Big Ten Power Rankings: Filling out my All-Conference team was easy and challenging

Let the debating begin on who the best five in the Big Ten conference are.

Ballots were due Sunday night at the conclusion of a regular season that started in December and ended with an overtime game in Lincoln, a fitting end to a crazy season when the Huskers, picked 14th in the preseason poll, finished in a tie for second for their best Big Ten finish.

Filling out my first-team all-conference picks has always been somewhat of a challenge, made even more so by the addition of four West Coast teams last season with more talented players to consider for five spots.

Frankly, I had made up my mind weeks ago on who the best five players in the league were, and the final stretch of league games only further solidified my opinion on four of the spots (we'll get to that).
What's clear is that this Michigan team was one of the most dominant Big Ten teams in league history, winning a conference that had five teams ranked in the top 10 at one point by four games, and beating the other four by an average of 10.0 ppg.

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The Wolverines' best player is Yaxel Lendeborg, and he should be the conference player of the year. A stat stuffer for the Wolverines, Lendeborg was their leading scorer, second-leading rebounder, and a physical presence on both ends of the floor. Scoring 19 of his 27 points in the first half to sweep Michigan State on Sunday should have been the cherry on top.

I went next with Illinois's Keaton Wagler, who should also be the runaway freshman of the year. Wagler entered the weekend as one of only two first-year players in the nation averaging at least 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on the season, along with Duke's Cameron Boozer.

Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort made my cut after he averaged a team-high 17.9 points per game while ranking among the Big Ten leaders in 3-pointers per game (3.5), 3-point percentage (.401), and field goal percentage (.473).

I wrote with four games left that Nick Boyd should be a first-team pick. If there was any doubt, watch the Purdue game, as there was no bigger shot maker down the stretch than the senior point guard. He scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, doing a lot of the damage by getting to his left hand, attacking the rim, and answering every big Boilermakers shot with one of his own. His 20.1 points per game are fourth best in the league, and his 22.7 points against ranked teams are better than any other player in the conference.

The fifth spot was where it was tricky. I love Nick Martinelli's game. He's won back-to-back league scoring titles (only third player to do it in the last 25 years) and scored over 675 points in both seasons, but he plays for an 18-loss team. Bruce Thornton has willed the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament, breaking the school's scoring record in the process and having seven assists and zero turnovers in consecutive games. However, he did a lot of stat stuffing against a nonconference strength of schedule ranked 236th.

The choice for me was between Purdue's Braden Smith and Michigan State's Jeremy Fears. I was leaning Fears until looking at the numbers for both players against the top four seeds. Each played four such games (1-3), and both averaged the same number of assists (9.5), Fears averaged more points (23.3 to 18.0), but Smith had a better shooting percentage (44.4 to 38.3), more rebounds (4.3 to 2.5), and fewer turnovers (2.3 to 2.8).

They scored the same number of points when they went head-to-head, too (12), on the same number of shots (10), with Fears shooting better and fewer turnovers while Smith had more assists.
It came down to which player I would rather have if I were starting a team, and that player is Smith.

First-team All-Big Ten
G Nick Boyd
G Braden Smith
G Keaton Wagler
F Yaxel Lendeborg
F Pryce Sandfort

Pretty sure that group could win some games. For the 17th and final time this season, here are the Big Ten Power Rankings.

The #B1GMBBT bracket is set!

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1, Michigan Wolverines (29-2, 19-1) Previous: 1

Michigan was the clear class of the league and now looks to become the eighth school to win the outright regular season title and tournament championship in the same year.
Up Next: Friday as the No.1 seed in the Big Ten quarterfinals

2, Michigan State Spartans (25-6, 15-5) Previous: 5

Half of the Spartans' losses were to teams that spent time as the No.1 team in the country this season, including two to arch-rival Michigan. Michigan State is at its best when its defense is clicking, as the Spartans entered the weekend ranked No. 24 nationally in scoring defense (66.3 ppg), No. 3 nationally in rebound margin (+12.0), No. 18 in rebounds per game (40.4 rpg), and No. 12 nationally in fast break points per game (16.2 ppg).
Up Next: Friday as the No.3 seed in the Big Ten quarterfinals

3, Nebraska Cornhuskers (26-5, 15-5) Previous: 4
Nebraska blew a 10-point lead in regulation but then outscored Iowa 14-5 in overtime to earn its best regular-season Big Ten finish since joining the league in 2011-12.
Up Next: Friday as the No.2 seed in the Big Ten quarterfinals

4, Wisconsin Badgers (22-9, 14-6) Previous: 6

Wisconsin had three of the top-20 wins in the country this season, per Evan Miya. The Badgers seem to play their best against the best teams in the league, going 5-2 against the top seven seeds in the conference.
Up Next: Thursday vs. either USC or Washington

5, Illinois Fighting Illini (24-7, 15-5) Previous: 2

The Illini limped to the finish line with a 2-2 record and struggled to win at Maryland, 78-72, to secure the final triple bye. The struggles extend beyond the past two weeks. After winning 12 straight from Dec.22 to Feb.4, the Illini split their last eight games.
Up Next: Friday as the No.4 seed in the Big Ten quarterfinals

6, Purdue Boilermakers (23-8, 13-7) Previous: 3

Since January 20th, Purdue has six wins and seven losses. One was by three at Nebraska, another by four against a bad Northwestern team, and one by four at home against a bad Oregon team. The Boilemakers lost five home games this season. The preseason pick to win the league hasn't looked right for a long time.
Up Next: Thursday vs. either Indiana, Northwestern, or Penn State

7, UCLA Bruins (21-10, 13-7) Previous: 8

The Bruins won four of their final five regular-season contests, including against Nebraska and sweeping USC. The latter win was also their fifth Quadrant 1 victory of the season. The Bruins will spend the week trying to figure out if winning meaningful games outside the Pacific Time Zone is possible.
Up Next: Thursday vs. either Rutgers or Minnesota

8, Ohio State Buckeyes (20-11, 12-8), Previous: 9

The Buckeyes closed the regular season with wins over Purdue, Penn State, and Indiana for their first three game win streak since late November. Those wins sandwiched around a 32-point blowout of the Nittany Lions should be enough to get the Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, no matter what happens in Chicago.
Up next: Thursday vs. either Oregon, Maryland, or Iowa

9, Iowa Hawkeyes (20-11, 10-10) Previous: 7

The Hawkeyes close the season losing six of eight, including an ugly loss at Penn State, but their two wins came against Nebraska and Ohio State. Four of their losses were Quad 1A, however, so the Hawkeyes should make the tournament for the first time in three years.
Up Next: Wednesday vs. Maryland or Oregon

10, Indiana Hoosiers (18-13, 9-11) Previous 10

Unless the Hoosiers go on a run in Chicago, their losing five of their final six, including a home loss to Northwestern, will have them debating whether or not to play in a lesser postseason tournament.
Up Next: Wednesday vs. Northwestern or Penn State

11, Minnesota Gophers (15-16, 8-12): Previous: 13

Credit the Gophers for fighting through all the injuries they've had and winning four of their final six games, including knocking off UCLA at home and nearly beating Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Up Next: Wednesday vs. Rutgers

12, Washington Huskies (15-16, 7-13) Previous: 12

Hannes Steinbach has 20 double-doubles this season, the most of any player in the power conferences. The question is whether he will be return for his sophomore season in Seattle, enter the draft, or the portal?
Up Next: Wednesday vs. USC

13, USC Trojans (18-13, 7-13) Previous: 11

Seven straight losses to end the season and the mysterious dismissal of all-conference player Chad Baker-Mazara have turned a once-promising season into a mess.
Up Next: Wednesday vs. Washington

14, Northwestern Wildcats (13-18, 5-15) Previous: 14

The Wildcats won three of their final five games, which included a road win at Indiana. Their two losses were by four to Purdue and by one to Minnesota.
Up Next: Tuesday vs. Penn State

15, Oregon Ducks (11-17, 4-13) Previous: 17

The Ducks closed their injury-plagued season winning three of five, including a victory over NCAA Tournament-bound Wisconsin and knocking off old Pac-12 foes USC and Washington.
Up Next: Tuesday vs. Maryland

16, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13-18, 6-14): Previous: 17

The Scarlet Knights were the reverse of UCLA, going 4-0 against the East Coast schools, 2-12 against the rest of the league, and not winning a conference road game outside the Northeast.
Up Next: Wednesday vs. Minnesota

17, Maryland Terrapins (11-20, 4-16) Previous: 17

A valiant effort to put a scare into Illinois in Sunday's finale, but Maryland is going to finish the season with its most losses since going 1-21 in 1940-41.
Up next: Tuesday vs. Oregon

18, Penn State Nittany Lions (12-19, 3-17) Previous: 18

Penn State was 8-1 at one point this season. How different the season might have been if the Nittany Lions hadn't lost by four to Michigan State or two to Michigan in their first four conference games.
Up Next: Tuesday vs. Northwestern