At the midway point in December, there is finally more clarity in terms of where each team in the Big Ten stand compared to one another. Here are our first Big Ten basketball power rankings of the 2017-18 season.
14. Iowa (5-6, 0-2)
The Hawkeyes season has been in free fall for well — practically the entire year. Losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and South Dakota State don't help, and neither did its recent four-game losing streak to unranked Power Five schools.
13. Wisconsin (5-7, 1-1)
Wisconsin is lucky to only have seven losses after the bizarre ending against Western Kentucky that resulted in a one-point Wisconsin win.
12. Rutgers (9-3, 0-2)
The nine wins looks nice until you see who they came against. The Scarlet Knights beat NJIT, however, so they aren't the worst team in New Jersey.
11. Nebraska (7-4, 1-1)
Nebraska got a nice win against Boston College, but also lost to UCF. Nothing special here, but certainly capable of an upset every once and a while.
10. Indiana (5-5, 1-1)
The Hoosiers have struggled this year, experiencing growing pains under new coach Archie Miller, who coaches a very different style of basketball than Tom Crean.
9. Illinois (8-4, 0-2)
Another team with a new coach, Illinois started 6-0 before tumbling. It is winning the games it's supposed to and losing to better teams.
8. Northwestern (6-4, 1-1)
Ranked to start the season, the Wildcats may have been a bit overhyped. They've struggled for much of the year and are yet to grab a resume building win.
7. Penn State (8-3, 1-1)
A surprise so far in the Big Ten, Penn State has looked solid and has a win over Pittsburgh. We'll see how long this lasts, however.
6. Maryland (10-3, 1-1)
Steady as usual, the Terps are plugging along. They have a double-digit win against Butler, and losses to St. Bonaventure, Syracuse and Purdue.
5. Ohio State (8-3, 2-0)
A team that has out-performed the expectations of many, the Buckeyes stunned Michigan with a huge comeback and wrecked Wisconsin on the road.
4. Minnesota (9-3, 1-1)
Another team that was ranked to begin the season but has since fallen out. The Gophers are loaded with talent, but double-digit losses to both Nebraska and Arkansas?
3. Michigan (9-3, 1-1)
Despite poor performances against North Carolina and Ohio State, Michigan looks to be a fairly complete team that will grow over the course of the year. Back-to-back wins over UCLA at home and Texas on the road is impressive and are two of the conference's better out of league victories.
2. Purdue (10-2, 2-0)
After puzzling losses to Tennessee and Western Kentucky, the Boilermakers came back with wins against Arizona, Louisville, Maryland and Northwestern. That's a heck of a run for the Big Ten's second-best team.
1. Michigan State (9-1, 2-0)
The Spartans are the clear-cut best team in the Big Ten — and may be in the entire country. Blowout wins against North Carolina and Notre Dame show that Tom Izzo's team is poised for another Final Four run.
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