Big Ten Basketball: Wisconsin, Ohio State falls, Rutgers rises in latest power rankings

7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights - 13-10 (5-7)

Speaking of teams that were left for dead at some point, Rutgers had gone through a stretch of 6 losses in 8 games, including losing a 61-46 home battle to Penn State for a Quad 3 loss. However, the recent eligibility of Iowa State transfer Jeremiah Williams has given new life to the team on both ends, suddenly making them a contender.

In the three games since Williams has gotten on the court, the Knights are 3-0. He’s averaging 14.0 ppg and 3.3 apg and has been a big boost to what was arguably the worst offense in all of Big Ten Basketball. After beating Maryland and Michigan, Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds in the upset home win over Wisconsin, 78-56.

It wasn’t just Williams that had a big outing in the game. Noah Fernandes had a perfect outing, scoring 17 points on 6/6 shooting from the field, with five of those makes coming from three-point range. Big man Clifford Omoruyi had 13 points and 13 rebounds in the win as well.

It might be too little, too late for the Scarlet Knights when it comes to at-large potential. Still, they have the chance to play spoiler for the next couple of weeks, taking on Northwestern and Minnesota up next. If they beat those two, that’ll set up a suddenly interesting battle with Purdue.