Power Rankings: Big Ten has multiple quality candidates for coach of the year

Not only should the Big Ten start engraving the regular season championship trophy and preparing it for shipment to Ann Arbor, but it could also be time for league voters to take a closer look at the conference's coach of the year honors.

Michigan is off to the best start in program history and is ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time in 13 years. The Wolverines backed up their ranking with an impressive 11-point win at No. 7 Purdue. The Wolverines still have to go to No.10 Illinois and host No.15 Michigan State, but with a 2.5-game lead, there's almost no way they won't claim at least a share of their first time in five seasons.

That begs the question of who should be the conference's coach of the year. Everyone was on the Fred Hoiberg bandwagon with the Huskers starting 20-0, but now Nebraska has lost four of its last six games as its schedule has become tougher. All Dusty May has done in two seasons is go 52-11, lead Michigan to a Sweet 16 in his first year, and pile up wins in year two, either showing how good a coach and recruiter he is or just how awful Juwan Howard was.

A darkhorse candidate? Iowa's Ben McCollum. Taking over after the Fran McCaffery era had run its course, McCollum has balanced offensive firepower with stingy defense to already have the Hawkeyes surpassing last year's win total. More importantly, they likely punched their dance ticket after knocking off the Huskers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday.

Here is week 15 of the Big Ten Power Rankings.

Won the fight 💪 pic.twitter.com/0Xil4Y8SGo
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) February 18, 2026

1, Michigan Wolverines (25-1, 15-1) Previous: 1

Not many teams come into Mackey Arena and bully Purdue, especially a ranked Boilermakers squad, but Michigan has been a unique animal this season. The Wolverines bullied one of the better frontcourts in the conference, as Aday Mara made each of his first four shots on the way to a 10-point, eight-rebound first half. That helped Michigan go on an early 13-0 run to take a 23-10 lead. That eventually grew to a 44-22 lead with 4:23 left in the first half.

Michigan's balance was impressive with six players in double figures, and its ability to finish plus-eight on the glass was a huge difference.

The Wolverines take a break from a dominant Big Ten run to give us a nonconference game between two national title contenders.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.3 Duke in Washington

2, Illinois Fighting Illini (22-5, 13-3) Previous: 2

The Illini finally got a break after playing 11 games in 34 days. They responded by holding Indiana to a season-low 51 points in an easy 20-point win and then crushed USC by 36 in Los Angeles. The Illini put up 100 points for the first time since November with seven players in double figures. The two most important were a game-high 22 from Andrej Stojakovic in his return after a two-game absence and Kylan Boswell registering his first double-digit scoring game since January 13, as he gets back to game speed following his wrist injury.

It feels like the Illini haven't peaked yet, which is dangerous considering they are already the most efficient offense in the country.

Up Next: Saturday at UCLA

3, Purdue Boilermakers (21-5, 11-4) Previous: 2

Trey Kaufmann-Renn scored a season-high 27 points, and Braden Smith added 20, but the rest of the Boilermakers didn't provide much of an impact. It doesn't help when Kaufmann-Renn and Smith combine to attempt 39 of Purdue's 69 shots.

Purdue has lost three times at home this season, all against the toughest teams on its schedule. That doesn't breed a lot of confidence heading into March.

Up Next: Friday vs. Indiana

4, Nebraska Cornhuskers (22-4, 11-4) Previous: 4

The Huskers won at then-No.12 Illinois and beat No.9 Michigan State at home during their 20-0 start. In the last six games, the Huskers have lost all three games against ranked opponents and played poorly by scoring a season-worst 52 points in a Tuesday loss at Iowa.

The Cornhuskers went 9 of 23 from the field, including 2 for 12 on threes, and missed eight of their last 11 shots, going through an 11 1/2-minute stretch with just one basket.

Nebraska was a nice story to start the season, but the Huskers are now struggling to beat teams that are as good or better than they are.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Penn State

5, Wisconsin Badgers (18-8, 10-5) Previous: 6

It's hard to move Wisconsin up one spot after its lackluster performance at Ohio State, but the Badgers were due for a letdown after consecutive massive wins. UW has three top-10 wins of the season (two more than Michigan State), just beat the Spartans by 21, and had head coach Tom Izzo admit that he thought UW was a little better than his team before the blowout.

UW has a lot of really good pieces that can give teams some problems, but all of that becomes moot when they play as passively as they did against the Buckeyes.

That won't cut it on Sunday after one of the best defenses in the country.

Up Next: Sunday vs. Iowa

6, Michigan State Spartans (21-5, 11-4) Previous: 5

Michigan State took some frustrations out on UCLA and, surprisingly, did it with offense. The Spartans were 8 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished with a season-high 14 3-pointers on 27 attempts.

The Spartans have their share of flaws, including inconsistency from the perimeter, but balancing their highly-ranked defense (sixth in defensive efficiency) with some outside shooting would take them to a higher level.

Up Next: Sunday vs. Ohio State

Met the moment 😤

Bennett Stirtz was the game-changer in @IowaHoops’ win over No. 9 Nebraska with 25 points 🙌 pic.twitter.com/FSWEGNHbrp
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 18, 2026

7, Iowa Hawkeyes (19-7, 9-6) Previous: 9

After suffering a bad road loss at Maryland and getting humbled by Purdue, the Hawkeyes got back on track with a huge Quad-1A win over Nebraska to give them a signature win.

It wasn't pretty, as the Hawkeyes were 7 of 28 from the field in the second half, including 3 for 13 on 3-pointers, but Iowa again relied on Bennett Stirtz. Of his 25 points, Stirtz had 10 of Iowa’s final 14 points. His jumper with 5:38 left gave the Hawkeyes a 47-45 lead, then he added a step-back 3 only 40 seconds later.

The Hawkeyes rank No.32 in adjusted defensive efficiency but are No.13 nationally in scoring defense (64.9).

Up Next: Sunday at No.24 Wisconsin

8, Indiana Hoosiers (17-9, 8-7) Previous 7

The Hoosiers' success against power-conference opponents is largely predicated on whether their three-point-heavy rosters hit from the perimeter. Indiana went 6-for-22 in the 20-point loss at Illinois, dropping its record to 2-4 against major schools when it makes fewer than 10 three-point makes.

Up Next: Thursday at No.7 Purdue

9, Ohio State Buckeyes (17-9, 9-6), Previous: 10

The Buckeyes have picked up two critical home wins over USC and No.24 Wisconsin to start boosting their postseason hopes with a pair of Quad-2 wins.

Ohio State shot 51.7 percent in the first half, including 6 for 13 from 3-point range, to build a 38-26 lead at the break that kept growing in the second half. The Buckeyes were 11 for 21 from three-point range.

The Buckeyes still need a Quad-1 win, which is what their next three games will be.

Up Next: Sunday at No.15 Michigan State

UCLA coach Mick Cronin's thoughts on the Michigan State student section. @ThisistheIZZONE pic.twitter.com/7pJJHEs7sQ
— Owen Oszust (@Owen_Oszust) February 18, 2026

10, UCLA Bruins (17-7, 9-4) Previous: 8

The Bruins bombed on their final two-game road trip of the season, losing by 30 points at Michigan and by 23 at Michigan State.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 22 points, but the Bruins didn't put another player in double figures until Skyy Clark hit some late shots to finish with 12 points.

It was the first time since the 1944-45 season that the Bruins lost consecutive games by at least 20 points, but the talk after was how head coach Mick Cronin felt it necessary to eject his own player after a flagrant-1 foul and unnecessarily snap at a reporter who he felt raised his voice at him after what he called a dumb question.

Picked third in the preseason poll, it feels like Cronin has lost his locker room as the Bruins' season is spiraling.

Up Next: Saturday vs. No.10 Illinois

11, USC Trojans (18-8, 7-8) Previous: 8

Already without Chad Maker-Mazara (knee sprain) and having rising freshman Alijah Arenas battling illness, the Trojans didn't have much of a chance. USC only has two wins over Big Ten teams with winning conference records, including the Quad-1 win at Wisconsin. There's not much else to get excited about, which makes the last five conference games - including a home-and-home with UCLA - critical to their postseason hopes.

Up Next: Friday vs. Oregon

12, Washington Huskies (13-13, 5-10) Previous: 13

Hannes Steinbach scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting, and Zoom Diallo scored 17 points, helping the Huskies end a three-game losing streak with a weekend win over Minnesota. Washington shot 63 percent, including 25 of 33 (76 percent) from two.

Despite all their injuries, the Huskies are still in the running for a postseason bid with their solid computer numbers at No.46 in KenPom and No.53 in the NET.

Up Next: Friday at Maryland

13, Minnesota Gophers (12-14, 5-10): Previous: 12

After struggling to shut down Washington's interior presence, the Gophers did a better job defensively against Oregon. Holding the Ducks to 18-for-33 on twos and 2-for-20 on threes, the Gophers won on the road for the first time since January 3.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Rutgers

14, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-15, 4-11): Previous: 16

It will be hard for Tariq Francis to crack the top three Big Ten all-conference teams, but he's been a solid contributor for the Scarlet Knights. Averaging a team-best 16.8 points per game, Francis had 21 points in a road win at Maryland and 22 points and seven assists in a win at Penn State. It's the first two-game winning streak for Rutgers since late December.

Up Next: Saturday at Minnesota

Nick Martinelli notched his @bigten-leading 1️⃣9️⃣th 20+ point game in @NUMensBball’s 78-74 win over Maryland 🎬🔥 pic.twitter.com/D1jn24uDMc
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 19, 2026

15, Northwestern Wildcats (11-16, 3-13) Previous: 16

Northwestern's overall record will likely hurt Nick Martinelli's candidacy for first-team all-conference honors, but there's no doubt the senior forward is a scorer. His 29 points in Northwestern's 78-74 win over Maryland were his 19th 20-point game of the season. He's averaging 22.3 points (eighth nationally), 6.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on the season. It's a shame he's stuck on such a bad team.

Up Next: Saturday at No.7 Nebraska

16, Maryland Terrapins (10-14, 3-10) Previous: 15

Back-to-back wins over Iowa and at Minnesota did not build momentum for Maryland, which promptly lost winnable road games at Rutgers and Northwestern. Could Buzz Williams be one-and-done in College Park?

Up next: Saturday vs. Washington

17, Oregon Ducks (9-17, 2-13) Previous: 18

Nate Bittle scored 15 points on a night where everything was a struggle for the Ducks against the Gophers. Oregon has lost 11 of 12.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Rutgers

18, Penn State Nittany Lions (11-15, 2-13) Previous: 14

Instead of building momentum from its win at Washington, the Nittany Lions lost consecutive winnable games at Oregon and at home against Rutgers.

Up Next: Saturday at No.9 Nebraska