Big Ten rankings: How Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue did in AP Poll originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The newest AP Top 25 poll was released Monday and it certainly had an interesting quirk when it featured the same five Big Ten teams as it had for several weeks now: the Michigan Wolverines (No. 2), Nebraska Cornhuskers (No. 7) Illinois Fighting Illini (No. 8), Michigan State Spartans (No. 10) and Purdue Boilermakers (No. 13).
While the teams in the poll remain the same, the stakes are vastly different this week as late-season head-to-head matchups are already starting to commence.
For the Wolverines (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten), games against the No. 4-ranked against the Boilermakers (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) and No. 4-ranked Duke Blue Devils (21-2, 10-1 ACC) loom large next Tuesday and Saturday But first, they can't look past a road contest against a young Northwestern Wildcats (10-14, 2-11 Big Ten) team that showed signs of resilience in a six-point road loss, 76-70, against the Iowa Hawkeyes (18-5, 8-4 Big Ten) this past Sunday.
The Wildcats-Wolverines matchup is officially sold out Wednesday night, with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. ET from Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston.
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As for Illinois (20-4, 11-2 Big Ten), it failed to increase its winning streak as it dropped an 85-82 overtime decision in East Lansing this past Saturday. The Spartans (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten) will have to make up some ground the next few weeks to catch the Wolverines, as both teams will rematch each other in Ann Arbor March 8. Depending on how the standings shake out, it could decide who wins the regular season conference title ahead of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago the following week.
The Boilermakers were able to escape this past Saturday against the Oregon Ducks (8-16, 1-12 Big Ten) with a 68-64 win to hopefully rekindle some lost momentum they suffered at the end of January with losses to the Illini and Indiana Hoosiers (17-8, 8-6 Big Ten).
The Big Ten slate is an important one Tuesday as the Boilermakers try to steal a road win against the Cornhuskers (21-2, 10-2 Big Ten) while Illinois tries to protect home court in Champaign against the Wisconsin Badgers (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten).
Revisiting the polls next week will likely look vastly different, but that's what makes the Big Ten incredibly unpredictable.
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Let's see how the games play out.
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