Big Ten Power Rankings, Jan. 19: Maryland, Iowa battle for top spot

It's been a fun start to the Big Ten season, with the conference's top teams separating themselves from the pack. Maryland, Iowa and Michigan State look like the cream of the crop, but you can't forget about Indiana and Purdue, two dangerous teams vying for the regular season title. Then there's some separation before getting to the middle-tier teams of Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern and Penn State. Nebraska and Illinois remain somewhat competitive and capable of an upset at some point while Minnesota has shown signs of at least having a pulse. Rutgers is in a class by itself. Just check Ben Goren's Twitter timeline for all the Rutgers #takes you could ever want.

With that, here are our Big Ten power rankings:

1 Maryland Terrapins RECORD: 16-2 (5-1) ||  RPI Rank: 12 The Big Ten's most talented team just put up 100 points in a 35-point win over Ohio State. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1.33

2 Iowa Hawkeyes RECORD: 14-3 (5-0) ||  RPI Rank: 9 Jarrod Uthoff leads the conference in scoring, netting 18.6 points per contest. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 1 3 1.78

3 Michigan State Spartans RECORD: 16-3 (3-3) ||  RPI Rank: 16 Even after getting Denzel Valentine back, Michigan State has yet to regain its form. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 1 2.89

T-4 Indiana Hoosiers RECORD: 15-3 (5-0) ||  RPI Rank: 49 Winners of 10 straight, the Hoosiers are on a tear. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 5 6 5 4 5 5 4 5 4 4 4.78

T-4 Purdue Boilermakers RECORD: 16-3 (4-2)  ||  RPI Rank: 33 Purdue just won a Big Ten road game by 50 (107-57 over Rutgers). Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 4 4 6 5 4 6 5 4 5 6 4.78

6 Michigan Wolverines RECORD: 13-5 (3-2)  ||  RPI Rank: 39 The Wolverines went 1-2 in their three-game gauntlet of at Purdue, vs. Maryland and at Iowa. They're now rewarded with four-straight against Minnesota, Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 6 5 4 6 6 4 6 6 6 5 5.44

7 Ohio State Buckeyes RECORD: 12-7 (4-2)  ||  RPI Rank: 65 The Buckeyes seemed to be figuring things out before being completely outclassed by both Indiana and Maryland. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 8 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7.22

8 Northwestern Wildcats RECORD: 15-4 (3-3)  ||  RPI Rank: 114 A disappointing home loss sets up a troubling stretch for Northwestern: at Maryland, at Indiana, vs. Michigan State, at Iowa. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 9 8 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8.33

9 Wisconsin Badgers RECORD: 10-9 (2-4) ||  RPI Rank: 85 Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ are good, but after that the Badgers' depth is an issue. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 7 9 9 8 7 9 9 9 9 10 8.44

10 Penn State Nittany Lions RECORD: 11-8 (2-4)  ||  RPI Rank: 89 Pat Chambers's team earned a solid road win at Northwestern over the weekend. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 12 10 10 11 10 10 11 10 12 11 10.67

11 Nebraska Cornhuskers RECORD: 11-8 (3-3)  ||  RPI Rank: 171 After dropping their first three Big Ten contests, the Cornhuskers have turned it around, winning three-straight by an average of almost 24 points per game. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 11 11 11 12 12 11 10 11 10 9 11

12 Illinois Fighting Illini RECORD: 9-9 (1-4)  ||  RPI Rank: 94 With two players averaging over 18 points per game (Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill), Illinois has the talent to be a ton better. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 10 12 12 10 11 12 12 12 11 12 11.33

12 Minnesota Golden Gophers RECORD: 6-12 (0-6) ||  RPI Rank: 210 The Gophers are the worst scoring team in Big Ten play, averaging just 62.5 points per game. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13

14 Rutgers Scarlet Knights  RECORD: 6-13 (0-6)  ||  RPI Rank: 224 In its six conference games, Rutgers has lost by an average of 22.8 points per game. Henry Bushnell Josh Rosenblat Zach Pereles Josh Burton Kevin Dukovic Lyndsey Armacost Ian McCafferty Sam Brief Tristan Jung David Gernon AVERAGE 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14