Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Michigan makes big statement to start the season

By Austin Walther

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Josh Reaves
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Josh Reaves /

13. Penn State Nittany Lions (2-1)

Speaking of a team that misses a player who left for the NBA. Penn State really misses you, Tony Carr. But honestly they miss Mike Watkins right now. He’s yet to return from his injury he sustained late last season. Satchel Pierce will be a nice addition once he returns too.

It’s a tossup between the first three teams mentioned in these rankings. I already told you that Rutgers’ history has them cursed right now. The reason for the Nittany Lions being so low is their loss to DePaul. Could the Blue Demons be better this year than they have in a while? Maybe. That wouldn’t be hard as they haven’t won more than 12 games since the 2006-07 season. But nonetheless, Penn State was not expecting to fall to DePaul.

Nothing really stood out in their first two games either. They took care of business against North Florida and Jacksonville State. They weren’t blow outs, but the defense was decent and the offense looked alright. We touched on Lamar Stevens earlier and the guy can play. He’s averaging over 24 points per game, hanging onto the double-double with just over 10 boards. Josh Reaves has taken over as the point guard with 4.7 assists per game.

Penn State has four guys in double-figures, but from there, it’s down to just over four points per game. Two guys that are not averaging double-digits are starters. That doesn’t stand out well. Myles Dread and Rasir Bolten are producing very well for Penn State in their freshmen seasons. Dread has made 10 three-pointers this season while Bolton is coming off the bench and averaging over 14 points per game.

Things will get better once Watkins returns. But then again, the Big Ten is deep this year. It’ll be hard for teams in this area to move up because the team ranked number nine is Tournament worthy. Penn State has a couple good ACC teams on their non-conference slate later on which will give them a nice opportunity.

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