The Hoosiers continued to struggle on weeknights (4 of 5
losses have happened through the week), but Michigan could not finish the deal
on Sunday to remove Indiana from the top spot. The Spartans dominated the
Badgers and cruised through Northwestern.
Ohio State had the most impressive week with wins over Indiana and
Illinois. It is pretty impressive that
the final polls have 4 B1G teams in the top 10.
1. Indiana
(no change)
The Hoosiers were a missed layup from going 0-2 in the final
week of the regular season, which would drop them from the top of the power
rankings. Instead, Indiana found a way
to steal the game in Ann Arbor, win the conference outright, and hold onto
their number one ranking.
2. Michigan
State (no change)
The Spartans absolutely dismantled Wisconsin and then
bounced back on senior night with a lackluster win over the conference’s worst
team. Michigan State heads into the conference tournament as the 3 seed, but
will avoid Indiana’s half of the bracket which includes Michigan, Wisconsin,
Illinois, and Minnesota. The Spartans look primed for a 2 seed in the big
dance.
3. Ohio
State (up 1)
The Buckeyes continue to play their best basketball of the
season, and lucky for them it is at the perfect time. Ohio State had a great outing in Bloomington
and then returned home to throttle Illinois.
It seems crazy, but Thad Matta’s crew could play themselves into a 2
seed with a strong BTT showing.
4. Michigan
(down 1)
This has more to do with the success of Ohio State, and less
with the fault of the Wolverines.
Michigan gutted out a win against Purdue and then lost in heartbreaking
fashion to Indiana. The Wolverines have
slid all the way down to the 5 seed, which means they do not get the opening
day bye. It will be difficult for this
young team to conserve enough energy to compete in 4 games in 4 days.
5. Wisconsin
(no change)
The Badgers showed some of their true colors this week with
two terrible road performances against Michigan State and Penn State. Wisconsin should be nursing a 0-2 record, but
another near half court buzzer beater saved them. The Badgers will likely face Michigan in the
2nd round of the conference tournament.
6. Iowa
(up 3)
Iowa won both games last week to jump up the power
rankings. Thanks to Illinois and Minnesota
losing twice, the Hawkeyes grabbed the 6 seed for the conference
tournament. Iowa is a confusing team;
they could blow out Northwestern on Thursday but then turn around and lose by
20+ to Michigan State on Friday.
7. Purdue
(up 1)
Purdue had another confidence building week with pushing Michigan
to the brink on Wednesday and then dominating Minnesota on the road. The Boilermakers are playing their best
basketball right now and could be a tough out for Ohio State, especially if
Terone Johnson goes for 32.
8. Illinois
(down 1)
The Illini are no longer trending upwards. Groce’s squad limped to the finish line with
losses to Iowa and Ohio State. Neither is a bad loss, but Illinois would have
preferred to grab at least one game heading into the conference
tournament. The game against Minnesota to
open the BTT could go a long ways for the selection committee.
9. Minnesota
(down 3)
The Gophers might be the most frustrating team in the entire
nation. Just a week after having their best 2 game stretch since December, they
respond with losses against Nebraska and Purdue. Minnesota might actually need to win at least
one conference game to make the NCAA tournament.
10. Nebraska
(no change)
Nebraska picked up another conference win, but it’s not
enough to vault them into the single digits.
11. Penn
State (up 1)
Yes, the Nittany Lions only have 2 conference wins, but they
are clearly better than Northwestern at this point in the season. Penn State should have won both games this
week. They will get to face Michigan for
the rubber match in the conference tournament opener.
12. Northwestern
(down 1)
Bill Carmody is glad the season is almost over.
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