Jan. 24—The top teams remain the same in the Big Ten. The most likely conference champions haven’t changed. But that doesn’t mean Illinois beat writer
Scott Richey
didn’t have to shuffle the vast middle of the conference in his most recent power poll:
1. Michigan State (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten)The Spartans haven’t had an All-American since Cassius Winston in 2019 and 2020, and this year’s team isn’t going to snap that streak. There’s no real star on the Michigan State roster, but the full ensemble of talent has been good enough to secure 11 straight wins (and counting).
2. Michigan (14-4, 6-1)
Vlad Goldin might have swiped some eventual All-Big Ten votes from fellow Michigan 7-footer Danny Wolf in the last two weeks. The Florida Atlantic transfer’s slow start has been fully countered by a pair of 30-point games in wins against UCLA and Northwestern.
3. Illinois (13-6, 5-4)
Tom Izzo said it twice — once before Michigan State played Illinois and again after the Spartans’ win — that Illinois was the best team in the conference. If the dean of Big Ten coaches says so, it has to be true. But it certainly didn’t look that way on Thursday night against Maryland.
4. Purdue (15-5, 7-2)
Team after team — 26 of them, in fact — showed up at Mackey Arena in the last 23 months only to get handed a loss from the Boilermakers. That 26-game home winning streak ending Tuesday to Ohio State might be disappointing, but doesn’t drop Purdue from the top tier.
5. Oregon (16-3, 5-3)
The Ducks played their way into the top 10 nationally with Jackson Shelstad not exactly living up to his preseason All-Big Ten expectations. That’s changed the last 21/2 weeks, with the sophomore guard averaging 18 points, 3.6 rebounds and three assists in his last five games.
6. UCLA (13-6, 4-4)
The Bruins are in a stretch where it plays six of seven games in Los Angeles and only has to make a quick trip (comparatively) to Seattle. UCLA started that run with wins against Iowa and Wisconsin.
7. Wisconsin (15-4, 5-3)
John Tonje seemed to have a firm grasp on team MVP honors in the first month of the season, but sophomore guard John Blackwell has at least caught the Colorado State/Missouri transfer.
8. Maryland (15-5, 5-4)
Maybe all the Terrapins need to do is play Illinois. Last year was a step back for the Terrapins with a sub-.500 record and 12th-place finish in the Big Ten. But play like they did Thursday night in Champaign, and watch out.
9. Southern Cal (12-7, 4-4)
A return trip to Illinois clearly unlocked Rashuan Agee’s inner three-point shooter. The Chicago native made a trio of threes (more than he had for the season to date) in the Trojans’ 10-point win in Champaign earlier this month and just made four in USC’s win at Nebraska.
10. Ohio State (11-8, 3-5)
The best way to get over losing an overtime game at home to sad-sack Indiana is clearly going to West Lafayette, Ind., and winning on Purdue’s home court. It’s the third high-profile win for Ohio State this season (also Texas and Kentucky). Now the goal is to not fall off … again.
11. Minnesota (10-9, 2-6)
There’s finally a little bit of hope in the Big Ten’s frozen north given the fact the Gophers are no longer winless in Big Ten play. They’ve actually got some momentum with back-to-back wins against Michigan and Iowa .
12. Penn State (13-6, 3-5)
The Nittany Lions got back on track with Monday’s win against Rutgers that snapped a four-game losing streak. The reward? Back-to-back road games against Iowa and Michigan in the next four days .
13. Rutgers (10-9, 3-5)
It’s not a guarantee Rutgers is going to miss the NCAA tournament despite having two future top five draft picks on its roster, but that’s the growing likelihood. Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are both, objectively, awesome, but the Scarlet Knights’ supporting cast has not delivered.
14. Iowa (12-7, 3-5)
Payton Sandfort and Owen Freeman combined for 42 points and 18 rebounds on Tuesday night, and Iowa still lost by five at home to Minnesota.
15. Northwestern (12-7, 3-5)
The Wildcats are fine as long as they’re playing at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They stayed unbeaten in Evanston after Ty Berry went off for 23 points (thanks to seven made threes) in their win against Indiana, but will need an actual road win (or three) to get back to the NCAA tournament.
16. Indiana (14-6, 5-4)
Remember when the Hoosiers were 13-3 and near the top of the Big Ten standings with just a single conference loss? You should. It was just two weeks ago. But Indiana has lost three of its last four games, including two 25-point blowouts and Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern.
17. Nebraska (12-7, 2-6)
The people in Bloomington, Ind., might not agree, but the Cornhuskers are actually worse off than Indiana. The old adage that one does not simply walk into Pinnacle Bank Arena has taken two hits this month with two home losses part of Nebraska’s active five-game losing streak.
18. Washington (10-9, 1-7)
Washington might have opened the new year with a win against Maryland, but five consecutive losses since that Jan. 2 victory have secured the Huskies solo last place in the Big Ten. It might not get any better. Washington is likely to be favored in just one of its last 12 regular season games.
