Big Ten Power Rankings (Feb. 1): Michigan Still Tops; Purdue-Ohio State Debate Continues

Michigan is on a two-week hiatus because of COVID, and there's been plenty of movement behind them. The great debate continues though, between Purdue and Ohio State.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Michigan is on a forced hiatus for two weeks through no fault of its own, and the Wolverines are staying on top of our Big Ten power rankings. But there's been a whole lot of shuffling below them.

The Illinois-Iowa showdown on Friday lived up to the hype, and it was a great game that impacted the rankings. And a few teams that have hit the skids finally have to pay for it with deep drops. We see you, Wisconsin and Minnesota and Northwestern.

I caught a lot of flak last week for ranking Ohio State behind Purdue, and I get it, but I'm still holding those two losses to Purdue against them. As long as the Boilermakers keep winning, I'm keeping them in front.

And then there's the story of the Michigan State Spartans, who returned to play this week – and got drilled twice. They've only won two Big Ten games all year and are bottoming out in our rankings. Never thought I'd see this.

Here are my rankings, from No. 1 to No. 14. Please weigh in with your thoughts.

1. Michigan Wolverines

• Record so far: 13-1 overall, 8-1 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 4, Coaches No. 4, kenpom.com No. 3
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 1
• Last week: Versus Indiana (ppd.)
• This week: At Northwestern (ppd.);
• The skinny: Michigan doesn't have a game scheduled now until Feb. 11, which really stinks for them. The Wolverines players have done everything right, and still got caught up in the department-wide shutdown by the state healthy department when 22 other Michigan athletes tested positive. There were 11 more positive tests this week.

2. Illinois Fighting Illini

• Record so far: 11-5 overall, 7-3 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 19, Coaches No. 22, kenpom.com No. 7
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 3
• Last week: Beat Iowa 80-75
• This week: At Indiana (Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET): Versus Wisconsin (Saturday, 2:30 pm. ET)
• The skinny: The Illini continue their climb up the rankings after an impressive 80-75 win over Iowa last Friday. Senior guard Trent Frazier really stepped up, scoring 24 points in the win. He's the extra piece Illinois needs to beat the big boys.

3. Iowa Hawkeyes

• Record so far: 12-4 overall, 6-3 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 7, Coaches No. 7, kenpom.com No. 5
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 2
• Last week: Lost at Illinois 80-75
• This week: Versus Michigan State (Tuesday, 7 p.m ET); Versus Ohio State (Thursday 7 p.m. ET), At Indiana (Sunday, Noon ET)
• The skinny: The Hawkeyes are suddenly on a two-game losing streak after falling to Illinois last Friday. It's the second-straight game where they struggled to score in the second half, and that's something that needs to get fixed quickly. Two home games this week should help before that trip to Indiana. Busy week, for sure.

4. Purdue Boilermakers

• Record so far: 12-6 overall, 7-4 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 37, Coaches No. 36, kenpom.com No. 24
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 5
• Last week: Beat Minnesota 81-62
• This week: At Maryland (Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET); Versus Northwestern (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: Purdue is far ahead of schedule this season, as one of its freshmen seems to step up and lead them to a win. This time it was redshirt freshman Brandon Newman, who scored 29 points in the comeback win over Minnesota. Two more winnable games this week, though that road trip to Maryland could be a land mine.

5. Ohio State Buckeyes

• Record so far: 14-4 overall, 8-4 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 13, Coaches No. 15, kenpom.com No. 10
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 6
• Last week: Beat Penn State 83-79, Beat Michigan State 79-62
• This week: At Iowa (Thursday, 7 p.m. ET);
• The skinny: Ohio State just keeps winning, and those eight Big Ten wins certainly can't be overlooked. There's an argument to be made that they could be as high as No. 2 in the Big Ten rankings, but I'm leaving them here for now. Looking forward to Thursday's game, which is the best game of the week in my book.

6. Wisconsin Badgers

• Record so far: 13-5 overall, 7-4 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 14, Coaches No. 13, kenpom.com No. 13
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 4
• Last week: Won at Maryland 61-55; Lost at Penn State 81-71
• This week: Versus Penn State (Tuesday 7 p.m. ET); At Illinois (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: Wisconsin stumbled again, losing at Penn State, and now that's three losses in the past three weeks. I can't recall a Wisconsin team giving up 50 second-half points like they did against the Nittany Lions. This team has too much talent – especially experienced talent – to be losing like this.

7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

• Record so far: 10-6 overall, 6-6 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 26
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 9
• Last week: Beat Michigan State 67-37; Beat Northwestern 64-58
• This week: Versus Minnesota (Thursday, 9 p.m. ET);
• The skinny: Rutgers had a pair of firsts lately, beating Indiana in Assembly Hall last Sunday and then beating Michigan State for the first time ever this week Getting another win on the road Sunday night at Northwestern means the Scarlet Knights are back for sure, with three straight wins after that five-game losing streak. The lineup changes have turned this team around.

8. Indiana Hoosiers

• Record so far: 9-7 overall, 4-5 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 27
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 8
• Last week: At Michigan (ppd.)
• This week: Versus Illinois (Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET) Versus Iowa (Sunday, Noon ET)
• The skinny: Indiana didn't play all week, so nothing to see here. They've only played two games in the last 19 days, so it's going to be interesting what they bring to the table on Tuesday against Illinois. Tough week for the Hoosiers.

9. Minnesota Golden Gophers

• Record so far: 11-6 overall, 4-6 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: AP No. 21, Coaches No. 20, kenpom.com No. 40
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 7
• Last week: Lost at Purdue 81-62
• This week: At Rutgers (Thursday, 9 p.m. ET);
• The skinny: The Gophers continue to tumble in the rankings after blowing a 14-point lead and losing by 19 to Purdue. Marcus Carr going 2-for-13 never helps, but that second half was a disaster on both ends of the floor. This team still cannot win on the road in the Big Ten (0-5), which is a Minnesota tradition.

10. Penn State Nittany Lions

• Record so far: 6-7 overall, 3-6 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 35
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 13
• Last week: Lost at Ohio State 83-79; Beat Wisconsin 81-71
• This week: At Wisconsin (Tuesday 7 p.m. ET); Versus Maryland (Friday, 7 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: Penn State has won three of for now after that impressive home win against Wisconsin. Heck, they could have won that Ohio State game, too. Jim Ferry is doing a nice job as interim head coach now that they're back in a routine. Quick rematch with Wisconsin Tuesday just never happens in a Big Ten schedule. Let's see how that goes.

11. Maryland Terrapins

• Record so far: 9-8 overall, 3-7 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 44
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 12
• Last week: Lost to Wisconsin 61-55
• This week: Versus Purdue (Tuesday 6:30 p.m. ET); At Penn State (Friday, 7 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: The Terrapins are still struggling to score, and it's going to be interesting to see if they can put a nice week together.

12. Northwestern Wildcats

• Record so far: 6-9 overall, 3-8 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 74
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 10
• Last week: Lost to Rutgers 64-58
• This week: Versus Michigan (ppd.); At Purdue (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: Northwestern has lost eight in a row now, which can happen in this league when things start to go sideways. Too many stretches of not being able to score is still holding this team down.

13. Michigan State Spartans

• Record so far: 8-6 overall, 2-6 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: Coaches No. 40, kenpom.com No. 62
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 11
• Last week: Lost at Rutgers 67-37; Lost at Ohio State 79-62
• This week: At Iowa (Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET); Versus Nebraska (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: The Spartans went three weeks without a game because of COVID-19 issues inside the program, and they really struggled this week in their return, getting blown out twice by Rutgers (30) and Ohio State (17). It's stunning that this team was once ranked No. 4 in the COUNTRY earlier this year. Lots of problems with this team.

14. Nebraska Cornhuskers

• Record so far: 4-8 overall, 0-5 in the Big Ten
• Current national ranking: kenpom.com No. 123
• Previous Big Ten power rank: No. 14
• Last week: Penn State (ppd.)
• This week: At Michigan State (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET)
• The skinny: Fred Hoiberg's team is back to practice this week and they'll be back o the floor on Saturday for the first time in 27 days. No idea what to expect from them either.