Big Ten basketball power poll

Iowa (13-3, 4-0 Big Ten): Is Iowa the best team in the league? The Hawkeyes certainly looked the part Thursday. Michigan State couldn't wait for the rematch at home, but the Hawkeyes wound up with their first sweep of the Spartans since 1993.

Indiana (14-3, 4-0): The Hoosiers' stock is only going up after a 25-point win over Ohio State despite playing without James Blackmon Jr. now out for the season (right knee).

Michigan (13-4, 3-1): Caris LeVert sat for his third consecutive game (lower leg), but the Wolverines upset No. 3 Maryland without him on Tuesday.

Maryland (15-2, 4-1): The Terrapins often go as Melo Trimble goes, and Tuesday both went south with the guard putting up two points and four turnovers.

Michigan State (16-2, 3-2): Denzel Valentine is back, but in his absence, the Spartans have realized they are contending with a deeper top tier in the league than some originally believed.

Purdue (15-3, 3-2): The Boilermakers figure to be an NCAA tournament team but still are looking for their first really impressive conference victory.

Ohio State (12-6, 4-1): Freshman JaQuan Lyle is one of the tangible signs of the Buckeyes' improvement, with a triple-double in a rout of Rutgers.

Northwestern (15-3, 3-2): The Wildcats beat Wisconsin on Tuesday despite going only 4-for-12 from three-point range.

Nebraska (10-8, 2-3): The Cornhuskers are having the opposite run as the Gophers the past two games, topping the league's lowliest pair by a combined 59 points.

Wisconsin (9-9, 1-4): Nigel Hayes is so mad about the Badgers' off-the-rails season that he has started expressing himself in expletives.

Illinois (9-8, 1-3): Weird things can happen in college basketball, and the Illini's 84-70 upset of Purdue on Sunday was just that.

Penn State (10-8, 1-4): The Nittany Lions are getting killed by the long ball, as opponents have shot 44.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Gophers (6-11, 0-5): Their next projected victory (over Rutgers at home) is more than a month away.

Rutgers (6-12, 0-5): It's been more than a year since the Scarlett Knights won a Big Ten game; they're down to six scholarship players after Jonathan Laurent sustained a concussion.