Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Illnois and Rutgers continue to climb up

10. Penn State Nittany Lions – 7-6 (2-3)

It’s been as good of an eight-day span for the Nittany Lions as possible, beating NCAA Tournament contenders Northwestern and Indiana before taking Purdue to the brink this weekend in a close call. Siena transfer Jalen Pickett has been playing great as of late, including 18 points against Northwestern and 21 points and 10 assists versus the Boilermakers. His improving play combined with Seth Lundy playing at an all-conference level all of a sudden makes this team much more competitive and someone that can avoid the basement of the Big Ten.

Rutgers at home and Ohio State is up next for Penn State. Beating the Scarlet Knights and getting to .500 in league play would be an achievement for first-year head coach Micah Shrewsbury, who has been getting this team to play hard and putting scares into opponents.

9. Iowa Hawkeyes – 11-4 (1-3)

We’re midway through the season and the only thing we know about Iowa is that Keegan Murray is a superstar and All-American candidate. But from a team standpoint, they’ve beaten inferior teams and lost to anyone “better” than them. That includes last week’s results of beating a winless in Big Ten play Maryland squad and falling to Wisconsin and Johnny Davis in a battle in individual stars.

Iowa is at home against Indiana and on the road at Minnesota this upcoming week. If they’re a genuine NCAA Tournament contender, the Hawkeyes should win both games or at least beat the Gophers on the road. If not, then there’s a clear ceiling for this team and it isn’t participating in March Madness.