Five Big Ten Teams Remain In Top 25 as Wisconsin Loses Ranking

Not much was expected to change in the polls after the first few days of action this college basketball season. There were no match ups between ranked teams during the first weekend and most teams were playing relatively easy opponents to get their timing and rhythm back.

Wisconsin ended up being the only team to fall from the rankings in both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll after the first week of games. The good news if you're a Big Ten fan is that in the Coaches Poll, the Badgers were replaced by the Michigan Wolverines, who were unranked preseason in the Coaches Poll, while earning the 25th spot in the preseason AP Top 25.

In the end, the week two rankings show the Big Ten with five top-25 teams: Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan. Today, we take a look at how each of these teams fared last week and take a look at their upcoming schedule as well as which Big Ten team could see their name appear on the Top 25 list next.

Maryland Terrapins (1-0)

AP: #3 (14) USA Today: #3 (3)

Maryland cruised to what was inevitably going to be a landslide win over an overmatched Mount St. Mary's squad. It had to be encouraging for Maryland to see Jake Layman and Melo Trimble get off to a solid start this season as they led the Terrapins with 16 and 14 respectively and each shot over 50% from the floor. The Terrapins crushed St. Mary's on the boards, out rebounding them 44-20, which could be a theme this season with freshman Diamond Stone and Junior Robert Carter up front for Maryland.

The good news for the Terrapins is they continued climb closer to Kentucky in the AP Poll and continue to earn more first place votes than the Wildcats. Don't expect Mark Turgeon's team to fall in the rankings any time soon. Up next for Maryland is a Georgetown team with some talent, but is also coming off of a first game loss to an undermanned Radford team. Maryland finishes the week off with a match up with Rider in College Park.

Michigan State Spartans (1-0)

AP: #13 USA Today: #13

Tom Izzo made sure Florida Atlantic never had any thought of upsetting the Spartans in their opener on Friday night, as his team opened the game on a 20-4 run and never looked back. Michigan State saw scoring contributions come from multiple positions, including freshman Deyonta Davis off the bench, who scored 13 points in just 21 minutes of action. Seniors Matt Costello and Denzel Valentine also poured in 15 and 13 points respectively.

This week will be interesting for Michigan State, as they get an early season test against Bill Self's Jayhawks on Tuesday night in what promises to be an early season classic. The game will take place in the United Center as part of the Champions Classic. This should be a great matchup as Kansas features great experience with junior guards Frank Mason and Wayne Selden along with Senior forward Perry Ellis. This game could elevate Michigan State in to the Top 10 with a win, or send them down a few spots with a loss depending on the severity. The Spartans finish the week out at home against Arkansas Pine Bluff.

Indiana Hoosiers (1-0)

AP: #14 USA Today: #15

Indiana flew by Eastern Illinois 88-49 in their opener, including a 49-17 mark in the first half. Tom Crean got scoring from all over his talented roster as 6 players reached double figures including James Blackmon with 17 points and 7 rebounds and Yogi Ferrel with 13 points and 6 assists.

Indiana should remain unbeaten after week two with two home matchups against Austin Peay and Creighton. The Bluejays should be a step up, however, in the level of competition from Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois in the first two games.

Purdue Boilermakers (2-0)

AP: #21 USA Today: #23

Matt Painter's team moved up in both polls this week, not because of who they beat but because of the way they won both games. The Boilermakers beat North Carolina A&T 81-40 and Vermont 107-79. Six different players averaged double figures for Purdue in the first two games including freshman forward Caleb Swanigan who averaged 12.5 points and 12 rebounds in his first two college games.

This week will be a good early test for Purdue however, as they start with Incarnate Word at home before facing Old Dominion and, most likely, Florida in the championship of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday (assuming both teams win on Saturday). Expect Purdue to once again jump a few spots in the polls if they can win all three games this week, including two against quality opponents in Old Dominion and Florida.

Michigan (1-0)

AP: #24 USA Today: #25

Michigan appeared for the first time in the USA Today Coaches poll after being unranked in the preseason poll. The Wolverines beat Northern Michigan convincingly 70-44 in week 1 and got an encouraging performance from Caris LeVert with 18 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.

The Wolverines should continue to rise in the polls after this week, especially if they can add a win over a quality opponent in Xavier on Friday. The Wolverines started this week off against Elon on Monday with an impressive win thanks to a strong offensive performance.

Who Next?

After losing in an exhibition to Division II Augustana, Iowa has looked impressive in their first two games, beating Gardner Webb and Copper State handily. The Hawkeyes start a tough stretch over the next two weeks with games against Marquette, Dayton, and Florida State. After earning eight votes in the AP Poll this past week, lowa has a chance to quickly climb teams if they can pull off wins over these quality opponents and could find themselves in the Top 25 within two weeks.