While Michigan State has jumped to No. 11 from No. 14, the remaining five teams have landed in consecutive slots. Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana are carrying the No. 14 through 18 rankings, respectively.

Iowa and Purdue dropped two and three spots, respectively, while Wisconsin and Minnesota each were bumped up two places.

But it was Indiana making the largest leap. The Hoosiers skipped ahead five places following their 87-76 road win against the Boilermakers last Saturday.

Game of the Week

With six ranked teams and another, Ohio State, just a few votes short of joining them, there seems to be at least one marquee matchup each week.

While there are a few games worth noting this week -- including Saturday's Wisconsin-Iowa and Ohio State-Minnesota contests -- tomorrow's contest between Michigan State and Iowa looks to carry the most significance.

The Hawkeyes will have an added presence on the floor when forward Sam Okey finally makes his Hawkeye debut. The oft-troubled Okey transferred from Wisconsin where he grabbed the 1995-96 Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.

Okey and the Hawkeyes are sitting atop the Big Ten, and will be trying to keep the Spartans from matching their 4-1 conference record. The Hawkeyes are 13-2 overall while the Spartans have registered a 14-4 mark.

Player of the Week

Indiana's Luke Recker was named the conference's Player of the Week after posting back-to-back 20-plus point games while leading the Hoosiers over Northwestern (81-78) and No. 13 Purdue (87-76).

In pacing Indiana in an 81-78 win over the Wildcats, Recker tossed in 28 points, going 10 for 16 (.620) from the field. In an 87-76 triumph over the Boilermakers, Recker logged 24 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.

Recker is sixth in the Big Ten with 17.0 points per game.