVries and Wilkerson.

4. Michigan State (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 89-56 W vs East Carolina, 74-58 W vs North Carolina

• Next Week

  • Iowa - Tue 12/2 - 7:00 - Peacock

  • Duke - Sat 12/6 - 12:00 - FOX

Michigan State continues to get big wins becaue of what their defense is able to do. No team has averaged over 1.0 points per possessions against the Spartans this season as Michigan State has once again bought into being an incredibly tough and physical team. There aren’t many weak links on the floor defensively, and it makes it difficult to consistently create advantages against this team.

The offense has slowly improved, and although the makeup of the roster makes it so that this offense most likely can’t be elite, it can be good enough because of Jeremy Fears. He’s currently second in the country in assist rate, assisting on over 50% of MSU’s makes while on the floor. MSU is also once again dominating the offensive glass, and it’s giving them a lot of easy second chance points.

This is a pretty big week for MSU as they have two good matchups at home against Iowa and Duke. With them both being at home, both can be winnable games, but I’d argue that even with the tougher schedule MSU has had, these will be the two best teams the Spartans have played this season.

3. Illinois (6-2)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 87-73 W vs UT Rio Grande Valley, 74-61 L vs UConn

• Next Week

  • Tennessee - Sat 12/6 - 8:00 - ESPN

Illinois had their worst offensive performance of the season against UConn, averaging only 0.92 points per possession and shooting 20.7% from three during the game. This Illinois team can still be elite, but they’ve also showed they have some work to do.

After starting the season out shooting incredibly well from three, the shooting has cooled off to be a bit below D1 average. Tomislav Ivisic and Ben Humrichous are the only Illini shooting over 33.3% from three on the season (Mihailo Petrovic is shooting 2/4 so technically over 33.3%, but also very limited volume). This is a team that takes a lot of threes, and at times, the offense will go where the shooting goes. Their ability to dominate the glass on both sides though gives them more wiggle room to be able to have an off shooting night and still be competitive.

Given the depth of the Illinois scoring options, they only need 3 or so to pop off on any given night. Kylan Boswell and Tomislav Ivisic did their parts against UConn, but there wasn’t another big contributor outside of them.

The Alabama and UConn games have showed this Illinois defense has some ways to go. They have a high floor defensively because of their system, but they do lack depth of good point of attack defenders. Kylan Boswell is known as one of the best perimeter defenders in the Big Ten because he is, but he also hasn’t consistently been up to that level. Illinois has a lot of length else where, but there isn’t a true second perimeter defender right now.

This Illinois team still has an incredibly high ceiling to me, but they also may take a bit of time to get there. This is why you play games like UConn, Alabama, and Texas Tech, because they now have a better picture of who they are and where they need to improve.

2. Purdue (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 109-62 W vs Eastern Illinois

• Next Week

  • @ Rutgers - Tue 12/2 - 8:00 - FS1

  • Iowa State - Sat 12/6 - 12:00 - CBS

After winning the Baha Mar tournament, Purdue just had a tune up match against Eastern Illinois in which they started slow before dominating for the final 30 minutes. There isn’t a whole lot to discuss from it.

What has stood out with Purdue over the last three games is that there are more options than just the Big Three of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer.

Purdue currently has 5 different players averaging 10+ points per game - Fletcher Loyer (16.1 ppg), TKR (14.8 ppg), Braden Smith (13.0 ppg), Oscar Cluff (11.7 ppg), and Daniel Jacobsen (10.3 ppg). CJ Cox and Omer Mayer are also both averaging 8.0 points per game.

This Purdue offense is historically good, and they’re on their way to being the best offense in the Kenpom database. They currently sit second behind only Duke from last season. We know that Smith, Loyer, and TKR can all take over games, and they will, but there’s at least a little less emphasis on everything having to rely on them.

1. Michigan (7-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 94-54 W vs San Diego State, 102-72 W vs Auburn, 101-61 W vs Gonzaga

• Next Week

  • Rutgers - Sat 12/6 - 4:00 - Big Ten Network

Michigan had the best week in the country, and they looked like the best team in the country after dismantling everyone in their way during The Players Era. No game was really close after 10-15 minutes of play, and Michigan flashed why they are National Championship contenders.

If Michigan is knocking down threes and not turning the ball over like they did this last week, they become nearly impossible to beat because that simply isn’t something they need every game. “Spacing” gets talked about a lot, and there were concerns of the Michigan spacing, but the Wolverines won’t care about spacing when they’re simply dominating the paint on both sides of the ball.

This is arguably the best defense in the country, headlined by their trio of interior enforcers between Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson. Teams are currently shooting 36.9% from two against Michigan, the best defensive 2P% in the country. This is led by having one of the highest defensive mid range rates in the country, forcing teams into tough pull-up 2s. No team wants to go at the bigs, and Michigan also has some really good perimeter defenders to pair with them.

Do I expect Michigan to win by 40 every game and have a top 10 offense? Probably not. But this defense is elite and the offense can be elite on any given game.

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My personal tracker on the number of games I’ve watched of each team.

If you missed it, this past week I broke down how Illinois is using different spacing and screening personnel to create their advantages.

Previous Content

Indiana’s Modern Offense

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Rutgers (4-1)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 80-71 W vs American, 67-54 L vs Central Connecticut

• Next Week

  • Players Era Festival (Las Vegas)

    • Tennessee - Mon 11/24 - 1:00 - TNT

    • Notre Dame - Tue 11/25 - 1:00 - TNT

    • TBD - Wed/Thur

Rutgers had been playing with fire, being in close games in their last 4 buy games, and they finally got burned.

Coming into the season, it was known that this team may struggle to score the ball, and they’ve really struggled to score on the interior. They shoot fine from three, but they take very few threes relative to the rest of college basketball.

That was going to be a known struggle though, and the question was whether this team would get back to “Pikiell defense” or not. So far, it hasn’t been pretty returns. After the Central Connecticut loss, Rutgers’ defense has fallen outside the top 100 of Kenpom, 1 of 2 Big Ten teams to be outside the top 100. The interior defense has been solid, helped by their size advantage at the center position. They haven’t forced turnovers at the level they have in the past, and this isn’t a great defensive roster based on personnel.

It’s a long season, and that may not be a positive for Rutgers fans, but there is plenty of opportunity to grow for a team who only has one senior on their roster.

17. Penn State (5-1)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 84-80 W vs Harvard, 77-65 L vs Providence

• Next Week

  • Boston - Tue 11/25 - 7:00 - Peacock

  • Sacred Hart - Sat 11/29 - 6:00 - Peacock

Penn State had their biggest challenge yet against Providence, and despite hanging on for 38 minutes, they were never able to fully gain control.

Penn State really struggled on the interior on both ends of the floor against the Friars, shooting just 5/22 at the rim on offense while allowing Providence to go 15/26 at the rim on the other end. This is a young team, and their big room is far from deep. There’ll be plenty of growing pains, but it was incredibly noticeable just how little athleticism this Penn State team has, a complete flip from the past two seasons.

The bright side is this team hasn’t looked as bad as expected, although they haven’t looked great. Freddie Dilione has seemed to carve out his role as the Super 6th man for this Nittany Lions team. He’s scored in double figures the last five games, and he was a big reason Penn State even had a chance against Providence.

16. Minnesota (4-2)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 72-65 W vs Chicago St (OT), 77-65 L vs San Francisco

• Next Week

  • Acrisure Series (Palm Desert, CA)

    • Stanford - Thur 11/27 - 9:30 - CBSSN

    • Santa Clara/St. Louis - Fri 11/28 - 7:00/9:30 - truTV

Minnesota is dealing a bit with the injury bug, but it doesn’t fully explain the difficulties they’ve had offensively.

After barely getting by Chicago State, Minnesota lost to a good San Francisco team. Free throw shooting continues to haunt the Gophers however as they shot 15/30 from the charity stripe against San Francisco. Minnesota has only shot above 70% from the free throw line twice in the last eight seasons. For reference, the D1 average from the free throw line last season was around 72%.

San Francisco sold out on trying to stop Cade Tyson, who still ended up with 14 points. Despite having an offense full of movement and cutting, the Gophers seemingly have to rely on 1 on 1 creation much more than they want. Langston Reynolds was a big contributor in the last game, but he also can be a pretty erratic decision maker.

Bobby Durkin started to see some shots fall against San Francisco, a positive sign for a team and player who has really struggled to knock down perimeter shots.

They get two chances this week to get back on track. This team still can figure things out and be competitive in Big Ten games, but there seems to be a bigger gap than many expected.

15. Maryland (4-1)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 95-90 W vs Mount St. Mary’s (OT)

• Next Week

  • Player’s Era Festival (Las Vegas)

    • UNLV - Mon 11/24 - 11:59 PM - TNT

    • Gonzaga - Tue 11/25 - 9:30 - truTV

    • TBD - Wed/Thur

Maryland needed an absolutely heroic effort from Diggy Coit to get an overtime win against Mount St. Mary’s, which included him scoring 41 points and going 8/10 from three in the game. Coit was one of the guards that seemed to have the potential to thrive in a Buzz Williams system that allows his guards to go play freely. With Myles Rice, Pharrel Payne, and Solomon Washington all out, Coit took over in this one.

It’s hard to still fully judge this team as they’ve battled so many injuries. One thing that’s stood out though is how the offense can really lack movement at times. They have some guards to be able to go create plays which can make up for it to a degree, but it also can make the margin of error much slimmer for this Terrapin squad.

More than anything right now, this team needs to get and stay healthy. They’ll have a couple tough tests at the Player’s Era Festival this week.

14. Washington (4-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 99-93 W vs Southern (2OT)

• Next Week

  • Acrisure Holiday Classic (Palm Desert, CA)

    • Nevada - Thu 11/27 - 4:30 - CBSSN

    • Colorado/San Francisco - 2:00/4:30 - truTV

I don’t think Washington expected to have to go to double overtime against Southern, but I also don’t think they expected to be dealing with as many injuries as they had going into the game. Washington essentially started 6’4 guard Wesley Yates as the power forward.

Spacing can be a concern with this roster, although some of it may be mitigated when Hannes Steinbach returns, even though he’s a post player. This offense wants to live in the paint and mid-range area, and that was really highlighted by how much they allowed Desmond Claude to isolate down the stretch against Southern.

Washington also struggled to keep Southern out of the paint because of their pick and roll defense. Luckily, Franck Kepnang was able to cover a lot, and he once again looked like one of the most important players for the Huskies because of his ability to work the glass and protect the rim.

13. Northwestern (5-1)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 83-78 L vs Virginia, 79-77 W vs South Carolina

• Next Week

  • Oklahoma State (United Center) - Thursday 11/27 - 10:30 - Peacock

Northwestern split a pair of close games at the Greenbrier classic, and in the process, they showed that their offense has some real upside to it.

Martinelli struggled in the lost to Virginia, but he bounced back well against South Carolina, carrying the Wildcats to a win. He’s also now shooting 9/12 from three on the year, and although that percentage won’t stay, it’s been fun to see him knock them down.

Jayden Reid and Arrinten Page have been two transfers with big time impacts for the Wildcats. They form a fun two man game with Reid’s passing ability combined with Page’s ability to finish at the rim. Reid is currently 11th in the country in assist rate at 43.6%.

Northwestern’s offense as a whole has been enjoyable to watch. In addition to the various, quality sets that Chris Collins runs, there’s been an influx of transition offense and pick and rolls. Northwestern is currently having their fastest offensive tempo under Collins, averaging just 15.8 seconds per offensive possession.

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12. Nebraska (6-0)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 84-72 W vs New Mexico, 86-85 W vs Kansas State

• Next Week

  • Winthrop - Tue 11/25 - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

  • USC Upstate - Sat 11/29 - 2:00 - Big Ten Plus

Is Nebrasketball back? The Cornhuskers start the season 6-0, with 3 of those wins coming against top 100 competition. They were able to get wins in back to back days against New Mexico and Kansas State.

Nebraska has quietly been one of the most exciting teams to watch in this early season, powered by an offense that moves more than most in the country. Built on pindowns, cuts, and off ball screens, this offense has quickly gelled together and look very cohesive. Nebraska is taking a lot of threes, but they also have a few guys that can do some damage inside of the paint.

Braden Frager had a big week, and the redshirt freshman continues to show that he can be a real contributor. Nebraska needs it as they aren’t a very deep team right now, especially with Ugnius Jarusevicius still out.

11. Ohio State (5-0)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 91-58 W vs Western Michigan

• Next Week

  • Mount St. Mary’s - Tue 11/25 - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • @ Pittsburgh - Fri 11/28 - 7:00 - ESPN

It was a pretty balanced scoring effort from the Buckeyes against Western Michigan as 6 players scored between 8 and 17 points in a game that Ohio State controlled pretty early on.

It’s hard to fully judge this team, as the only top 200 Kenpom team they’ve played is Notre Dame, who as of now isn’t expected to be close to making the tournament. The same could be said after this week against Pitt, who is ranked 77 in Kenpom as of this writing.

However, they’re stacking wins, and that’ll be important given some of their competition in December.

The interior defense remains to be the big question to me, but they have a ton of firepower offensively. They at times can limit the offensive upside with some of the degree of difficulty they take on their shots, but they also have multiple guys on the floor who can take and make tough ones.

10. Iowa (5-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 99-70 W vs Southeast Missouri, 93-54 W vs Chicago St

• Next Week

  • Acrisure Classic (Palm Springs, CA)

    • Ole Miss - Tue 11/25 - 9:30 - CBSSN

    • Grand Canyon/Utah - Wed 11/26 - 9:30/11:59 - CBSSN

A pretty standard week for Iowa as they dominated two inferior opponents. They have played a high major in Xavier, but Xavier is around 100 in Kenpom right now. This week we’ll get to see Iowa against a tournament caliber team for the first time this season.

As probably expected, Iowa is utilizing cuts and their roll man more than almost anyone else in the country, while getting out in transition less than almost everyone. McCollum’s squad is once again going to be surgical and methodical in how they move, generating good looks in the process.

It’s stood out on defense just how active the Iowa defenders are at generating deflections. The numbers are maybe inflated a bit due to the competition they’re playing, but the process is there. This is a team that wants to play smart, aggressive defense, generating a lot of steals in the process. They’re currently top 30 in defensive turnover percentage and top 60 in steal percentage.

9. Oregon (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 87-75 W vs Oregon State

• Next Week

  • Player’s Era Festival (Las Vegas)

    • Auburn - Mon 11/24 - 8:00 - truTV

    • San Diego State - Tue 11/25 - 11:00 - TNT

    • TBD - Wed/Thu

The bright side - Oregon probably looked the best they have in this young season.

The negative side - the bar hasn’t been very high.

The formula they had against Oregon State is the one that I think they’ll need to rely on heavily this season. Bittle and Shelstad both went for 20+ points, and both Simpkins and Evans contributed double digit points. This is a team that doesn’t have much bench, but they have some good scorers at the top.

The front court of Evans and Bittle continue to be a tough duo to consistently score on, and maybe KJ Evans is starting to take the jump??

Jackson Shelstad seems to start getting more comfortable after returning from injury. Bittle is the better two-way player, but Shelstad is so instrumental to what Oregon wants to do offensively. In a system that doesn’t always have a ton of movement, having a self creator like Shelstad can cover up a lot of things.

This team has figured out ways to win close ones, but they don’t want to put themselves in that spot this week at the Player’s Era Festival as they look for getting another MTE win.

8. Indiana (5-0)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 73-53 W vs Lindenwood

• Next Week

  • Kansas State - Tue 11/25 - 8:00 - FS1

  • Bethune Cookman - Sat 11/29 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

Lamar Wilkerson showed he was human, going only 1/7 from three in Indiana’s lone game this week.

It is a legitimate question to have though, what happens to this Indiana team if the jumper isn’t falling?

The defense has been better than expected, but they also haven’t had to matchup with any Big Ten sized bigs for the most part. The defensive system seems to be solid - don’t over extend the help from the perimeter and trust their bigs in drop coverage. This defense is currently forcing more mid range shots than almost every single team in the entire country. For a team that maybe lacks some pure defensive star power (although they have a few quality defenders), getting opposing teams to take these types of shots is a great way to help overcome it.

7. USC (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 107-106 W vs Troy (3OT)

• Next Week

  • Maui Invitational (Hawaii)

USC only played one game this week, but they got their money’s worth as they went three overtimes with a tough Troy team.

USC has a ton of versatility defensively and can force a lot of turnovers and tough shots. They struggled on the glass, something that should eventually improve but needs to sooner rather than later.

Offensively, they’re going to be led by the duo of Chad Baker-Mazara and Rodney Rice. Ezra Ausar contributed big in this game, but USC may need a more consistent 3rd scorer to be able to step up.

This week at the Maui should at least show us more about this USC team, as they should be one of the favorites to win the tournament.

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6. Wisconsin (4-1)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 94-69 W vs SIUE, 98-70 L vs BYU

• Next Week

  • Rady Children’s Invitational (San Diego, CA)

    • Providence - Thu 11/27 - 5:30 - FS1

    • TCU/Florida - Fri 11/28 - 3:00/5:30 - FOX

In Wisconsin’s first big time test, they fell apart over the last 10 minutes. BYU was in control for most of the game, but Wisconsin still had some chance in the 2nd half.

The real issue with this team started to show up, and that’s the defensive side of the ball. It’s maybe slightly reactionary to talk about the poor defense after playing a top 5 offense in the country, but the fact remains. Coming into the season, what this defense would look like was the biggest concern to me. They have some fine perimeter defenders and some solid rim protectors, but there isn’t that truly elite defender on this roster in my opinion. It showed against BYU as they allowed BYU to get into the paint, seemingly at will. Wisconsin tried a variety of coverages just as drop, hedge, and switching, but none of them were able to work.

It’s only game 5 of the season, and this team can definitely improve defensively. Given how good their offense can be (although it was a tough time to start missing all of the open threes), the defense doesn’t need to be elite. It just needs to be good enough.

5. Michigan State (5-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 83-66 W vs Kentucky, 84-56 W vs Detroit Mercy

• Next Week

  • Fort Myers Classic (Fort Myers, FL)

    • East Carolina - Tue 11/25 - 1:00 - FS2

    • North Carolina - Thu 11/27 - 4:30 - FOX

The Spartans got a big time win over a Kentucky team that still seems to be trying to find their way. This defense continues to be elite, and they seemingly suffocated the Wildcats from the jump. To me, it’s more of just a bonus that MSU had a game where the jumper was falling, but it wasn’t necessarily the full catalyst for why they won.

This defense continues to be special after some people (me) had some concerns that it’d take a step back this season following some of their personnel losses this off season. It’s been the opposite though so far, with Michigan State continuing to dominate the boards and the paint.

Jeremy Fears has emerged as arguable the best passer in the country as he’s had 9+ assists in all four games this season. The Spartans still have to figure out how to function with him off the floor, but Fears immediately raises the floor of this Spartans offense that is very much still finding its way.

4. UCLA (5-1)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 79-48 W vs Sacramento St, 86-46 W vs Presbyterian

• Next Week

  • California (San Francisco, CA) - Tue 11/25 - 10:00 - ESPN

The competition wasn’t great, but this was the best UCLA has looked all season. The defense was able to be dominant, and although the offense still has a bit to go, it can eventually get there.

Cronin pulled his first stunt of the season, starting all of his bench guys (and Eric Dailey Jr) against Sacramento State. The starters seemed to respond well against Presbyterian, but we’ll find out a lot more over the next month about this UCLA team.

The Bruins limit their margin of error a lot because they have one of the lowest rim+3 rates in the country. They live in the mid range offensively, and although they have guys to make shots, it still is a tougher shot diet to live off of.

A bright spot of this season is that Xavier Booker has started to look like the player people hoped he’d be coming out of high school. He has to be able to continue the effort, but he’s been far better this year than he has at any point in his career.

3. Michigan (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 86-61 W vs Middle Tennessee

• Next Week

  • Player’s Era Festival (Las Vegas)

    • San Diego State - Mon 11/24 - 10:30 - truTV

    • Auburn - Tue 11/25 - 8:30 - TNT

    • TBD - Wed/Thu

Michigan had a bounce back win of sorts after having two very close wins the prior week.

This defense is really starting to “round into form”, if that can be said about a defense that hasn’t allowed over 1.0 points per possession this season. What I mean by that though is it seems like the players are getting even more comfortable within the switching scheme, and they’re starting to just play off instinct more instead of thinking.

Offensively, it was a pleasant sight to see Yaxel Lendeborg be used like an All-American. It felt like he was put into advantageous positions more in this game than the rest of the season, generally by clearing out a side of the floor and letting him go to work.

More than maybe any other team, this is a big week for Michigan. They have the talent to go 3-0, but it won’t be easy to do so.

2. Illinois (5-1)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 90-86 L vs Alabama, 98-58 W vs LIU

• Next Week

  • UT Rio Grande Valley - Mon 11/24 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

  • UConn (Madison Square Garden) - Fri 11/28 - 12:30 - FOX

Illinois still looks every bit the part of being a potentially elite team, but they hit their first major roadblock of the season as they fell to Alabama. The defense was largely the issue in that game as Alabama seemingly got into the paint whenever they wanted in the second half, led by Labaron Philon. This is a defense that has prided itself early on their ability to have elite perimeter defenders, but Philon got the best of them in this one.

Offensively, it wasn’t their best output, but it also should’ve been enough to get the job done. This is going to be a team that largely lives in isolation and rely on their guys to go create advantages. Illinois was able to do that to a degree, but they weren’t always able to capitalize. They are currently among the top teams in the country in both pick and roll, and isolation usage.

Losing one game to Alabama doesn’t mean this season is over or that Illinois isn’t a Final Four caliber team. It does show that there’s areas they have to improve (like every team).

One smaller thing I’ll be monitoring is the rebounding. On the season, Illinois is one of the elite rebounding teams, ranking 11th in offensive rebounding percentage in the country at 42.8% and 8th in the country in defensive rebounding percentage at 79.1%. However, when you filter for just their two games against high major competition (yes, small sample), those numbers drop to just a 32.9 ORB% and 74.2 DRB%. Those are both still solid numbers, but they’re not the super elite numbers they have for the entire season.

1. Purdue (6-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 80-71 W vs Memphis, 86-56 W vs Texas Tech

• Next Week

  • Eastern Illinois - Fri 11/28 - 12:00 - Big Ten Network

After an UGLY win over Memphis in their first game of the Baha Mar tournament, Purdue finally showed why they might be the best team in the country as they absolutely dominated a Texas Tech team that has aspirations of a deep run in March.

Purdue has looked like a completely different team after getting TKR back into the lineup, and they’re proof of why people shouldn’t always over react so hard to the first week of the season.

Even with Braden Smith and TKR not having amazing games, Purdue was still able to get two wins because everyone else is starting to gel. Oscar Cluff continues to improve every single game and look more comfortable (also another point as to why people shouldn’t over react to just a game or two). Omer Mayer has flashed some of the upside he has. CJ Cox had arguably the best two games of his Purdue career, especially the Memphis game where he had 18 points on 10 shots while playing great defense.

The biggest thing from the Texas Tech game was that Purdue has it in them to play quality defense. That was the best their defensive effort and rotations have looked all season, and they’re capable of being a solid enough defensive team. The big thing now though is that this has to become more of the norm moving forward. It’s great that they flashed this, but it won’t mean a lot if they just revert to what they were doing before.

My personal tracker on the number of games I’ve watched of each team.

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If you missed it, I broke down Indiana’s offense and what has allowed them to thrive early in the season.

Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Penn State (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 77-68 W vs Navy, 83-69 W vs La Salle

• Next Week

  • vs Harvard - Wednesday 11/19 - 6:30 - Big Ten Plus

  • vs Providence (in Mohegan Sun) - Saturday 11/22 - 4:00 - truTV

Penn State played against a pair of solid mid major teams, and the games both went about as expected. Penn State wasn’t able to majorly pull away in either, but they were also able to control most of the game in both to get wins.

Melih Tunca and Kayden Mingo continue to pop as a sneaky good backcourt duo in the Big Ten with their abilities to both play on and off ball.

I will continue to beat the drum for Ivan Juric and what he can bring to this team. He played a season high 30 minutes against La Salle, and he gives Penn State what they’re looking for in the big spot with his ability to score at the rim and play in a high hedge defensively.

Penn State gets another solid mid major in Harvard, before getting their first high major test in Providence. A 2-0 week this week would at least make me start considering the possibility that this could be a competitive team come Big Ten time.

17. Rutgers (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 72-60 W vs Maine, 84-72 W vs Lehigh

• Next Week

  • vs American - Tuesday 11/18 - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • vs Central Connecticut - Friday 11/21 - 6:30 - Big Ten Plus

Beating Maine and Lehigh by 12 points each can’t spark a ton of confidence in this team, but wins are still wins. They have two more matchups this week against teams ranked around 300 in Kenpom, which all of their competition has fallen around this season, before going to the Players Era Festival the following week.

The offense has struggled as expected at times, although the Scarlet Knights have had a few different players step up. Tariq Francis, Jamichael Davis, Dylan Grant, Denis Badalau, and Emmanuel Ogbole have all had 15+ points in a game. Dylan Grant went for 28 against Lehigh and looks poised for a breakout season.

There was a lot of talk coming into the season that this team is a Pikiell team that’ll play tough defense. It’s early in the season, so there’s plenty of time, but that hasn’t showed up as much as you’d want so far. It hasn’t been terrible, but if this team wants to be competitive in the Big Ten, the defense has to be something they can consistently rely on. With no real star (for now) on this roster, Pikiell very much does seem to be trying to even figure out who he wants to play and close with.

16. Minnesota (3-1)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 83-60 L @ Missouri, 72-65 W vs Green Bay (OT)

• Next Week

  • vs Chicago St - Tuesday 11/18 - 8:00 - Big Ten Plus

  • vs San Francisco (Sanford Pentagon) - Saturday 11/22 - 5:30 - Peacock

This wasn’t the week that Minnesota fans were hoping to see. Minnesota was really competitive for the first 20-25 minutes against Missouri before giving up 8 points in a single possession, and basically just having no momentum the rest of the way.

Minnesota is a team that was projected to have quality shooters at most spots, but that hasn’t showed up a ton yet. It’s early, so there’s plenty of time for water to find its level, but this would be the worst three point shooting team that Niko Medved has coached. Outside of Cade Tyson being 8/20 from three, the rest of the roster is just 15/62 (24.2%) from three. This is also a roster that’s currently struggling from the free throw line, something that Gopher fans are all too familiar with.

Cade Tyson has been the big revelation, living up to all of the hype that he had going to North Carolina last season. He’s been one of the more efficient players in the country, especially when you factor in his volume.

15. Maryland (3-1)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 84-64 W vs Alcorn State, 89-82 W @ Marquette

• Next Week

  • vs Mount St. Mary’s - Wednesday 11/19 - 7:00 - Big Ten Plus

It’s hard to truly take anything away from this Maryland team right now as they just get dealt injury after injury. Despite missing arguably two of their three best players in Myles Rice and Solomon Washington, and losing their best player, Pharrel Payne, in the middle of the Marquette game, Maryland was still able to go get a road win against a Big East program. Even if Marquette doesn’t look like a tourney team, getting a road win in the way they did is impressive.

One thing that’s been surprising early in the season is that this team hasn’t been a great rebounding team. Dominating the offensive glass was one of the main staples of Buzz Williams at Texas A&M, but the success hasn’t traveled yet. Also, this Maryland team is taking 45.9% of their shots from three, which would be the highest any Buzz Williams team has ever had.

14. Nebraska (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 69-50 W vs UMES, 105-99 W vs Oklahoma

• Next Week

  • vs New Mexico (in Kansas City) - Thursday 11/20 - 7:00 - Peacock

  • vs Kansas St/Mississippi St (in Kansas City) - Friday 11/21 - 7:00/9:30 - Peacock

If you like offense, then the game vs Oklahoma was for you. Both teams averaged over 1.35 points per possession, and it felt like the ball would never miss. Nebraska shot 15/27 from three, while Oklahoma was 14/37. Three point variance generally impact Nebraska games more than others both with their willingness to take them and defense designed to force them. As is the case in that scenario, Nebraska is going to have a few games every season where they knock down a ton of them and win the game that way.

Through 4 games, it feels like Nebraska is still searching for their identity, but they’re stacking wins in the process of doing so. Sandfort has had a big breakout over the last 3 games, and he could potentially be the perimeter scoring pop Nebraska needs. Rienk Mast has been as good as we remember him being, and that gives Nebraska a floor. Rotations are still being messed with, and this isn’t a very deep team at the moment, although they are missing transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius.

13. Northwestern (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 110-63 W vs Cleveland St, 81-79 W @ DePaul

• Next Week

  • vs Virginia (Greenbrier Tip-Off) - Friday 11/21 - 5:00 - CBSSN

  • vs South Carolina (Greenbrier Tip-Off) - Sunday 11/23 - 5:00 - CBSSN

Arrinten Page has been one of the bigger surprises in the Big Ten to start the season. After never really finding his footing at USC or Cincinnati, Page has quickly become Northwestern’s 2nd most important player. He’s scored 17+ in 3 of the 4 games and is cleaning up the glass. Most importantly, he’s been able to protect the rim for 25 minutes a night. We have to see it against better competition, but this team may have gotten exactly what they needed at the center position in Page.

This Northwestern team is the definition of lurking in the shadows right now. They have 4 wins, 3 being dominant wins against poor competition. They win a very close one on the road at DePaul, one of the worst power conference teams this season. Are they going to be like Penn State last season, a team who dominated bad competition to start the season before struggling a lot in Big Ten play? Or could they be a team that proves to be legit and end up much higher than projected? Time will tell, but they’ve done what they’ve needed to do so far.

Northwestern is playing MUCH faster offensively this season than last, headlined by transfer Jayden Reid. Per Kenpom, Northwestern offensive possessions are lasting 15.5 seconds on average (81st in the country) compared to 18.4 seconds last season (277th in the country). Their transition rate has doubled from 11.3% last season to 22.8% this season, a testament to their desire to want to run this season.

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12. Ohio State (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 75-53 W vs Appalachian St, 64-63 W vs Notre Dame

• Next Week

  • vs Western Michigan - Thursday 11/20 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

Ohio State needed a last second bucket from Christoph Tilly to get a win over Notre Dame, but the Buckeyes remain undefeated. They have a light week this week, but they start ramping up the competition in December.

Bruce Thornton has had an unbelievably good start to the season. He’s shooting 73.1% from 2, 56.5% from 3, and 88.9% from the free throw line on good volume. He’s turned even more into a scorer, and at times John Mobley can handle point guard responsibilities. This has allowed Thornton to be off ball more and get to attacking to score.

The interior defense will be the major concern for Ohio State going forward as they’re in the bottom 20 percentile in the country for rim defense. Notre Dame early was able to find ways to attack the deep drop that Ohio State was playing, but credit to Diebler for getting it under control a bit more in the second half. With how good this offense is, the defense doesn’t have to be great, it just has to be fine.

11. Washington (3-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 81-69 W @ Washington State

• Next Week

  • vs Southern - Tuesday 11/18 - 9:30 - Peacock

Washington only had the one game last week, and they were able to take care of business against their in-state rival. Washington continues to fight the injury bug, but some guys have been able to really step up in the meantime.

JJ Mandaquit is struggling some to adjust being a college point guard, but these are very valuable reps he’s getting so early in his career.

Zoom Diallo has taken advantage of the opportunity, and he’s scored in double figures in all 4 games because of it. The three point shot is still a work in progress, but he’s improved as a driver and facilitator this season.

Wesley Yates had a big game for Washington State, scoring 26 points on 16 shots. It feels like he’s still adjusting a bit to being more of an off ball player, compared to last season at USC, where he did more of his creation on-ball. As he settles into his role (and as Washington hopefully gets him more on-ball reps), he should become only better from here.

10. Iowa (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 81-62 W vs Xavier

• Next Week

  • vs Southeast Missouri - Tuesday 11/18 - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

  • vs Chicago St - Thursday 11/20 - 7:00 - Big Ten Plus

Yes, Xavier is not a good team this season, but Iowa still took care of business in their biggest test of the young season. This defense has been incredibly active, currently ranking 25th in the country in defensive turnover percentage. Their ability to generate deflections really stands out while watching them as it feels like everyone on the team has quick hands. They’ve been in a high hedge almost exclusively against pick and rolls, and the rotations on the backside have been better than expected.

The rotations have been interesting from Ben McCollum. He’s opted to start 4 Drake guys and Cooper Koch, the lone returner from Iowa. He’s bringing Alvaro Folgueiras off the bench, someone who is arguably Iowa’s second best player. It could be a chemistry thing. The quarter of Stirtz, Banks, Manyawu, and Howard have played a lot together, and they have a lot of reps from last season. There could be some element of trying to keep that core together and then mix in the others throughout the game. Folgueiras has played 18, 27, and 24 minutes so far this season, something to keep an eye on.

PS, Bennett Stirtz - still very good at basketball.

PS #2 - Ben McCollum will be a guy that finds diamonds in the rough. Trevin Jirak and Tate Sage fit that this season.

9. Oregon (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 83-69 W vs South Dakota St

• Next Week

  • vs Oregon State - Monday 11/17 - 10:00 - FS1

Credit to Oregon for having played 3 quality mid major programs. They’ve looked the best they have in this young season, but there’s still a ways to go.

Health continues to be an issue for a team that isn’t deep at all. Jackson Shelstad is getting more comfortable game by game after coming off of a hand injury, but Devon Pryor sat out this week’s game. It’s expected he should be back for Monday’s game against Oregon State.

The positive for Oregon is that the defense has looked very good so far, anchored by the trio of Nate Bittle, KJ Evans, and Sean Stewart on the interior. It’s only been three games, and none against a high major, but Oregon currently ranks 35th in 2P% defense and 20th in block rate.

The negative is that the offense looks lost. Some could maybe be put on Shelstad still working back from an injury, but even with him back, it’s felt like Oregon still isn’t comfortable at all with what they want to do. Dana Altman is a coach that promotes freedom and space, and this means that players get to just go hoop at times. However, it’s felt like the Oregon guys have been thinking a lot, instead of just playing off of instinct. A bright side would be TK Simpkins scoring 20 against South Dakota State. Shelstad, Simpkins, and Bittle combined for 56 of Oregon’s 83 points that game.

8. Indiana (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 101-70 W vs Milwaukee, 69-61 W vs Incarnate Word

• Next Week

  • vs Lindenwood - Thursday 11/20 - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

After a first week of the season that brought life back into the program, Indiana hit their first (minor) bump of the DeVries era. After dismantling Milwaukee, Incarnate Word gave IU all that they could handle. Incarnate Word is a solid mid major, but Indiana also has to continue learning how to win when the jumpers don’t fall (although that shouldn’t happen all that much).

After four games, Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson are a combined 30/62 from three, and Trent Sisley is 5/11. Shooting outside of those three remain a bit of a TBD, but Indiana shouldn’t need a whole lot outside of them.

Sam Alexis has been the big, unexpected bright spot of the early season with his ability to finish at the rim, rebound, and defend the rim. The question will be what the 6’9 center can do against Big Ten bigs, but the fact that he’s worked so well early on at least gives hope that Indiana will be able to make it work.

7. Michigan State (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 79-60 W vs San Jose State

• Next Week

  • vs Kentucky (Madison Square Garden) - Tuesday 11/18 - 6:30 - ESPN

  • vs Detroit Mercy - Friday 11/21 - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

Michigan State isn’t going to win a ton of games pretty this season, but getting wins is all that matters. The defense has been better than I expected through three games, although the defense has gone even more extreme than before with trying to take away the paint and force teams to take threes. Granted, it’s only been three games, but teams are taking 50% of their shots from three. On the other hand, Michigan State is only taking 33.5% of their shots from three, and they’re currently one of the worst three point shooting teams in the country.

This team is going to be able to win by playing their way, which means dominating the glass and the interior on both ends. They’r currently top 25 in both ORB% and DRB%, and they’re winning the free throw battle. This is a tough team that has some gaps offensively, but their ability to play hard will keep them in a lot of games this season. They get another big test early this season on Tuesday as they play Kentucky, a team that will be more than willing to fire it up from three.

6. USC (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 87-67 W vs Illinois State

• Next Week

  • vs Troy - Thursday 11/20 - 10:00 - Big Ten Network

USC is in the category of “I think you’re good but also I need to see you do it against high major competition.”

You play who’s in front of you though, and USC has handled all three opponents so far, including an Illinois State team that is supposed to be one of the better mid majors this season.

Through three games, the Rodney Rice point guard experiment has been a success, highlighted by his triple double this week. He looks incredibly comfortable being both a scorer and facilitator out of pick and roll, and so far he’s been able to run the offense.

The defense has so much versatility that there feels like a much higher floor this season for USC than last. They can press, switch everything, play in gaps, help and rotate, and protect the rim. Again, we need to see it against high major competition, but they’ve been successful so far. They get a matchup against a Troy team this week who isn’t a pushover by any means.

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5. Wisconsin (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 96-55 W vs Ball State

• Next Week

  • vs SIUE - Monday 11/17 - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

  • @ BYU (in Salt Lake City) - Friday 11/21 - 4:00 - Peacock

I’m kind of just waiting for Friday with this Wisconsin team. They’ve rolled through three bad opponents, as expected. The guards look like a lot of fun, Winter and Rapp is an intriguing front court duo, and the bench is still figuring things out. I’ve been high on this team coming into the season, and now I just want to see what they look like against good competition.

After taking 48.2% of their shots from three last season, Wisconsin has currently taken 50.5% of their shots from three this season. Some of that may be influenced slightly by playing defenses that want to give up threes, but it’s something to monitor.

4. UCLA (3-1)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 83-62 W vs West Georgia, 69-65 L vs Arizona

• Next Week

  • vs Sacramento St - Tuesday 11/18 - 10:30 - Big Ten Network

  • vs Presbyterian - Friday 11/21 - 10:30 - Big Ten Network

This hasn’t been the start UCLA fans were wanting. There isn’t anything to really hang your head about in losing to Arizona by 4, but that was an incredibly winnable game for them.

The thing with UCLA is that their margin for error is going to be small. UCLA has one of the lowest 3+rim rates in the country, meaning they take more shots in the mid range compared to most teams in the country. UCLA has the guys to be able to make these shots and win them games, but it also means that they can’t afford to go on scoring droughts as much.

UCLA has been solid defensively, although the amount of looks Arizona got at the rim is a bit concerning. Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson both have had flashes though. This team feels a bit more work in progress than maybe anticipated, but it’s also only been four games. This team doesn’t feel like a finished product.

3. Michigan (3-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 85-84 W vs Wake Forest (OT), 67-63 W @ TCU

• Next Week

  • vs Middle Tennessee - Wednesday 11/19 - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

Michigan is 3-0, and ultimately that’s what matters. However, there probably aren’t going to be many college basketball fans who are optimistic about Michigan. I’ll make the case right now, even though it could blow up in my face.

Michigan has a top 10 defense in the country, and the way that they’re doing it feels replicable. They’re dominating the paint while forcing a lot of contested perimeter shots. The trio of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Aday Mara is one of the elite defensive front courts in the country. They also have positive perimeter defenders to pair, and that travels. This team has rebounded well, but they should only improve in that category.

Now, the offense has been far from pretty besides the Oakland game. Playing all three of Yaxel, Johnson, and Mara together is clunky offensively, especially when you add in both that Michigan doesn’t have a ton of shooting and that Yaxel hasn’t been super involved yet. If we look to last season though, Michigan lost to Wake Forest and beat TCU by 12 to start the season. They also lost to Arkansas and Oklahoma in December before figuring things out.

Now that’s me making the case that this is still a team that can compete for hardware. However, they do have to go out and start looking like that team more and more. They get a matchup against a solid Middle Tennessee team this week before the Player’s Era Festival the following week.

2. Illinois (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 81-77 W vs Texas Tech, 84-65 W vs Colgate

• Next Week

  • vs Alabama (in Chicago) - Wednesday 11/19 - 9:00 - FS1

  • vs LIU - Saturday 11/22 - TBD - Big Ten Network

My preseason thoughts on this Illinois team was that they probably had the widest range of outcomes for some of the top teams. Turns out, they might just be elite. The offense has been one of the best in the entire country with their ability to have multiple guys go and create buckets. Against Texas Tech, they utilized a variety of unconventional schemes such as using guards as screeners or putting them in the dunker spot. This made spacing different for the Texas Tech defense to have to try and maneuver, often with no success.

Without Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois got a big win over Texas Tech behind Andrej Stojakovic’s big game. He seems to be the closer for this team, but Illinois has 4-5 guys that could go off in any given game. This offense right now is relying on getting 1 on 1 creators in isolation and letting them go to work. They are among the highest in the country in both isolation and pick and roll rate.

The defense has been really intriguing. We know Kylan Boswell is an elite perimeter defender, but some of the other perimeter players have flashed, including Stojakovic on that end. This team' should be built on their offense, but their defense seems like it can still be top 25 level, and that makes Illinois a National Championship contender.

1. Purdue (4-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 87-80 W @ Alabama, 97-79 W vs Akron

• Next Week

  • vs Memphis (Baha Mar Championship) - Thursday 11/20 - 6:00 - CBSSN

  • vs Texas Tech/Wake Forest (Baha Mar Championship) - Friday 11/21 - 7:00/9:30 - CBSSN

Purdue got their second All-American back, and what do you know, they look like a good team again. Trey Kaufman-Renn returned for the Alabama game, and Purdue showed that between him and Smith, they’ll make it hard for Purdue to be beat.

Purdue is up to being a top 20 offensive rebounding team, and they’ve rebounded over 50% of their own misses in the last two games (after TKR returned). TKR has had 15 boards in both games so far this season, and he looks every bit the part of an All-American. It’s only two games, but this has been the most intense he’s been rebounding the ball in his career. Add in the fact that the floater looks good again, and Purdue has two of the best players in the country.

Oscar Cluff has improved every game so far this season, and he’s currently averaging a double double.

The defense continues to need to improve, especially at the point of attack. Purdue is trying to find their identity on the defensive side of the ball. However, this could end up being a historically good offense, and that increases the margin of error a bit for the defense.

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Power Rankings

For me, my power rankings are a mix of preseason thoughts (gradually losing weight as the season progresses), what we’ve seen on the court, and projecting where I think they end up by the end of the season. So if a team is rated much higher or lower than where they’ve been purely based on their performances, I probably think they will do much better or worse going forward.

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

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18. Penn State (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #18

• Last Week - 76-68 W vs Fairfield, 87-43 W @ New Haven

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Navy - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Saturday (11/15) - vs La Salle - 1:00 - Peacock

Penn State is 330th in the country in D1 experience, and they looked like a team that doesn’t have much experience together or at this level. They needed a 16-2 run to end the game against Fairfield, but they did dominate from tip to tip against New Haven.

Ivan Juric is a name to monitor as he can be a heavy part of this rotation. The 7-foot center has flashed a lot very early in his freshman season, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him starting at some point this season.

Kayden Mingo and Melih Tunca give the Nittany Lions an interesting backcourt duo, with both being able to essentially be combo guards. Even without Ace Baldwin this season, Penn State seems like they’ll be one of the heaviest pick and roll usage teams in the country.

Worth noting, Penn State plays two top 200 KenPom teams this week after playing none last week.

17. Rutgers (1-0)

• Previous Ranking - #17

• Last Week - 81-53 W vs Rider

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/10) - vs Maine - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/14) - vs Lehigh - 6:30 - Big Ten Plus

Rutgers only played one game last week, but they were able to get a comfortable win to open up their season. They had four players score in double figures, led by Tariq Francis scoring 20 points.

It wasn’t a pretty offensive night as it took Rutgers a lot to get going. They dominated the offensive glass though, something that’s going to have to be consistent for them to find success.

Rutgers is also going to have to live in transition this season as they’re able to force some turnovers. The half-court offense can really bog down and make it difficult for them to get any sort of consistent look. Rutgers plays their first five games against teams currently ranked below 275 in KenPom, so they’ll have some time to try and figure things out before the Players Era Festival.

16. Minnesota (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #16

• Last Week - 87-60 W vs Gardner Webb, 95-50 W vs Alcorn State

• Next Week

  • Wednesday (11/12) - @ Missouri - 8:00 - SECN+

  • Saturday (11/15) - vs Green Bay - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

Minnesota is one of the interesting teams where they looked awesome, but they also played two teams that are among the worst in college basketball. Regardless, they dominated, and that’s what a good team is supposed to do to bad opponents. The matchup on Wednesday against Missouri should give us a better feel for the true caliber of this team.

Cade Tyson scored 30 and 21 points respectively, and he didn’t do it only as a shooter. He knocked down five threes during the game, but he attempted a wild 23 free throws between the two games, knocking down 20 of them. For reference, he has attempted 83, 83, and 16 free throws in his previous three seasons of college basketball. Tyson fits in really well with Medved’s offensive system.

The Gophers have used a lot of off-ball movement and cutting to be able to create their opportunities, and they’ve been one of the lowest pick and roll usage teams in the country. This can change as the season progresses, but Medved’s system tries to generate their looks in different ways.

15. Northwestern (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #15

• Last Week - 70-47 W vs Mercyhurst, 76-52 W vs Boston

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/10) - vs Chicago State - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/14) - @ DePaul - 7:30 - TruTV

Could Northwestern be a team that was slept on a bit this offseason? Through two games, there are signs that they could be, but as is the case with most teams, we need to be able to see it against better competition.

Arrinten Page and Jayden Reid were the highlights of the week. They were two of the key pieces brought in this offseason, and Northwestern needs both to be able to contribute in order to find success this season. Page did a bit of everything for the Wildcats, anchoring the defense and also contributing on the glass. Reid flashed some of his dynamic playmaking ability against Boston, and he’s someone that can give Northwestern a legitimate creator from the guard position.

It’s worth noting how small Northwestern is going to have to play at times. If Page continues to play well, his realistic ceiling for minutes is somewhere around 25 a game, and him playing 20 minutes a game is much more probable. That means that there are 15-20 minutes a game that Northwestern will have to figure out the 5 spot, as it’s still TBD on whether 7-foot Cade Bennerman will be ready to contribute this season. Northwestern mixed in guys like 6-8 Tre Singleton, 6-9 Tyler Kropp, and 6-7 Nick Martinelli at the center spot, going ultra-small.

14. Maryland (1-1)

• Previous Ranking - #12

• Last Week - 83-61 W vs Coppin State, 70-60 L vs Georgetown

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Alcorn State - 7:00 - Big Ten Plus

  • Saturday (11/15) - @ Marquette - 2:00 - Peacock

Maryland suffered the first Big Ten loss of the season as they dropped a home game to Georgetown. Maryland has been battling major injuries, and they’re just starting to get some of their guys back. Of note, Solomon Washington was out both games, and he’s the guy that can make this defense elite.

Williams’ offensive system isn’t pretty, letting his guards and bigs just go and try to create. Myles Rice seems to be the go-to guy on the perimeter as he had 19 points against Georgetown. He and Pharrel Payne are going to be the 1-2 punch for Maryland, but they’ll need some level of support. Payne played 38 minutes against Georgetown, which is both a positive and negative. It’s good that he might have the conditioning to handle heavy minutes, but it also means that Maryland doesn’t have anyone else they trust that they can put on the floor.

For the foreseeable future, this team will be built on their defense, but the offense should have a few random nights when it all gets put together. RS freshman Andre Mills was a bright spot in the two games as he seemed comfortable in his role. Freshman Darius Adams may take a bit of time to really break out, but I’d also like to see more actions run for him to be put in spots to score.

13. Nebraska (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #13

• Last Week - 86-53 W vs West Georgia, 96-66 W vs FIU

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Maryland Eastern Shore - 8:00 - Big Ten Plus

  • Saturday (11/15) - vs Oklahoma (at Sanford Pentagon) - 7:00 - Big Ten Network

Nebraska is a team that I thought was underrated heading into the season. They haven’t played any real competition yet, but they’ve looked good in their games. This is a team that, although it may not have a high-usage perimeter creator, has shooters everywhere and one of the best passing bigs in the country in Rienk Mast.

After a slower first half against West Georgia, the offense has flowed since then. One thing to note on the offensive side of the ball is that Nebraska has gotten out in transition more than they did last season, and they’re also utilizing a lot more cuts. They generally do both at a pretty high rate, but there’s been an emphasis on those two areas through two games. Against competition where you can at times pick what shot you want, it seems meaningful that the handoff rate dropped a ton.

Nebraska’s new players will take some time getting used to the defensive system run by Hoiberg, but it’s a system that can raise the floor (while lowering the ceiling) of the defense overall.

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12. Ohio State (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #14

• Last Week - 118-102 W vs IU Indy, 94-68 W vs Purdue Fort Wayne

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Appalachian State - 6:30 - Big Ten Plus

  • Sunday (11/16) - vs Notre Dame - 12:30 - FS1

It’s incredibly hard to take anything away from their game against IU Indy, although that was an incredibly fun game. Through two games though, this team feels like the exact team we thought they’d be — very efficient offensively with some question marks on the defensive side of the ball.

The Devin Royal-at-the-three experiment seems to be going just fine, although it’s worth mentioning that he’s taken more threes than twos on the season (granted he’s been to the free throw line a lot too). If he’s going to be able to take and make threes, this becomes a really hard offense to guard because of how many options they have.

Depth and defense will be the two question marks surrounding this team. Amare Bynum has flashed some as a forward, and Gabe Cupps has been serviceable through two games. However, Ohio State is going to need some depth at some point to step up. The Sunday matchup against Notre Dame will be our first chance to see Ohio State against high-major competition.

11. Washington (2-1)

• Previous Ranking - #11

• Last Week - 94-50 W vs Arkansas Pine Bluff, 84-70 W vs Denver, 78-69 L @ Baylor

• Next Week

  • Friday (11/14) - @ Washington State - 11:00 - ESPN+

Washington has been hit with the injury bug more than any other team in the Big Ten. Mady Traore is already out for the year, and Jacob Ognacevic is out until at least January. They dealt with multiple minor injuries during the late off season, with Desmond Claude still having not played yet. Bryson Tucker rolled his ankle yesterday during the game, and Washington quickly found themselves in a spot where they didn’t have much depth.

This Washington is still one of the more confusing teams to me. They have a good amount of talent, but they also seem to overly rely on isolations with this talent, whether it be in the post or on the perimeter. There’s enough talent to do so, but it also can make scoring difficult like it did against Baylor.

Hannes Steinbach is a walking double-double, as he had 2 last week. He’s emerging quickly as the go to guy for the Huskies offensively.

10. Iowa (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #10

• Last Week - 101-69 W vs Robert Morris, 77-58 W vs Western Illinois

• Next Week

  • Friday (11/14) - vs Xavier - 8:00 - FS1

The Ben McCollum era got off to a hot start in Iowa after handling Robert Morris. There were a few more hiccups against Western Illinois, but the game was never in doubt.

Bennett Stirtz is as advertised with his ability to dominate the offense for a full 40 minutes. Despite Iowa winning by a combined 51 points, Stirtz only sat five of the 80 minutes possible.

McCollum opted to start four of his Drake guys and Cooper Koch, the only returning scholarship player to Iowa. Minutes distribution matters more than anything, but he is bringing Alvaro Folgueiras off the bench, opting for familiarity on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball more. Both looks very similar to what we saw at Drake, although the offensive tempo has increased a bit through two games.

9. USC (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #8

• Last Week - 94-64 W vs Cal Poly, 114-83 W vs Manhattan

• Next Week

  • Friday (11/14) - vs Illinois State (at Intuit Dome) - 7:30 - Peacock

As the case with most teams, USC got off to a slow start in game one and then dominated the rest of the way. This team feels like one of the teams that Eric Musselman had success with at Arkansas, with his uptempo, pressure defense combined with trusting guards to go make plays.

Both Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara showed what they can bring to this team as Rice had 21 points and 8 assists in game 1 with Baker-Mazara having 26 points and 3 assists in game two. With Alijah Arenas done for most of the season, the lead playmaking responsibilities now fall on both Rice and Baker-Mazara.

USC has a ton of athletes, and that allows them to dial up the defensive pressure. They can switch a lot, but Musselman also made sure there was a lot of skill variety within his big group. This means that USC can do other things defensively than just switch 5 ways or trap.

8. Oregon (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #5

• Last Week - 60-59 W vs Hawaii, 67-63 W vs Rice

• Next Week

  • Wednesday (11/12) - South Dakota State - 9:30 - Peacock

Oregon may have had the worst 2-0 start to a season that any team had in the country. After needing a go-ahead bucket in the final 30 seconds against Hawaii, they just squeaked by with a four-point win against Rice. It’s worth noting that these were probably two of the five or six toughest teams the Big Ten faced the entire week, but that’s not an excuse for some of the execution the Ducks had.

Oregon needs to get and stay healthy. They got Shelstad back in game two, although he didn’t look 100%. KJ Evans got hurt against Hawaii, although he returned against Rice. Devon Pryor got hurt against Rice. This is a team that already was far from deep, and now they have to figure things out on the fly.

This defense can be the calling card for this Oregon squad, as the trio of Pryor, Evans, and Bittle is one of the best defensive frontcourts in the conference. However, they need more comfortability offensively. Bittle, Shelstad, and Evans are going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting offensively for the time being.

7. Indiana (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #9

• Last Week - 98-51 W vs Alabama A&M, 100-77 W vs Marquette (in Chicago)

• Next Week

  • Wednesday (11/12) - vs Milwaukee - 7:00 - FS1

  • Sunday (11/16) - vs Incarnate Word - 5:30 - Big Ten Network

Indiana is playing modern basketball!

Through two games of the DeVries era, Indiana is already taking and making more threes than they had over the last decade. Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson both have shown they can be flamethrowers from deep, combining for 20 threes through two games.

There are still questions to be had about the defensive side of the ball, although they showed that when they can force turnovers, they can be very serviceable on that end. They have a few buy games before the Kansas State matchup, but at minimum, Indiana is a joy to watch so far this season.

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6. Michigan State (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #7

• Last Week - 80-69 W vs Colgate, 69-66 W vs Arkansas

• Next Week

  • Thursday (11/13) - vs San Jose State - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

Tom Izzo is going to Tom Izzo. Despite a roster that maybe doesn’t have quite the star talent as some of the top teams, Michigan State is still going to be feisty in the Big Ten this season.

Jeremy Fears has emerged as the most important player on the roster, and there may have to be games where he plays the full 20 in the second half.

Cam Ward and Coen Carr give MSU two powerful forwards who can dominate the glass and interior. Jaxon Kohler continues to see an increase in usage, and they’re going to rely on his decision-making in the post even more this season. Cooper has been a good rim protector early in the season, something the Spartans need.

Getting the home win against Arkansas is big. There are still questions about whether this team can consistently beat the top teams in the country or conference (although we’ll find out soon enough), but they’re without a doubt going to be one of the tougher outs in the Big Ten again. They feel like one guard or wing emerging (Scott, Fort, or Teng) away from being a really, really good team.

5. Wisconsin (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #6

• Last Week - 96-64 W vs Campbell, 97-72 W vs Northern Illinois

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Ball State - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

Wisconsin’s flown a bit under the radar this offseason, but they start with two convincing wins, at least by the box score. They did close the game against Campbell on a 31-4 run after it being a close game for the large majority of it.

John Blackwell is simply a superstar. As I’ve stated approximately 124 times this article (probably like six), I don’t want to take too much away from games against bad competition, but Blackwell looks every bit the part of a potential All-American. He scored 31 points against Campbell and followed it up with 15 points in only 24 minutes against Northern Illinois. He’s getting downhill and to the line more than he did last season.

Frontcourt depth seems to be the major question, although Austin Rapp has looked like he’s belonged early. Wisconsin once again has the pieces to be competitive in the Big Ten.

4. UCLA (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #3

• Last Week - 80-74 W vs Eastern Washington, 74-63 W vs Pepperdine

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/10) - vs West Georgia - 10:00 - Big Ten Plus

  • Friday (11/14) - vs Arizona (at Intuit Dome) - 10:00 - Peacock

UCLA probably had a bottom 4-5 week in the Big Ten, although this team should still be good. Donovan Dent showcased in the first game why he is one of the best point guards in the country, and some of the depth that the Bruins have really showed up in the second game as six different players scored nine or more points.

UCLA is having some struggles on the defensive glass, something that definitely doesn’t make Cronin happy. They have one more tune-up game before facing Arizona on Friday in a big-time matchup. They’ll have to improve their interior defense quickly as Koa Peat comes to town.

One thing to note: UCLA’s transition frequency is up from 11.5% of possessions last season to 18.8% of possessions this season. Granted, that may be slightly inflated by being able to force turnovers against worse competition, but any concern of Cronin not letting Dent be able to run seems silly at this point.

3. Illinois (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #4

• Last Week - 113-55 W vs Jackson St, 113-70 W vs FGCU

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Texas Tech - 8:30 - FS1

  • Friday (11/14) - vs Colgate - 8:30 - Big Ten Plus

I’m trying hard not to overreact to Illinois beating two okay mid-majors by 40+ points, but it’s hard not to. This team has elite spacing, a great defensive anchor on the floor at all times, and they seem to have a ton of confidence.

Through two games, seven different players have made at least two threes. Andrej Stojakovic made one in the only game he played in as well. This team is going to have 4-5 shooters on the floor at all times, and they’re also going to have multiple ball handlers. There may not always be a true point guard on the floor until Mihailo Petrovic returns, but Illinois has multiple guards and forwards that can do the job enough.

This team really looks like they could be one of the best 5-10 teams in the country, but we’ll find out a lot more as they take on Texas Tech at home on Tuesday.

2. Michigan (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #2

• Last Week - 121-78 W vs Oakland

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/11) - vs Wake Forest (at Little Caesars Arena) - 6:30 - FS1

  • Friday (11/14) - @ TCU - 9:00 - ESPN2

Michigan only played one game last week, but they quickly routed Oakland in a game they were on fire from three.

Offensively, it was good to see them be able to knock down threes at a high clip as that was one of the bigger concerns coming into the season. I also really have enjoyed Elliot Cadeau and what he’s brought to Michigan with his ability to get downhill and facilitate.

Defensively, Michigan still has things to clean up with their off ball switching and communication, but Michigan is going to be one of the best defenses in the country regardless, because of how great of a rim protection team they’ll be.

1. Purdue (2-0)

• Previous Ranking - #1

• Last Week - 82-51 W vs Evansville, 87-77 vs Oakland

• Next Week

  • Thursday (11/13) - @ Alabama - 7:00 - ESPN2

  • Sunday (11/16) vs Akron - 7:30 - Big Ten Network

Through two games, Purdue definitely hasn’t looked like the best team in the country, but they also can absolutely end up being that later in the season.

With TKR out both games, Purdue handled Evansville but was pushed to the brink against Oakland, needing a late run to surge to a double-digit win. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer look every bit ready to go on a National Championship run, but getting the other guys up to speed will be important.

Oscar Cluff has improved each game (and exhibition), but he’s still not fully at the impact level that Purdue needs him to be. Purdue has to figure out what their identity is defensively because the offense can be so good. Purdue averaged 1.32 and 1.24 points per possession offensively in their two games, and neither game felt like it was a great offensive performance from them. That just shows where the offense can be.

Purdue has been terrible rebounding the ball defensively, and that’ll need to improve quickly if they want to be able to win in Alabama on Thursday.

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This will be my weekly newsletter, a place where I can talk about all 18 Big Ten teams every week. In general, it’ll focus on the actual games that take place, but since there aren’t any yet (outside of exhibitions, which are debatable in terms of takeaways), this will be the last article for about 5 months that leans more toward predictions. If you want access to this weekly newsletter (free) and my weekly in-depth research article covering a wide range of Big Ten topics (paid), make sure to subscribe below!

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Also, if you want to get caught up on every single team and player in the Big Ten (or just want to get caught up on your favorite in the Big Ten), I have linked below the most in-depth Big Ten preview there is. It goes over all 18 teams and breakdowns of 272 Big Ten players.

Link: https://feedthepost.gumroad.com/l/BigTenPreview25-26

Power Rankings

I’m someone who usually likes to have some sort of guidelines when doing any kind of ranking like this. For now, the power rankings are simply based on what I think will happen. One thing to note is that my rankings tend to lean less toward “what have you done for me right now” and more toward “where do I think everyone will end up at the end of the season.” There has to be some blend of the two, of course, but I try not to overreact to one single game from any team (though at times that’s hard to do).

NOTE - all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

18. Penn State

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Fairfield - 7:00 - B1G+

  • Saturday (11/8) - @ New Haven - 1:00 - http://necfrontrow.com/game/13997

Penn State lacks a LOT of collegiate experience, as shown by the tweet below.

The Nittany Lions only have 5 players with college experience, and not many of those minutes came in high-leverage situations. Penn State’s roster includes 7 players who have never played in college, though one of them is Melih Tunca, an overseas player who turned 20 in October. This team will be among the youngest in the country, and it has “development year” written all over it. Half-court offense could be tough to come by since the roster doesn’t have a ton of shooting or interior scoring. This isn’t a typical Mike Rhoades defensive group either, though a big part of that is because Yanic Konan Niederhauser stayed in the NBA draft this offseason. The guards will apply some pressure, but the frontcourt defense will be a major concern.

The positive spin is that the young guys will get a ton of reps, led by top-30 freshman Kayden Mingo. Mingo is a dynamic point guard who’ll be a high-usage player right away. If Penn State climbs in these rankings, it probably means Mingo has become one of the best freshmen in the country.

17. Rutgers

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Wednesday (11/5) - vs Rider - 6:00 - Big Ten Network

Rutgers and Penn State project to be the two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten. Rutgers doesn’t have a much brighter outlook, but its defense could end up being slightly better than Penn State’s.

After last year’s debacle, Steve Pikiell will be looking to get things back on track with this roster. There’s been plenty of talk that this group will be the defensive-minded team that allows Pikiell to find some success again. However, if you look back at previous Scarlet Knights teams that thrived defensively, they simply had better individual defenders than what’s projected this year. This season will show just how strong of a defensive coach Pikiell really is, and Rutgers will need to be comfortable winning games in the 50s all year long.

Offense is the biggest question mark. They don’t have a proven scorer at the Big Ten level. Overseas newcomers Harun Zrno and Denis Badalau have a chance to become those guys, but they’ll need to get their defense to a level where they can stay on the floor for 25 to 30 minutes a night.

16. Minnesota

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Gardner-Webb - 8:00 - B1G+

  • Saturday (11/8) - vs Alcorn State - 12:00 - Peacock

Minnesota is ranked 16th, but they’re a very feisty No. 16 in the league. Similar to last year’s Big Ten, the 16th best team might only be a win or two away from the bubble come March.

Niko Medved built a roster this offseason that fits exactly what he wants to do, highlighted by shooting forwards Cade Tyson and Bobby Durkin. Pair those two with an underrated backcourt in Chansey Willis and Isaac Asuma, and Minnesota already has a solid core of four, with Jaylen Crocker-Johnson also in the mix. The Gophers are going to be able to score, and even if they finish near the bottom of the Big Ten, there should be plenty of positive signs for the program moving forward.

Defense will be the main concern for this team. They only have two true centers on the roster, and it looks like Nehemiah Turner may need some time to find his footing in the rotation. Robert Vaihola is a solid big, but he’s going to be asked to do a lot more defensively than ideal.

15. Northwestern

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Mercyhurst - 8:00 - B1G+

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Boston - 6:00 - Peacock

Speaking to the depth of the Big Ten, KenPom has Northwestern ranked 57th in his preseason ratings, which puts them 15th in the conference. The Wildcats landing in the bottom four isn’t a sign that they are bad, it is more a reflection of just how deep the Big Ten is this year.

Nick Martinelli leads the way offensively, but the rest of the supporting cast is mostly unproven. KJ Windham finished last season strong and looks ready to take a leap. Jayden Reid and Tre Singleton are two players I am watching closely to step into the third and fourth scoring roles on a team that might have a better offense than people expect.

The biggest concern is what they will look like on the defensive end. Arrinten Page and Cade Bennerman both have upside at the center spot, but there is no guarantee they will hit this season. Northwestern’s defense is typically built around on ball pressure and strong backside rotations. Chris Collins’ teams have usually been better defensively than offensively, but this roster might flip that script.

14. Ohio State

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs IU Indy - 6:30 - B1G+

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Purdue Fort Wayne - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

This is probably the biggest ranking difference I have from the general media. I’m really hoping I’m wrong, because we all deserve to see Bruce Thornton in March Madness.

The offense should be very good, although there might be a limit on how high it can reach given the shot selection. This will be a team that relies heavily on the midrange game again, and while that can still be a successful formula (Bruce Thornton shot 56.9% on pull-up twos last season), it usually makes the margin for error much smaller. That means things like rebounding and free throws become even more important. There is also the Royal at the three experiment, which should work, but we need to see it first.

Even with that, the offense should at worst be a top 25 to 30 unit, which is good enough to win plenty of games. The defense, though, is where the real concern lies. Looking through the roster, there aren’t many proven defenders. Bruce Thornton is solid on that end, but it’s a worry if he has to take on the main perimeter assignment every night. Christoph Tilly and Brandon Noel bring a lot of excitement offensively, but both will have their challenges on defense.

13. Nebraska

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs West Georgia - 8:00 - B1G+

  • Saturday (11/8) - vs FIU - 1:00 - B1G+

Nebraska has put together back-to-back top 50 KenPom finishes, and this team could end up right around that mark again. The roster no longer features the big names like Keisei Tominaga and Brice Williams, but it can’t be overstated how important it is to have Rienk Mast back. The do-it-all center is the key to their offense, and the team will likely go as far as he takes them. It’s a unique system that can elevate role players and help them put up strong numbers.

On defense, Fred Hoiberg has built a system that creates a lot of three-point variance by eliminating shots inside the paint at all costs. Because most teams aren’t used to taking more than 45 percent of their shots from deep, it can wear opponents down over the course of a game.

Losing Brice Williams and Juwan Gary is a real hit, and Nebraska will need someone to step up to cover parts of those roles. If they can find those players, this is a team that can make the tournament. If not, they should still be very competitive throughout the season.

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12. Maryland

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Coppin State - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Georgetown - 6:00 - FS1

Maryland features a brand-new coach and an entirely new roster. Buzz Williams took the job after leaving Texas A&M and brought many of the same principles he used there with him. This Terrapins team is going to win some games simply by being extremely physical for 40 minutes a night. They have a group of wings and forwards with real defensive upside, and Pharrel Payne will be the anchor on both ends of the floor.

Williams’ offensive system at Texas A&M wasn’t exactly pretty, often relying on high-volume shooters where efficiency didn’t matter much. Maryland might run into a similar issue since the roster doesn’t have a lot of shooting or spacing, but their potential to dominate the offensive glass could make up for that.

This might be the team with the most unknowns in the conference. There’s a world where their physicality pushes them into that top six to eight range in the Big Ten, but there’s also a chance things could turn south quickly.

11. Washington

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Arkansas Pine Bluff - 11:00 - B1G+

  • Thursday (11/6) - vs Denver - 10:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Sunday (11/9) - @ Baylor - 8:30 - ESPN

Washington has been a team that seems to be ranked anywhere from five to fifteen in the Big Ten this season. They have a ton of offensive talent in their guard and wing room, and one of the best freshman bigs in the country in Hannes Steinbach.

Year one under Danny Sprinkle was nothing short of a disaster, but I’m willing to write that off if he can get this roster going. There should be plenty of offense most nights, although the fits are not 100 percent perfect. The combination of Steinbach, Yates, Claude, and Peterson gives Washington a strong top four in scoring.

Washington is another team with defensive concerns. As amazing as Steinbach is offensively, he still has work to do before becoming a really good defender. The guards and wings are not terrible, but there is no elite perimeter defender among the starters for now. Franck Kepnang’s health may be the most important factor on the roster since he can anchor the defense and provide high level rim protection for 20 to 25 minutes a night.

10. Iowa

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/4) - vs Robert Morris - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Western Illinois - 7:00 - B1G+

Ben McCollum and Bennett Stirtz have moved up the ranks once again, now facing their toughest challenge yet of acclimating to the Big Ten. They have been winners wherever they have gone, and although depth will be a major concern, McCollum has surrounded Stirtz with enough pieces for this team to be really good.

The offense projects to be the stronger side of the ball, led by the duo of Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras. Add in shooters like Brendan Hausen, Cooper Koch, and Trey Thompson, and the offense should be solid. The bigger question is whether they have the size and athleticism to compete defensively. McCollum brought over six players from Drake, with up to five expected to play some role in the rotation. The guard and wing group is not deep, so they will have to rely on players like Isaia Howard and Kael Combs to be perimeter stoppers alongside Bennett Stirtz.

9. Indiana

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Wednesday (11/5) - vs Alabama A&M - 8:00 - Big Ten Network

  • Sunday (11/9) - vs Marquette (in Chicago) - 1:00 - ESPN

Jumping from one former Drake coach to the next, Darian DeVries took the Indiana job and had to completely reload the roster. This offense is going to be a breath of fresh air inside Assembly Hall, as it will give fans a glimpse of the future after enduring Mike Woodson offenses over the past few seasons.

Indiana will look to get up and hit a lot of threes this season, led by Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson. The offensive system fits this group really well, and they should be the more skilled team on the floor more often than not. Similar to Iowa, the defense is the bigger question. Outside of Tayton Conerway, there aren’t many players I would feel comfortable calling a positive defender. That said, Darian DeVries has had defensive success in recent years, and a strong system could be enough to cover up many of the gaps.

8. USC

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Cal Poly - 9:30 - B1G+

  • Sunday (11/9) - vs Manhattan - 6:00 - B1G+

Will the Muss experience in Los Angeles go better in year two? The roster he has assembled this year makes me think it will, and it is without a doubt more to his liking. There is length and size everywhere, and this could be a defense that causes real problems for opposing teams. This unit should see the biggest defensive jump of any Big Ten team from last season.

The injury to Alijah Arenas does hurt the offensive upside, as he was projected to be USC’s lead guard and allow Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara to play off the ball. Now the offense will have to be shared between those two and also Jordan Marsh, who is listed at 5’11 and is the only rotational player under 6’5 for USC. I would still expect the offense to run a good amount through Rice and CBM, and both are very talented at what they do. Add in players like Jacob Cofie and Terrance Williams, and this offense should not be much worse than last year’s, if at all.

7. Michigan State

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Colgate - 7:00 - B1G+

  • Saturday (11/8) - vs Arkansas - 7:00 - FOX

If we were judging purely by skill on the roster, Michigan State would probably rank lower than seventh. However, once you factor in Tom Izzo and his system, the Spartans are almost guaranteed to be solid. Defensively they’ll take a hit losing Jaden Akins, Tre Holloman, and Jase Richardson on the perimeter, but there is still enough talent that this defense should be strong once again.

The offense is the bigger question. They don’t have anyone who has proven they can lead a team in scoring. We’ve seen flashes from Coen Carr and Jaxon Kohler, and Fears is one of the better passers in the Big Ten. Shooting and spacing will be limited again, but Michigan State should be able to play fast and dominate the glass. This feels like a formula similar to last season, though with less depth and less proven star power up top. At this point, though, you just can’t fully doubt a Tom Izzo team.

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6. Wisconsin

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Campbell - 8:00 - B1G+

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Northern Illinois - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

I had Wisconsin 17th going into last season, if I recall correctly, and I’m never making that mistake again. It also helps that I like this roster a bit more than last year’s, but either way, this offense is going to put up numbers. This could easily be the second best offense in the Big Ten, with Blackwell, Boyd, and Rohde forming one of the top backcourts in the conference. Blackwell should be able to take another jump and might even lead the conference in scoring. Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp anchor a frontcourt that has depth concerns to start the season.

The offense should be elite, but the defense will determine where this team ends up. Wisconsin lost arguably their three most impactful defenders in Kamari McGee, Carter Gilmore, and Steven Crowl. Winter has shown he can be the team’s rim protector, but there will still be holes to fill on both the perimeter and inside.

5. Oregon

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/4) - vs Hawaii - 10:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Rice - 10:00 - B1G+

Oregon is probably the most underrated team in the Big Ten this offseason to me. They had one really rough stretch last season, losing five of six games, four of those on the road. They lost TJ Bamba and Brandon Angel, and the wings they added this offseason don’t exactly jump off the page.

Oregon does have one of the best two-man games in the conference between Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle. They also boast one of the best defensive frontcourts, no matter the combination, with Bittle, KJ Evans, Sean Stewart, and Ege Demir. Teams are going to struggle to score against this group, and with players like Devon Pryor and Dez Lindsay on the perimeter, this defense could be extremely strong.

Offensively, Oregon will need to find a third scorer behind Bittle and Shelstad. KJ Evans could be that guy, as he should have more confidence and playing time this season. Wei Lin was a late addition from the CBA, but he could also emerge as a scoring option. Putting Oregon fifth is a bet that the defense will be elite and that at least one of the five or six options will step up as a true third scorer for the Ducks.

4. Illinois

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Jackson State - 8:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs FGCU - 8:30 - Peacock

Illinois was one of the most talked-about teams this offseason with all the players from the Baltic region that Brad Underwood added to his roster. Luckily for him, the team is now filled with high-quality players, and Illinois should once again be near the top of the Big Ten.

Illinois should be more balanced than many other Big Ten teams, as they can be strong both offensively and defensively. Neither side of the ball is absolutely elite, but both are very good. Tomislav Ivisic should be featured even more, and since he is one of the best players in the conference, that is a very good sign for the team. Between him and his twin brother Zvonimir, Illinois will have a great rim protector on the floor at all times. Kylan Boswell is also arguably the best perimeter defender in the conference, making it tough for opponents to score.

Offensively, Illinois will have to figure out exactly what they want to do and how much the offense runs through each player. Stojakovic could end up leading the team in scoring, but there are a few options. With complementary pieces like Keaton Wagler, Mihailo Petrovic, David Mirkovic, and Kylan Boswell, this team should find success on that end of the floor as well.

3. UCLA

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Eastern Washington - 10:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Pepperdine - 10:30 - Big Ten Network

UCLA landed one of the best transfers this offseason in Donovan Dent. To me, the worst-case scenario for this team is running the same formula they had last season, but now with one of the best point guards in the country in Dent. Even if nothing else improves, that alone should make this UCLA team very good.

They also added Xavier Booker, who will be a key piece whether the team improves a lot or not. If he can make it work, he gives UCLA a true stretch five and allows Bilodeau and Dailey to slide to the three and four. Add Skyy Clark, one of the better two-way players in the conference, and UCLA could have a strong lineup. Big man depth is still a question, as Steven Jamerson projects to be the only other rotation big on the roster.

The offense should be strong with Dent and all the spacing around him. This roster does not have quite the defensive firepower of last season, which is something I will be monitoring. There is still enough defensive talent in a system that prioritizes steals for UCLA to succeed. However, whether the defense works or not will determine if they are legitimate Final Four contenders.

2. Michigan

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Monday (11/3) - vs Oakland - 8:30 - FS1

Dusty May went out and got exactly who he wanted this offseason, bringing in Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson, and Elliot Cadeau from the transfer portal. The frontcourt of Lendeborg, Mara, Johnson, and Tschetter makes a strong case for being the best in the country, and that is where this team’s success will start.

The defense should be elite, with tough perimeter defenders and almost always two top-tier rim protectors on the floor. Michigan is going to dominate the glass on both ends, which should make up for some of the lack of shooting and spacing. With a defense that good, the offense does not have to be elite, it just has to be solid. Dusty May is one of the best coaches in the conference, and when you put it all together, this is a really talented team.

1. Purdue

• Previous Ranking - NA

• Last Week - NA

• Next Week

  • Tuesday (11/4) - vs Evansville - 6:30 - Big Ten Network

  • Friday (11/7) - vs Oakland - 7:00 - Peacock

Purdue comes in at number one because their offense should end up being the best in the country. This roster has the potential to go nine deep, with all nine guys legitimate scoring threats, even if in different roles and volumes. Smith and TKR form the best two-man game in the country, and Smith has the potential to be the best player in the country. The offense is going to flow, and the trio of Smith, TKR, and Loyer should once again find a ton of success on that end.

Purdue may be able to win the Big Ten with just a solid defense, but if they want to win a National Championship, the defensive side of the ball is the question. After a poor defensive season last year, Purdue gets 7’4 Daniel Jacobsen back healthy, and they added Oscar Cluff from the portal. Both should at least raise the floor of the Purdue defense, but it will also be important for everyone else to make marginal improvements on that side of the ball.

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For me, that means I finally get to see what all of these Big Ten teams look like and quit speculating on what I think might happen. After watching film on all 173 newcomers to the Big Ten, and writing breakdowns of 272 Big Ten players, it’s time to make some predictions, give out some awards, and get this college basketball season started.

There’ll be all of the normal awards, along with a couple additional ones that I give out.

If you’ve realized just recently that college basketball season is almost here, and you want to become familiar with any team or player in the Big Ten, consider buying the most in-depth Big Ten preview you can find. It includes breakdowns of all 18 teams and individualized breakdowns of 272 Big Ten players.

Link: https://feedthepost.gumroad.com/l/BigTenPreview25-26

Also, if you want access to all of my content I put out this season, consider subscribing below! The plan is to put out one (free) weekly newsletter, recapping the week in the Big Ten, and one (paid) in-depth research article a week that hits on a wide variety of topics.

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Defense Teams

There will be only one Big Ten All Defense team in March (voted on by coaches only), but I wanted to do two… because why not. Defense is fun and defenders should get their respect.

1st Team All Defense

Defensive Player of the Year - Nate Bittle - Oregon

• Nate Bittle returns for his final season at Oregon, coming off an appearance on the All Defense team last year. This Oregon squad can be a sneaky good defense, and if that happens, it’ll be anchored by Bittle, who averaged 2.1 blocks in 27.7 minutes a game last season. He was 2nd among qualified players in the conference in block rate last season with a block rate of 8.4%. He’s an elite drop big who also can play out and be disruptive in a high hedge. He’s simply one of the best drop bigs in the conference, and he makes it incredibly difficult for teams to score at the rim.

Aday Mara - Michigan

• If Mara is able to get close to 25 minutes a game, he’ll have a very clear path for winning Defensive Player of the Year. Mara only averaged 13.1 minutes a game last season, but he still averaged 1.6 blocks a game. He had a block rate of 17.1%, which would’ve been the best in the country had he played more minutes. Granted, him playing more minutes should in theory decrease the block rate some, but even then, he may still have the best in the country. Mara is someone that has shown he can be a high hedge big, but he projects to fit in really well with a drop coverage system that Dusty May runs.

Yaxel Lendeborg - Michigan

• Lendeborg may be the most versatile defender in the conference with his ability to guard at least 2s through 4s comfortably, and he has the upside to be a switch big that can guard 1-5. He has really quick hands, and he moves very well overall. Combine that with his size and versatility, and he immediately steps in as one of the best defenders in the conference.

Solomon Washington - Maryland

• Washington is someone that quarterbacks the defense as a versatile forward that at times can switch 1-5. He has arguably the highest defensive IQ in the conference, and he’ll make sure to let any of his teammates know if they’re out of position. He does a good job of being able to cover up any holes in the defense, both on the interior and perimeter.

Kylan Boswell - Illinois

• Boswell returns to Illinois as arguably the best perimeter defender in the conference. There was a lot of perimeter defense that left the conference last season, and there may not be quite as much talent out there this season. Boswell is one of the guys that can get it done as a point of attack defender and screen navigator, impacting the game on the defensive side of the ball night in and night out.

2nd Team All Defense

Amarion Dickerson - USC

• Dickerson transferred to USC after winning Defensive Player of the Year in the Horizon League. He’s an athletic forward that has elite switchability, and he can be an elite secondary rim protector. He’s one of the guys that can truly quarterback a defense with his ability to cover a ton of gaps in a seemingly short period of time.

Skyy Clark - UCLA

• Clark had one of the more underrated defensive seasons last year, in part being over shadowed by the best defender in the conference, Kobe Johnson, as his teammate. Now Clark seems to be the clear cut, #1 option for point of attack defense on UCLA. He became a tough and physical defender last season who worked well as a point of attack defender while also having quick hands.

Tayton Conerway - Indiana

• Conerway has maybe the quickest hands in the conference, and he has really good defensive instincts. He had the third highest steal percentage in the country last season at 5.6%. He’s a very smart defender that can work really well both on and off ball. If Indiana’s defense ends up being good this season, Conerway will probably be a big reason why.

KJ Evans - Oregon

• Evans didn’t have the breakout I was hoping to see last season, but he still flashed some of the versatility he has. He’s a great rim protector, and he can either help anchor a defense or be a secondary rim protector. He has some ability to guard 4s on the perimeter, and he has quick hands. I’m buying a true breakout year from him.

Sam Hoiberg - Nebraska

• Hoiberg most likely won’t end up on an All Defense team, but since I may be the only person on planet earth that has made a Big Ten 2nd Team All-Defense, I want to give him his flowers. Hoiberg is a menace on the defensive side of the ball as a point of attack defender. Nebraska runs a no-middle type of system that relies heavily on rotations and help. Hoiberg is generally going to be leading the charge, whether it be hounding the ball or making all of the rotations and hustle plays needed.

Transfer Teams

For ease of clarification, I’m not counting overseas guys as transfers. There are 19 players coming from overseas this offseason, and realistically, only 2-3 at most would even potentially make this list.

Fun fact, out of 234 scholarship players in the Big Ten, exactly 100 of them are transfers. (This number has dropped within a day before me posting as Elijah Gray was let go from Wisconsin. I’m still counting it though because 100 is a nice, even number).

Very slight spoiler for those of you who just can’t wait to see who shows up for all of these awards, if someone doesn’t have a reason why they’re on this list below them, that means they show up later in the article.

1st Team All Transfer

Transfer of the Year - Yaxel Lendeborg - Michigan

Bennett Stirtz - Iowa

Donovan Dent - UCLA

Tucker DeVries - Indiana

Wesley Yates III - USC

2nd Team All Transfer

Chad Baker-Mazara - USC

Pharrel Payne - Maryland

• Pharrel Payne can be in line for a monster year for Maryland if he’s able to get up to 25-30 minutes a game. If that happens, he can easily be a top 5 transfer in this class. Even if he doesn’t, Payne will still be one of the best bigs in the conference. He returns to the Big Ten as someone that can anchor the Maryland defense while being a great post scorer and driver.

Aday Mara - Michigan

• It isn’t just defense that Mara has been impactful. Mara was good on the offensive side of the ball at UCLA, both on the glass and on ball. He has good passing abilities, and he should fit in incredibly well to May’s system at Michigan. If the conditioning is able to hold up for Mara, this’ll end up being much too low of a ranking by end of season.

Rodney Rice - USC

• Rice headed across the country, but stayed in the Big Ten as he headed from Maryland to USC. He was efficient in his role last season as more of an off ball scorer, but he’ll be given the reigns a bit more this season as an on ball creator. Rice is a quality scorer and gives good defense, making him one of the better two way players in the conference.

Tayton Conerway - Indiana

• The defense was described above for Conerway, and that’s a big reason why he’s on this list. However, he can also be a great driver and facilitator of the ball. With Indiana having a ton of shooting surrounding him, Conerway should be able to feast as a facilitator with his ability to get into the paint and collapse a defense.

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Freshman Teams

Any overseas first year player that has been ruled a freshman by the NCAA is eligible for this list to me. Out of the 19 overseas players, only 2 truly fit the criteria of being good enough to make this list AND reasonably being considered a freshman.

1st Team All Freshman

Freshman of the Year - Hannes Steinbach - Washington

• Steinbach really popped this off season with his play at FIBA U19. There aren’t too many bigs more skilled than he’ll be at his age, and Steinbach will be an elite rebounder from day one. His upside is being a potential walking double-double, and he’ll have the runway to become one of the better freshmen in the country.

Kayden Mingo - Penn State

• Mingo should lead all freshmen in scoring in the Big Ten this season. The skilled point guard fits in really well to a Rhoades system that lets their point guard go. Mingo will have the keys to the offense early on, and he’s skilled as a potential 3 level scorer.

Tre Singleton - Northwestern

• Singleton fits in incredibly well with Northwestern’s lineage of forwards as someone that can be a skilled 4 man for the Wildcats. Singleton can do a bit of everything offensively whether it be posting up, stretching to the perimeter, and being a forward creator. Singleton has good skill at his size, and he could end up being the 3rd option for Northwestern.

Trent Sisley - Indiana

• Sisley may not quite have the numbers as some of the other freshmen (although he very well could), but he’s someone that should be an integral part to Indiana’s success this season. He can be a stretch 3 or 4 who cuts and rebounds well also. He’ll have some games where he can really get going, but he’ll also have some other games where he’s asked to do things that may not end up on the box score.

David Mirkovic - Illinois

• Mirkovic got a bit overlooked this off season for Illinois, but he’s a perfect fit for the roster. Mirkovic is a larger 4, and he has real skill. He can be a creator with the ball in his hands, stretch the floor, and he’s a quality passer. He’s going to be able to show off the offensive skill since Illinois isn’t super deep in their forward room.

2nd Team All Freshman

Trey McKenney - Michigan

• McKenney may end up being Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten, as often times it’s a combination of skill but also who has the path to the most playing time. McKenney has all the talent to be one of the best freshmen in the conference, with his ability to be a bully with the ball and a good mid-range game to pair.

Darius Adams - Maryland

• Darius Adams may have gotten the least amount of hype for a top 30 prospect in the Big Ten in recent memory. He joins Buzz Williams in his first season at Maryland, and Adams is a gifted scorer. He has good declaration and footwork on his drives, and he’s going to be able to find his spots. He may not be a perfect fit for what Williams has ran, but he’s going to be able to find his way.

A’Mare Bynum - Ohio State

• Bynum heads to Ohio State, and he’s going to be given opportunities to produce at the forward position. Bynum gives them a powerful and athletic forward that generally wants to operate inside out. He’s an intriguing screen option for someone like Bruce Thornton, with his ability to roll.

Keaton Wagler - Illinois

• Keaton Wagler may have gotten the most hype out of any Big Ten player this off season. Even if I need to see that level before I believe it, Wagler's high school film popped with his ability to shoot. He fits the mold of wiry wings that Illinois has found success with, and he’s someone that Illinois should be able to rely on in some capacity this season.

Trevin Jirak - Iowa

• The concern with Jirak this season is his playing time. However, Jirak does some things with the ball that guys at his size simply don’t do. He’s a gifted passer at 6’11, and he’s someone that can eventually run an offense with how much skill he has.

“How Are You Ranked This Low” Team

This section is for incoming freshmen who I think are far more talented than their ranking indicates. The rankings are from the 247 Composite rankings. As the creator of this award, I’ve decided that players have to be ranked #150 or worse to qualify. I also ignored incoming overseas players since rankings are spotty on them.

The winner of the award is looking more specifically at production this season, while other who made the team will be looking more at potential career production, so I wouldn’t be shocked if a guy or two redshirts that makes this team.

“How Are You Ranked This Low” Winner - Keaton Wagler - Illinois - #260

• Wagler got mentioned above on the 2nd All Freshman Team. Even if he doesn’t live up to ALL of the hype that he got this offseason, Wagler is much more talented than being ranked as the 260th player in the country. He’s an elite shooter, and that alone will get him playing time. Plus, he has real upside as a creator.

Tyler Kropp - Northwestern - #193

• Kropp is another scoring forward, and I’m confident he finds success at some point in his career at Northwestern (maybe this season). He’s incredibly comfortable from 15 feet and in as a scorer and passer, and he could take some of Martinelli’s role after this season.

Antione West Jr - Purdue - #236

• West heads to Purdue as a potential redshirt candidate, but he’s someone that can become a great two-way player. He’s a tough on-ball defender who can guard primary ball handlers. He’s streaky as a shooter for now, but he’s someone that can quickly light it up from the perimeter.

Will Garlock - Wisconsin - #317

• Will Garlock has a unique set of skills at 7 feet tall. He’s comfortable creating off the bounce for himself, and although it may not fully translate right away, having those skills at that size is incredibly uncommon. He can stretch the floor some, and he flashed upside passing the ball in high school. Wisconsin seems to churn out productive, skilled bigs, and Garlock fits every bit of the mold.

Kai Shinholster - Minnesota - #310

• Shinholster may need some time to develop his body, but he has the skills to be a real scoring wing in the Big Ten. He’s a very comfortable shooter, and he can potentially develop into at least a secondary creator in his career.

Honorable Mentions

Trevin Jirak - Iowa - #132

• He makes the honorable mention list because he shot up the rankings very late in the off season. When I watched his film in July, he was unranked. Within a month, he shot up to #132. This makes him not qualified for the list, but he was going to be an incredibly easy pick to win the award had he stayed unranked.

Jaziah Harper - Maryland - #431

• Harper is a rare one where I think he’s much better than his ranking indicates, but we also already know that he’s planning to redshirt. Harper is a very athletic wing with great two-way upside, and I’m excited to see the long term development.

Past Winners

I’m hoping to keep track of who makes the list every year for preseason and post season, so that by the end of their careers, we can see who hit from the lists and who didn’t. This is the first year that I have a full 5 man team for preseason (and probably postseason but TBD on that).

2024-25

Preseason winners - KJ Windham (Northwestern - #202), CJ Cox (Purdue - #272)

Postseason winner - CJ Cox

2023-24

Preseason winner - John Blackwell (Wisconsin - #211)

Postseason winner - John Blackwell

2022-23

Preseason winner - Braden Smith (Purdue - #198)

Postseason winner - Braden Smith

Coach of the Year

Matt Painter - Purdue

• Slight spoiler, but Purdue is my pick to win the conference. I don’t think that the winner of the conference should automatically win this award, but it is an incredibly good argument for why they should. Painter has assembled what could be one of the best rosters in the country, and that success should be reflected in this award.

Honorable Mention

Dana Altman - Oregon

• To me, Oregon may be one of the most underrated teams in the Big Ten entering the season. Oregon hasn’t finished in the top 15 in Kenpom since 2017, and although this team has some questions to figure out, I think it’s in the realm of possibilities that they get that top 15 number.

Greg Gard - Wisconsin

• A deeper post season run will potentially be what Gard is judged on, but this is a team to me that should outperform expectations and surprise people as a top 15-20 team in the country again.

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All Big Ten Teams

1st Team

Player of the Year - Braden Smith - Purdue

• Braden Smith is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, and he has a case for being the best player in the country. Smith’s goal this season is to win a National Championship, but he could knock off some other awards and accomplishments along the way such as another Big Ten POTY and breaking the all time assist record. Smith has all but mastered the point guard position, and Purdue will go where he goes.

Yaxel Lendeborg - Michigan

• Lendeborg will have a real chance to rival Smith for POTY. He’s arguably the best two way player in the conference, and he’s someone who’s going to have some absolutely dominant performances. Offensively, he’s someone that’ll be able to dominate the glass and be a matchup nightmare for opposing 3-5s.

Bennett Stirtz - Iowa

• Bennett Stirtz has done nothing but win and succeed under Ben McCollum, and this year’ll be his toughest challenge yet. However, Stirtz has more than the talent needed to be able to live up to the hype. He’s going to dominate the offense in all capacities, and he’s someone that can be the best player in the country on any given night.

Trey Kafuman-Renn - Purdue

• TKR somehow has ended up a bit overlooked with what he’s been able to do. He averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds last season. He had the highest usage rate in the Big Ten and the 18th best offensive efficiency rating. TKR has an unstoppable floater that he can get to, and he’s one of the best short rollers in the country. There aren’t many bigs more skilled than him.

Donovan Dent - UCLA

• There would be plenty of years that Dent would be recognized as the best guard in the Big Ten, without a doubt. This Big Ten is pretty deep at the guard spot though, so he’s going to be competing against some great ones to claim that mark. Dent is going to have the reigns at UCLA, and he’s going to be able to feast as someone that can get downhill and into the paint, either scoring or collapsing defenses and kicking out from there.

2nd Team

Nate Bittle - Oregon

• Bittle is someone I think can take even a leap from a very good season last year. If he ends up being Big Ten DPOY, and he takes even a small jump offensively, it becomes difficult for me to keep him off of this list. He’s an elite shot blocker and rebounder, and he’s comfortable being the go to scorer both on the interior and perimeter.

Tomislav Ivisic - Illinois

• Ivisic projects to be The Guy on Illinois to me, and he has the skill to do so. Illinois can rely on his passing and creation even more this season, and Ivisic can also go put the ball in the hoop himself. He should take another jump up, both offensively and defensively.

John Blackwell - Wisconsin

• It wouldn’t shock me if Blackwell ends up as an All-American by the end of the season. He’s an incredibly gifted scorer in a system that churns out elite wing scorers now. Blackwell is going to be The Guy this year, and that means he should be able to take a jump from am impressive sophomore season.

Bruce Thornton - Ohio State

• Bruce Thornton is the definition of consistency. He’s developed into a great 3 level scorer, and he’s an efficient facilitator. He doesn’t make many mistakes, and Ohio State can rely on him to be one of the best players on the floor every single night. Thornton will get some individual awards again this season, but his season will be judged on if Ohio State can go dancing or not.

Nick Martinelli - Northwestern

• Nick Martinelli is simply a bucket. The reigning leader in Big Ten scoring, Martinelli is going to be asked to score as much as possible, as he’s undoubtedly The Guy for Northwestern. He’s an unorthodox scorer, but he’s able to do it at an incredibly high level.

3rd Team

Tucker DeVries - Indiana

• Tucker DeVries was on an absolute heater to start last season before suffering a season ending injury. He shouldn’t slow down much at Indiana this season with his ability to be an elite shooter. He’ll most likely be asked to get back into some of the on ball creation he was asked to do at Drake as well.

Rienk Mast - Nebraska

• Mast fits the Nebraska system perfectly, and now it’s his team to run. He’s a great facilitator and scorer in a Nebraska system that relies heavily on their 5 man to initiate actions. Mast is going to be one of the more skilled bigs in the Big Ten, and I’d expect his numbers to take a jump from two years ago.

Wesley Yates III - Washington

• Wesley Yates stays on the west coast, transferring from Washington to USC. He developed quickly into an elite scorer for the Trojans, and he only got better during his redshirt freshman season. Now he’s in a system that should have even more spacing around him, and Yates is poised to take a big jump.

Chad Baker-Mazara - USC

• Regardless of any off-court antics, Baker-Mazara simply produces, and now he’s in a system that highly values wing creators. Baker-Mazara can be one of the better two way players in the conference, and he can score at all 3 levels.

Jackson Shelstad - Oregon

• Shelstad didn’t take a big jump last season, but that wasn’t a huge issue because of how good he was during his freshman season. Even if Shelstad puts up similar numbers to last year, he’ll probably be good enough to make this list, but he also could be a guy that has another level to him.

Power Rankings

There’ll be more detail on my weekly newsletter (dropping every Monday during the season) on why teams are ranked where they are. Make sure to subscribe to get every article sent directly to your inbox.

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1. Purdue

2. Michigan

3. UCLA

4. Illinois

5. Oregon

6. Wisconsin

7. Michigan State

8. USC

9. Indiana

10. Iowa

11. Washington

12. Maryland

13. Nebraska

14. Ohio State

15. Northwestern

16. Minnesota

17. Rutgers

18. Penn State

Let me know in the comments what teams/players I got right and wrong!

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