Barfknecht's Big Ten Ratings, Jan. 24

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Staff writer Lee Barfknecht ranks the Big Ten teams. National ranking from realtimerpi.com

1. Ohio State (17-3, 5-2, ninth)

This week: Penn State, Michigan. The Buckeyes, after two early league losses were attributed to leaky defense, are guarding with a fury now. That's a Final Four-caliber unit.

2. Michigan St. (16-4, 5-2, fourth)

This week: Minnesota. Out of 16 major statistical categories tracked by the Big Ten, the Spartans are first, second or third in 12 of them. In the other four: fourth, eighth, ninth and 11th.

3. Michigan (15-5, 5-2, 28th)

This week: at Purdue, at Ohio State. True freshman point guard Trey Burke would be a legitimate All-Big Ten first-team threat if we voted today. As important as his 14.6 points and 5 assists a game is his mental toughness.

4. Wisconsin (16-5, 5-3, 32nd)

This week: Indiana, at Penn State. The Badgers had lost 10 in a row on the road against ranked opponents, but broke that streak at No. 22 Illinois. Wisconsin is a whole different team when the 3-pointers fall.

5. Illinois (15-5, 4-3, 37th)

This week: at Minnesota. Two losses last week to unranked teams have taken the bloom off the Illini's hot start. This team has way too much talent to be as spotty offensively as it is.

6. Indiana (16-4, 4-4, 20th)

This week: at Wisconsin, Iowa. The Hoosiers beat Penn State, then lost three in a row, then beat Penn State again. This week, it's time to step it up and show that the 15-1 start wasn't a fluke.

7. Minnesota (15-5, 3-4, 47th)

This week: at Michigan State, Illinois. After starting 0-4 in league play, the Gophers are just two games out of first place with three wins in a row. The two foes this week are teams they are chasing in the standings.

8. Purdue (14-6, 4-3, 50th)

This week: Michigan, at Northwestern. History was made in a loss at Michigan State. Senior star Robbie Hummel went without a field goal (0 of 11) for the first time in 112 career games.

9. Northwestern (12-7, 2-5, 38th)

This week: Purdue. Losses by 20 and 22 points last week — making four setbacks in the past five games — are creating questions about the Wildcats breaking their NCAA tourney drought.

10. Iowa (11-9, 3-4), 109th)

This week: Nebraska, at Indiana. The Hawkeyes will have had eight days off ahead of Thursday's game with Nebraska. Like NU, U of I has played a front-loaded schedule, facing four ranked teams among the first seven games.

11. Nebraska (10-9, 2-6, 99th)

This week: at Iowa. The Huskers play just two games — at Iowa and at Northwestern — in the next 12 days. Interesting to see if they need the time off to regroup or will get antsy wanting to wipe away the stench from the Ohio State loss.

12. Penn State (10-11, 2-6, 125th)

This week: at Ohio State. Congratulations to Pat Chambers for beating No. 22 Illinois, his first win over a ranked team in three years as a head coach. If he knocks off Ohio State, he should get a new contract.

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