Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Wisconsin and Nebraska make gains after start to league play

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Ethan Happ #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrates the 59-54 win over the Maryland Terrapins during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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DURHAM, NC – NOVEMBER 27: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers walks to the bench against the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 27, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

5. Indiana Hoosiers (7-2)

Previous rank: 5

It’s not Indiana’s fault that they drew the hardest team in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Before that they did fall to Arkansas. It would’ve been a nice road win, but instead they lost. That seems to not be not much of a problem. Their best win to date so far is Marquette. The Golden Eagles will figure it out in a down Big East this season. The Hoosiers then got Northwestern as their first Big Ten game and then it’s Penn State. Not the best, but Indiana has play-makers.

This was one of the more difficult teams to figure out. They were fifth in the last rankings which included to the loss to the Razorbacks. Their only pitfall was losing to Duke. A lot of teams will be losing to the Blue Devils this season. There’s no doubt that Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan are fantastic players. But Duke had an answer for Morgan. They also limited Langford to just 13 points. Both guys are averaging over 16 points per game.

Finding a consistent third scorer was the question mark at the beginning of the season and it’s continuing to hold true. When everyone is healthy, they can go five deep off the bench. Along with the top-two, Justin Smith and Rob Phinisee have started all eight games this year. Smith was a high recruit last year and Phinisee was an under the radar recruit this year. The sophomore is averaging just under 10 points per game while the freshman is the lead point guard.

Indiana hasn’t done anything bad to shoot them down and the only eye-popping thing they have done is beat Marquette by 23. So just breaking the top-five is still a good spot for the Hoosiers. Indiana also has a point to say they have one of the best one-two punches in the Big Ten as the next four teams are just as good.

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