Big Ten Basketball: 2020-21 power rankings heading into the New Year

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: Big Ten logo on the floor before the Big Ten Men's Basketball Final against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines at the Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Wolverines won 71-56. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Big Ten Basketball Marcus Carr Minnesota Golden Gophers (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Who will take control of Big Ten basketball in the new year? With a few conference games in the books, here’s a ranking from 14-1.

With a few national title contenders mixed with some early overachievers, Big Ten Basketball looks like arguably the best conference from top to bottom in this strange season. The league has managed to limit non-conference cancellations, and so far the conference schedule has been on track.

A total of nine conference teams are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 going into January. This may be the deepest the Big Ten has been since the 2014 additions of Rutgers and Maryland. While COVID-19 still poses a real threat to the college basketball season, the league could realistically send 11 teams to the tournament which would tie the record set in 2011 by the then 16-team version of the Big East.

The Big Ten has four of the top 10 scorers in the nation (Luka Garza, Ayo Dosunmu, Marcus Carr, and Ron Harper Jr.) and each has helped bring their program into the national spotlight. During the annual ACC-Big Ten challenge, 12 of the 14 scheduled games were played and went in favor of the Big Ten 7-5.

These are typically two of the best conferences in the nation, and in recent years including this one have tipped in the direction of the Big Ten.

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