Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Purdue and Wisconsin pushing up

By Adam Childs | Feb 5, 2019

COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 23: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers attempts to drive around Luther Muhammad #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the second half on January 23, 2019 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Purdue defeated Ohio State 79-67. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

2 of 15

EAST LANSING, MI – JANUARY 02: Dererk Pardon #5 of the Northwestern Wildcats during pregame introductions before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Northwestern did not have a good week. They got blown out in both of their games and were never really competitive. They were both on the road against good teams, but the Wildcats have looked less and less competitive lately. Their last two wins were against Rutgers and an Indiana team in the middle of a seven-game losing streak.

It got worse Monday night as they lost at home to previously winless (in the Big Ten) Penn State. That is enough to drop them into the bottom spot and let the Nittany Lions jump them. Northwestern has not looked good and can’t seem to get it together lately.

The Wildcats are normally a slower paced team, but they are averaging just over 68 points per game this year and that is not enough to win most games. They like to play a sloppy game, but their defense has not been good enough for them to do it this year.

Northwestern has been a team that nobody wants to play, but if they continue to play as they have recently there aren’t going to be many teams that are scared of them.

Penn State will continue to sit in the bottom spot of these rankings unless they pull off a winning streak and soon. Even if they do that it still might not be enough to jump out of the cellar.

Home/Big Ten