Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Iowa, Wisconsin joining top-tier

By Austin Walther

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 09: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with Charles Matthews as he leaves the game while playing the Wisconsin Badgers at Crisler Arena on February 09, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 61-52. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 09: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with Charles Matthews as he leaves the game while playing the Wisconsin Badgers at Crisler Arena on February 09, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 61-52. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 15
Next
IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Forward Luka Garza #55 and guard Austin Ash #13 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates with fans after the upset over the Michigan Wolverines on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 01: Forward Luka Garza #55 and guard Austin Ash #13 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates with fans after the upset over the Michigan Wolverines on February 1, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

The top-six teams in Big Ten Basketball are separating themselves from the rest of the pack as those seem to be locks for the NCAA Tournament.

Big Ten Basketball continues to be a very hard conference to play in. The debate between the ACC and Big Ten as the best conference this year could go on for a long time. Even the challenge in November ended in a split. There are six teams ranked in the top-25. Three other teams have made appearances at some point this season. Michigan and Michigan State are the only two teams that have been ranked the entire season.

It seemed as though the two Michigan schools were going to run away with the Regular Season Title race. The Spartans picked up three losses, the Wolverines fell twice and Purdue is riding an eight-game winning streak. Those three teams are now the favorites with Maryland and Wisconsin sitting just two games back from first.

The NCAA Tournament committee released what the top-four seed lines would look like if it were Selection Sunday for the third season in a row. The Big Ten got four teams. That was tied for the most with none other than the ACC. Michigan and Michigan State landed two seeds. Purdue earned the top three seed and Wisconsin was the last team in as a four seed. That looks great for the Big Ten but is a bracketologist’s nightmare because all four have to be in sperate regions.

Just by looking at the early reveal of the top-four seeds shows how strong the Big Ten is this year. Purdue lost twice right away, but those were to Michigan and Michigan State. The Boilermakers are now humming and shot up the seed line at a rapid pace. Michigan State seems to be struggling, but are still a two seed. The Wolverines have two losses, but could easily land a one seed still.

The bottom of the Big Ten is becoming dangerous as well. There are four teams who have no chance at an at-large bid while two have less than 10 wins, but are still going to play the role of spoilers. Illinois only won four non-conference games and started 0-2 in the Big Ten. The Illini now have five Big Ten wins.

Nebraska and Indiana should be dead in the water to making the NCAA Tournament, but are still strong bubble teams when compared to other teams in the country. There are no easy wins in the Big Ten this season. The Cornhuskers and Hoosiers each still have four quad one teams remaining. So after another crazy two weeks, where do the teams stack up now?

Home/Big Ten