Big Ten Basketball: Wisconsin rises, Indiana falls in latest power rankings

9. Penn State Nittany Lions – 7-3 (1-1)

Coming into last Saturday, the Lions lost its three toughest games of the season in Virginia Tech, Michigan State, and Clemson in double-overtime. But the team got its biggest win last season, beating Illinois by 15 points. Both Andrew Funk and Jalen Pickett each had 20 points in the victory, with Seth Lundy and Myles Dread chipping in with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

If Pickett was playing at Indiana or one of the Michigan schools, we’d be talking about him as an All-American candidate. The 5th-year senior is currently averaging 16.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 7.5 apg through 10 games, including a triple-double in the win over Butler. He’s proving that he’s the same all-around star that he was at Siena and not just a pure scorer, including a career-high 17 rebounds against Michigan State.

The strength of Penn State to this point has been on the three-point line. They rank in the top 10 in both attempts and makes a very efficient 40%. As expected, they’re one of the worst in terms of getting to the free throw line and don’t have much of an inside post presence. But their ability to spread the floor and create offense, led by Pickett, is something that should be sustainable the rest of the way.

The Nittany Lions next take on Canisius, Quinnipiac, and Delaware State to round out the non-conference, which should be easy wins. That’ll put them at 10 wins before January and a resume that doesn’t have any bad losses, as well as a signature win versus Illinois.