Week 3 Stats Check-In: Big Ten Continues To Perform Well

We’re now into week four of the men’s basketball season. We even have some initial conference game results this week in our check-in. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Big Ten Conference Standings

We have a few games thus far that have finally shaken up the preseason rankings. By next week we will have a full slate of conference games. In the meantime, the standings are:

T-1. Illinois (1-0)
T-1. Michigan (1-0)
T-1. Rutgers (1-0)
4. Iowa
5. Wisconsin
6. Michigan State
7. Ohio State
8. Indiana
9. Purdue
10. Nebraska
11. Northwestern
T-14. Maryland (0-1)
T-14. Minnesota (0-1)
T-14. Penn State (0-1)

As the actual conference season begins, these will adjust each week. Until then, I will leave it as the preseason projections.

KenPom Rankings

Three weeks into the season now and KenPom still has the Big Ten well represented in the top rankings. There are now eight Big Ten teams inside the top-25, 11 inside the top-50, and 13 still inside the top-70. Offensively, just seven now rank inside the top-25, down one from eight last week. Defensively eight now rank inside the top-40, up one from last week’s results.

The Big XII is still the most top heavy at this point with five teams remaining in the top-10, but after that they have just one other team in the top-40 compared to the Big Ten’s nine. Nebraska brings up the rear for the Big Ten at 108, whereas Kansas State does for the Big XII all the way back at 146. Otherwise all the other teams for both conferences except Iowa State sit inside the top-70.

BPI Rankings

BPI also still remains high on the Big Ten. Six Big Ten teams remain in the top-25, and 10 of the teams are inside the top-50 (down one from last week). Maryland dropped from 43 to 58. Minnesota slightly increased from 57 to 55. Northwestern jumped into the top-70, and Nebraska dropped out of the top-100, going from 97th to 105th.

RPI Rankings

RPI on the conference tab shows the Big Ten is still leading the country in non-conference wins. While the Big XII ranks third in SOS, the Big Ten is not far behind in eighth. In addition, the Big Ten has far more games played being such a larger conference, and sits at an 82 percent winning percentage in its non-conference compared to just 79 percent by the Big XII.

That’s a wrap for this week’s advanced stats check-in. Be sure to follow along with all of BTPowerhouse’s basketball coverage this week and check back again on next week’s update.