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.