Big Ten Power Rankings
1) Maryland: A preseason top-five team across every ranking in the country, Maryland isn’t the new guy on the block anymore. Iowa’s win last year was no fluke, but Melo Trimble and Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon will be tough to stop.
2) Michigan State: Every year, the Spartans shock the world and have a better season than anyone could have hoped for. Denzel Valentine, who has probably been there for six seasons now, will lead the Spartans.
3) Indiana: The Hoosiers have Yogi Ferrell, a legit point guard in every sense of the word. They also scored Max Bielfeldt as a transfer from Michigan. The Hoosiers have all the tools to make noise this season.
4) Wisconsin: To put the Badgers any lower would be criminal, because they are a perennial Final Four contender, but losing Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, and Traevon Jackson puts the Badgers in a hole already
4) Purdue: The Boilermakers are poised to make a run in the Big Ten, and the frontcourt will be a huge factor. Centers 7-footer A.J. Hammons, 7-2 Isaac Haas, and forward 6-9 Caleb Swanigan will be matchup nightmares for every team in the Big Ten.
6) Iowa: The life-after-Aaron White Hawkeyes return four starters, and Anthony Clemmons, likely the fifth starter, was one of the best bench players in the conference last season. Key for the Hawkeyes will be their youth, who will need to produce when they’re on the floor.
7) Michigan: The New Jersey Institute of Technology had never played a ranked team before beating Michigan last season. The Wolverines never put everything together a year ago, but they have the pieces to do so.
8) Ohio State: Thad Matta is one of the best coaches in the country and always finds a way to field a good team. The Buckeyes will run into the problem many teams will: The Big Ten is just too good.
9) Illinois: The Illini have loads of talent transferring in or coming in as true freshmen. But they are a team that seems to underachieve year in and year out. New pieces will have to fall in right away for the Illini to make any noise.
10) Northwestern: The Big Ten should probably get 10 teams into the NCAA Tournament this season, but they won’t because the top teams in the conference will beat each other up. The Wildcats will fall victim to that.
11) Penn State: The Nittany Lions knocked Iowa out of the Big Ten Tournament last season, and that counts for at something. But there’s just too much talent in the rest of the conference for Penn State to stay afloat.
12) Minnesota: Sorry, Goldy, it’s nothing personal. The Gophers lost three starters from a year ago, and their youth, combined with the depth of the rest of the conference, doesn’t bode well.
13) Nebraska: Tim Miles is the funniest coach on the planet, but the Huskers have too many newcomers to make much noise. Shavon Shields can only carry the team so far.
14) Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights won two games in the conference last year, and they likely won’t be that good this year. Too many things have to go right for Rutgers to climb out of the cellar.