By Paul M. Banks
1. 
Michigan State (16-3, 6-0)
Who’s the class of the conference yet again? This decade has belonged to the Spartans in basketball, the same manner that the Buckeyes have owned the gridiron.
2. 
Ohio State (14-5, 4-3)
When you have the league’s best player (that would be Evan Turner NOT Kalin Lucas), back in midseason form, you deserve to grab the #2 slot back.
3. 
Wisconsin (15-4, 5-2)
So how has Bo Ryan put together a season like this, despite such an obvious lack of talent? Well, he can play the hambone, and he can do the Soul Ja Boy dance. No seriously, it’s the system.
4. 
Purdue (15-3, 3-3)
They have a pretty dangerous “triplets” things going on here with: the conference’s leading scorer E’Twaun Moore (bonus points if you can spell his first name without looking it up), floor general Robbie Hummel, and NBA prospect JaJuan Johnson.
How do they lose twice, yet move up a spot? Look at the rest of the conference. Also, now that they have both their first home loss and their first road loss out of the way (all their defeats previous to this past Saturday had been on neutral sites), they’ll start to play more loose and relaxed. Yes, I know that’s quite a solid theory I have there.
6. 
Northwestern (13-5, 2-4)
With some teams, you can judge their tournament chances long before their whole body of work is in. This is not one of them. The schedule just played out that way. January is murderous for these Cats, but February/March is MUCH easier. Take a look- once the second month begins, pretty much every game (with exception for the Kohl Center visit) is winnable for them.
7. 
Minnesota (12-6, 3-3)
Royce White practiced this week. Not musical instruments, basketball practice. Things are looking up in the Twin Cities. Still, losing at Indiana dropped them down a couple pegs.
8. 
Michigan (10-8, 3-3)
The win over #15 UConn was big for conference pride. Unfortunately, they followed that up by stumbling in Madison…which is what a lot of people aged 18-22 do there late at night.
9. 
Indiana (9-9, 3-3)
Are they a legit NIT team? With the program’s pedigree, and if freshman Christian Watford keeps developing like he has…possibly
10. 
Iowa (7-12, 1-5)
Hey!! Look who left the power rankings basement for the first time all season. Break out the kazoos and party hats.
11. 
Penn State (8-10, 0-6)
Why do I always refer to the Penn State Nittany Lions as the “Penn State Talor Battles“? Because he scored more than a 1/3 of his team’s points in their most recent game, after scoring literally half the team’s output in the previous contest. He currently leads the Nittany Lions in scoring, rebounding, assists, minutes, and steals. And, most importantly, I have a serious man-crush on him.
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Ok maybe it really is the hambone, and the Superman dance…how else can you win with Keaton Nankivil being one of your main wepaons
not sure I’d put Wisconsin ahead of Purdue (even tho they beat them head-to-head)… especially since Leuer’s out… Wisco looks completely stagnant on offense except for Trevon Hughes
yeah, but the Boilers lost 3 in a row…in the end though I’m sure Pur will go farther than the Badgers. they’re just built better for the tourney
Badgers have a lack of talent, you need to get your facts straight. Sure the Badgers have struggled on offense with Leuer out, however the fact remains they have Hughes,Bohannon,Taylor,Nankivil, and Wilson as players that can take over and win them a game when needed, how many other teams in the Big Ten have five players after their best offensive player is injured that can help take over a game? If you can come up with more than one other Big Ten team it would be great to hear it. Also the Badgers bench has completely dominated multiple teams in Big Ten play so that would lead you to believe that the freshmen and sophomores on the Badger bench might have a little more talent than other teams. Wisconsin Basketball is all about the system, the system of getting recruits that are skilled and gamers that compete there but off on the playground and in the arena.
wow someone is quite the homer there…did I really just hear you say that Keatn Nankivil and Taylor can TAKE OVER a game? Or even JaBo for that matter, who is pretty useless when he goes into shooting slumps. The only guy on Wisco’s roster that can MAYBE take over a game all by himself is Trevon- you know it, I know it, Bo Ryan knows it, their opponents know it. Now you just need to man up and admit it.
Yes, the Badgers players are good for the system, and Bo Ryan makes it work really well. this is probably the best coaching job he’s ever done in his career. because no one picked them higher than 6th pr 7th heading into this season, and here they are- 3rd