Horizon League Basketball: Power rankings after 1st month of 2022-23 season

3. Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons – 5-4 (1-1)

The Mastodons salvaged its opening home week in league play with an overtime win over Oakland after losing to Detroit Mercy. They haven’t looked spectacular overall but also haven’t been bad to the point of dropping them down from the top tier.

The senior core for Purdue-Fort Wayne has been solid, led by forward Bobby Plantius (13.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg). Senior guard Jarred Godfrey continues to be an all-around producer, averaging 14.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 4.0 apg. One area they’ll have to improve on is from deep. They rank in the top 20 in attempts but average overall in makes. Godfrey is at 22%, despite taking over seven attempts a game.

2. Youngstown State Penguins – 6-3 (1-1)

The Penguins easily had the toughest opening slate in the Horizon League, facing Northern Kentucky and Wright State on the road. They were seconds away from a 2-0 sweep, including Dwayne Cohill going for 43 points in the Wright State victory. He leads the team with 17.9 ppg and 3.8 apg, while senior forward Maleek Green is producing 15.1 ppg and 7.9 rpg. This is a team with an elite offense that nearly upset Notre Dame a few weeks ago.

Youngstown State still hasn’t gotten much from Garrett Covington, a former double-digit scorer, and multi-time All-Horizon League defender in his 5th-year. He’s still recovering from last year’s injury and if he can fully get back into gear and improve the team’s defense, the Penguins will have a case of being the team to beat.

1. Northern Kentucky Norse – 5-4 (2-0)

The Norse has been playing with fire for the past couple of weeks after getting swept in its own MTE. They needed double-overtime to beat both Tennessee Tech and Youngstown State, while barely getting past Robert Morris in the last minute at home. That Cincinnati win still shows their potential, along with having a star in Marques Warrick, who had a career-high 45 points in the Tennessee Tech victory.

Warrick leads the team with 21.6 ppg, with Sam Vinson second on the team with 12.2 ppg. In the frontcourt, senior forward Chris Brandon leads both the team and Horizon League Basketball with 11.7 rpg. And while his role may have diminished a bit in the offense, veteran guard Trevon Faulkner still is a capable scorer whenever Warrick doesn’t have the ball.

Northern Kentucky isn’t playing as well as Youngstown State right now but with a head-to-head result on the record, the Norse has to get the edge. But they’re certainly vulnerable, which sets up for a very interesting next few months in league play.