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Big Ten Power Rankings: Do only three Big Ten teams have the best chance to win the national title?

History shows that the year's national champion has already established itself as a top team by mid-December
Benjamin Worgull|
Michigan Wolverines guard Rubin Jones (15) guards Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) during the first half of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament final game on Sunday, March 16, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Michigan defeated Wisconsin 59-53.
Michigan Wolverines guard Rubin Jones (15) guards Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell (25) during the first half of the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament final game on Sunday, March 16, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Michigan defeated Wisconsin 59-53. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

It's just over three months from Selection Sunday but fans should already have a short list of which team is going to cut down the nets in Indianapolis. A little premature? Probably. Based on precedent? Absolutely.

Since 2004, a span of 21 NCAA Tournaments, the eventual national champion was ranked in the top 12 of the sixth Associated Press Top 25 poll of the season. That's good news for Michigan (2), Purdue (6), and Michigan State (9), a tough break for Illinois (13), and reality for everybody else.

The last of the 18 conference games will be played this weekend before the final nonconference tune-ups before things really get serious until January 2026.

Here is week six of our power rankings.

1, Michigan Wolverines (9-0, 1-0) Previous: 2

The Wolverines are playing at another level, recording six straight wins of at least 25 points. They are the first team to do that since at least the 1995-96. Three of those wins came in the Player's Era Festival against NCAA Tournament teams and the most recent was a 28-point win over Villanova, a team that had won seven straight and needed a three-pointer with five seconds left. Had that not gone in, Michigan would have won five straight games by 30 points.

Up Next: Saturday vs. at Maryland

2, Michigan State Spartans (8-1, 1-0) Previous: 1

The Spartans had made up for their inconsistent perimeter shooting by being a dominant interior team. They lost that advantage in their 66-60 loss to No.4 Duke, shooting 29.5 percent on two. Duke's 2-3 zone caused the Spartans to go 6-for-21 for the final 12-plus minutes. Michigan State went 5-for-15 on layups and starting guards Jeremy Fears Jr. and Kur Teng combined to go 0-for-15.

Up Next: Saturday at Penn State

3, Purdue Boilermakers (9-1, 2-0) Previous: 3

Last week, we questioned if Purdue even had a weakness. Apparently, they are susceptible to Cyclones. Iowa State's 23-point victory over No. 1 Purdue was tied for the largest margin of victory against a No. 1 team on the road. It also was the biggest home loss for Purdue in the history of Mackey Arena.

The Cyclones turned a six-point lead into an 18-point lead by capitalizing on the Boilers' defensive lapses and not mentally matching the defense Iowa State plays. Purdue had 15 turnovers, was 4-for-18 on threes, and 6-for-14 from the line. No Purdue player scored more than 11 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had four points on 1-for-8 shooting, and Braden Smith had six turnovers.

Purdue rebounded with a 28-point win over Minnesota Wednesday, but the Boilers needed a 29-2 run to start the second half of a three-point game.

Up next: Saturday vs. Marquette

4, Illinois Fighting Illini (8-2, 1-0) Previous: 4

Illinois' tough nonconference schedule finally yielded some dividends. After losing to Alabama in Chicago and UConn in New York, the Illini outscored No.13 Tennessee by 15 in the second-half for a 13-point win in Nashville. That momentum led to a gutty eight-point win at Ohio State in Illinois' first true road game of the year, going 29-for-32 from the line.

Freshman win Keaton Wagler was huge in both games, scoring 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists against the Vols then a game-high 23 points and 5 assists against the Buckeyes. He was 7-for-16 from three in the two wins, adding another weapon to Illinois' arsenal.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.23 Nebraska

5, Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-0, 1-0) Previous: 6

It's time to start taking the Huskers seriously, which is necessary after they smoked Creighton and Wisconsin by a combined 51 points. The victory over Wisconsin was eye opening. The Huskers held a Wisconsin team averaging 87.9 points per game to a season-low of 60 points by crushing them in the paint (44-24) and still be proficient from three-point range (36.7).

The Huskers aren't quite a tier-one Big Ten team yet, but they are getting darn close.

Up Next: Saturday at No.13 Illinois

6, USC Trojans (9-1, 1-1) Previous: 5

The Trojans got a hard lesson about the perils of taking their foot off the gas pedal. Despite playing without second-leading scorer Rodney Rice, the Trojans built an 18-point halftime lead but couldn't sustain it in the second half. The Trojans surrendered 24 of the last 30 points, shooting just 25 percent in the second half and allowed the Huskies to shoot 59 percent.

Chad Baker-Mazara has scored at least 20 points in four straight games, but the Trojans need to build some other scoring options outside Baker-Mazara and Rice.

Up Next: Sunday vs. Washington State

7, UCLA Bruins (8-2, 2-0) Previous: 11

The Bruins took care of two former Pac-12 rivals - Washington and Oregon - to get the ship pointed back in the right direction. Eric Dailey Jr. lead all five UCLA starters in double figures with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Tyler Bilodeau scored 14 points, Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent each scored 13 and Xavier Booker 12 in the win over the Ducks.

Winners of four of their last five, the Bruins will go into Saturday night's matchup against Gonzaga having nearly a full week to rest and prepare.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.8 Gonzaga in Seattle

8, Wisconsin Badgers (7-3, 1-1) Previous: 7

Five of Wisconsin's seven wins have been in Quad-4. The other two was a Quad-3 home win over Northwestern and a borderline Quad-2 against Providence. The three best teams Wisconsin has played - BYU (Net No.9), Nebraska (14), and TCU (66) - have beaten them by a combined 69 points.

It's fair to wonder just how good these Badgers are when they haven't beaten anybody.

Up Next: Dec.19 vs. Villanova in Milwaukee

9, Indiana Hoosiers (8-2, 1-1) Previous 8

Indiana fell behind 16-0 against No.6 Louisville and didn't score its first basket until nearly seven minutes had elapsed. To their credit, the Hoosiers were able to cut the lead to eight in the second half before ultimately falling by nine. Indiana bounded back in a big way with a blowout win over Penn State, thanks to Lamar Wilkinson.

The Sam Houston State transfer set an Assembly Hall single-game record with 44 points and a new program record with 10 three-pointers.

Up Next: Saturday at Kentucky

10, Ohio State Buckeyes (7-2, 1-1), Previous: 9

The Buckeyes split their two conference games, earning a gritty road win at reeling Northwestern before coming up short at home against the Illini. Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 34 points, six rebounds and six assists. The senior guard had 24 points in the first half when he was 9 of 10 from the field and 6 of 7 on 3-pointers. Unfortunately, the other four starters made a total of 14 field goals on 40 shots, one more made field goal than Thornton on 23 more shots.

Up Next: Saturday vs. West Virginia in Cleveland

11, Iowa Hawkeyes (8-1, 1-1) Previous: 10

Iowa rebounded from its pasting at Michigan State to deliver a 19-point blowout against Maryland. Bennett Stirtz got back on track with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting and four 3-pointers. Iowa shot 54 percent and made 9 of 22 3-pointers while scoring 21 points off 18 turnovers, things that helped overcome them sending Maryland to the line 38 times. They won't be able to get away with that in tonight's Cy-Hawk rivalry.

Up Next: Tonight at No.4 Iowa State

12, Washington Huskies (6-3, 1-1) Previous: 16


The Huskies let a win slip away against UCLA but came storming back against USC thanks to former Trojans point guard Desmond Claude. The leading scorer on the Trojans last season, Claude scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half.

Washington freshman Hannes Steinbach scored 29 and 24 points in his first two Big Ten games. The combination of him and Claude have given Huskies the scoring pop it was missing last season when they finished 16th in field goal percentage and 17th in scoring

Up Next: Saturday vs. Southern Utah

13, Northwestern Wildcats (5-4, 0-2) Previous: 12

The Wildcats have lost four of their last five, all against power-conference competition, and can't get away from playing close games. Three of the losses were decided by five points or less, giving them a 2-3 record this season in such games. Nick Martinelli had 32 points against the Buckeyes but the Wildcats have shown to be lacking in scoring depth.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Jackson State

14, Oregon Ducks (4-5, 0-2) Previous: 13

The Ducks haven't won since Nov. 17 when they beat rival Oregon State 87-75 in Eugene and, frankly, haven't looked great all year. They are the only team in the Big Ten under .500 and don't have a win by more than 14 points. Injuries, inconsistent shooting, and turnovers are just some of the problems Dana Altman is dealing with.

Up Next: Saturday vs UC-Davis

15, Maryland Terrapins (6-4, 0-1) Previous: 14

The Terps are starting to get back to full strength. Six-foot-7 senior forward Solomon Washington is back after missing the first eight games of the season following an ankle injury, Myles Rice is getting healthy from his own ankle injury, and senior forward Pharrell Payne looks fine after his injury scare at Marquette, evidence by his back-to-back double-double. The Terps' reward for getting closer to full strength? Michigan.

Up Next: Saturday at No.2 Michigan

16, Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2, 0-1) Previous: 15

Like Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions are a product of their record. Penn State is 8-0 against Quad-4 opponents and winless against everything else. The Nittany Lions are decent offensively, rated 67th in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency, but are bad defensively. Against the 360th-ranked nonconference strength of schedule, Penn State is 205th in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.9 Michigan State

17, Minnesota Gophers (5-5, 1-1): Previous: 17

After upsetting No.22 Indiana by nine to open Big Ten play, the Gophers trailed Purdue by three at halftime. The good thoughts vanished quickly with Purdue starting the second half on a 31-4 run while limiting Minnesota to just two baskets over a span of nearly 11 minutes.

Up Next: Sunday vs. Texas Southern

18, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-5, 0-2): Previous: 18

Somebody in the Big Ten offices must not like Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights' first two Big Ten games put them against No.1 Purdue and at No.3 Michigan. The results were predictable - two losses by a combined 57 points.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Seton Hall in Newark, N.J.

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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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