The college basketball season officially came to a close on Monday night with Florida claiming the top spot as national champions. But who ended the year at the top of the Big Ten in our power rankings?
Throughout the season, Spartans Wire would release power rankings to gauge where all of the 18 teams in the league were sitting at that given time of the year. Now that the season is officially over, it only makes sense to release our final power rankings for the 2024-25 season. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look ahead to next season, would it?
Check out our complete final Big Ten power rankings for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season below:
No. 18 – Washington
Record: 13-18 (4-16 in Big Ten)
It was a first year in the Big Ten for Huskies, who finished at the bottom of the league. There weren’t many highlights for Washington this season, but at least one positive note was a shocking upset of Maryland in early January. That was about it though for the Huskies as they look to rebound in 2025-26.
No. 17 – Penn State
Record: 16-15 (6-14 in Big Ten)
Penn State got off to a promising start this year, with notable wins over Purdue, Northwestern and Virginia Tech en route to a 12-2 start to the season. However, the wheels came off in January with the Nittany Lions winning only 4 of their 17 games.
No. 16 – Minnesota
Record: 15-17 (7-13 in Big Ten)
It was yet another underwhelming season for Minnesota, but also the norm lately for the Golden Gophers. Which explains why head coach Ben Johnson was let go following the season. Niko Medved from Colorado State is set to take over the Golden Gophers, and has the tall task of getting Minnesota back to the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
No. 15 – Rutgers
Record: 15-17 (8-12 in Big Ten)
Rutgers was by far the most disappointing team in the Big Ten this year. The Scarlett Knights had a pair of high-end lottery picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, but failed to finish above .500 on the year. This will go down as one of the biggest misses and wasted opportunities in program history.
No. 14 – Ohio State
Record: 17-15 (11-9 in Big Ten)
The Buckeyes entered the Big Ten Tournament with a chance to play their way into the NCAA Tournament but an early exit in Indianapolis ended their season. Ohio State has now gone three years in a row without reaching the big dance, and it feels like next year second year head coach Jake Diebler better get them back into the field of 68 to avoid landing on the hot seat.
No. 13 – USC
Record: 17-18 (7-13 in Big Ten)
Like Rutgers, USC possessed plenty of talent this season but never was able to put it all together to in their first year in the Big Ten. I anticipate a better campaign in year two as head coach Eric Musselman has proven he can win at multiple stops during his career.
No. 12 – Iowa
Record: 17-16 (7-13 in Big Ten)
Iowa was again a lot of fun to watch with its high scoring offense but lack of defense resulted in another disappointing season for the Hawkeyes which led to longtime head coach Fran McCaffery being shown the door. The Hawkeyes will now look to get back to contending for a spot in the NCAA Tournament under new head coach Ben McCollum.
No. 11 – Northwestern
Record: 17-16 (7-13 in Big Ten)
Northwestern had terrible injury luck this season and losing a pair of key players was simply too much for the Wildcats to overcome. Still, they fought hard through the end of the season and I would anticipate them to again be back to contending for a NCAA Tournament bid next year (assuming they have better fortune on the injury front).
No. 10 – Nebraska
Record: 21-14 (7-13 in Big Ten)
Nebraska had a colossal meltdown in the final few weeks of the season, losing six of their final seven games to go from near NCAA Tournament lock to missing the field of 68. The Cornhuskers didn’t even qualify for the Big Ten Tournament — that’s how bad it got down the stretch. But, I give Nebraska credit for at least ending the year on a high note by winning the College Basketball Crown tournament last week.
No. 9 – Indiana
Record: 19-13 (10-10 in Big Ten)
It was a roller coaster of a season for the Hoosiers, who entered the year as a Big Ten title favorite to ending it by just missing out on the NCAA Tournament. The wild ride for Indiana resulted in head coach Mike Woodson announcing in February he’d step down at the end of the season, but even after that it felt like the Hoosiers would find themselves dancing. New head coach Darian DeVries will look to get Indiana back to where it belongs among the top schools in the Big Ten next year.
No. 8 – UCLA
Record: 23-11 (13-7 in Big Ten)
The Bruins were also a rollercoaster team in their first year in the Big Ten, but their ride at least took them to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard to gauge if this was a successful season or not for UCLA since it was such a massive change coming to the Big Ten, but I’d argue that Bruins’ fans will expect more next year.
No. 7 – Illinois
Record: 22-13 (12-8 in Big Ten)
Illinois had arguably the highest ceiling in the Big Ten (or at least near the top of the league), but was extremely inconsistent, which ultimately resulted in an average season for the Fighting Illini. Brad Underwood never has trouble putting together a talented roster, so I expect that to be the case again next year, but hopefully they’ll be able to develop some more game-to-game consistency.
No. 6 – Oregon
Record: 25-10 (12-8 in Big Ten)
Oregon got off to an extremely hot start this season, then hit a midseason lull before again getting hot late. The Ducks should be happy with their first year in the Big Ten, and like UCLA will expect more than a second round NCAA Tournament exit from the squad next year.
No. 5 – Wisconsin
Record: 27-10 (13-7 in Big Ten)
Wisconsin was similar to Michigan State in the fact that really no one saw the kind of year they had coming. But, it was still a disappointing ending to the season as the No. 3 seed Badgers were unable to get out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. It’ll be interesting to see how the Badgers reload for next season and if they can again be a top tier team in the Big Ten.
No. 4 – Maryland
Record: 27-9 (14-6 in Big Ten)
The Crab Five were a lot of fun to watch this season, and potentially would have gone even deeper in the NCAA Tournament if they had just a little bit of bench depth to rely on. Regardless, it was a solid season for the Terps and one they’ll never forget (especially with the dramatic ending to the year… cough, cough, Kevin Willard.
No. 3 – Purdue
Record: 24-12 (13-7 in Big Ten)
At one point in February, it looked like Purdue was in the drivers seat for the Big Ten Championship and another No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But a four-game losing skid derailed that for the Boilermakers. Still, Purdue was one possession away from potentially going back to the Final Four, and they will be a National Championship favorite entering next season. So don’t feel too bad for Purdue.
No. 2 – Michigan
Record: 27-10 (14-6 in Big Ten)
For large parts of the season, Michigan was the top team in the league. A rough finish in the final few weeks of the regular season ended their chances of winning the Big Ten Championship. But a run in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament finalized a strong first year under head coach Dusty May. It appears the Wolverines will be a Big Ten threat for years to come under May.
No. 1 – Michigan State
Record: 30-7 (17-3 in Big Ten)
No one saw this type of season coming for Michigan State, and if they said they did, they are probably lying. Jase Richardson became a star for the Spartans and unfortunately will be moving on to the NBA after just one season. But still, this season was a fun ride for Spartans everywhere and should give hope that Tom Izzo can again deliver a Final Four run and just maybe win his second National Championship before hanging it up for good.
Look ahead to next season
There is still a ton of uncertainty around many of the teams in the Big Ten as rosters and coaching staffs are still in construction across the board. So it’s hard to truly rank and project who will be at the top of the league with still many wildcards in place. But I’ll at least give my initial top five for the league, with a plan to do a full way-too-early power rankings in the next few weeks when rosters become more set in stone for the 2025-26 season.
For now, here’s how I’d rank the top of the Big Ten heading into next season:
No. 1 – Purdue
No. 2 – UCLA
No. 3 – Michigan State
No. 4 – Michigan
No. 5 – Illinois
Next up: Oregon, Wisconsin and Iowa
For me, Purdue is the clear cut favorite in the Big Ten entering the offseason. After that, you can make argument for any order of the teams I outlined above and I wouldn’t give much push back. We will have a better indication in a few weeks when rosters finalize, but for now there’s one team at the top and then a host of solid teams fighting for that second spot.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Final Big Ten basketball power rankings, look ahead to next season