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

Wins

*Arkansas-Pine Bluff
*Chicago State
*Quincy
*Michigan State
*Ohio State
*Indiana
*@Minnesota
*Maryland
*Nebraska

Loses

*Pittsburgh
*Iowa (twice)
*@Michigan
*Illinois (twice)
*@Ohio State
*Wisconsin (twice)
*@Penn State
*@Purdue
*Indiana
*Rutgers (twice)
*Minnesota

Net ranking: 92

KenPom ranking: 70

AP ranking: N/A

Post-Season Tournament: None

Brief Season Summary

Northwestern had another disappointing season even though they improved a little bit from last season in terms of wins and losses. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Big Ten was very competitive and deep this season which resulted in them finishing in 12th place, losing their first game in the Big Ten Tournament, and not seeing the growth that they wanted to see.

Head coach Chris Collins who is in his 8th season as the head of the Northwestern program was not fired unlike some other coaches in the Big Ten this season, but more is expected of him and his team entering his 9th season. In fairness to Collins and the other coaches whose team did not perform that well in terms of wins and losses, this season was difficult and challenging for Northwestern especially with games being canceled early on in the season.

Wins

*Green Bay
*Loyola Marymount (Twice)
*North Dakota
*Boston College
*UM Kansas City
*Saint Louis
*Iowa
*Michigan State
*Ohio State
*Michigan
*Nebraska
*Purdue
*Northwestern

Loses

*@Illinois (twice)
*@Wisconsin
*@Michigan
*@Iowa
*Maryland (twice)
*Northwestern
*@Purdue
*Rutgers (twice)
*@Indiana
*@Nebraska
*@Penn State
*Ohio State

Net ranking: 77

KenPom ranking: 58

AP ranking: N/A

Post-Season Tournament: None

Brief Season Summary

The Gophers lost some key players from last season and earlier on in the season played fairly well. They lost their leading scorer from last year in Daniel Oturu which hurt Minnesota’s chances of being a top-echelon Big Ten team for this season. However, Minnesota did bring back key returning players in Marcus Carr and Gabe Kalscheur and Carr in particular played well all season.

But when the Golden Gophers starting losing games which would eventually lead to the firing of head coach Richard Pitino and then Carr and Jamal Mashburn Jr. entering the transfer portal, the season ended in not the way Minnesota had hoped it would.

Minnesota would finish 2nd from last place in the Big Ten and ended the season with a losing record. They lost seven straight games to end the regular season and even after an opening win in the Big Ten tournament, the Golden Gophers played well against Ohio State but lost by four to end their season.

Wins

*Tennessee Tech
*Providence (Neutral site)
*Stanford (Neutral site)
*North Alabama
*Butler (Neutral site)
*Penn State
*Iowa (twice)
*@Northwestern
*Maryland
*@Nebraska
*Minnesota

Loses

*Texas (Neutral site)
*@ Florida State OT
*Northwestern
*Illinois (twice)
*Rutgers (three times)
*@Wisconsin
*Purdue (twice)
*@Ohio State
*Michigan State (twice)
*Michigan

Net ranking: 63

KenPom ranking: 46

AP ranking: N/A

Post-Season Tournament: None

Brief Season Summary

Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis who was Indiana’s leading scorer this season was one of the only bright spots for the Hoosier this season As said earlier, teams in the Big Ten conference had been so competitive night in and night out this year that teams like Indiana were unable to excel especially late in the season.

Jackson-Davis played very well throughout the season but did not get the support he needed especially on the offensive end to help the Hoosiers make a post-season tournament.

Hoosier nation, for the most part, was not thrilled by the overall job performance of head coach Archie Miller these past seasons who was in year four as the head coach of the Indiana program. Miller was relieved of his duties as a head coach at the end of the season and now Indiana looks to find a new head coach sooner than later.