Week 13 Big Ten Power Rankings – Illinois and Michigan Rise

This was arguably the best week of action of the season. We got a plethora of great games, including two top 10 matchups for the league. Interestingly, both featured Michigan. Of course, it all led to a shakeup in these Rankings.

So, let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings.

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#1 – Illinois Fighting Illini (+1)

The Illini had another incredible week of play, beating a feisty Washington squad at home on Thursday and knocking off Nebraska on the road on Sunday. The latter marked a second top 15 KenPom win for Illinois in just two weeks and pushed Illinois to 19-3 overall and 10-1 in Big Ten play.

We’ve been writing about how Illinois is underrated for weeks now and the Illini finally proved that over the last two weeks. Illinois is now a clear Big Ten title contender and has won 11 straight dating back to an early December loss to Nebraska. It’s been a ridiculous run considering the strength of this year’s Big Ten.

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The run also put Illinois into a direct tie with Michigan atop the Big Ten standings with just nine games left. TRank currently favors the Wolverines in the title race, but only narrowly. By all realistic observations, it projects as a coin flip race and it going to make every upcoming game a crucial one. The team that avoids a letdown against lower-tier opponents will likely win the title.

Illinois will now prepare for another interesting slate, with Northwestern at home on Wednesday and Michigan State on the road on Saturday. KenPom projects a split.

#2 – Michigan Wolverines (+2)

The Wolverines might have had the best single week of the entire college basketball season, knocking off an undefeated Nebraska at home on Tuesday and then beating rival Michigan State on the road on Friday night. Adding two top 10 wins in a single week is always a massive accomplishment, but doing it against a 20-0 squad and a rival makes it even sweeter. All told, Michigan has now won six straight and enters the new week at 20-1 overall and 10-1 in Big…

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Publish date : 2026-02-03 10:46:00

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