Big Ten Basketball Power Ranking Through Nov. 26
By Jeremy Karll
No. 14 – No. 10
14. Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3): Penn State only lost by 10 to Duke, but they got embarrassed by Cincinnati and suffered a six-point loss to Albany to start the season. The Nittany Lions are supposed to finish near the bottom of the conference, and right now they’re showing why. Penn State is playing better as of late, but not enough to move out of the bottom spot.
13. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-3): Iowa is young and will get better as the season goes on. That being said, they lost by 33 points to Virginia, and looked bad in crunch time against both Seton Hall and Memphis. Iowa is the only team not above .500 in the conference, but at least they’re dominating mid-majors. Next step is to beat a decent team.
12. Illinois Fighting Illini (4-3): John Groce‘s job is starting to look less and less safe. After a 4-0 start, Illinois lost to Winthrop then ranked West Virginia and Florida State. Losing to West Virginia by 32 points won’t sit well with the Illini, but at least they played a ranked Florida State team tough. Illinois still lost to Winthrop, though, which hurts no matter how good they are.
11. Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-1): Nebraska has had a fairly easy schedule to start the year, but give them credit. They took down a good Dayton team 80-78 and hung tough against UCLA. The Bruins are one of the best teams in the nation right now, and the Cornhuskers outscored them by two in the second half. Nebraska needs to prove they can keep this up.
10. Northwestern Wildcats (4-2): Maybe Texas is overrated, but Northwestern handily beat them 77-58 to give Chris Collins one of the most impressive wins of his career. That being said, the Wildcats lost to Butler and Notre Dame, but by a mere six points combined. Northwestern could be 6-0 right now, but losing those games speak volume. The Wildcats need to win them if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.