B1G Power Rankings
11/20/23
11/20/23
AP Photo/Al Goldis
1. Purdue Boilermakers
3-0
Purdue has done exactly what has been expected of them so far this season with convincing wins over Samford, Morehead St., and a solid Xavier team. The real tests begin this week though as the Boilermakers take part in the Maui Invitational. Up first is Gonzaga on Monday evening. The rest of the loaded Maui field consists of Tennessee, Kansas, UCLA, Marquette, and Chaminade.
This week: Gonzaga (Monday), Tennessee/Syracuse (Tuesday), Kansas/Chamindade/UCLA/Marquette (Wednesday)
2. Illinois Fighting Illini
4-1
The Illini have only had one real test via Marquette in the Gavitt Games. Although it was a competitive game throughout, the Illini stumbled down the stretch of the game and couldn’t pull out a signature non-conference win. This game didn’t move the needle on where we stand with Brad Underwood’s squad, as we expected them to be able to hang with Marquette after defeating Kansas in the most official non-official games of all time. There are valid concerns long-term with shooting, and point guard play, but we buy this team’s depth and experience.
This week: Western Illinois (Friday)
3. Michigan State Spartans
3-2
The sky was falling for Spartan fans on opening night when the team fell at home to James Madison in overtime. The sky was still falling after 2 games when they were a combined 2-31 from 3. Down the stretch, they weren’t quite able to hang with one of the more talented teams in the country in Duke. However, they seemed to put some things together over two annihilations of Butler and Alcorn State (17/45 from 3pt – good for approximately 38%). The Spartans have a huge test at Arizona (who went into Duke and came out with a dub earlier this season) on Thanksgiving. We should have a better idea of how this team is progressing after that contest.
This week: Arizona (Thursday)
4. Michigan Wolverines
3-1
Heading into last week, the Wolverines were the surprise team of the B10. Picked to finish towards the bottom of the league, Phil Martelli had the team rolling in their first 3 games behind sophomore phenom point guard Dug McDaniel. All of that came to a screeching halt last Friday against Long Beach State when the team was upset 86-94 on their homecourt. Dug McDaniel and their offense has looked incredible; however, the defense has looked vulnerable at times as exemplified recently.
Despite the loss, we still like all the pieces and the thought that the team has the individuals to eventually solve the defensive issues. The next opportunity to show this will be their toughest tests of the season so far in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. Up first is Memphis.
This week: Memphis (Wednesday), Arkansas/Stanford (Thursday), North Carolina/UNI/Villanova/Texas Tech (Friday).
5. Ohio St. Buckeyes
3-1
We were high on this team coming into the season (picking them 4th in the league). This was all predicated on several sophomore leaps and Jamison Battle fitting in well as a go-to scorer. They struggled in their season opener and couldn’t quite hang with a good Texas A&M squad. Recently they have looked good with the emergence of Roddy Gayle. A huge test awaits them this week against Alabama in the Emerald Coast Classic.
This week: Alabama (Friday), Oregon/Santa Clara (Saturday).
6. Iowa Hawkeyes
3-1
It was largely thought this would be a down year for the Hawks, but we were pleasantly surprised watching them play a great Creighton team last week. Ben Kriike looks like he will offer a huge scoring punch for Fran McCaffery, and Iowa’s offense will once again find a way to be elite. The defense looks like it will again be suspect. Look out for an interesting upcoming matchup against Oklahoma and then either Seton Hall or USC in the Rady Children’s invitational.
This week: Oklahoma (Thursday), Seton Hall/USC (Friday).
7. Wisconsin Badgers
2-2
The Badgers have had some tough early season tests against a very good Tennessee squad, and on the road against a solid Providence team. The Providence game was somewhat concerning in the fact that the Badgers were blown out and never really in the game. The biggest concern is Connor Essegian, who was projected to take a huge step as a sophomore. Under interesting but vague circumstances, Essegian is averaging 2ppg on 7 minutes per game. We’d feel a lot better about the Badger’s offense if they had both AJ Storr and Essegian humming on the wings. Regardless, the Badgers have another chance to prove themselves in what should be a defensive rock fight with Virginia tonight in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
This week: Virginia (Monday), SMU/West Virginia (Wednesday).
8. Northwestern Wildcats
4-1
NU is one of the few B10 teams with a solid win at this point in the season (against Dayton). They’ve also had a few scares though (playing Binghamton close for most of the game on opening night, and then barely escaping Western Michigan at home). They just lost their first game of the season to a good (great defensively) Mississippi State team which is nothing to hang their heads about. Brooks Barnhizer has officially broken out to become Boo Buie’s clear sidekick. The Wildcats are resting up with no games this week.
This week: None
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers
5-0
One of 3 undefeated teams in the conference. They haven’t really done anything to either impress us or knock them. They’ve just been solid against inferior opponents so far (including Oregon State – who must be one of the worst power conference teams in the country). Upcoming tests against Duquesne and Creighton in the upcoming weeks will give us a better idea of where this team is at. And as usual, all heil Keisei Tominaga.
This week: Duquesne (Wednesday), Cal State Fullerton (Sunday).
10. Indiana Hoosiers
3-1
The Hoosiers have looked a bit shaky to start the year. Though they won their first three games, none were in convincing fashion or over quality opponents. They faced their first power conference foe of the season against UCONN yesterday in Madison Square Garden. The frontcourt looked up to the test early on with Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware, but the Huskies broke away late in the first half and didn’t look back for the rest of the game. It’s important to note Xavier Johnson was in foul trouble in the first half, however Mike Woodson needs more scoring/dynamism from the guard/wing spots. It would be a great time for Mackenzie Mgbako to break out in Bloomington.
This week: Louisville (Monday), Harvard (Sunday).
11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
3-1
The Scarlet Knights lost their opening night game to a solid Princeton team. Since then – they’ve won their last 4 – however none over any substantial opponents. The team is again looking like they’ll be a great defensive team under Steve Pikiell, but struggle on the offensive side of the ball. Gavin Griffiths has looked great as a freshman, and Derek Simpson looks like he’s starting to break out as a go-to scorer after a rough start to the season. Clifford Omoruyi has also been his usual solid self; however, we think it’s fair to say the team could use more offensive production from him. The Scarlet Knights are off this week.
This week: None
12. Minnesota Gophers
3-1
Picked to finish last in the league, the Gophers have had an almost perfect start. If they could have hung on against Missouri at home last Thursday, the Gophers would maybe be even slightly higher on this list. In the first half, the team looked impressive with a barrage of threes and energy that we haven’t seen over the past few years. We’ll see if they can continue any momentum this upcoming week when they get another crack at a solid opponent in San Francisco.
This week: Arkansas Pine Bluff (Tuesday), San Francisco (Sunday).
13. Maryland Terrapins
1-3
Kevin Willard’s team has had one of the most disappointing starts to the season in the entire country. There was a lot of optimism heading into the year with veterans Jahmir Young, Julian Reese, and Donte Scott along with newcomers Deshawn Harris-Smith and Jamie Kaiser. The wheels have fallen off the bus early though as Maryland dropped consecutive games against Davidson and UAB. They followed that up with a 57-40 loss against Villanova that was much worse than the score indicates. The Terrapins had 15 points at half, and 19 points with about 10 minutes to go in the game. They’ll certainly move up this list as the year goes on (they have too much talent not to), but this has been a rough start.
This week: UMBC (Tuesday), South Alabama (Saturday).
Penn State Nittany Lions
4-0
We feel bad putting the Nittany Lions here as they’ve done nothing wrong to start this season. They’ve done exactly what they should do in beating inferior opponents. They also haven’t really shown us anything to move them up from this bottom tier. That could change this upcoming week as they have a rematch from last year’s NCAA tournament with Wade Taylor and ranked Texas A&M in the ESPN Events Invitational. We look forward to moving Penn State up on this list when they prove it to us, and if they show out well in this tournament, they will be jumping quite a few teams.
This week: Texas A&M (Thursday), Butler/FAU (Friday), Iowa State/VCU/Boise State/Virigina Tech (Sunday).