Find out where IU falls in our third installment of TheHoosier.com's B1G Basketball Power Rankings for Friday, December 20, 2019.

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TheHoosier ranks the BIG teams in our third installment of the Big Ten Power Rankings for December 20, 2019, the Christmas edition. As always, send your complaints to Cole.

Previous: 1 (----)

NET: 3

Last week: Lost at Minnesota, 84-71; Won vs Southeast Missouri State, 80-48

The Buckeyes took an unexpected loss on the road against Minnesota, but in a hectic Big Ten season can we really say it's surprising? Winning on the road looks to be a tough task regardless of who you're playing, but the Buckeyes still have the best body of work of any team in the conference. - Cole Hanna

Coming up: December 21 vs Kentucky

Previous: 2 (----)

NET: 27

Last week: Won vs. Oakland, 72-49; Won at Northwestern, 77-72

While Michigan State is the only undefeated team in the conference, the group just doesn't give off the same feel as in years past, or even in the pre-season. Maybe they get it back. But Sparty squeaked past Boo Buie on the road in Evanston after doing enough to soundly beat Oakland. But Joshua Langford is done for the year with a foot surgery. Something seems 'off' with Cassius Winston. Injuries and personal circumstances notwithstanding, the Spartans don't have its same feel of invincibility and swag. Gabe Brown could be a saving grace for Tom Izzo in his quest to replace Langford. How much does this team miss Matt McQuaid, Nick Ward and Kenny Goins? --Nick Baumgart

Coming up: December 21 vs. Eastern Michigan

Previous: 3 (---)

NET: 19

Last week: Lost vs Oregon, 71-70

Another quality loss for Michigan, which now represents their third defeat in its last four contests. Michigan's schedule has been absolutely brutal which grants them a pass for the time being. The Wolverines will have a couple of expected victories coming up against small conference schools before jumping back into Big Ten play after the new year. --CH

Coming up: December 21 vs Presbyterian

Previous: 3 (-1)

NET: 18

Last week: Lost at Seton Hall, 52-48

Among the "big four" at the top, the Terps made themselves the easy pick for fourth this week given its recent play. The Terps went on the road as a top-10 team and laid an egg on Sunday against a Seton Hall team missing Myles Powell. Anthony Cowan still couldn’t get it going. In fact, Cowan's recent play has fallen off a cliff the last two weeks. Further complicating the matter, sophomores Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins have been a letdown, shooting 27 percent from three on 130 takes combined. The two had generated excitement with promising freshman seasons a year ago.

Mark Turgeon has used six different starting lineups as he tries to find the right buttons on the offensive side. Just three weeks ago, the Terps had a top-10 offense. Today is sits at 26.

Cowan and company need to right this ship now before conference play gets rolling. --NB

Coming up: Idle

Previous: 6 (+1)

NET: 17

Last week: Won vs Alabama, 73-71; Won vs vs Central Connecticut, 87-58

The Nittany Lions picked up another win this week, managing to just hold off the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide to move to 9-2 on the season. In addition to the team's success, Lamar Stevens continues to cement himself as one of the premier players in the conference. - CH

Coming up: Idle

Previous: 9 (+3)

NET: 29

Last week: Idle

Fran McCaffery's bunch got a raw deal in last week''s edition. I'll admit it.

So we're back to make it right. Iowa has the second-best offense in the country and a misunderstood defensive unit. The Hawkeyes are 8-0 when it holding the opposition to an effective field goal percentage of 50 percent or less.

Luka Garza is playing as well as anyone in the country, scoring a Big Ten-best 22.4 points per game and 10 boards. Redshirt freshman CJ Frederick is stroking the basketball and Joe Wieskamp is maybe the most underrated player in America. Four top 70 wins and its only recent losses to the NET's second ranked team (San Diego State) and in Ann Arbor. Iowa is legit.--NB

Coming up: December 21 vs Cincinnati

Previous: 7 (----)

NET: 31

Last week: Won vs Nebraska, 96-90 (OT)

Indiana got all it could handle from the Cornhuskers last week, but they were able to do just enough to leave Assembly Hall with their first Big Ten win of the season. After Nebraska's strong victory over Purdue, this one might not look as bad in retrospect. -CH

Coming up: December 21 vs Notre Dame

Previous: 8 (----)

NET: 35

Last week: Lost vs Nebraska, 70-56; Won at Ohio, 69-51

It's like splitting hairs in he middle of the conference, but the Boilers made it easier by losing to Nebraska on the road by 14. The Hoosiers now has two wins over teams that handed Purdue a loss. The defense seems legit, the offense seems equally dreadful.

I'm a fan of Matt Haarms, the person. But if Matt Haarms the player is forced to miss much time recovering from the concussion in Lincoln, Purdue becomes vulnerable inside. It'll take more than Trevion Williams. Combined with Nojel Eastern's poor play, suddenly the Boilers don't look all that invincible, especially trying to score on the road.

Coming up: December 21 vs Butler

Previous: 8 (-1)

NET: 33

Last week: Won vs Old Dominion, 69-55

The Illini originally started at six. After all, Illinois beat Michigan handily in Champaign last week, and we are obviously buying the Wolverines. But the loss to Miami gets worse by the day, and while the Michigan win is a huge statement, the Illini's next best win is against Kenpom's 155th-best team. Who is this team? The group that needed overtime to get past Nicholls State on opening night, or the group that defeated one of the conference's best teams quite soundly ten days ago? --NB

Coming up: December 21 vs. Missouri

Previous: 10 (----)

NET: 53

Last week: Won vs Seton Hall, 68-48

Rutgers opened a lot of eyes with their 20-point beat down of Seton Hall, even if it came with Myles Powell off the floor for the majority of the game. This is a team that's playing some good basketball, especially defensively. - CH

Coming up: December 22 vs Lafayette

Previous: 12 (+1)

NET: 54

Last week: Won vs. Ohio State, 84-71

Richard Pitino's group is back on its feet after losing three of its first four to start the season. The Gophers have won four of six, including an upset of Ohio State on Sunday. Daniel Oturu is playing at a high level, and transfers Payton Willis and Marcus Carr have started to get comfortable. If sophomore Gabe Kalscheur can get going, Minnesota could push its way into the next tier. There will be no shortage of opportunities. -NB

Coming up: December 21 vs. Oklahoma State

Previous: 11 (-1)

NET: 49

Last week: Won vs. Ohio State, 84-71

The NET likes the Badgers a lot more than we do on December 20. UW was idle this week, but Greg Gard's squad has lost four of its last five, with its only win coming at home against Indiana. The Badgers also beat Marquette in Madison, but can this group win away from the Kohl Center? A brutal stretch awaits that will see them travel to Tennessee, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue and Iowa before February 6. Micah Potter is eligible shortly, and will help this team down the stretch, and it's played a top-50 schedule, so a surge could be in store. For now, the Badgers have lost four of five and need to stop the skid before January begins.

Coming up: December 21 vs. Milwaukee

Previous: 14 (+1)

NET: 162

Last week: Lost at Indiana, 96-90 (OT); Won vs Purdue, 70-56

Nebraska might actually be playing some good basketball right now. The Cornhuskers went on the road to give Indiana all they could handle before falling just short, but they rebounded from that effort to record a dominant 14-point victory over Purdue at home.

Make no mistake, this team still has plenty of weaknesses, but Fred Hoiberg seems to have them trending in the right direction. - CH

Coming up: December 21 vs North Dakota

Previous: 13 (-1)

NET: 164

Last week: Won vs SIU-Edwardsville, 72-54; Lost vs Michigan State, 77-72

Northwestern did as expected this past week, defeating an awful SIU-Edwardsville team at home before falling to the Spartans at home. Northwestern did well to fight their way back into the game against Michigan State aided by some hot shooting, but whether they can continue that trend remains to be seen. - CH

Coming up: December 21 at DePaul

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