Well, well, well, here we are. Big Ten Basketball is back ahead of the Holiday season, and let me just say, bad Big Ten, very bad. Look what you've done to the non-conference schedule.

While the Big Ten has as good a chance as its had in decades to get back to the title game and actually win a National Championship with Purdue's ascension to #1 and stellar 7-0 start to the season, the rest of the Big Ten has been nothing more than a series disappointments.

Maryland, who if I were doing this power ranking at the beginning of the season would have ranked #2 for me, lost to Davidson and UAB in back to back contests on a neutral floor before being trounced by Villanova.

Michigan State, a favorite to challenge Purdue by most pundits, has underwhelmed on this side of life without Joey Hauser. Izzo is already benching his star freshman and his grump is at dangerous levels for a team that hasn't started conference play.

From there a few teams look like they might be a positive surprise. Ohio State beat a very good Alabama team and is really scoring the basketball. Wisconsin did a lot of mean things to a rebuilding Virgina team. Illinois is... well Illinois is still Illinois.

I didn't want to do a Power Rankings before the season started or even a week or two into games - we just don't know enough. It'd be all speculation. At this point, most Big Ten teams have been tested a couple times. Teams will change, evolve, get better, and pedigree surely matters for that, but here's my Power Rankings for the Big Ten going into Big Ten action in a conference that's not nearly as good as anticipated.

Purdue won last year's Big Ten by 3 games. At this point, any team getting within three games of Purdue in this conference would be an achievement. Purdue looks head and shoulders above everyone else in the conference. If there was a true contender, most would point to Michigan State, and the two teams will only play once this season, at Mackey Arena.

Tom Izzo does not go into Mackey Arena and win ball games.

Anyways, Purdue is the clear #1 in this power ranking and everyone going forward.

I can't do it, and since I'm held by no restraints except those I've limited myself to, I'm not going to. At some point, maybe, a team will earn second billing. But right now, how constructed, the Big Ten is Purdue and then a large, large gap to the next team.

I do not condone this choice. I don't want to pick Michigan State. They haven't earned it, but the truth is there is only one other team in the Big Ten with any ceiling worth noting besides Purdue, and it's Michigan State.

The best part about Michigan State is also its worst. The Spartans are a. team of tough shot makers. That gets a lot tougher when you lose a stretch four like Hauser that allowed them to play how they wanted and force other teams into playing to them.

But the bigs are not good. The freshman aren't ready. Izzo's offensive system isn't exactly reinventing the sport. But this is a pro-Tyson Walker Power Rankings and in that we show just enough respect to put Michigan State above the rest of the Big Ten.

A surprise Big Ten Tournament team, the Buckeyes flashed towards the end of last season to look like a potential squad this year despite the loss of NBA talent Brice Sensabaugh.

Chris Holtmann is a good coach. It hasn't clicked with him in Columbus yet, but again, there's been flashes. Ohio State has one of the best wins in the Big Ten, taking down Alabama on a neutral floor. It's shooting 40% from three. It's likely to look like a smarter take for the next couple weeks. Ohio State's schedule is easy over the next three weeks. It takes on Minnesota in a Big Ten one off before finishing out its non-conference schedule with just a neutral court UCLA game to really challenge the Buckeyes.

At worst, Ohio State should head into the heart of its Big Ten schedule with 3 losses, and most likely 2. It still has some real shot makers and shooting on its team. Bruce Thornton and Toddy Gayle is a pretty good one-two that not many people are talking about. Jamison Battle is someone that still seems like a luxury third option on a team.

This is either going to look really stupid or really smart after Wisconsin's next three games. The Badgers are about to go through an absolute gauntlet.

Wisconsin will host Marquette on Saturday December 2nd, and then go on the road to play Michigan State and Arizona in back to back games. Wisconsin has already been tested this year. The Badgers have lost to Tennessee and Providence, and beaten Virginia.

But Wisconsin's offense is a work in progress and if it can even go 1-2 over the next three games, it's probably done alright for itself. It's barely shooting above 30% from three and has one of the worst assist to field goals made marks in the country. Chucky Hepburn has to be better. Tyler Wahl is still whimsical ordinary on a basketball court. There's pieces here. I think they could be good.

Another Big Ten team with just one test on its schedule. Illinois lost to Marquette, which isn't to be ashamed of. Marquette is elite. Illinois is definitely not that.

But Terrence Shannon can be terrifyingly good. Illinois is defending hard. It has length all over the place, and it will win some games this year, but that offense is also rough and really depending on a couple guys that are big question marks. Coleman Hawkins is still a NBA2k player created with an all-around 7 footer that can dribble, shoot, and defend, but didn't buy the vc package to boost the stats and is improving the hard way, slowly.

Everyone is 6-6 on this team, and no one is really big. It makes a defense that can switch and get rebounds, but weirdly doesn't force turnovers. Illinois deserve the murky middle of this Big Ten.

Iowa really likes to score the ball! Not much else about basketball speaks to them, but they're good at the offensive stuff. Sound familiar?

Iowa is out of Murray's and that's probably taken down the team's ceiling a good pegs, but Iowa will still press and force turnovers, knock down deep threes, and try and play basketball antithetical to the rest of the Big Ten.

It played well at Creighton and in a neutral setting against Oklahoma.

They really move the ball well, but haven't shot it well. Iowa doesn't have as much depth at shooting as normal and that could be a worry going throughout the season, but the offense is good enough to stay in most games in the Big Ten.

A first game loss to Princeton has taken some shin off a Rutgers team that has a lot to replace, and a lot of talent coming in. It's hard to get a proper feel for Rutgers as a program. This is the first real reload from Coach Pikiell. Gone are the stalwarts of Rutgers basketball, but replacing it is top of the recruiting board talent.

It's going to take a little time for those new pieces to fit, for players to expand their roles, and the offense to get any cohesion at all. Rutgers can't make a shot against a pretty weak starting schedule.

But damn do they defend. The rotation hasn't filtered down yet, Pikiell doesn't know who he can trust, and Gavin Griffiths is still figuring it out. But there's a monster lurking in this team. It might not materialize this year, but for games, for halves, Rutgers will look like a team of reckoning. I'm confident of that.

Do you know how I know the country really hated Hunder Dickinson? The entire world wanted to believe in this Michigan team without its former center so much that after starting the season 3-0 with wins over UNC Asheville, Youngstown St., and St. John's, the headlines were Michigan was surprising to start the season.

Yeah, I'm not buying it either. Michigan then went and lost three of its next four, including getting drubbed by a decent Texas Tech team on a neutral floor.

Michigan lacks size. Michigan lacks identity. Michigan plays no defense. Its best player is small. There's a lot more not to like than like about Michigan to start the year and it doesn't really have an avenue to improve throughout the season.

I get it. It's not my brand. Mike Woodson has stabilized the Hoosier basketball program. Indiana has become the Iowa of the basketball state. It will have runs. There's some real talent on the team, certainly a lot of stars from recruiting, but the team still doesn't make sense to me. Who makes shots? Who makes each other better?

Despite a super easy starting schedule, Indiana has only won one game by double-figures. Offense looks hard. Defense looks not turned on. There's length on the floor, but this team depended on Trayce Jackson-Davis to erase an awful lot of mistakes on the defensive end last year.

Xavier Johnson now has the offense, but still isn't a natural play maker. Malik Reneau has the team's highest assist rate. Trey Galloway can't make a three. Mike Woodson's offense is still as old as Indiana's banners and relevancy in the sport. (Okay, that was a cheap shot.)

If IU brings this basketball to the Big Ten, they'll be lucky to sniff .500.

Maryland will eventually shoot better than 24% from three? That will probably help.

But this Terrapins team is a lot more than a few more made threes from reaching any kind of contending with its disastrous start to the season. Davidson, UAB, and Villanova all took down Maryland in succession to push Maryland from B10 hopefuls to bottom of the league here.

Is Kevin Willard a one year wonder? Again he's leaned on transfers to meld together, but the defense hasn't been enough to overcome complete offensive inefficiency. Jahmir Young looked like one of the best guards in the country last year. He's been okay, but he's turning the ball over, a lot, and Maryland's freshmen have not figured out the college game yet.

Still think there's a good team hiding in College Park.

Boo Buie and Brooks Barnhizer are alliterative pretty and pretty good at basketball!

Northwestern has a lot of guys that have been around. It'll be a solid team. It'll play a lot of close games, and try to make games happen at their pace.

Northwestern should probably be higher. They have a decent floor, but there's not much to tap from this roster. On days where they shoot well from three, and there will be days where Barnhizer and Berry provide Buie with scoring around him and the Wildcats will be really hard to beat those days, but Buie is still undersized and lives on difficult floaters and pull ups. Barnhizer has gotten a lot better, but there's a lack of athleticism that limits this team. The defense doesn't defend the perimeter or protect the rim. Real teams are going to get into them.

7-0 Nebaska has feasted on as easy a non-conference a schedule as you can book to start the year. As you would expect, Nebraska's numbers look decent against the lack of competition.

Keisei Tominga has done Keisei Tominga things. Nebraska is firing up threes from everywhere. There's a whole lot of Fred Hoiberg going on in corn land. I've seen how that script ends. Nebraska hasn't played a real offense and nothing can be taken from the winning start. Its best, most exciting player is still a complete liability when he isn't shooting up crazy off the bounce shots.

At least Volleyball season should be good again for the Cornhuskers.

Things aren't really getting better in Minnesota. It doesn't seem like Ben Johnson is it.

Minnesota has played two teams with any real talent and has kept it close. That feels like the ceiling for this squad. Minnesota's done a decent job getting looks inside, using its unorthodox players to create mismatches, but there's not enough to stretch the floor and Elijah Hawkins is a wild card that plays quicker than he should and has a turnover rate above 30%.

It's gonna be a long season in Minnesota.

Even if Micah Shrewsberry had stuck around, this was going to be a brutal season. After Shrewsberry's incredible job last season and all that experience and shooting, the cupboards have been left bare for Mike Rhoades.

Penn State has lost three straight but will get one more cupcake before they have to play Maryland.

Penn State doesn't have the size or shooting to compete in the Big Ten. It lacks a natural play maker. It also doesn't have a single freshman on the roster. This is one of the strangest collection of players in the country and this program will have to do a whole lot to not stay at the bottom throughout the whole year and going forward.