Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Purdue, Maryland make huge leaps

By Austin Walther

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – DECEMBER 2: Head Coach Richard Pitino of the Minnesota Golden Gophers shouts instructions to his team in the first half the Ohio State Buckeyes on December 2, 2018 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – DECEMBER 2: Head Coach Richard Pitino of the Minnesota Golden Gophers shouts instructions to his team in the first half the Ohio State Buckeyes on December 2, 2018 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

6. Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-3)

Previous Rank: 8

Minnesota has quietly had a great start the Big Ten season. The Golden Gophers did beat up on a lot of power-conference teams, but those teams are struggling this season. The Boston College loss is hurting and their first Big Ten game was a loss to Ohio State. But they responded and beat Nebraska in an emotional night for Dupree McBrayer.

That sparked a six-game winning streak which included beating Wisconsin in Madison. They did fall to Maryland at home, but responded to beat Rutgers by 18 after the Scarlet Knights took down the Buckeyes. It is hard to justify ranking Minnesota ahead of Ohio State because of head-to-head, but the common opponent of Rutgers makes a strong case for the Gophers. Especially for how bad Minnesota beat them.

The Gophers are inching their way closer to the KenPom top-50. The loss to the Eagles really hurts them along with Utah, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State not doing so well. They have Illinois and Penn State next which isn’t going to help the quality wins department, but they need to avoid trap games. This team needs to stay away from dumb losses in-order to stay in this area of the Big Ten.

Amir Coffey is making a strong case for first team All-Big Ten right now. The Junior Gopher has only scored less than 10 points once this season in an easy win over NC A&T. Coffey isn’t much of a three-point threat, but he goes to the line quite a bit, averaging 16 points per game, three boards and three assists. Jordan Murphy is continuing to average a double-double, McBrayer and Gabe Kalscheur have combined for almost 60 three-pointers. Richard Pitino has done a great job of turning this team around which has some nice depth thanks to breakout freshmen.

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