Unexpected Surges Shake Up Week One Big Ten Power Rankings: Can Michigan and Illinois Sustain the Momentum?

The Big Ten opened up the season last week and fans got treated to plenty of excitement, highlighted by a few marquee matchups over the weekend. Perhaps the biggest was in East Lansing between Arkansas and Michigan State.

So, let’s jump into this week’s Power Rankings.

Big Ten Week One Power Rankings

The Wolverines only had one game last week, but the team got off to a remarkable start, blasting what’s generally a pretty feisty Oakland squad at home on Monday night. The game set a first-half scoring record for Michigan’s program, as the team finished with 121 points and a blistering 1.55 points per possession. Morez Johnson led the way with 24 points and Aday Mara had 12 rebounds.

Michigan will hope to add its first wins of substance this week with Wake Forest in Detroit on Tuesday and TCU on the road on Friday night. KenPom favors the Wolverines in both games, but one has to wonder whether there will be some regression from opening night. After all, it’s hard to continue at that pace.

The Illini scored two easy wins last week, crushing Jackson State at home on Monday and Florida Gulf Coast at home on Friday. Illinois scored 113 in both games and looked every bit the part of a top five unit. Kylan Boswell was particularly impressive in the second game, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.

Illinois now sits at 2-0 and will prepare for what looks like a tough Texas Tech squad at home on Tuesday. The team will then get Colgate at home on Friday. KenPom favors Illinois in both games. We’ll see if Illinois can live up to the hype against the Red Raiders.

The Boilermakers went 2-0 in the opening week, beating Evansville at home on Tuesday and Oakland at home on Friday. The first game went according to plan, but the second one ended up being closer than Boiler fans would have liked. In fact, the game was tied at half and it wasn’t over until the final minutes. Purdue’s defense was lackluster in the win, giving up 1.1 points per possession.

Despite some of Friday’s frustration, Purdue sits at 2-0 and will now prepare for Alabama on the road on Thursday and Akron at home on Sunday. Both games look far more challenging than Purdue’s first two opponents. If the Boilers can find a way to win both games, it would be huge for the team’s resume.

The Spartans had a stressful, but productive opening week of the season. Michigan State beat Colgate at home on Monday and then followed up with a win over Arkansas at home on Saturday. The latter game came down to the final few possessions, with Michigan State finding a way to win the game. It left the team sitting at 2-0 overall.

Michigan State’s opening week went largely according to expectations, though there was a slight regression on KenPom, even despite the two wins. The Spartans dropped about 10 spots on the site. That doesn’t sound major, but it could drastically impact the team’s hopes in a league as good as the Big Ten. Fans will hope that’s just an early season blip and won’t translate to future games. Cam Ward will be one of the key players to watch. If he can emerge, Michigan State could really rise.

The team only gets one game this week, which will be against San Jose State at home on Thursday. The (other) Spartans are a relatively good opponent for a “buy” game, so Michigan State will have to play well to avoid an upset.

The Badgers scored easy wins last week, cruising past Campbell on Monday and Northern Illinois on Friday. The wins left Wisconsin sitting at 2-0 on the year. John Blackwell impressed in both outings. However, we’ll have to wait at least another week to learn much about Wisconsin, as the team’s lone game will come against Ball State at home on Tuesday. KenPom projects a lopsided affair.

The Trojans met expectations in week one, cruising past Cal Poly at home on Monday and Manhattan at home on Sunday. Both wins came by at least 30 points and left USC sitting at 2-0 on the season. The team will now get a few days off before returning to action against Illinois State in Inglewood on Friday. It figures to be USC’s toughest test of the season, though the Trojans will still be significant favorites.

The Hoosiers had a fantastic opening week to the season, blasting Alabama A&M at home on Wednesday and beating Marquette in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. The second win was particularly impressive, as Indiana only entered as a modest favorite and went on to win by 23 points. Lamar Wilkerson led the way with 23 points and eight assists. The wins left Indiana sitting at 2-0 and bumped the team up to 21st on KenPom.

We never want to read too much into a single result, but it’s hard to understate what Sunday could mean for the Hoosiers this season. That was the type of game the Hoosiers often underperformed in with Mike Woodson at the helm. However, Indiana delivered with Darian DeVries, or at least it did on Sunday. If the team can keep winning these toss up games, the Hoosiers have a ton of potential this season.

Indiana will get a quieter slate this week, with Milwaukee at home on Wednesday and Incarnate Word at home on Sunday. Both teams are rated outside the top 200 on KenPom, so the Hoosiers will be significant favorites.

The Ducks had a mixed performance to open the season. On the positive side, Oregon won its first two games and beat two opponents inside the top 150 on KenPom. For perspective, last year’s lowest rated Big Ten team (Washington) finished at 104th on KenPom. So, the Ducks beat two teams in lower-tier Big Ten range. That’s not a bad performance to start the season.

However, both games were also too close for comfort. The Ducks only beat Hawai’i by one point on Tuesday and Rice kept things within a possession or two for most of the evening. The performances were rough enough to drop Oregon a total of 20 spots on KenPom in just a week. While both opponents were solid, a team of Oregon’s caliber should have still performed better, especially at home.

Duck fans will see if Oregon can improve this week, with South Dakota State at home on Wednesday for the team’s lone game of the week. South Dakota State is 165th on KenPom, so it projects as an easier game than either matchup last week, but not by much.

The Buckeyes had a wild, but productive first week of the season. Ohio State beat IU Indy at home on Monday in a shootout and followed it up with a win over Purdue Fort Wayne at home on Friday night. The team beat both opponents by double-digits, though the Buckeyes gave up 102 points in the team’s opener. Fans will hope that was just a fluke and not a sign of things to come. Friday’s result was encouraging in that regard, as Ohio State only gave up 68 points in the win over the Mastodons.

Things will get much tougher for Ohio State this week, as the team gets Appalachian State at home on Tuesday and Notre Dame at home on Sunday. The latter figures to be Ohio State’s first real test of the season. KenPom currently favors the Buckeyes by eight points.

The Bruins had a relatively disappointing week, barely getting past Eastern Washington at home on Monday and allowing Pepperdine to hang around for most of the night on Friday. UCLA’s defense was relatively underwhelming in both games, allowing both opponents to score at least a point per possession. That’s simply not going to cut it against tougher competition.

Still, even if UCLA looked unimpressive last week, the team remains undefeated at 2-0 and will now prepare for West Georgia at home on Monday. UCLA will then get its first major test on Friday in Inglewood against Arizona on a “neutral” court. KenPom currently favors the Wildcats.

The Terrapins had a disappointing opening week, beating Coppin State at home on Monday but falling by 10 at home against Georgetown on Friday night. The loss to the Hoyas was particularly rough, as Georgetown entered the season with middling expectations and the game probably wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. The primary issue was Maryland’s offense, which finished with just 0.87 points per possession. Pharrel Payne was the only starter that did much. That’s simply not going to cut it against quality teams.

The split left Maryland sitting at 1-1 overall. The Terps will now prepare for Alcorn State at home on Tuesday and Marquette on the road on Saturday. KenPom projects a split, but the Golden Eagles are only 44th on KenPom this season, so perhaps it could be a vulnerable team if Maryland plays well.

The Huskers swept the team’s opening slate, beating West Georgia at home on Monday and FIU at home on Saturday. The two wins pushed Nebraska to 2-0 on the season. Neither game was all that close, thanks in part to the quality play of Rienk Mast and Pryce Sandfort.

Nebraska will now get a bit of time off before facing Maryland Eastern Shore at home on Tuesday and rival Oklahoma in Sioux Falls on Saturday. The latter game presents as Nebraska’s biggest test of the season to date. A win there could be a valuable one on Selection Sunday.

The Hawkeyes won both of the team’s games to open the season, blasting Robert Morris on Tuesday and beating Western Illinois on Friday. Iowa’s offense looked solid in both games, including a 101-point performance in Tuesday’s win. The victories left Iowa sitting at 2-0 overall.

Iowa will get a week off before returning to action on Friday at home against a pretty solid Xavier team. KenPom favors the Hawks in the game, but it’s projected to be a competitive game, so Iowa will need to play a good game to get the win. It will be Ben McCollum’s first challenge as head coach.

The Wildcats looked solid in the team’s opening week of action, beating Mercyhurst at home on Monday and Boston University on Friday. Nick Martinelli looked good in both games, scoring a combined 37 points so far this season. The team’s defense was also impressive, holding both opponents around 50 points.

Northwestern improved to 2-0 with the win. The Wildcats will now prepare for Cleveland State at home on Monday and rival DePaul on the road on Friday. The latter game looks like a toss up. We’ll see if Chris Collins can get his squad fired up enough to get the win.

The Huskies had a relatively disappointing opening week of the season. While Washington opened with home wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff and Denver, it followed that up with a tough loss on the road against Baylor on Sunday. The results left Washington sitting at 2-1 overall. The Huskies just couldn’t get enough offensive production on the road to beat the Bears. Still, it was an expected loss, so it shouldn’t change Washington’s long-term prognostications too much.

Washington only gets one game this week, which will be on the road against rival Washington State on Friday. The Huskies enter as solid favorites, but most ratings are preliminary at this point, so we’ll have to see how things look at game time.

The Gophers opened the season by beating Gardner Webb at home on Monday and Alcorn State at home on Saturday. Both wins came by at least 25 points, which is certainly an encouraging stat. As a result, Minnesota now sits at 2-0 and will prepare for a challenging Missouri team on the road on Wednesday and then Green Bay at home on Saturday. KenPom expects a split. If Minnesota can find a way to sweep, it would be huge for its postseason hopes.

The Scarlet Knights grabbed a decent win to open the season last week, beating Rider at home on Wednesday. The win was solid enough to bump Rutgers up several spots on KenPom and pushed the squad to 1-0. Unfortunately, we won’t learn much about the team this week either, as it’s slated for two more tuneups this week with Maine and Lehigh at home. The Scarlet Knights are substantial favorites in both games.

The Nittany Lions scored two comfortable wins to open the season, beating Fairfield at home on Monday and New Haven on the road on Saturday. The latter game was quite lopsided, coming by a 34-point margin. The wins left Penn State sitting at 2-0 overall. The team will now prepare for Navy at home on Tuesday and La Salle in Philadelphia on Saturday.