Big Ten Power Poll February 9
Each week from throughout the conference regular season, Jon McNamara, John Veldhuis and I will rank the Big Ten from best to worst. Each ballot is filled out separately with 14 points being awarded to the first place team, 13 points to second place, 12 points to third, and so on. Without further adieu, here is this week's BadgerBlitz.com Big Ten Power Poll.
1. Maryland (21-3, 10-2) - 41 points (2 1st place votes)
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: W 70-65 @ Nebraska, W 72-61 vs. Purdue
Highest Vote: 1
Lowest Vote: 2
Believe it or not, as dominant as Maryland has been this season, the Terrapins only lead the Big Ten in one category: free-throw percentage. Maryland is a perfect 13-0 this season at home, and one can expect that record to improve when the Terps host - wait for it - Bowie State on Tuesday evening.
2. Iowa (19-4, 10-1) - 40 points (1 1st place vote)
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: W 73-49 vs. Penn State, W 77-65 @ Illinois
Highest Vote: 1
Lowest Vote: 2
Iowa is off to its best conference start since 1981-82 with 10 wins in its first 11 contests, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Maryland - the best team in the conference according to BadgerBlitz.com. Mike Gesell is just two points shy of becoming the 16th active member of the Big Ten's career 1,000-point club. Iowa will travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana on Thursday in a battle of two of the conference's best.
3. Michigan State (20-4, 7-4) - 36 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: W 89-73 @ Michigan
Highest Vote: 3
Lowest Vote: 3
Bryan Forbes and the Michigan State Spartans really seem to be finding their stroke from three-point range as of late. Over the previous three games - all three resulting in victories - the Spartans have made a total of 47 three pointers. That's an average of 15.7 three pointers per game. The Spartans are currently pacing the Big Ten by shooting 45.2 percent shooting from distance.
4. Purdue (19-5, 7-4) - 33 points
Weekly Change: +1
Last Week: L @ Maryland 72-61
Highest Vote: 4
Lowest Vote: 4
Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten in both scoring defense (63.0 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.382), but the Boilermakers have tripped up a little defensively as of late. Against Penn State, Rutgers and Ohio State, the Boilermakers allowed an average of 59.3 ppg on 41.6 percent shooting. Against Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Maryland, however, the Boilermakers allowed an average of 73.3 ppg on 46.5 percent shooting. Purdue's defense will really be put to the test on Tuesday when it tries to stop the hot Michigan State offense.
5. Indiana (19-5, 9-2) - 30 points
Weekly Change: -1
Last Week: W @ Michigan 80-67, L @ Penn State 68-63
Highest Vote: 5
Lowest Vote: 5
Indiana exploded for 45 first-half points against Michigan after falling behind by 11 points in the early stages of the game, but forgot to save some points for its matchup at Penn State later in the week. As a result, Indiana joined Minnesota as the only two Big Ten teams to lose in Penn State this season. After jumping out to a 7-0 start in conference play, the Hoosiers have now dropped two of their last four contests as they head into battle against Iowa and Michigan State this coming week.
6. Michigan (17-7, 7-4) - 26 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: L vs. Indiana 80-67, L vs. Michigan State 89-73
Highest Vote: 6
Lowest Vote: 6
Michigan lost by 16 points on its home floor to its in-state rival, a bad loss on paper, but one that was even worse on the court as the Wolverines needed a 16-2 run to close out the game just to make it somewhat respectable. But the runs that really summed up the week for the Wolverines was a 25-0 first-half run by Indiana and a 26-6 Michigan State first-half run. Not exactly keys for success.
7. Wisconsin (14-9, 6-4) - 25 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: W vs. Ohio State 79-68
Highest Vote: 6
Lowest Vote: 7
Wisconsin enters the week as winners of its last five contests, marking the longest active winning streak in the Big Ten. The Badgers will put their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line in the coming days as they face off against Nebraska at home before traveling to Maryland and Michigan State.
8. Ohio State (14-10, 6-5) - 20 points
Weekly Change: +2
Last Week: L @ Wisconsin 79-68
Highest Vote: 8
Lowest Vote: 9
Ohio State was off to a strong 6-3 start in conference play before running into the two hottest teams in the conference in Wisconsin and Maryland. The schedule eases up for the Buckeyes this week, however, with meetings against Northwestern and Rutgers lined up.
9. Nebraska (13-11, 5-6) - 18 points
Weekly Change: -2
Last Week: L vs. Maryland 70-65, W vs. Rutgers 87-63
Highest Vote: 8
Lowest Vote: 10
The Cornhuskers picked up a victory last week, but suffered a major loss when their star player, Shavon Shields, went down with an injury and was knocked unconscious against Rutgers. There is no timetable for Shields return, but hopefully he will be able to return to the court at some point in the near future.
10. Northwestern (16-8, 4-7) - 16 points
Weekly Change: -1
Last Week: W vs. Minnesota 82-58
Highest Vote: 9
Lowest Vote: 11
A meeting with Rutgers after a five-game losing streak? Just what the doctor ordered. Northwestern had been held under 58 points in three of its previous five games, but managed 82 points against the Scarlet Knight defense. Additionally, Bryant McIntosh found his stroke to the tune of 20 points on 7-for-14 (.500) shooting from the field after going a combined 19-for-66 (.288) from the field during the five-game losing streak.
11. Penn State (12-12, 3-8) - 14 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: L @ Iowa 73-49, W vs. Indiana 68-63
Highest Vote: 10
Lowest Vote: 11
The Nittany Lions got embarrassed by Iowa, scoring just 23 points in the second half of its 24-point loss. But three days later, Penn State earned perhaps one of its more impressive victories of the Patrick Chambers era by defeating Indiana behind Brandon Taylor's 24 points.
12. Illinois (11-13, 3-8) - 9 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: W @ Rutgers 110-101 (3OT), L vs. Iowa 77-65
Highest Vote: 12
Lowest Vote: 12
Illinois has three wins this Big Ten season, which is an impressive feat considering the amount of injuries this program continues to suffer, but what's even more impressive is how competitive the Illini have made their recent outings. Three of Illinois' last five games have gone to overtime, including the three-overtime "thriller" against Rutgers. Illinois is the only team in the Big Ten to play in multiple overtime games in conference play.
13. Minnesota (6-17, 0-11) - 6 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: L @ Northwestern 82-58
Highest Vote: 13
Lowest Vote: 13
Minnesota ranks 12th or lower in the Big Ten in 12 of 21 offensive and defensive categories this season. Minnesota has also lost 12 consecutive games, which is one more than Rutgers, and the Golden Gophers haven't won a Big Ten regular season game since a 96-90 overtime victory at Michigan State on February 26, 2015. Up next for Minnesota? Michigan, Iowa, and Maryland.
14. Rutgers (6-18, 0-11) - 3 points
Weekly Change: N/A
Last Week: L vs. Illinois 110-101 (3OT), L @ Nebraska 87-63
Highest Vote: 14
Lowest Vote: 14
Forcing not one, not two, but three overtimes in a Big Ten game is a step in the right direction for Eddie Jordan and the Scarlet Knights. However, needing three overtimes while still losing to Illinois is a sign that the road to competitiveness for Rutgers in the Big Ten is still a long ways off.
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