Big Ten Basketball: Wisconsin and Maryland rises, Ohio State slides in latest power rankings

2. Wisconsin Badgers - 13-3 (5-0)

It’s time to acknowledge Coach Greg Gard and the Badgers, the last remaining unbeaten team in the conference. They may not have had the toughest strength of schedule but they’ve won each of the last four games by 8+ points, including a recent 71-63 win over Northwestern. While it’s been a collective effort overall, St. John’s transfer AJ Storr (14.8 ppg) has made an all-conference campaign in his first year with the program.

Up next for Wisconsin is a road game at Penn State. While their resume is fine, this is now a “must-win” for the Big Ten regular-season title race, where the Badgers now have a two-game lead over everyone else. With a tough end stretch, they’ll need to take care of business now.

1. Purdue Boilermakers - 15-2 (4-2)

Purdue isn’t the No. 1 team in the country anymore, having lost by 16 points on the road at Nebraska last week to end a seven-game win streak. They did bounce back to win 95-78 over Penn State, led by 30 points and 20 rebounds from Zach Edey.

Considering how the standings look, Wisconsin does have a case to make to be No. 1. Yet the conference strength of schedule so far still favors the Boilermakers, who have two road games coming up. If they can’t sweep Iowa and Indiana this week and the Badgers keep winning, then I’ll be forced to make a change.