Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball: Illinois, Michigan leads rankings heading into NCAA Tournament

By Ryan Kay

Mar 14, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate with the Big Ten Conference Tournament trophy after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate with the Big Ten Conference Tournament trophy after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next
Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten Basketball Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten Basketball Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

There are 14 teams in Big Ten Basketball and nine of them are participating in the NCAA Tournament. It would not surprise anyone if any one of the teams in the Big Ten were to win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament.

This past week has caused a minor swift in the Big Ten rankings as some teams have risen up based on their performances in the Big Ten Tournament while others have fallen due to losing in their first game of the conference tournament.

Most college basketball experts and analysts have at least seven of the nine teams from Big Ten Basketball getting into the second round of the NCAA tournament with an outside chance of 10 if a team like Michigan State can win their opening game of the tournament.

This week’s NCAA tournament has teams like Rutgers, Michigan State, and Maryland hoping to make it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Teams like Wisconsin and Purdue have their sights on making it to the Sweet Sixteen, while Iowa and Ohio State at a minimum expect to be in the Elite Eight. Michigan as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament wants to make it to the Final Four which Big Ten tournament champion Illinois as a No. 1 seed looks to play in the NCAA tournament championship game.

This may be one of the most interesting NCAA tournaments as last year’s tournament was canceled and all of the tournament games are being held in the state of Indiana. These Big Ten Power Rankings include teams that seasons have ended and those who still have one or more games left to be played.

Here’s a look at how they rank currently.

Previous: 13th. Cornhuskers . 14. team. 488. . 7-20

Wins

*McNeese
*North Dakota State
*South Dakota
*Doane
*Penn State
*Minnesota
*Rutgers

Loses

*Nevada
*Georgia Tech
*@Creighton
*Wisconsin (twice)
*Michigan
@Ohio State
*Michigan State (twice)
*Indiana
*@Minnesota
*Penn State (twice
*Illinois (twice)
*Maryland (twice)
*Purdue
*@Iowa
*@Northwestern

Net ranking: 126

KenPom ranking: 95

AP ranking: N/A

Post-Season Tournament: None

Brief Season Summary

The Cornhuskers had another rough season as they finished in last place in the Big Ten, lost their first game of the Big Ten Tournament, and had their leading scorer left the program in early March. However, head coach Fred Hoiberg knows a few things about getting transfers and filling out a roster from his time as when he was the head coach at Iowa State.

The Cornhusker’s and Hoiberg will look to the transfer port this off-season to fill in spots in the roster in hopes of having a more successful season in 2021-22.

Home/Big Ten