Mat Mlodzinski gives his Big Ten basketball power rankings heading into week 3 of the 2025 season.
Week 2 team of the week:Â Illinois
Week 2 game of the week:Â Purdue at Alabama
Week 2 player of the week:Â Braden Smith, Purdue
Week 3 matchup of the week:Â No. 17 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Kentucky (Nov. 18 – 6:30 p.m.)
Week 3 under-the-radar matchup of the week:Â Virginia vs. Northwestern (Nov. 21 – 5 p.m.)
All games listed are EST
1) Purdue Boilermakers
Last week’s ranking: 4 (+3)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W at #8 Alabama (87-80), W vs. Akron (97-79)
Next week: vs. Memphis (Nov. 20 – 6 p.m.), vs. Texas Tech OR Wake Forest (Nov. 21 – TBD)
Quality wins: at Alabama
Bad losses:
Purdue and Alabama played an early-season classic, with the Boilermakers outlasting the Crimson Tide, 87-80. Braden Smith only dished out 4 assists, but led the way with 29 points, hitting 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
This week, Purdue plays in one of the first MTEs, going head-to-head with Memphis on Thursday before taking on the winner or loser of Texas Tech and Wake Forest on Friday. It’ll be a chance to be at three quality wins before Feast Week even begins.
2) Illinois Fighting Illini
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. #11 Texas Tech (81-77), W vs. Colgate (84-65)
Next week: vs. #11 Alabama (Nov. 19 – 9 p.m.), vs. LIU (Nov. 22 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas Tech
Bad losses:
The Fighting Illini picked up a big ranked win, taking down Texas Tech despite 35 points from JT Toppin. Now, they look to beat the No. 11 team in the country for a second straight week as they play Alabama on Wednesday. Big man David Mirkovic is coming off a 27-point, 21-rebound game against Colgate and could be a big factor against the Crimson Tide.
3) Michigan Wolverines
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. Wake Forest (85-85), W at TCU (67-63)
Next week: vs. Middle Tennessee State (Nov. 19 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wake Forest, at TCU
Bad losses:
Did Michigan have two close games against teams they were favored against? Yes. But were they also against proud, Power 5 programs? Also, yes. I’ll cut them some slack, given they challenged themselves last week and won both games. In the first game, it took more offense to outlast Wake Forest. Against TCU, it was about shutting the Horned Frogs down to 37% from the field. It’s impressive when you can win in two differnet ways in a matter of days.
4) Indiana Hoosiers
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-3)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. Milwaukee (101-70), W vs. Incarnate Word (69-61)
Next week: vs. Lindendwood (Nov. 20 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Marquette
Bad losses:
Through three games, Indiana could do no wrong, averaging just under 100 points per game. Then, against Incarnate Word, they struggled, only scoring 69 in the 8-point win. Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson combined for a rough 6-for-19 day from the field, with Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley coming off the bench to help out, going for 16 and 10, respectively.
This week, it’s just one game against Lindenwood, which is probably a good thing after a bad shooting night from the Hoosiers’ stars.
5) Ohio State Buckeyes
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. App State (75-53), W vs. Notre Dame (64-63)
Next week: vs. Western Michigan (Nov. 20 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Notre Dame
Bad losses:
Ohio State is 4-0 after taking down App State and Notre Dame last week. In the game against the Fighting Irish, Bruce Thornton had 24 points, played 40 minutes, and hit a clutch three down the stretch to give the Buckeyes a 62-59 lead with under four minutes to go. The bench only had six points, so that’s something to work on against WMU on Thursday.
6) Iowa Hawkeyes
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. Xavier (81-62)
Next week: vs. SEMO (Nov. 18 – 8:30 p.m.), vs. Chicago State (Nov. 20 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Xavier
Bad losses:
Iowa picked up a good win over Xavier, which could quickly turn into a win the Hawkeyes were supposed to get, because the Musketeers have had a horrendous start to the season. Still, Iowa shot 57% from the floor and outrebounded Xavier, 41-24, showing some great qualities in the blowout win. The biggest takeaway is that while Bennett Stirtz may be the biggest show in Iowa City, he seems to have some pretty good help.
7) Michigan State Spartans
Last week’s ranking: 6 (1)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. San Jose State (79-60)
Next week: vs. #12 Kentucky (Nov. 18 – 6:30 p.m.), vs Detroit Mercy (Nov. 21 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Arkansas
Bad losses:
Michigan State had a buy game against San Jose State, taking them down by 19 and improving to 3-0 on the year. Jaxon Kohler was very impressive, going for 17 points and 18 boards in the win. They’ll need him and others to step up on Tuesday in the Champions Classic as the Spartans look for their second win over an SEC team this season when they take on Kentucky at Madison Square Garden.
8) USC Trojans
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+1)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. Illinois State (87-67)
Next week: vs. Troy (Nov. 20 – 10 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Many people thought Illinois State could be a mid-major team to watch, and USC handled them by 20. The Trojans have another week with just one game, taking on Troy on Thursday, before they head out to the Maui Invitational to get tested for the first time all season.
9) Wisconsin Badgers
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-2)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. Ball State (86-55)
Next week: vs. SIU Edwardsville (Nov. 17 – 8 p.m.), at #9 BYU (Nov. 21 – 4 p.m.),
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Last week, Wisconsin only had one game, taking care of business in a 31-point win over Ball State. But this week, it’ll be a much bigger challenge. First, the Badgers take on an SIUE team that just beat Drake by two. Four days later, they’ve got BYU in Salt Lake City, looking for a big early-season resume win.
10) UCLA Bruins
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)
Record: 3-1
Last week: W vs. West Georgia (83-62), L vs. #5 Arizona (65-69)
Next week: vs. Sacramento State (Nov. 18 – 10:30 p.m.), vs. Presbyterian (Nov. 21 – 10:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
UCLA split last week, blowing out West Georgia at home before falling to Arizona in a competitive old Pac-12 battle by four points. After a rough start to the season, Mick Cronin has to be happy about competing with the Wildcats. However, 16 turnovers and -7 in the rebounding margin are things that must be fixed.
11) Northwestern Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 13 (+2)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. Cleveland State (110-63), W at DePaul (81-79)
Next week: vs. Virginia (Nov. 21 – 5 p.m.), vs. South Carolina (Nov. 21 – 5 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Big props to Northwestern, who blew out Cleveland State by 47 points and held on for a fun win over DePaul, 81-79. The Wildcats are now 4-0, and will head into an MTE this week where they play Virginia and South Carolina. There’s a real chance Chris Collins’ group can start 6-0 and have people believing once again.
12) Washington Huskies
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-2)
Record: 3-1
Last week: W at Washington State (81-69)
Next week: vs. Southern (Nov. 18 – 9:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Washington took down the Cougars in the battle of their state, winning by a dozen. Wesley Yates III was fantastic, going 9-of-16 for 26 points along with 7 rebounds. But what’s not fantastic is that the Huskies only went eight players deep, and Jasir Rencher only played six minutes. That could be a problem going forward.
13) Nebraska Cornhuskers
Last week’s ranking: 14 (+1)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore (69-50), W vs. Oklahoma (105-99)
Next week: vs. New Mexico (Nov. 20 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Oklahoma
Bad losses:
In a game that flew under the radar, the Cornnuskers took down Oklahoma, 105-99. Despite 27 from Nijel Pack, Nebraska weathered the storm to stay undefeated on the season. Pryce Sandfort had 28, Rienk Mast had 26, and Cale Jacobsen had 10 points and 3 rebounds off the bench. This week, Nebraska can try for another solid win over the New Mexico Lobos.
14) Maryland Terrapins
Last week’s ranking: 16 (+2)
Record: 3-1
Last week: W vs. Alcorn State (84-64), W at Marquette (89-82)
Next week: vs. Mount St. Mary’s (Nov. 19 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Marquette
Bad losses:
The Terps made up for a loss to Georgetown by going 2-0 last week and taking down Marquette on the road. It was Buzz Williams’ first return to play the Golden Eagles as a head coach, and he got some bittersweet revenge with the dub – despite 31 points from Chase Ross. Five Terps scored in double-digits in that win, including 18 from Isaiah Watts off the bench.
15) Oregon Ducks
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. South Dakota State (83-69)
Next week: vs. Oregon State (Nov. 17 – 10 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Last week, Oregon looked as best as they have all season, taking down South Dakota State by 14. Jackson Shelstad also looked more like himself, scoring 22 in the win. The Ducks only have one game this week, but it’s in-state rival Oregon State, so one you know they want to win.
16) Penn State Nittany Lions
Last week’s ranking: 18 (+2)
Record: 4-0
Last week: W vs. Navy (80-71), W vs. La Salle (83-69)
Next week: vs. Harvard (Nov. 19 – 6:30 p.m.), vs. Providence (Nov. 22 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
For being ranked last in last week’s Big Ten basketball power rankings, Penn State really showed up, taking down a legitimate Navy team and then La Salle by 14 points. They’re rewarded with challenges in Harvard and Providence this week, so it’s a chance for the Nittany Lions to announce they’re better than given credit for this season.
17) Minnesota Golden Gophers
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-5)
Record: 3-1
Last week: L at Missouri (60-83), W vs. Green Bay (72-65)
Next week: vs. Chicago State (Nov. 18 – 8 p.m.), vs. San Francisco (Nov. 22 – 5:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
After two easy wins to start the season, Minnesota felt it last week. First, they lost by 23 to Missouri. Then, they only beat Green Bay by 7, and it was truly looking like an upset alert for some time. With San Francisco awaiting at the tail end of this week, Minnesota will need to regroup quickly.
18) Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Last week’s ranking: 17 (-1)
Record: 3-0
Last week: W vs. Maine (72-60), W vs. Lehigh (84-72)
Next week: vs. American (Nov. 18 – 6:30 p.m.), vs. CCSU (Nov. 21 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
The Scarlet Knights didn’t blow out anyone last week, but they still beat Maine and Lehigh each by 12 points. It’s tough to gauge if they’ve improved over last year, especially with two more mid-majors next week. But after that, it’s on to the Players Era Festival and a few chances to prove themselves.