Basketball: Men's

1. Ohio State (15-2, 3-1 Big Ten) — Even with one loss, the Buckeyes are still the best team in the Big Ten right now. The lone loss came against Indiana in Assembly Hall where it doesn’t seem like anybody will beat the Hoosiers this season. Jared Sullinger and company will have another chance to get a win in Assembly Hall, this time in Champaign, as the Buckeyes face Illinois on Tuesday.
2. Michigan State (14-2, 3-0) — Since losing its first two games (coming against UNC on a boat and Duke), Sparty has rattled off 14 straight W’s and is the only undefeated team in conference play. The Spartans’ latest win was an OT thriller in Madison, where MSU picked up a controversial road win over Wisconsin.
3. Indiana (15-1, 3-1) — In case you missed it, Indiana hit 16 treys against Penn State on Sunday. Sixteen. Good 3-point shooting is nothing new for the Hoosiers; they’re shooting over 47 percent from distance on the season. And when Indiana isn’t shooting jumpers, Cody Zeller has gotten it done in the paint (14.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg).
4. Michigan (13-3, 3-1) — The Wolverines had two really tough road tests in the past few days, traveling to Indiana and Wisconsin. And though Michigan fell just short in Bloomington, they took it to the Badgers in Madison. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 17 points in a 59-41 victory on Sunday.
5. Purdue (13-4, 3-1) — In the past week, it seemed like the play of Lewis Jackson dictated the outcome for the Boilermakers. Jackson, a 5-foot-9 guard, was scoreless in a 20-point loss to Penn State, but bounced back nicely with 20 points and four dimes in a 79-66 win over Minnesota.
6. Illinois (14-3, 3-1) — How good are the Illini? Right now, it’s a tough question to answer. Brue Weber’s squad has three conference victories, but none are that impressive. Tuesday’s game with Ohio State should be a good measuring stick to see where this team is.
7. Iowa (10-7, 2-2) — The Hawkeyes have surprised a lot of people with road wins at Wisconsin and Minnesota, but they came back to earth after a 29-point shellacking against Ohio State on Saturday.
8. Wisconsin (12-5, 1-3) —The Kohl Center used to be somewhere where nobody could beat the Badgers. But things have changed this season. Wisconsin has dropped both of its conference home games and its only conference win is a four-point victory against last-place Nebraska.
9. Northwestern (11-4, 1-2) — The Wildcats came within a whisker of beating Illinois last week, but fell to the Illini by one at home. The Cats also have two of the best scorers in the conference with Jon Shurna and Drew Crawford.
10. Penn State (9-8, 1-3) — The Lions caught the eye of everyone in the conference with their 65-45 drubbing of Purdue on Thursday, behind 21 points from Billy Oliver. PSU followed that performance with a strong effort against a high-powered Indiana team, ultimately losing 88-82.
11. Minnesota (12-5, 0-4) — The Golden Gophers are really missing Trevor Mbakwe, their leading scorer and rebounder, who tore his ACL earlier in the season. And after some tough losses, Minnesota finds itself in the Big Ten basement.
12. Nebraska (8-7, 0-4) — The Huskers got welcomed to the Big Ten the hard way, facing three ranked opponents in their first three games. Nebraska lost all three, and then another one to Illinois on Saturday. The Huskers will have a chance for their first conference win on Wednesday, when Penn State, a team that struggles on the road, rolls in to Lincoln.