Another installment of the Big Ten Power Rankings, Finals Week Edition, are upon us. Teams had a generally easy week, allowing the athletes to focus on their studies. This will be the final rankings before Big Ten play starts up next week. Enjoy!1. Ohio State Buckeyes (#2 Nationally, 11-0) Romps over South Carolina and UNC Asheville keep the Buckeyes on top for another week. They play a pesky Oakland team that knocked of Tennessee this week, so keep an eye on that game.
2. Michigan State Spartans (#12 Nationally, 8-3) A nail-biter against Oakland and destruction of Prairie View A&M coupled with an Illini loss are enough to lift the Spartans a spot in this week's rankings.
3. Purdue Boilermakers (#13 Nationally, 11-1) Wins over in-state competion Indiana State and IPFW pad the record before Big Ten play opens with Michigan.
4. Illinois Fighting Illini (#21 Nationally, 10-2) A loss to Illinois-Chicago certainly has to hurt the Illini's confidence heading into Big Ten play. They have a game with #10 Missouri also, so Bruce Weber's crew could be reeling heading into the conference season.
5. Minnesota Golden Gophers (#16 Nationally, 10-1) A win at home over Akron and a week-long layoff should have the Gophers ready to go for conference play.
6. Wisconsin Badgers (Unranked, 9-2) The Badgers didn't play a game last week, so we'll leave them unmoved in the rankings. Coppin State should be an easy win for Bo's Badgers in a tune-up game.
7. Indiana Hoosiers (Unranked, 9-2) Wins over SIU-Edwardsville and South Carolina St. are hardly impressive, but the manner in which the Hoosiers won was impressive. Northern Iowa and New Mexico/Colorado are the only games left before Crean and the Hoosiers hit the Big Ten schedule.
8. Northwestern Wildcats (Unranked, 8-1) Blown out by a rejuvenated St. John's program under Steve Lavin hurts the Wildcats. They get Mt. St. Mary's before 3 straight ranked Big Ten opponents. Ouch.
9. Michigan Wolverines (Unranked, 9-2) The Wolverines beat Oakland and have a final non-conference game against Bryant University before opening Big Ten play with Purdue.
10. Iowa Hawkeyes (Unranked, 7-5) Drake and Louisiana Tech were probably the last of the victory's for the Hawkeyes for a long time. 5 of their first 6 Big Ten games are against ranked opponents.
11. Penn State Nittany Lions (Unranked, 7-4) Double-digit loss to Maine at home is all you need to know.
Hope everyone has a happy holiday season!
Brian
