Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Indiana, Ohio State slides towards bottom

By Adam Childs

MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 12: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on February 12, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 12: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on February 12, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – JANUARY 09: Geo Baker #0 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights reacts after scoring the game winning three-point basket defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 64-61 in a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 9, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – JANUARY 09: Geo Baker #0 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights reacts after scoring the game winning three-point basket defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 64-61 in a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 9, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Rutgers is coming off a 1-1 week where they very easily could have won both games. They beat Northwestern by three before coming close to upsetting Iowa as they lost by just two points. That loss was tough as Iowa banked a last-second three-pointer to get the win.

Rutgers has been tougher than most expected this year and has given a lot of teams fits, especially at home. They have played tough in a lot of games this year, but just like Northwestern and Penn State has not been able to get over the hump.

They have a shot at getting a huge win on Wednesday when they travel to Michigan State in their first game since losing star big man Nick Ward. The Scarlet Knights are not going to make the NCAA tournament but if they can have a strong end to the season they could have an outside shot at making the NIT. For a team that rarely plays in the postseason, this would be a huge step for Rutgers.

They just like Penn State are not going to be an easy out in the Big Ten tournament as they try and repeat their performance from last year when they made the quarterfinals. They have a good shot at not having to play the first day of the tournament and that will be big in their attempts to shock the conference.

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