Big Ten Basketball Shockers: Who Surprised and Who Crumbled in Week Two?

The past week in Big Ten men’s basketball truly had me on the edge of my seat — some teams stamped their authority as bona fide national championship threats while others faltered unexpectedly against underdog squads. It’s been refreshing, honestly, to see the conference navigate non-conference matchups with a solid hand so far. The real question looming now is whether this momentum can hold steady as the season churns forward. Buckle up — there’s plenty to unpack here, and it’s shaping up to be a rollercoaster. LEARN MORE

We’re coming off of a pretty exciting week of Big Ten men’s basketball that saw some teams cement their status as true national title contenders and others look shaky against inferior competition. The conference as a whole has handled itself pretty well in non-conference play up to this point, it’ll be interesting to see if that trend continues.

Let’s talk about it:

Winners

Purdue cemented itself as the No. 1 team in the country with an impressive 87-80 road win over Alabama. Trey Kaufman-Renn, absent for the Boilermakers’ first two games, didn’t start slow against the Crimson Tide in his season debut, scoring 19 points, pulling down 15 rebounds and dishing out five assists. This is the team to beat in the Big Ten until truly proven otherwise.
Brad Underwood and Illinois dispatched Texas Tech 81-77 at home without the services of all-Big Ten candidate center Tomislav Ivisic. Underwood’s balkan makeover has proven potent as the Fighting Illini boast the nation’s third most efficient offense per KenPom’s metrics.
Nebraska owns the nation’s longest active winning streak at eight victories and counting after emerging victorious in a 105-99 shootout against Oklahoma at the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota. Pryce Sandfort, the younger brother of former Iowa star Payton Sandfort who transferred to Nebraska after the Hawkeyes’ coaching change, went 4-9 from long range en route to a 28-point performance against the Sooners.

Losers

Michigan entered this season looking the part of not just a Big Ten contender, but maybe so much as a national championship contender. The Wolverines looked every bit the part in a 121-78 season opening win over Oakland but were shaky against both Wake Forest and TCU. Michigan earned wins in both instances but lost some of its shine in the process. Look for the Wolverines to have a prove-it performance at home against Middle Tennessee State.
Minnesota has gotten off to a rocky start to the Niko Medved era. The Golden Gophers easily dispatched two sub-300 KenPom teams at home in Gardner Webb and Alcorn State before getting pummeled 83-60 on the road at Missouri. If that wasn’t enough, Minnesota needed overtime to survive an upset bid from Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay, which is also a sub-300 KenPom team by the way. Rebuilds are tough, but this isn’t the best start.
Indiana almost learned the hard way what can happen when its 3s aren’t falling. The Hoosiers survived a 69-61 scare against Incarnate Word in the ugliest game of the Darian DeVries era up to this point. Now, should that be huge cause for worry? Probably not, no, the Cardinals played out of their minds on offense in the closing minutes and the Hoosiers still found a way to win. But Indiana still struggled against a poorly rated defense.
Dishonorable Mention: Marquette has now fallen to both Indiana and Maryland on the season. With Wisconsin and Purdue still on deck, it’s within reason if not likely that the Golden Eagles go 0-4 against the Big Ten in the non-conference. It’s a good program under Shaka Smart, but getting 100-pieced is a tough look.