Maize n Brew's Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings Week 4
21-1(7-0)
1. Wisconsin - Thumped Michigan at home and Iowa on the road. Now moves into the nuggaty center of their conference schedule. Afte Indiana on Wednesday they don't play a real team until MSU on February 20th.
Next up: @ Indiana, Northwestern, @ Penn State
18-3 (6-1)
2. Ohio State - Scared the hell out of the OSU faithful by almost choking away a 20 point halftime lead against MSU. But they didn't. Now they get to play two tough ones on the road. Purdue is tough at home and MSU is going to be pissed.
Next up: @ Purdue, @ MSU, Michigan
15-5 (5-2)
3. Indiana - Got bitten by an improving Illinois team, but thumped an underachieving Michigan squad. Three straight tough games will help to determine what kind of seeding they're looking at in the Tournament. Beat UW and all of a sudden it's a wide open race.
Next up: Wisconsin, @ Iowa, Illinois
17-5 (4-3)
4. Michigan State - Almost beat OSU in Columbus, but simply ran out of gas. They've got a tough slate the next few games including an OSU rematch on their home turf. However, their trip to Illinois sandwiching an OSU rematch reeks of "trap game."
Next up: @ Illinois, Ohio State, @ Purdue
16-6 (4-3)
5. Michigan - Courtney Sims is where dreams go to die. Michigan pulled within 9 of Indiana with ample time left on the clock and Sims promptly came in and destroyed Michigan's momentum. There is character on this team in Harris and Petway, but the lack of fire at the beginning of games and the second half has absolutely killed this team. They should've been able to beat a 1.5 dimensional Indiana team. Instead their tournament hopes are on life support.
Next up: Iowa, @ Ohio State, Minnesota
13-7 (2-4)
6. Purdue - Kept the NCAA dream alive for one more game. In beating Illinois they kept their own hopes alive and stuck a knife in the Illini's. West Lafayette's been great to the Boilermakers this year. They'll have to engineer (har har) another upset to stay on the Selection Committee's radar.
Next up: Ohio State, @ Penn State, Michigan State
15-8 (3-5)
7. Illinois - Had to beat Purdue to keep their tournament hopes alive. Didn't. Despite "upsetting" Indiana they fall behind Purdue with MSU lurking. Another loss seals an NIT bid.
Next up: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern
11-10 (3-4)
8. Iowa - They're playing for an NIT berth and to simply screw everyone else's season. The last gasp at an invite fell by the wayside when the Badgers thumped the Hawkeyes at home.
Next up: @ Michigan, Indiana, @ Minnesota
11-9 (1-6)
9. Northwestern - Man they fight hard. OSU's win over the Cats was no easy feat. They welcome Minnesota this week and are crossing their fingers for their second conference win of the season.
Next up: Minnesota, @ Wisconsin, Illinois
8-13 (2-5)
10. Minnesota - Took it to Penn State. Well not really, but they did win by five.
Next up: @ Northwestern, @ Illinois, Iowa
10-10 (1-6)
11. Penn State - D'oh. Replaced Minnesota as the worst team in the league.
Next up: Purdue, Wisconsin, @Northwestern
That's it for this week. Gimme your thoughts.