Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Illinois, Rutgers rise to top of standings
By Adam Childs
Yes, they have one more win than Northwestern, but they lost to the Wildcats in Evanston, so the Cornhuskers drop behind them. They do have an impressive win over Iowa and they did win at home against Purdue also, but they have looked lost and completely outmatched in other games.
Fred Hoiberg has gotten the Cornhuskers to look good at times and they look like a team capable of pulling off an upset but then there are other times when they look like one of the worst power five schools in the country.
Cam Mack leads the way for Nebraska averaging 12.9 points per game and looks like he will be a big piece for Hoiberg to build around the next two years. Unfortunately, they just don’t have a lot of talent this year.
The Wildcats are just 1-6 in the Big Ten but their one win was against the Cornhuskers at home. Four of their six conference losses have been by single digits including a five-point loss to Big Ten leader Michigan State.
Chris Collins may be doing his best coaching job yet at Northwestern. The record might not show it, but after losing games early to Merrimack and Radford this team could have easily quit on their season.
Instead, the Wildcats have continued to play hard and have pulled off wins against Providence, Bradley and Boston College. They played Pitt tough in the championship game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
The Wildcats won’t win many games the rest of the way but they are going to fight you until the end and that is a testament to Collins.