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B1G Power Rankings: Winning on the road will be a rare feat in the Big Ten in 2026

Only five Big Ten teams are undefeated on the road, a sign of how competitive the league will be on each night.
Benjamin Worgull|
Dec 10, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) shoots the ball against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Braden Frager (5) and forward Leo Curtis (33) during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Dec 10, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Nick Boyd (2) shoots the ball against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Braden Frager (5) and forward Leo Curtis (33) during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

No arena is safe in the Big Ten, just ask Michigan and Iowa.

The return to conference play had 12 teams inside the top 75 spots in the NET Rankings, including six in the top 15, and 10 in the top 50. No other conference in the country has more teams in the top 10, which means there is likely going to be many smooth rides.

Even though the league has separated into three distinct tiers, with five teams clearly at the top, five easily at the bottom, and a jumbled mess in between, going on the road is, more often than not, going to be a grind no matter what the records are.

Only five of the league's 18 teams are undefeated on the road. Not surprisingly, four of them - Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, and Purdue - are on the short list as contenders for the Big Ten regular season title. The surprising one is Ohio State, which is 2-0 on the road and winless at home, a perfect snapshot of how competitive the league is.

Here is week 10 of the Big Ten Power Rankings.

1, Michigan Wolverines (14-0, 4-0) Previous: 1

The Wolverines resumed conference play by stomping another opponent, as USC became the ninth opponent in the previous 10 games to lose by at least 25. At least the Trojans weren't the eighth opponent Michigan dropped 100 on (USC held them to 99).

That's what made the road game at State College on Tuesday so odd. Michigan was out toughed and out rebounded by Penn State, which seemed to win most 50-50 balls and held the Wolverines without a field goal the final 3:09.

Michigan delivered on its defense on the final possession, although Penn State made it easy on the Wolverines to not have to defend a high-percentage shots. Even though Michigan continues to steamroll people, the Wolverines are now 2-0 in games against power-conference schools decided by two possessions, and both came in true road games.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Wisconsin

2, Purdue Boilermakers (14-1, 4-0) Previous: 2

A back-and-forth first half on Saturday between Purdue and Wisconsin turned into a blowout in the second half, with the Boilermakers leading by as many as 25 on their way to a comfortable 16-point win.

Back at Mackey, Purdue led by double figures for nearly the final 28 minutes in a comfortable win over Washington.

Not surprisingly, Braden Smith was the reason why. He combined for 37 points (16-for-26) and 19 assists to only nine turnovers. Laminate his name on the all-conference first team.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Penn State

3, Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-0, 4-0) Previous: 4

After proving through the first two months of the season it can win with its offense, the Huskers won the biggest home game in Lincoln in 35 years with their defense. The first ranked vs. ranked matchup in Lincoln since 1991, the Huskers held the Spartans to 6-for-24 in the second half and forced a staggering 21 turnovers. Nebraska shot just 18-for-57 in its 56-54 win but hit 13 threes.

If that wasn't enough, the Huskers survived a final 10:24 with eight lead changes largely because it was 14-for-17 from the line, led 38-29 on the boards, and had a 22-0 edge in bench points. Good teams do those little things, which helped erase an 8-for-29 night from three.

Up Next: Saturday at Indiana

4, Michigan State Spartans (13-2, 3-1) Previous: 3

Michigan State's offense is going to be its weakness all season (the Spartans are ranked 60th in adjusted offensive efficiency by KenPom), but the Spartans will be in every game because of its defense. MSU is third nationally with its defensive efficiency, holding down the Huskers' attack and blowing out USC back at home.

The Spartans held USC to 33 percent from the floor, 3-for-17 from three, and forced 17 turnovers. Michigan State got offense - Coen Carr scored 18 points, Jaxon Kohler added 16, and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and seven assists - because of its defense, scoring 16 points off turnovers and holding a 25-5 edge on the fast break.

Up Next: Tonight vs. Northwestern

5, Illinois Fighting Illini (11-3, 2-1) Previous: 5

Playing three out of four conference opponents on the road in a 12-day stretch, Illinois got off to a good start with a 73-65 win over Penn State at the Palestra. Everyone got involved to a degree: David Mirkovic had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Kylan Boswell scored 18 points, Keaton Wagler scored 16 points and Zvonimir Ivisic added five blocked shots.

The Illini rank behind Michigan and Alabama in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency.

Up Next: Tonight vs. Rutgers

6, USC Trojans (12-3, 1-3) Previous: 6

The loss of Rodney Rice for the season is starting to show its impact. Without another impact scorer, teams can focus its defense on Chad Baker-Mazara. Averaging 21.0 ppg per game before hitting the road on this recent road trip, Baker-Mazara was held to 3-for-11 against Michigan and only 2-for-6 against the Spartans. Granted, it's against the two best defensive teams in the league but the blueprint is there.

Up Next: Friday at Minnesota

7, Iowa Hawkeyes (12-3, 2-2) Previous: 8

Ben McCollum is quickly finding out the what the physical brand of basketball is like in the Big Ten. Iowa's two conference wins are over Maryland and UCLA. Its two losses have been a blowout at Michigan State and a surprising three-point loss at Minnesota, a game in which Iowa was a favorite and was behind as many as 14 points in the second half.

Iowa is 0-3 in true road games, and the theme has been free throws. In the small sample size, Iowa is 24-for-35 from the line on the road, and the opponents are 60-for-76. Minnesota was 21-for-28 on free throws on Tuesday, a huge advantage over Iowa's 10-for-13.

Up Next: Sunday vs. No.16 Illinois

8, Indiana Hoosiers (12-3, 3-1) Previous 11

Indiana hit six threes in the second half of a runaway win at Maryland and half came off the hand of Lamar Wilkerson. That shouldn't be surprising considering the heater the fifth-year senior is on. He's scored at least 20 points in four straight games and had a personal 16-4 run in a 5 1/2-minute stretch, going 5 of 7 from the field (3 of 4 3FGs) to open up a 15-point lead.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.10 Nebraska

9, UCLA Bruins (10-5, 2-2) Previous: 7

The Bruins' first trip outside the West Coast was a disaster. UCLA fell behind by at least 20 in road games at Iowa City and Madison. While the Bruins stormed back and cut the lead to four against the Hawkeyes, UCLA never could make it a two-possession game against Wisconsin. Either win would have been the Bruins first real solid win of the season, but instead UCLA is dealing with an injury to its best three-point shooter and defender, Skyy Clark, which exposed the lack of quality depth the Bruins currently have.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Minnesota

10, Ohio State Buckeyes (10-4, 2-2), Previous: 9

Head coach Jake Diebler didn’t sugarcoat things when he said the three-point loss to Nebraska was a missed opportunity. He's not wrong. Ohio State was down two with 1:01 left and then one with 13.3 but couldn’t get a stop or a score to get over the hump.

Ohio State has four losses by a combined 13 points, all against power-conference teams. Even the games they've won against high-major schools, Ohio State hasn't been able to separate. In those eight games, the Buckeyes have led for eight minutes only twice.

Without a win it can really lean on, Ohio State now must carry on without forward Brandon Noel (7.4 pts, 4.1 rbs) for an extended period of time with a foot injury suffered against the Huskers.

Up Next: Friday at Oregon

11, Wisconsin Badgers (10-5, 2-2) Previous: 10

After playing a mostly uncompetitive second half in Saturday's loss to Purdue, the Badgers got some fight back in squeezing past a shorthanded UCLA team. Nick Boyd is making a case for first-or-second-team all-conference with his solid all around and consistent play but getting John Blackwell out of his funk is paramount to UW's success. After shooting under 30 percent over four games, Blackwell showed signs he's coming around with 17 points against the Bruins.

Up Next: Saturday at No.2 Michigan

12, Minnesota Gophers (10-5, 3-1): Previous: 16

You don't just walk into The Barn and expect a win. The Gophers figured something out after a rough nonconference season and have pulled home upsets over Indiana and now the Hawkeyes.

The Hawkeyes came into the game with the Big Ten's top defense, allowing just 60.1 points per game, while the Gophers' offense was next to last in the conference. However, Minnesota held Iowa to 40 percent, allowed no points to Bennett Stirtz in the first half (he finished with 21), and forced 14 turnovers.

Next up? Two more home game.

Next: Friday vs. USC

13, Washington Huskies (9-6, 1-3) Previous: 12

The Huskies trip to Indiana was not enjoyable. Washington struggled to defend the Hoosiers from three (12-for-28) and force turnovers (four), wasting nights from Hannes Steinbach (20/10), Desmond Claude (18), Zoom Diallo (16), and others.

Against Purdue, the Huskies couldn't score. Washington managed only 28 first-half points in digging a 17-point deficit that grew to 22 halfway through the second half. Washington made it respectable in losing by eight but fell to 0-3 in road games outside the Pacific time zone.

Up Next: Sunday vs. Ohio State

14, Northwestern Wildcats (8-6, 0-3) Previous: 13

Northwestern had a 53-46 lead, but the Wildcats crumbled defensively. Minnesota finished with 42 points in the paint and scored 50 points after halftime. Nick Martinelli scored 26 points, but the Wildcats don't have enough threat beyond him.

Up Next: Tonight vs. No.12 Michigan State

15, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-7, 1-3): Previous: 18

Tariq Francis made 10 of 16 from the field, hit 10 of 11 from the free-throw line, and scored 30 points to help Rutgers beat Oregon 88-85 in overtime, giving the Scarlet Knights their best win of the season. Francis, a junior NJIT transfer, has been a breath of fresh air for Rutgers and a spark off the bench, scored 100 in the past four games.

Up Next: Tonight at No.16 Illinois

16, Oregon Ducks (8-7, 1-3) Previous: 14

The Ducks split on their cross-country trip to face two of the worst teams in the league, getting past Maryland in a 64-54 grinder only to lose a shootout to Rutgers in overtime, playing another game this season without guard Jackson Shelstad.

Up Next: Tonight vs. Ohio State

17, Penn State Nittany Lions (9-6, 0-4) Previous: 17

The Nittany Lions were better than Michigan in a lot of areas Tuesday, except in their late-game execution. Penn State's decision making wasn't great, which begs the question what would have happened if star freshman Kayden Mingo (team-best 14.9 points and leader in assists) didn't get hurt the day before in practice. To be fair, he played against the Illini and was part of an 8-for-30 three-point shooting night at the Palestra.

Penn State is 0-6 against power-conference teams this season but has lost to top-20 teams Michigan State, Illinois, and Michigan by a combined 14 points in the state of Pennsylvania. At some point this season, they are going to surprise somebody ... but it probably won't be Purdue.

Up Next: Saturday at No.5 Purdue

18, Maryland Terrapins (7-8, 0-4) Previous: 15

Pharrel Payne leads the Terps in scoring and rebound, so Maryland not having him against Oregon and Indiana made life really tough for a team that already has a small margin for error. The Terps were held to their two lowest point totals of the season in front of their home crowd and now have to flight across the country to take on the LA schools.

Up Next: Saturday at UCLA

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Benjamin Worgull
BENJAMIN WORGULL

Benjamin Worgull has covered Wisconsin men's basketball since 2004, having previously written for Rivals, USA Today, 247sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, the Janesville Gazette, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

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