The Big Ten went up against the ACC last week and showed that they could go toe-to-toe with what appears to be the best conference in the country. The only reason they sit behind them is that Duke and Virginia seem to be just a little bit better than Michigan and Michigan State overall. The difference between them is close, but with the Spartans losing to Louisville it hurt the Big Ten just enough to keep them in the two spot.
Michigan has been the class of the conference and maybe even the country with their start. They were finally tested on Tuesday at Northwestern, but the Wolverines were able to come away with the victory and still held the Wildcats to 60 points. Right now Michigan looks like they could play with anyone.
Nebraska and Wisconsin look like they could be for real. Iowa had some good early season wins and Indiana has shown they can compete with anyone not named Duke. Purdue has three losses but they have to Virginia Tech, Florida State, and Michigan, not exactly bad losses.
The Big Ten has seven teams ranked currently while Purdue and Indiana are on the edge also. This looks like they could get up to ten teams in the tournament this year and have definitely bounced back from last year.