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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IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 12: Head Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes yells in the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes, on January 12, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 12: Head Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes yells in the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes, on January 12, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

5. Iowa Hawkeyes (14-3)

Previous Rank: 7

At one time Iowa had some really good non-conference wins. They took down Oregon and UConn on a neutral court which is why they have been consistently in the KenPom top-50. The Hawkeyes entered conference play and slipped up to two ranked teams. Iowa responded by beating a good Iowa State team which started a five-game winning streak.

The Hawkeyes resumed Big Ten play and fell to 0-3 after a loss in West Lafayette. Iowa did the best thing possible and won those three games back. They took down Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State. All pretty good wins with the victory over the Wildcats coming at Welsh-Ryan. There have only been three weeks where Iowa hasn’t been ranked.

The Hawkeyes did what they needed to shoot back up the power rankings of the Big Ten. Positions three through ten are completely a toss up at this point. I am ranking a team that Iowa lost to behind them and that’s because the Hawkeyes beat a good Nebraska and Ohio State team.

Tyler Cook is one of the top-10 best players in the Big Ten this season. He’s a powerful front court player, averaging 17 points per game, eight boards and over two assists. Cook isn’t a three-point threat, but luckily Jordan Bohannon hasn’t missed a beat, making 36 for the season.

One of the best freshman no one is talking about in the Big Ten is Joe Wieskamp. He’s a six-foot-six guard who’s made almost 30 three-pointers this season and is in double-figures. Iowa’s defense has come back to reality, but they aren’t relying strictly on just wo or three guys. The emergence of a few freshmen has really made Iowa a great team.

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