Big Ten Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2021-22 season

By Adam Childs | Apr 24, 2021

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 17: Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans cuts down the net after beating the Michigan Wolverines 65-60 in the championship game of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at United Center on March 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

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Big Ten Basketball Ron Harper Jr. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Rutgers has been the underdog story in the Big Ten the last two years. After being a really bad team and a basement dweller they got hot two years ago and playing at the RAC was a pain in the butt. They were robbed, like a lot of other teams, of a tournament berth because of COVID. They were a trendy pick to make a run in the tournament had it happened.

This year they started off playing like a top-ten team with Ron Harper Jr leading the way. But as he cooled off so did the Scarlet Knights. They took their lumps but were still able to play well enough to make the tournament and narrowly missed knocking off Final Four participant Houston in the second round.

They still will be a tough out next year, but they will have to hope that Harper Jr. returns after putting his name in the NBA draft process. If he returns they could be a top-five team in the conference. If he leaves they could easily slide down to the bottom half.

This team is definitely trending in the right direction, but we still need to see a little more consistency to bump them up the rankings.

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