Big Ten Power Rankings as February action begins

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It was another eventful weekend in Big Ten basketball, as the slate led to many changes in the power dynamic around the conference. Of course, Michigan State suffered a frustrating loss to USC on the road, but there were plenty of other interesting results, affecting our weekly power rankings.

Below, you can see this week’s update of the Big Ten Power Rankings, checking in on how the conference is shaping up as we head into February and beyond.

No. 18 Washington

A win over Minnesota on the road over the weekend was a nice development for the Huskies, but after a six-game losing streak, it will take a win over Nebraska this week for Washington to even have a shot to climb up the power rankings.

No. 17 Northwestern

Northwestern is in the position largely due to fate and bad luck. The Wildcats were poised to make a postseason push this year behind star Brooks Barnhizer. Unfortunately, Barnhizer struggled with injuries all year, until coach Chris Collins’ tearfully announced that he would be out for the season. A huge blow for Northwestern that I don’t expect them to recover from.

No. 16 Minnesota

If anyone can figure out Minnesota, please let me know. Tom Izzo praises Ben Johnson all the time. He is known to be a good coach. They have some good players and play strong defense. They have wins over Oregon and Michigan. But they also lost at home to lowly Washington over the weekend. I think they are just as likely to lose to Penn State this week as they are to beat Illinois. I can’t make sense of it, so they stay at No. 16 and their record justifies it.

No. 15 Penn State

I have been a little sad and surprised to see Penn State struggle lately. They have lost seven of their last eight games. If anyone has been keeping up with my power rankings, you probably know that I think highly of coach Mike Rhoades, and MSU fans know first-hand that this team plays hard. But the recent losses have taken their toll, and that’s why they are here now.

No. 14 Rutgers

Dylan Harper’s persistent ankle…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/big-ten-power-rankings-february-171503608.html

Author : Spartans Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-03 17:15:00

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