The 2025-26 college basketball regular season is nearing its final stretch. With that, the race for Big Ten regular-season champion is set to heat up.
The Michigan Wolverines, ranked No. 2 in the latest AP Poll, currently lead the conference. They're closely followed by Illinois (AP No. 5), Nebraska (AP No. 9), Michigan State (AP No. 10) and Purdue (AP No. 12).
Some major upcoming matchups will factor into how the race shakes out. One to watch in the next week is Purdue's trip to Nebraska on Feb. 10. Meanwhile, one potential foil is Wisconsin, which visits Illinois on Feb. 10 and hosts Michigan State on Feb. 13. If the Badgers rediscover their recent strong form, they could help to decide the order of the final standings.
As we continue toward March, here is an updated snapshot of the Big Ten standings.
Updated Big Ten basketball standings (Feb. 9)

- Michigan Wolverines: 12-1 (22-1 overall)
- Illinois Fighting Illini: 11-2 (20-4), 1 game behind
- Nebraska Cornhuskers: 10-2 (21-2), 1 1/2 games behind
- Michigan State Spartans: 10-3 (20-4), 2 games behind
- Purdue Boilermakers: 9-3 (19-4), 2 1/2 game behind
- UCLA Bruins: 9-4 (17-7), 3 games behind
- Wisconsin Badgers: 8-4 (16-7), 3 1/2 games behind
- Iowa Hawkeyes: 7-4 (17-5), 4 games behind — update
- USC Trojans: 7-6 (18-6), 5 games behind
- (tie) Indiana Hoosiers: 7-6 (16-8), 5 games behind
- (tie) Ohio State Buckeyes: 7-6 (15-8), 5 games behind
- Washington Huskies: 4-9 (12-12), 8 games behind
- (tie) Minnesota Golden Gophers: 4-9 (11-13), 8 games behind
- Northwestern Wildcats: 2-10 (10-13), 9 1/2 games behind — update
- (tie) Maryland Terrapins: 2-10 (9-14), 9 1/2 games behind
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights: 2-11 (9-15), 10 games behind
- Oregon Ducks: 1-11 (8-15), 10 1/2 games behind
- Penn State Nittany Lions: 1-12 (10-14), 11 games behind
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Big Ten basketball standings update after Michigan win over Ohio State