Michigan (Last Week: 3) - Alright Michigan, you’ve redeemed yourself nicely by taking care of business on the road at a Rutgers team that has been tripping up more than usual share of opponents, followed by a decisive victory at home over a Top 20 Wisconsin team. At 22-2 overall, and 11-2 in Big Ten play, the Wolverines are once again in the top spot of the conference.
Purdue (1) - Winners of eight straight, the Boiler train continues to choo-choo along after taking out Minnesota and Nebraska last week. They will face a stiff challenge in College Park this week when they visit Maryland, but then get a nice reprieve with a home date against Penn State.
Michigan State (2) - Tom Izzo’s crew followed up an inexplicable loss to Indiana with an even more inexplicable loss to Illinois. Thankfully for Sparty, they were able to end their three-game losing streak in blowout fashion by pasting Minnesota at home.
Wisconsin (4) - The Badgers avoided a sweep by Minnesota, but were unable to get a huge road scalp at Michigan. Their next couple of games are at home against Michigan State and a surging Illinois team.
Maryland (5) - The Terps dispatched Nebraska on the road and will seek to make themselves a part of the Big Ten championship conversation by attempting to earn scalps against both Purdue and Michigan this week.
Iowa (6) - Jordan Bohannon = Clutch. The Iowa guard nailed a game-winning trey with three-tenths of a second left to help the Hawkeyes avoid an upset at home against Northwestern. A road trip to Rutgers is the only game on the slate this week, as Iowa seeks to move even higher in the Big Ten standings.
Ohio State (8) - Chris Holtmann exorcised the Penn State demons, earning his first-ever win over the Nittany Lions. His Buckeye squad followed that up with a hard-fought win on the road at Indiana. A home game against pesky Illinois and a road trip to Sparty are on the slate this week as OSU seeks to solidify their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Minnesota (7) - After getting beat by Wisconsin and absolutely manhandled by Sparty, Richard Pitino’s crew finds themselves sliding in the wrong direction. Perhaps a trip to Lincoln to face a free-falling Nebraska squad is just what the doctor ordered.
Illinois (12) - Winners now of three straight, including a 79-74 upset win over Sparty, Brad Underwood’s young team seems to be growing up right in front of our very eyes.
Indiana (9) - Oh, Indiana...Just when it seemed like you may have revived your NCAA Tournament hopes, you go out and drop back-to-back must-wins over Iowa and Ohio State in front of your home crowd.
Rutgers (10) - Steve Pikiell’s team has come back to Earth after seemingly riding high for a bit, having now dropped three in a row, including a 99-94 overtime loss at Illinois. They do get a trip to a struggling Northwestern team this week, which could help them reverse their fortunes.
Northwestern (11) - It’s been a gut-punch of a past week for the Wildcats, first by becoming Penn State’s first victim of B1G play, followed by losing on a last-second shot to Iowa, when it seemed like they might pull off a confidence-boosting upset win. A home date rematch with Rutgers and road trip to Nebraska give Chris Collins’ crew a chance to right the ship this week.
Nebraska (13) - Losers now of seven straight, the Huskers will try and end the skid this week with home dates against Minnesota and Northwestern.
Penn State(14) - PSU nearly made it back-to-back Big Ten wins, but alas, they ran out of magic when it came to beating Ohio State.
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