Busting Brackets
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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) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 05: Shaquille Doorson #2 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights dunks over Ignas Brazdeikis #13 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 5, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 05: Shaquille Doorson #2 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights dunks over Ignas Brazdeikis #13 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half of a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 5, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-12)

Previous rank: 11

Look at Rutgers hanging around the 11 spot for three-straight rankings. They started in the basement. But thanks to Illinois having an awful non-conference slate and Penn State just picking up its first Big Ten game, Rutgers is staying out of the bottom. The Scarlet Knights have four Big Ten wins in a season for the first time ever.

Rutgers did knock off Miami on the road in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. That was huge for them. They picked up a win over Ohio State at the RAC. That was viewed as just a fluky win over a decent team that usually comes once a year. Then after losing three-straight, Rutgers rattled off three straight wins. Those were to Nebraska, Penn State and Indiana.

Everyone seems to be beating the Nittany Lions while the Cornhuskers and Hoosiers have lost their appeal. But regardless, Rutgers never goes on those kinds of winning streaks during Big Ten play because they have never won these many games before. The Knights won two straight Big Ten Tournament games last season for the first time ever. I thought they were going to be hurting without Corey Sanders.

Geo Baker is turning it on just fine. He was viewed as the next man up for Rutgers and he has taken over the lead point guard role with no problem. Eugene Omoruyi is having a breakout junior year and leads the team in scoring when he’s healthy. Omoruyi has missed three games, but is a rebounding machine and scoring over 14 points per game when he’s out there.

Rutgers is currently riding a three-game losing streak. They are being passed up by Illinois and Indiana because they were two of the three teams to defeat Michigan State in conference this season. But this is a good position for a young team. Patrick Chambers and Tim Miles are probably on the hot seat. It’s unclear about Archie Miller, but Steve Pikiell and the head coach of the next team seemed to have save themselves for another season.

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