Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Trying to make sense of 12 good teams

By Austin Walther

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - JANUARY 23: Tom Izzo the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans gives instructions to Rocket Watts #2 against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on January 23, 2020 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - JANUARY 23: Tom Izzo the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans gives instructions to Rocket Watts #2 against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on January 23, 2020 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
13 of 15
Next
IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 10: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- JANUARY 10: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

3. Iowa Hawkeyes 15-5 (6-3)

Jordan Bohannon stuck it out for 10 games, but decided it wasn’t going to happen this season. We all said if Bohannon wasn’t going to play then Iowa was NIT at the best. The Hawkeyes are now a top-three team in the Big Ten. They also only got Jack Nunge for five games and Pat McCaffrey for two. It’s huge that CJ Fredrick only missed three games. The game he got hurt in they lost to Penn State. The first full game without Fredrick Iowa fell to Nebraska. It was looking like Iowa was done, but they hosted Maryland at home. And the Terps can’t win on the road.

That game sparked a five-game winning streak. Including Maryland, Iowa knocked off three ranked teams. The Hawkeyes got a very kind three-game home stretch which helped in wins over Michigan, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp are going to get their points. But they need a guy to replace Bohannon. And Fredrick did just that against Michigan with 21 points while shooting three-for-four from deep.

Ryan Kriener continues to be a nice player off the bench. He put in double-digit points against Michigan and Rutgers. Joe Toussaint is turning it on. He went off for 14 against Rutgers and 11 vs. Wisconsin. And he isn’t even a big time threat from downtown. Fredrick helps Wieskamp in the shooting department. Garza also has a pretty nice shot. The big man is a terrific player. He could easily be an All-American at the end of the season. Garza is over 20 points per game, 10 boards, a triple per game with almost two blocks.

Iowa is going to have to win some road games coming up. Any team is going to rack up the wins when they play three-straight at home. But now they got Maryland at College Park and Purdue at Mackey in two out of their next three games. Both teams are hot at home and cold on the road. Iowa is going to need to get at least one of them. The Hawkeyes are playing great basketball, but they need to take that on the road.

Home/Big Ten