Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: December 16

Welcome to Finals Week, where the staff of Hammer & Rails works to create content while no games are actually happening. It’s not quite the desert of mid-June, but as the players work fervently on cashing in more NIL deals and increasing their brand Finals this week there is not a lot of actual sports action to talk about. That means it is time for the ol’ downtime standby.

POWER RANKINGS!

Advertisement

Everyone is now through the two-game early December amuse-bouche of conference play and has played at least 10 games overall, so we’re starting to see the early stratification in the standings. Five teams made it through the early slate 2-0, and one of those five was definitely a surprise. Conference play starts anew in a few weeks and right now ESPN projects the Big Ten as a 10-bid league, but it is still early. How will Indiana survive the loss of Tucker DeVries? Is Nebraska really that good? When will Penn State bite someone in the ass in State College like they always do? Who will struggle the most after the dreaded West Coast road trips?

I won’t fully stratify into “Contenders”, “NCAA teams”, and “also-rans” just yet, but early on the top of the league looks very, very strong.

Michigan Wolverines – 10-0, 2-0 – Michigan is not only really good, they are crushing teams. They already have four Quad 1 victories and after a couple early scares against Wake Forest and TCU they have turned into a juggernaut.

Michigan State Spartans – 10-1, 2-0 – As usual, Michigan State has played a brutal non-conference schedule, but they have handled it well with wins over Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky. A six point home loss to Duke is the lone blemish. They did nearly become the Bryce Jordan Mausoleum victim this past Saturday though.

Purdue Boilermakers – 10-1, 2-0 – I think Purdue is, top to bottom, the most talented team in the conference. The Boilers can play both outside and in, defend well, and they have a deep bench. I still have us third because a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/big-ten-basketball-power-rankings-185025303.html

Author :

Publish date : 2025-12-16 18:50:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.