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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Michigan, Michigan State both lose

By Austin Walther

MADISON, WISCONSIN - JANUARY 19: Kobe King #23 and Tai Strickland #13 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrate after beating the Michigan Wolverines 64-54 at the Kohl Center on January 19, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - JANUARY 19: Kobe King #23 and Tai Strickland #13 of the Wisconsin Badgers celebrate after beating the Michigan Wolverines 64-54 at the Kohl Center on January 19, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 27: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battle for the loose ball at Mackey Arena on January 27, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – JANUARY 27: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans and Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battle for the loose ball at Mackey Arena on January 27, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

2. Michigan State Spartans (18-3)

Previous rank: 2

I guess you could flip a coin at this point. I did mention on the Busting Brackets podcast last week that Michigan State seems to be the better team over Michigan. That wasn’t because the Wolverines fell to Wisconsin because if the game was in Ann Arbor, it would’ve been a different result. As long as the Spartans have Cassius Winston running the point, they have a chance to win the National Championship.

Joshua Langford has missed eight games now. There was a feeling that the absence of him was going to catch up sooner or later, but it hadn’t made a difference since Michigan State kept winning. That’s until the Spartans met up with Purdue at Mackey. The place was going bonkers and never let up. the Boilermakers were in complete control the entire game. Winston did do a great job keeping the Spartans competitive in the second half, but Purdue couldn’t miss.

The Spartans got a ton of open shots, but nothing fell. Frustration took over and Michigan State got real sloppy for long portions of the game. One thing they needed to avoid. You could really tell something was missing in that game. It was the first time it showed during their long winning streak. And that cost them first place by themselves in the Big Ten.

Michigan State will be alright. There’s no doubt about it that the Spartans deserve to be a top-10 team and a two seed is still very much in play. Nick Ward is a dominant power forward. I call him one of the best true power forwards in the country. But he was off on Sunday against the Boilers. Matt McQuaid is too streaky of a shooter and nothing fell for him that day. The Spartans will bounce back and have a good chance at not losing until they meet up with Michigan at the end of February.

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