Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Illinois free falls, Rutgers soars up

7. Michigan Wolverines – 9-5 (3-0)

The Wolverines ended the 2022 calendar year by losing to North Carolina and taking an inexplicable loss to Central Michigan at home, severely damaging their respective resume for the NCAA Tournament. And yet, they’re still unbeaten in league play and at the top of the NCAA Basketball standings.

Michigan defeated Maryland earlier in the week in major blowout fashion, including scoring the first 18 points of the game. Hunter Dickinson, who still has issues with the Terps over not recruiting him locally, went off for 32 points and 12 rebounds on 13/16 from the field in just 28 minutes. He nearly outscored Maryland himself in the 81-46 win.

It was much closer at home against Penn State but the Wolverines were able to get some separation in order to get the 79-69 win. Dickinson had 17 points to lead a more balanced effort, with three others having at least 12+ points. The guard duo of Kobe Bufkin and Dug McDaniel each were in double figures with four assists dished out as well.

Michigan will be on the road for three of the next four games, starting this weekend at rival Michigan State. They do have one road win on the season but that was against lowly Minnesota. We’ll see if this team has found its groove, with little margin of error now.