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

6. Rutgers Scarlet Knights – 9-5 (3-1)

Because of how bad both Michigan and especially Nebraska have looked recently, there isn’t a lot of respect for Rutgers beating them both at home last week. But they’re now 3-1 in league play, including a big upset over Purdue. Had they not had those slipups earlier against Lafayette and UMass, the Scarlet Knights would be viewed much more differently.

Things get interesting for them this week, with road matchups against Maryland and Penn State. If Rutgers can continue having Ron Harper and Geo Baker play at All-Big Ten levels, they could win those games and bolster the record even more. But they’ll have to do much better than they have away from home, where they’re 0-4 so far this season in true road games.

5. Wisconsin Badgers – 13-2 (4-1)

We’ve reached the top-tier of Big Ten Basketball, with five programs that one can argue should go ahead of any other. The Badgers were nearly upset by Maryland this past Sunday but held on for the road win, once again led by the nation’s leading scorer Johnny Davis with 19 points. He’s averaging 22.3 ppg on the season, including a career-high 37 points and 14 rebounds in the road victory over Purdue.

Wisconsin is now on a five-game winning streak and looking like a legit contender for the Big Ten regular-season title. They can make an even bigger statement this week at home against Ohio State in the lone game of the week, where a win and a Michigan State loss would put them in the top spot of the standings.