A much more imperfect week for the conference.
After every Big Ten team won its season opener and the conference started 22-0 overall through Thursday night, the Big Ten collectively struggled with more teams clashing with major conference opponents. The most attention-grabbing matchup of the week was Michigan State taking on No. 1 Kansas, with former Big Ten players Hunter Dickinson and A.J. Storr facing a familiar foe and Dickinson taking advantage of that matchup with 28 points in a 77-69 win for the Jayhawks. Elsewhere, Michigan dropped a nail-biter to Wake Forest and Northwestern lost in similar fashion to Dayton, while new additions to the conference UCLA and Washington suffered their first losses of the season to Mountain West opponents. As a whole, the conference definitely didn’t do itself any favors over the last week, but none of the teams were particularly embarrassing either — perhaps more of the same is around the corner for a conference with most of its teams just getting acclimated to life on the bubble.
Indiana – No. 4 Seed (No. 15 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 seed (No. 15 overall)
Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo all scored 15+ points in each of Indiana’s first two games of the season. The Hoosiers have a true big three to rely on this season, and, so far, it has led to an 80-61 victory over SIU Edwardsville and a 90-55 victory over Eastern Illinois. What might be even more impressive than those three players’ collective performance for Indiana so far is that the Hoosiers actually trailed Eastern Illinois 37-36 at halftime on Sunday but responded in the second half by outscoring the Panthers 54-18. This week, Indiana will face its first test against a power conference opponent when it takes on South Carolina on Saturday.
Purdue – No. 4 Seed (No. 16 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 4 seed (No. 16 overall)
Purdue might not have lost a game yet this season, but the Boilermakers suffered a major loss off the court over the weekend when it was revealed that starting center Daniel Jacobsen will be out for the remainder of the season. Will Berg replaced Jacobsen in the starting lineup, but had little impact offensively (just four points and one rebound) in Purdue’s first game post-Jacobsen (a 92-84 win against Yale) and was an absolute liability defensively early on. Purdue is about to find out what it’s truly made of in the next week, however, as the Boilermakers take on both No. 2 Alabama (in Mackey Arena) and No. 15 Marquette (at Fiserv Forum), and will have a much more solidified position in the bracket after those two major games.
Illinois – No. 6 Seed (No. 21 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 6 seed (No. 23 overall)
Illinois continued to look like the cream of the crop in the Big Ten in its 90-58 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Friday night. Kylan Boswell has been a non-factor so far for the Fighting Illini, but even without significant contributions from the Arizona transfer, Illinois still has five players averaging 11.5 points per game or better. The Illini are making an early argument to be named the deepest team in the Big Ten, and they’re also in the conversation for the best overall team early on.
Ohio State – No. 6 Seed (No. 22 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 6 seed (No. 24 overall)
Ohio State looked great in its 80-72 season-opening victory over then-No. 19 Texas, and the Buckeyes showed no signs of slowing down in their 81-47 trouncing of Youngstown State on Monday. First-year John Mobley Jr. is now 7-of-8 from beyond the arc and looks like an early-season Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year contender, and four other Buckeyes (Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw) pitched in double-digit scoring outputs against the Penguins. While they didn’t receive another seed line bump in my bracket this week, the Buckeyes have been impressive so far. Ohio State can make another big leap — potentially to the top projected spot for any Big Ten team — in the projected field if it can secure a road win on Friday against No. 23 Texas A&M, which will be looking to claim a statement victory of its own after an opening-night road loss to UCF.
Maryland – No. 7 Seed (No. 28 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 32 overall)
Without having much roster continuity from last season, it was hard to know what to expect from Maryland this year other than a much improved roster on paper. So far, the Terrapins have performed exactly as expected to start the season, as they dominated weaker opponents in each of their first three games. Maryland has scored 79+ points and allowed fewer than 54 points in every game of the season so far. While the Terps have been strong so far, facing No. 15 Marquette at home on Friday will give them a true indicator of what type of season they will have.
Michigan State – No. 8 Seed (No. 31 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 30 overall)
It’s hard to come away with any solid takeaways from Michigan State’s last week of action that sway its tournament projection one way or another. A 96-60 win over Niagara was a big confidence boost heading into a Champions Classic brawl with No. 1 Kansas. The Spartans lost that battle 77-69, but keeping that matchup as close as it was should be considered a positive for this team. Michigan State fans should be encouraged by what their team has shown so far, even if their bracket projection gotten slightly worse.
Rutgers – No. 9 Seed (No. 36 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 9 seed (No. 36 overall)
Rutgers hasn’t lost a game yet, but the Scarlet Knights only remain in the projected field because they had enough preseason protection from the bubble conversation. In its most recent game, Rutgers beat Saint Peter’s 75-65, but that win required a second-half comeback after trailing 42-38 at the break. Unlike Indiana, the Scarlet Knights didn’t completely dominate the second half when that type of a response was needed, and that didn’t inspire much confidence as an observer, regardless of how much better this team will get when Ace Bailey is healthy enough to play. For anyone looking for an accurate depiction of this Rutgers’ team, however, it will be a long wait as the Scarlet Knights don’t play a power conference opponent until they take on Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama on back-to-back nights in Las Vegas during the Players Era Festival – Impact Tournament.
Oregon – No. 10 Seed (No. 37 overall)
Previous seeding: No. 8 seed (No. 31 overall)
Oregon might be the biggest faller in the bracket solely due to the optics of how it won. The Ducks dominated Montana in a 79-48 victory, but the follow-up to that performance was a 80-70 overtime win over a Portland team that was coming off a 94-53 loss to UCSB. Going to overtime with a team of that caliber is a bad look even if Oregon is still 3-0. The Ducks can clean up the eye test with a cleaner victory against Troy this week, but the real litmus tests will be their subsequent five games (at Oregon State, vs. Texas A&M and San Diego State in Las Vegas, at USC and vs. UCLA).
Michigan – No. 10 Seed (No. 38 overall, Last Four Byes)
Previous seeding: No. 7 seed (No. 27 overall)
Michigan suffered a 72-70 loss to Wake Forest, and the Wolverines clearly have some work to do before conference play. Michigan turned the ball over 16 times against the Demon Deacons and gave up 11 offensive rebounds, but, despite those flaws, the Wolverines kept it close against a Wake Forest team projected to finish top three in the ACC, according to the preseason media poll. A few costly turnovers down the stretch were the difference between a win and loss, and if Michigan cleans up those two areas in the big picture, it should lead to many victories in the future. However, the Wolverines’ schedule doesn’t get much easier as they will take on TCU at the Crisler Center on Friday night in what will likely be an opportunity for the Wolverines to claim a respectable Quad 2 victory.
UCLA – No. 11 Seed (No. 43 overall, Last Four In)
Previous seeding: No. 6 seed (No. 21 overall)
UCLA suffered the biggest fall in the conference after coming out flat offensively against New Mexico. The Lobos jumped out to a 41-30 lead at halftime, and UCLA could only cut that deficit down to 72-64 by the end of the game. The Bruins did bounce back with a commanding 71-40 home victory over Boston University, but having any loss on your resume this early in the year is going to result in a large drop-off within a bracket, and that’s exactly what happened this weekend for the Bruins. UCLA will slowly creep back up the bracket for the rest of November — barring any losses in buy games, that is — as the Bruins don’t play a power conference opponent until a Dec. 3 matchup with Washington.
Northwestern – No. 11 Seed (No. 44 overall, Last Four In)
Previous seeding: No. 10 seed (No. 38 overall, Last Four Byes)
Northwestern falls into a much less secure position on the bubble after a 71-66 road loss to Dayton. The Flyers are a tournament team themselves, however, so that loss wasn’t devastating for Northwestern’s tournament hopes at all, especially considering Brooks Barnhizer still hasn’t suited up for the ‘Cats. Northwestern immediately bounced back with an 83-74 win over a UIC team that is a lot better than most fans would anticipate, and Nick Martinelli averaging 28.3 points per game over Northwestern’s first three games of the season is a great sign for the ‘Cats going forward.
Iowa – First Four Out
Previous seeding: No. 11 seed (No. 44 overall, Last Four In)
Iowa is off to a blazing start on the offensive end this season, resulting in a 3-0 record. The Hawkeyes have scored 89+ points in each of their first three games this season, most recently in an 89-74 victory over Southern and a 96-77 victory over South Dakota. Against Southern, Iowa had an amazing team performance, pouring in 18 threes with 26 assists on 32 made field goals. Against South Dakota, it was the Josh Dix show, as he had 23 points, five assists and four rebounds while shooting 8-for-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes, like most of the rest of the conference, will take on a power conference opponent for the first time this season over the weekend in a matchup against Washington State, with a chance to move from the first team out of the tournament to back into the fold.
USC – First Four Out
Previous seeding: First Four Out
USC takes on UT Arlington tonight, and the Trojans absolutely need to start playing better than they have in their first two games. USC has not reached the 80-point mark this season, and beat Idaho State by just six points. It’s not like Idaho State made significant strides to cut the margin in garbage time, either. With less than a minute left in the game, USC was only leading 68-67. It will take a much cleaner performance for USC to end this upcoming week undefeated, as the Trojans take on its former Pac-12 rival, Cal, who has scored 86+ points in each of its first two games of the season.
Wisconsin – First Four Out
Previous seeding: Next Four Out
Wisconsin is off to a 3-0 start to the season, and the Badgers have looked solid so far. They dominated Appalachian State, winning 87-56 on Sunday in a nice bounce-back performance after a win by a slightly less comfortable margin (79-67) against Montana State. Wisconsin will get its first real test of the season on Friday when it takes on No. 9 Arizona at the Kohl Center, looking for revenge after the Wildcats mollywhopped Wisconsin 98-73 at the McKale Center in Tucson last December. If the Badgers beat Arizona, it would catapult them from the Next Four Out into the bracket, likely with a single-digit seed next to their name.
Penn State – Next Four Out
Previous seeding: Out
Penn State scored 100 points in both of its first two games of the season, and its defense looked dominant as well. With a 92-62 win over St. Francis (PA), the Nittany Lions continued to turn heads in the Big Ten, with a chance to earn significant recognition if they can defeat Virginia Tech in their matchup on Friday. This team has been cruising on the defensive end, as expected, but if Penn State can continue to get elite offensive production as well, the Nittany Lions will be in the tournament picture sooner rather than later.
Nebraska – In Consideration
Previous seeding: First Four Out
Nebraska looked completely out of sorts on offense in its last game. In a 63-58 win against Bethune-Cookman, the Cornhuskers shot 19-for-55 (34.5%) from the field and 4-for-22 (18.2%) from beyond the arc. Against most other opponents, that lackluster offensive performance would have resulted in a loss, but Nebraska is still 2-0. The path is going to get a lot rougher moving forward, however, as the ‘Huskers will take on Saint Mary’s after a Wednesday night tune-up game against Fairleigh Dickinson, and will take on No. 14 Creighton after my next bracket update as well.
Minnesota – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Minnesota barely beat Nebraska-Omaha by a 68-64 score, a performance worthy of the last place crown in the Big Ten had it not been for Washington’s disastrous first week and a half. The Golden Gophers take on North Texas, Yale and Cleveland State in the next seven days, and Minnesota needs a 5-0 start to the season to stay anywhere near the bracket.
Washington – Out
Previous seeding: Out
Washington struggled to beat UC Davis 79-73 in its season opener, and things didn’t get any better in the second week of the season as the Huskies lost 63-53 against Nevada. Great Osobor shot 0-for-7 from the field and Mekhi Mason shot 1-for-8 in that game, and while neither of those performances will likely happen again this season, Washington looked terrible offensively across the board.