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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FULLERTON, CA – NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Chris Collins of the Northwestern Wildcats yells to his players in the second half of the game against the Utah Utes during the Wooden Legacy Tournament at Titan Gym on November 25, 2018 in Fullerton, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

12. Northwestern Wildcats (6-3)

Previous rank: 11

Northwestern missed out on having a chance at making the Championship in the Wooden Legacy on the first night. The Wildcats fell to Fresno State. It could’ve been a lot worse, but I don’t think Chris Collins and company was expecting to lose by 19 to the Bulldogs. They responded by hanging 91 on La Salle and then knocking off Utah. We still aren’t certain how well the Utes will be this year, like every other Pac-12 team, but it’s still a win over a power-conference team.

The Wildcats got probably the best draw in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. They went up against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are expected to be one of the bottom three teams in the ACC this year. And Northwestern is currently being ranked in the same position in the Big Ten, but I feel like the Big Ten’s basement is better the bottom teams in the ACC.

They went on the road to play Indiana, but only lost by two. If there’s any morale victories in the Big Ten, that could be one. They held all the Hoosiers not named Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan under 10 points. But on the other hand, Indiana managed to keep every Wildcat not named Dererk Pardon and Vic Law under 10 points. The same thing happened in the second Big Ten game against Michigan. They took both teams down to the wire, but couldn’t get much more production outside the top-two.

That’s been the problem so far for the Wildcats this season. Law has come under 20 points per game now, but is still over 17 with six boards and almost three assists. Pardon is almost averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 9.6 boards. The transfers Ryan Taylor and A.J. Turner are also contributing nicely. Law and Taylor are certainly the outside shooters. Other than that, Collins is having a hard time finding more guys that can score.

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