Power Rankings: Vol. 6
by babaoreally on Feb 20, 2012 9:06 PM CST
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1. Michigan State - 1.0 (no change)
A dominating second half performance at Mackey Arena and a convincing home win over the Badgers keep MSU a unanimous number one.
2. (tie) Ohio State - 2.5 (no change)
Ohio State hasn't been looking like the world-beaters some of us thought they were. They are still pretty good, but they seem to be having a hard time scoring lately against good defenses.
2. (tie) Michigan - 2.5 (up two)
The Wolverines move up from fourth with their win over the Buckeyes. If Michigan State slips up and UM keeps winning, they have a shot at a piece of the conference championship.
4. Wisconsin - 4.0 (down one)
The Badgers haven't lost to a team that is presently below them in the standings since New Year's Eve.
5. Indiana - 5.0 (no change)
Indiana's lopsided loss at Iowa doesn't hurt them too much. IU had won three in a row previously, so fifth is where they stay.
6. Purdue - 6.3 (no change)
Purdue beat Illinois (which hasn't been too hard lately) and played one good half against Michigan State. The loss of Kelsey Barlow won't help things going forward.
7. Iowa - 7.0 (up three)
Iowa finally jumps Minnesota (a team they beat twice) after their big win on Sunday over Indiana. Let's not dwell too much on their midweek loss at Penn State.
8. Northwestern - 7.7 (down one)
Northwestern's split their games this week. The loss in Bloomington was not a surprise, but the home win over the Gophers helps out their tourney chances.
9. Minnesota - 9.0 (no change)
While not quite on the level of Illinois, the Gophers have been on a bit of a slide as well. The Gophers have lost five of their last seven.
10. Nebraska - 10.7 (up two)
The blowout win over the grease fire that used to be the University of Illinois Basketball Team was enough to move the Huskers up a couple of places.
11. Illinois - 11.0 (down four)
The Illini managed to stay out of last place for at least another week. Have they hit rock bottom yet?
12. Penn State - 11.3 (down one)
The Nittany Lions have won two out of three, but have yet to gain the respect of the Power Ranking Voters. That doesn't quite seem fair, but PSU still has the worst record in the conference.
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So these rankings
appear very subject to the whims of the last couple games. That is, the short term memory of the voters is…interesting. Illinois’s turning into a tire fire, yes, but 11th? Iowa to 7th based on one upset?
There was maybe some shift in the usual 5-10 cluster of the standings, but I doubt it was anything of Iowa-to-7, Illinois-to-11 magnitude.
I had Illinois in last place on mine
The Power Rankings are designed to provide a snapshot as to how teams are playing now, but if you look at the standings, these rankings are pretty close to them. Iowa is tied for 7th in the conference standings with Northwestern. Illinois is only one game ahead of Nebraska, who just finished destroying the Illini. So Nebraska over Illinois isn’t such a crazy leap.
You can make a case for Northwestern being ahead of Iowa, but you can make a pretty good case for Iowa as well. Iowa was probably ranked a little low (and Illinois too high in my opinion) in the last set of rankings.
Then again, none of the teams from 6 on down have shown much consistency. Except for Illinois, who had been consistently awful lately.
Manager at BT Powerhouse a Big Ten basketball blog
@babaoreally
by babaoreally on Feb 20, 2012 11:27 PM CST up reply actions
Define consistency
Northwestern has no bad losses. To me, that speaks volumes: they consistently beat teams they should, and beat some (maybe not enough) teams that are as good/better than they are….
by Chadnudj on Feb 21, 2012 9:00 AM CST via Android app up reply actions
Northwestern has been consistent at not winning close games versus better teams. Over and over this entire season. Simply put, for whatever reason, they can’t get it done.
http://theboilermaker.blogspot.com/
by Bryan Steedman on Feb 21, 2012 10:35 PM CST up reply actions
So recent games
Let’s not dwell too much on their midweek loss at Penn State.
But not THAT recent game. Just the other recent game.
So Iowa should be ranked what?
I understand all of these arguments, but if you made a list, would it be much different than this one? Iowa and Northwestern swap places maybe and Illinois moves up to tenth or something?
Manager at BT Powerhouse a Big Ten basketball blog
@babaoreally
by babaoreally on Feb 21, 2012 12:19 PM CST up reply actions
More or less.
Sorry, this isn’t meant to be some butthurt discussion of how Northwestern should be above Iowa or whatever—if it sounds like it, my apologies. I’m just confused that one win moves a team up three places while ignoring a loss to the #12 team.
Fair enough
This thing is obviously far from scientific. Everyone’s got their different ideas as to who should be where (especially when a lot of teams seem about the same).
How much a team has moved in the poll is somewhat misleading the way I have it on here. Looking at how the averages have changed from last week, Iowa has went from 9.3 to 7.0. Northwestern went from 8.2 (and a tie for 7th) to 7.7. Also the ties sort of make some of the changes seem more than they really are.
I know you’re a Northwestern guy, but the reason I kept bringing them up is because that seems NU and Iowa are somewhat even. So either place for either team sounds fine to me (whereas most of the other rankings seem a little more cut-and-dried).
With the two games per week it also sort of muddies things up. Football is a little easier to do this with, since how each team did that week is a little more obvious. Almost everyone in the conference went 1-1 last week. We don’t really have a good idea where some of these teams should be from week to week; a lot of the changes are because we just happen to rate them on the low end of where they should be one week, and on the high end the next week.
I appreciate the comments. I mostly asked that question because I didn’t really see how the rankings should be much different; I kind of see your point more now.
Manager at BT Powerhouse a Big Ten basketball blog
@babaoreally
Of course.
And again, I hope none of this came off as me bitching. For sure, there’s a lack of across-the-board consistency in the B1G this year, and naturally the order of power rankings will reflect that.
Thanks for all the great writing on the site.
Then again, none of the teams from 6 on down have shown much consistency
I’d like to think you could put Purdue as one of the more consistent teams in the conference outside of the anomaly that was the Penn State game. Outside of that one game they’ve lost all their games to #1-5 in the conference and beat every team #7-12, swept the other bubble teams (Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois) and beat Iowa twice.
http://theboilermaker.blogspot.com/
by Bryan Steedman on Feb 21, 2012 10:37 PM CST up reply actions
Losing 8 out of 9 games does not the 7th best team in the conference make.
If you’re on fire, you’ll be punished for it. Illinois is currently a rolling disaster, and their position in the power rankings (which are not the conference standings) shows that.
Author at Acme Packing Company, a Green Bay Packers blog, and Editor at BT Powerhouse, a Big Ten Basketball blog
Yes, I am on twitter. If you have to ask, you're streets behind.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Feb 20, 2012 11:50 PM CST up reply actions
Illinois deserves to be where they are...
they have lost eight of the the last nine games… 11th is where they should be in my book.
Site Manager at BT Powerhouse, a Big Ten Basketball blog
I still find it funny that there last two wins were...
against Ohio State and Michigan State.
Only in the Big 10
http://theboilermaker.blogspot.com/
by Bryan Steedman on Feb 21, 2012 10:38 PM CST up reply actions
