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

1. Michigan Wolverines (19-1)

Previous rank: 1

If this were a weekly-rankings, Michigan State would’ve sat at number one for a week. But the Spartans lost and looked a little messy for the first time in over a month. Both Michigan and Michigan State went to very hostile environments and lost. Purdue is better than Wisconsin, but the Wolverines have been dominating all season. Let’s not forget how they were blowing out teams at the beginning of the season. Teams like Villanova, Providence and North Carolina.

People are going to say that Michigan State ranks better in the KenPom, but the Wolverines hold the advantage in the NET. They also have had the Spartans number lately. Too bad they don’t play each other for another month. We haven’t seen how Michigan State is going to respond from losing, but Michigan came up with consecutive wins. Minnesota and Indiana are both decent teams. But that was huge for Michigan to beat both.

The Golden Gophers wanted to stomp on the Wolverines while they were down. That almost happened. It was tied with 10 seconds to go, but Charles Matthews, who was shooting just two of seven for the game, grabbed a rebound and sunk the game-winner. Ignas Brazdeikis went scoreless against Wisconsin, but dropped 18 against Minnesota. Jon Teske continued his hot shooting with 15 points.

The Wolverines got back into their groove and the defense came to play against Indiana. They held the Hoosiers to just 46 points. It’s a struggling Indiana team, but holding any team under 50 in conference play on the road is a tremendous feat. Four starters were in double-figures, Brazdeikis dropped 20 points, shot eight-for-12 from the field including three-for-five from downtown. We’ll wait and see how the Spartans respond, but Michigan is doing just fine after their loss.