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Wisconsin Badgers holding steady while things shake up in the Big Ten Power Rankings

Wisconsin is one of 14 teams in the Big Ten that have started 3-0 in 2025-26.
Benjamin Worgull|
John Blackwell (25) is shown during a Wisconsin men’s basketball scrimmage Sunday, October 19, 2025 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
John Blackwell (25) is shown during a Wisconsin men’s basketball scrimmage Sunday, October 19, 2025 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Big Ten is starting to flex its depth.

After every team began the 2025-26 season with a victory, the Big Ten is starting to pile up quality performances. Two teams have beaten top 15 teams, another two programs have knocked off a power-conference opponent, and the league's only losses have been to teams in the Big East, Big 12, and SEC.

Entering tonight, the Big Ten has a 45-3 overall record, the highest win percentage (.938) of any conference in the country. Eleven Big Ten teams are ranked in this week's Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, with another five receiving votes in both polls.

With so much depth, the second installment of our Big Ten Power Rankings have a shakeup at the top.

1, Illinois Fighting Illini (3-0) Previous: 3

Illinois returned less than half of its minutes from last season, but Brad Underwood is seeing his team of European talent click from the onset. The Illini scored 113 points in their first two games and then knocked off No.14 Texas Tech in Champaign, the conference's best-ranked win to this point.

The win over the Red Raiders showed the depth of the Illini's offense. Andrej Stojakovic scored 23 points, Kylan Boswell had 22 points and three players — David Mirkovich, Keaton Wagler and Zvonimir Ivisic — each scored 11. Illinois went 16 for 23 at the free-throw line, while Texas Tech was 3 of 4. The Illini are ranked fourth in KenPom.

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

Point guard Braden Smith scored 20 points and led six Purdue scorers in doubles figures, but the Boilers struggled to beat Oakland on Friday. The Golden Grizzlies lost by 43 to Michigan but had the game tied at halftime and were within three with 7:53 remaining until Purdue pulled away.

The Boilermakers played without Trey Kaufman-Renn for a second straight game. Oakland outrebounded Purdue by two but the Boilers' guard made up for it by going 13 for 35 shots from 3-point range. Purdue's test tonight at No.8 Alabama will be a better barometer of how good this team is.

3, Michigan State Spartans (2-0) Previous: 6

Facing an Arkansas defense that ranks 16th in adjusted defensive efficiency, Michigan State grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and converted them into 18 points in a 69-66 victory over the nation's No.14 team. The Spartans averaged 1.16 points per possession. MSU freshman Cam Ward outplayed John Calipari's highly touted freshmen with a double-double (18 pts, 10 rbds), while leading returning scorer Coen Carr had 15 points and seven.

4, Michigan Wolverines (3-0) Previous: 2

Needing to replace frontcourt behemoths Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, Michigan coach Dusty May landed UCLA transfer 7-3 junior Aday Mara from the portal. In two games with his new Big Ten squad, Mara is averaging 15.0 pts and 12.5 rebounds, none bigger than his 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks in Michigan's 85-84 overtime win over Wake Forest in Detroit.

5, Indiana Hoosiers (3-0) Previous 7

Hired to run a program that had no scholarship players returning, Darian DeVries has made the Hoosiers one of the Big Ten's biggest November storylines. Winning their three games by a combined 33.7 points, including a dominant 100-77 victory over Marquette in Chicago, the Hoosiers' offense has hummed. Indiana has hit 38 three-pointers this season and has a top 10 3-point shooting and effective field goal numbers per KenPom. Indiana is sharing the ball with 73 assists on 103 made field goals in the first three games (top 10 nationally in assist rate) and is averaging 99.7 points per game on the season.

6, Wisconsin Badgers (3-0) Previous: 5

Wisconsin has had a different leading scorer in all three mid-major wins (John Blackwell, Nick Boyd, and Nolan Winter), registering three 20+ victories in games where the offense hasn't flowed smoothly throughout. More importantly for the Badgers is that the defense continues to improve. An issue periodically last season, UW currently ranks 24th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency.

7, UCLA Bruins (3-0) Previous: 4

Guard Donovan Dent was held out for precautionary reasons with a muscle strain, but UCLA didn't need him in an 83-62 victory over West Georgia. Like Purdue, we'll get a good sense of how good the Bruins are when they play No.5 Arizona in Inglewood, Calif., on Friday.

8, USC Trojans (1-0) Previous: 12

It appears USC has found its lineup. Following a 114-83 victory over Manhattan, a win that set a new Galen Center record after the Trojans scored 62 points in the paint, he Trojans' lineup have a +131.2 net rating and 28.1 defensive rating according to CBB Analytics, ranking in the in the 99th percentile of those stat categories. Senior Chad Baker-Mazara has been stellar, especially with his career-high 26 points against the Jaspers.

9, Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-0) Previous: 8

A healthy Rienk Mast is going to make the Huskers surpass their projective 14th-place finish in the preseason conference media poll. Mast became the first Husker in five years to record a triple-double as he finished with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 12 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in a blowout over Florida International.

The Huskers went 17-of-34 from beyond the stripe, shot 55 percent from the field, put five players in double figures and dished out 29 assists, the team’s highest total since Dec. 21, 1994. Nebraska has a bigger test coming up this week against Oklahoma in Sioux Falls, S.D.

10, Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0), Previous: 10

The Buckeyes were down 12 midways through the first half against Appalachian State before finally getting some shots to fall in a 22-point victory. Despite missing 12 of its first 13 shots, Ohio State's offense has been efficient at 120.4 points per 100 possessions (14th nationally in KenPom). The defense has been problematic, as the Buckeyes rank 87th in defensive efficiency (tied for last in the Big Ten).

11, Northwestern Wildcats (3-0) Previous: 15

Forward Nick Martinelli continues to score, as his 21 points against Cleveland State give him a 19.3 ppg average through three games, but the Wildcats have some balance with seven players averaging at least seven points. The Wildcats have held all three opponents to under 65 points thus far. Northwestern improved to 46-4 over the last four seasons when surrendering 65 or fewer points, which is the best win percentage in the Big Ten over that span.

12, Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0) Previous: 14

Senior Bennett Stirtz, who was the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, is averaging 21.5 points, 6.5 assists and three steals per game with shooting splits of .619/.500/.917. Stirtz is the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 in points (1,661) and assists (445) and he is one of six to have 1,500 points and 350 assists.

13, Oregon Ducks (3-0) Previous: 13

The Ducks are 351st nationally in three-point shooting (20.5 percent), having made just 9 of 44 from three in its two nail-biting wins over Hawaii and Rice. first two games. They were slightly better in its Wednesday win over South Dakota State at 37.5 percent, but the Ducks' 15 three-pointers were partly a result of a program-record 40 attempts.

Head coach Dana Altman bemoaned his team's lack of physicality and settling for shots, which have been problematic thus far.

14, Maryland Terrapins (2-1) Previous: 9

Buzz Williams has his new program playing defense, ranking in the top 20 in adjusted defensive efficiency, but the offense has been inconsistent. The Terps shot just 25.0 percent in a 10-point home loss to Georgetown (4-for-21 3FG) and struggled to pull away from winless Alcorn State. Maryland's road game at Marquette Saturday will be intriguing on a number of fronts for the Terps and for Williams, who was with the Golden Eagles from 2007-14.

15, Washington Huskies (2-1) Previous: 11

The Huskies outrebounded Baylor 42-33 and had a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint but made just 3 of 20 (15 percent) from 3-point range in their nine-point loss in Waco. Hannes Steinbach, a 6-foot-11 freshman, had 10 points and 15 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

16, Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) Previous: 18

Not many Big Ten teams would play a road game in West Haven, CT, against a team from the Northeast Conference, but Penn State did and cruised. The Nittany Lions returned just 14.6 percent of points, 11.0 percent of rebounds, 12.5 percent of assists from last season in its three returners. Two of them - Freddie Dilione V and Dominick Stewart - are averaging 11.0 ppg while guard newcomers Kayden Mingo (17.0 ppg) and Melih Tunca (13.3 ppg).

17, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-0): Previous: 17

Denis Badalau scored all 19 of his points in the first half, Dylan Grant had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double and Rutgers beat Maine 72-60 on Monday. Rutgers turned 18 Maine turnovers into 25 points. Rutgers two opponents rank 323rd and 290th in Kenpom.

18, Minnesota Gophers (2-1): Previous: 16

In their first test of the season, the Gophers allowed Missouri to shoot 59.2 percent from the floor and 11-for-22 from the three-point line in a 23-point road loss. The Gophers are tied with Ohio State and Penn State for last in the Big Ten in defensive efficiency.

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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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