Find out where Indiana stands in TheHoosier.com's first installment of its Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings featuring staff writers Nick Baumgart and Cole Hanna.
TheHoosier.com's own Nick Baumgart and Cole Hanna rank the BIG teams in our first installment of the Big Ten Power Rankings for December 5, 2019.
Send all your complaints to Cole.
1. OHIO STATE (8-0)
Kenpom: 2
SOS: 219
No team is more deserving of the top spot than Ohio State; they have cemented themselves as the team to beat in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes boast the 2nd ranked defensive efficiency rating according to Kenpom, along with the allowing the lowest effective field goal percentage in the country. The offense has been effective as well, owning an offensive rating that places them at 17th in the country. – Cole Hanna
Best wins: Villanova (16th), North Carolina (24th), Cincinnati (48th)
Best loss: None
Bad loss: None
2. MARYLAND (9-0)
Kenpom: 7
SOS: 149
The Terps have passed every test so far including dominating wins over Notre Dame and Marquette the last two times out. Maryland has a top-10 offense and top-15 defense in terms of efficiency, Mark Turgeon's squad has a big-time point guard and big-man, and all the pieces in-between. - Nick Baumgart
Best wins: Marquette (30), Notre Dame (57), Temple (63) Rhode Island (89) Harvard (99)
Best loss: none
Bad loss: none
3. MICHIGAN (7-1)
Kenpom: 13
SOS: 30
The darlings of the Big Ten went from unranked to a top-five team off the heels of a great Thanksgiving spent in the Bahamas. The Wolverines beat North Carolina and Gonzaga to win Atlantis over the weekend, and going on the road to top-ranked Louisville and losing did little to our opinion of this team at the moment. -N.B.
Best wins: Gonzaga (9), North Carolina (24), Iowa State (41), Creighton (56)
Best loss: Louisville (1)
Bad loss: none
4. MICHIGAN STATE (5-3)
Kenpom: 4
SOS: 17
It’s been a tough start to the season for the Spartans, dropping three of their first eight games. However, all of their losses have come to teams inside the Kenpom top 55, two of which are inside the top ten. The Spartans boast the nation’s top offensive efficiency rating and their defense remains impressive as well (27th nationally in defensive efficiency). Michigan State won’t play an opponent inside the Kenpom top 75 until January, which should give them time to get back on track. -C.H.
Best wins: Seton Hall (14), Georgia (64), UCLA (114)
Best losses: Duke (3), Kentucky (8), Virginia Tech (54)
Bad loss: None
