Mat Mlodzinski gives his Big Ten basketball power rankings heading into the New Year!
Week 7/8 team of the week: Illinois
Week 7/8 game of the week: UCLA – 90, Arizona State – 77
Week 7/8 player of the week: Tariq Francis, Rutgers
Week 9 matchup of the week: #9 Michigan State at #13 Nebraska (Jan. 2 – 9 p.m.)
Week 9 under-the-radar matchup of the week: UCLA at #25 Iowa (Jan. 3 – 6 p.m.)
All games listed are EST
1) Michigan Wolverines
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 12-0 (2-0)
Last week: W vs. La Salle (102-50), W vs. McNeese (112-71)
Next week: vs. #24 USC (Jan. 2 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Gonzaga (Neutral), Auburn (Neutral), Villanova, San Diego State (Neutral), at TCU, Wake Forest
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Making games interesting for the rest of us
Michigan has rolled through everyone who dares to step in its way. Can we get some fun, close games for a change in 2026?
2) Purdue Boilermakers
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 12-1 (2-0)
Last week: W vs. #21 Auburn (88-60), W vs. Kent State (101-60)
Next week: at Wisconsin (Jan. 3 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Alabama, Texas Tech, Auburn
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Get Braden Smith the record!
Entering 2026, Braden Smith will be 196 assists away from becoming the all-time leader in Division I college basketball. That’s an average of 10.9 assists per game if he wants to break it in the regular season finale on Mar. 7 against Wisconsin.
3) Illinois Fighting Illini
Last week’s ranking: 4 (+1)
Record: 10-3 (1-1)
Last week: W vs. Missouri (91-48), W vs. Southern (90-55)
Next week: at Penn State (Jan. 3 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas Tech, at Ohio State, Tennessee, Missouri
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Get Mihailo Petrovic going
Petrovic figured to be a huge piece of Illinois this season, but an injury and a slow start have really derailed his start. However, there’s still a lot of time left, and although it’s a small sample size, he did have four points and two assists in 10 minutes against Southern.
4) Nebraska Cornhuskers
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-1)
Record: 12-0 (2-0)
Last week: W vs. North Dakota (78-55)
Next week: vs. New Hampshire (Dec. 30 – 9 p.m.), vs. #9 Michigan State (Jan. 2 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Creighton, New Mexico
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Start strong in Big Ten basketball play
On Jan. 2, Nebraska will face Michigan State in a top-25 battle. There are some people who don’t totally believe in the Cornhuskers just yet, but a win over the Spartans may finally make everyone out there true Nebrasketball believers!
5) Michigan State Spartans
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-)
Record: 12-1 (2-0)
Last week: W vs. Toledo (92-69), W vs. Oakland (79-70), W vs. Cornell (114-97)
Next week: at #13 Nebraska (Jan. 2 – 9 p.m.)
Quality wins: North Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Get Cam Ward his confidence back
After a great start to the season, Cam Ward has cooled off, scoring just 12 total points over his last five games. In the first eight games of the season, he topped double-digits twice and never scored below five points in a game. More consistency from Ward could bring the Spartans to a championship level.
6) UCLA Bruins
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+1)
Record: 10-3 (2-0)
Last week: W vs. Arizona State (90-77), W vs. Cal Poly (108-87), W vs. UC Riverside (97-65)
Next week: at Iowa (Jan. 3 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Washington, Arizona State
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Figure out how to rebound
In some games, like against UC Riverside, the Bruins showed some competence. But in a game against Cal Poly, where they were outrebounded, 28-21, you’re left shaking your head. For UCLA to be a true contender, they’ve got to figure out how to corral more boards.
7) USC Trojans
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-1)
Record: 12-1 (1-1)
Last week: W at UTSA (97-70), W vs. UC Santa Cruz (102-63)
Next week: at #2 Michigan (Jan. 2 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Seton Hall (Neutral), Arizona State (Neutral), at Oregon
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Unleash Gabe Dynes
Dynes, a 7-foot-5 monster, is averaging 1.1 blocks per game in less than 10 minutes of action. Against a non-DI opponent in UC Santa Cruz, he went off, going for 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 assists in 22 minutes. While he’s still getting his feet under him, Dynes could be a game-changer in Big Ten basketball play.
8) Ohio State Buckeyes
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)
Record: 9-3 (1-1)
Last week: L vs. #12 North Carolina (71-70), W vs. Grambling (89-63)
Next week: at Rutgers (Jan. 2 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: West Virginia, Notre Dame
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Consistency from Brandon Noel
In some games, Noel’s been a non-factor. In other games, like against Northwestern, when he had 29 points on 13-of-15 shooting, you wonder why you can’t see that in more games. Sure, this is Bruce Thornton’s team, and there are other guys in the mix, but you wonder how great Ohio State could be if Noel could be a nightly player.
9) Iowa Hawkeyes
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 11-2 (1-1)
Last week: W vs. Bucknell (94-39), W vs. UMass Lowell (90-62)
Next week: vs. UCLA (Jan. 3 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: Xavier, Ole Miss
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Find a true second option
Giving Bennett Stirtz the ball is fun and all, but both of Iowa’s losses have shown that good defensive teams take him out of the picture. If the Hawkeyes are serious about making a statement, they’ve got to get more offensively from Tavion Banks or Alvaro Folgueiras.
10) Indiana Hoosiers
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 10-3 (1-1)
Last week: W vs. Chicago State (78-58), W vs. Siena (81-60)
Next week: vs. Washington (Jan. 4 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Kansas State
Bad losses: at Minnesota
New Year’s Resolution: Get Jasai Miles going
Not every mid-major transfer translates well to Power Five basketball, but it’s important for Indiana to get more out of Miles. The North Florida transfer was putting up over 15 points and more than 6 rebounds, but as a Hoosier, it’s only 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds. He hasn’t made a field goal since Nov. 12, and minutes have been hard to come by, but it doesn’t make sense how a scorer of that caliber can’t add something more.
11) Washington Huskies
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 9-4 (1-1)
Last week: L at Seattle (70-66), W vs. San Diego (86-56), W vs. Utah (74-65)
Next week: at Indiana (Jan. 4 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: at USC
Bad losses: at Seattle
New Year’s Resolution: Better ball movement
Washington has a lot of scoring talent, but it isn’t all gelling, as the Huskies are only averaging 14.0 assists as a team. Desmond Claude is one guy who can change that. After dishing out 4.2 dimes per game with USC last year, he’s down to 2.4 with Washington.
12) Northwestern Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 7-5 (0-2)
Last week: W vs. Valpo (86-70), L vs. Butler (61-58)
Next week: vs. Howard (Dec. 30 – 5 p.m.), vs. Minnesota (Jan. 3 – 5 p.m.)
Quality wins: South Carolina
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Find out how to win close games
It was my word to describe Northwestern last week, and it proved true again with a three-point loss to Butler. The Wildcats can’t avoid losing close games. They are a few buckets away from being a tournament contender, so getting that figured out in Big Ten basketball play is going to be crucial.
13) Wisconsin Badgers
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-1)
Record: 8-4 (1-1)
Last week: L vs. Villanova (76-66), W vs. Central Michigan (88-61)
Next week: vs. Milwaukee (Dec. 30 – 7 p.m.), vs. #5 Purdue (Jan. 3 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Providence
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Starting faster
In all of Wisconsin’s losses, the common theme has been slow starts. The Badgers (we think) have a lot of talent on the floor, but they continue to put themselves in tough spots out of the gate. Even if they are a second half team, they’ve got to close the gap in the first 20 minutes.
14) Oregon Ducks
Last week’s ranking: 17 (+3)
Record: 7-6 (0-2)
Last week: W vs. Portland (94-69), L vs. #7 Gonzaga (91-82), W vs. Omaha (80-57)
Next week: at Maryland (Jan. 2 – 7:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Ride the wave into conference play
Oregon had an awful non-conference until the last few games, with a pair of blowout wins and a close one with Gonzaga. The Ducks have a few winnable games to start before Big Ten basketball takes full shape for them later on in mid-January.
15) Maryland Terrapins
Last week’s ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 7-6 (0-2)
Last week: L at #23 Virginia (80-72), W vs. Old Dominion (73-58)
Next week: vs. Oregon (Jan. 2 – 7:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: DEFENSE
Buzz Williams has had a hard time keeping teams from dropping triple digits on the Terps. So far, it’s happened three times (albeit it was Michigan, Alabama, and Gonzaga). But besides those games, Maryland has still not done a great job on that end of the floor, and it’ll only get harder in conference play.
16) Minnesota Golden Gophers
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-1)
Record: 8-5 (1-1)
Last week: W vs. Campbell (78-50), W vs. FDU (60-43)
Next week: at Northwestern (Jan. 3 – 5 p.m.)
Quality wins: Indiana
Bad losses: Stanford
New Year’s Resolution: Three-point shooting
Minnesota is a few percentage points higher from almost being a solid team in the Big Ten. Defensively, they’ve shown a lot. Offensively, it’s come and gone, but with better shots from outside, that could change. Isaac Asuma and Chansey Willis are both shooting far worse than they did last season, which could be a quick fix.
17) Penn State Nittany Lions
Last week’s ranking: 16 (-1)
Record: 9-4 (0-2)
Last week: L vs. Pitt (80-46), W vs. NC Central (90-67)
Next week: vs. #20 Illinois (Jan. 20 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Buckle up for Big Ten basketball
Happy 2026 to you, Penn State! Your gift? Illinois, Michigan, and Purdue, in an eight day stretch.
18) Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Last week’s ranking: 18 (-)
Record: 7-6 (0-2)
Last week: W vs. Penn (70-69), W vs. Delaware State (65-60)
Next week: vs. Ohio State (Jan. 2 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: CCSU
New Year’s Resolution: Don’t go winless in conference
Rutgers is by far the worst team in the Big Ten, and the goal for them is simple – win at least one game against a Big Ten opponent. Do we think they’re up for the challenge?