With Northwestern's season heading in the wrong direction, the Wildcats have slid in our Big Ten Power Rankings ahead of yet another week for the Wildcats. Chris Collins' team now has slid out of the middle tier of the Big Ten, struggling to gain its footing as it rumbles through a brutal stretch in its schedule. Meanwhile, Iowa and Indiana have continued to run through the conference without losses. Both teams have dominated opponents in impressive fashion.
With that, here are our Jan. 25 Big Ten Power Rankings:
Voter Key: Henry Bushnell | Josh Rosenblat | Zach Pereles | Josh Burton | Kevin Dukovic | Danny Rapaport | Martin Oppegaard | Lyndsey Armacost | Ian McCafferty | Sam Brief | Zach Wingrove | Tristan Jung | David Gernon
1
Iowa Hawkeyes
RECORD: 16-3 (7-0) || KenPom Rank: 2 The Hawkeyes have already swept two of the conference's top five teams, Purdue and Michigan State, and three of the four wins were by double digits.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1.08
2
Maryland Terrapins
RECORD: 17-3 (6-2) || KenPom Rank: 14 Maryland vs. Iowa at the Xfinity Center on Thursday. Yum.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
2
2
3
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
3
2
4
2.38
3
Michigan State Spartans
RECORD: 17-4 (4-4) || KenPom Rank: 13 Sparty shockingly fell at home to Nebraska, but snapped the three-game skid Saturday against Maryland.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
3
3
4
4
3
4
3
3
4
3
2
3
3
3.23
4
Indiana Hoosiers
RECORD: 17-3 (7-0) || KenPom Rank: 20
The Hoosiers are on a 12-game win streak, and are one of two teams in our rankings to receive a first-place vote.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
4
4
2
3
4
2
4
4
3
4
4
4
1
3.31
5
Purdue Boilermakers
RECORD: 17-4 (5-3) || KenPom Rank: 9
Purdue is the conference's best rebounding team, pulling down 38.4 percent of its own misses in Big Ten play and over 80 percent of its opponents' misses.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
5
5
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5.23
6
Michigan Wolverines
RECORD: 15-5 (5-2) || KenPom Rank: 29
Winning at Nebraska is nothing to scoff at, and that's exactly what the Wolverines did to cap off a 2-0 week.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
6
6
5
5
5
6
6
7
6
6
6
6
7
5.92
7
Ohio State Buckeyes
RECORD: 12-8 (4-3) || KenPom Rank: 78
There's a huge gap between the top six and No. 7 here. The Buckeyes are here, but primarily due to a lack of other options.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
8
7
7
9
7
7
7
6
7
7
7
9
6
7.23
8
Wisconsin Badgers
RECORD: 11-9 (3-4) || KenPom Rank: 59
Could the Badgers hand Indiana its first Big Ten loss on Tuesday at Kohl Center?
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
7
8
8
7
8
8
9
9
8
8
8
7
9
8
9
Northwestern Wildcats
RECORD: 15-6 (3-5) || KenPom Rank: 80
Northwestern was solidly in this middle tier for the first few weeks of Big Ten play. Now, they appear to be sinking out of it.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
9
10
9
8
9
9
8
8
9
9
9
8
8
8.69
10
Nebraska Cornhuskers
RECORD: 12-9 (4-4) || KenPom Rank: 88
The Huskers scored arguably the biggest upset of Big Ten play so far, winning at the Breslin Center. But they couldn't make it a sweep over the Michigan schools on Saturday.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
10
11
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
11
10
11
10.23
11
Penn State Nittany Lions
RECORD: 11-9 (2-5) || KenPom Rank: 135
The Nittany Lions will be underdogs in their next six games, and could be staring a 2-11 Big Ten record in the face.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
12
9
12
12
12
11
11
11
11
11
10
12
10
11.08
12
Illinois Fighting Illini
RECORD: 10-10 (2-5) || RPI Rank: 118
The Illini needed overtime to beat Minnesota Saturday after giving up 1.45 points per possession (!!!) to Indiana on Tuesday.
HB
JR
ZP
JB
KD
DR
MO
LA
IM
SB
ZW
TJ
DG
AVERAGE
11
12
11
11
11
12
12
12
12
12
12
11
12
11.62
12
Minnesota Golden Gophers
RECORD: 6-14 (0-8) || KenPom Rank: 200
Minnesota is the third-worst Power Five team, and if it weren't for Rutgers, would be a true Big Ten laughing stock.