Sweet Georgia Brown, the Big 10 is top heavy in hoops as well

So just like in football the Big 10 appears to be the Big 2 and the little 9. Although, that is not a slight at Wisconsin football, but since no one else gave them any respect, I'm just toting the party line, ok?

Anyways, a month ago I did my basketball power rankings and now that we are on the eve of the regular season, it's time to go again. As always, please feel free to give us your own rankings.


THE BIG 2

1. Wisconsin: Sherby was right a month ago when he called me out for having the Badgers above the Bucks, but since then Greg Oden has arrived and Wisconsin has gotten a lot better. Sure they were sloppy against Georgia. But that was a tough trap game on the road. Barring injuries or suspensions Wisconsin is on the same level as the Buckeyes, even after Oden gets the full use of his right hand.

2. Ohio State: Right now I downgrade the Buckeyes because from the limited action I have seen of them they appear to be developing a poor habit of playing the "stand around the arc and not move and jack up 3's if our big guy cannot score" You might remember this offense from last year's Badger squad. And where did it get that team: a loss to ND State and getting dispatched by Arizona in the first round of the tourney. Ohio State has enough talent not to let that happen, but they don't have enough to win road games in this conference if they are just going to jack up shots all night long


THE NCAA TEAMS

3. Mich State: A very good start to the year for Izzo's team. Tom will keep them competitive. This team might even be within a game of the top with 3 weeks left. I don't think they are deep enough to win on the road or sustain their early successes through Chicago.

4. Indiana: I still don't like the Hoosiers, they really don't have a good win, but I think they have more money guys than the Illini

5. Illinois: 5th by default. They are a typical 9-7 Big 10 team. They'll beat a team like OSU or Wisconsin, and then get torched by 20 at Iowa. They were awful in the second half against Xavier, should have lost to Mizzou and Bradley and yet almost beat Arizona in Phoenix.

6. Purdue: The Boilers and the Illini will be on the bubble come March. With Wisconsin and Ohio State threatening to be top 5 teams all season the Boilers might get the benefit of being the 6th team in. They'll need a couple of quality wins, however to get such consideration


NIT BOUND

7. Michigan: Too many seniors and too much talent to be this bad, right? I can't see them winning a big game away from Crisler.

8. Penn State: Probably a 7-9 team in conference. They could be a tough out in Chicago, however if they can get hot.


WAIT TIL NEXT COACHING CHANGE

9. Iowa: Steve Alford had last season to make something happened and they lost in the first round. Nice. Now the cupboard is bare and it shows. 5-11 sounds about right for Iowa.

10. Northwestern: The Chicago media will tell you they have won a bunch of games and beat Utah, the Cats will tell you that they have set a school record for wins before Jan 1. I'll tell you that Utah sucks, they got crushed by Tennessee Tech and beat Division III Wheaton by 2.

11. Minnesota: Hey, at least Northwestern beats most of the crappy teams on their schedule. Minnesota could probably lose to 250 of the 330 teams in the nation on any given night. Could you see the Badgers losing to Ark Little Rock or Marist? Yeah, me neither. 2 coaching openings up in the Cities, way to build a program guys.