First, here are the teams ranked from number 18 to number 14 in the New Year 2025 Big Ten Power Rankings.
No. 18 Minnesota Gophers
Overall Record: 8-6 Big Ten Record: 0-3
Team Rankings: NET: #165 KenPom: #122 EvanMiya: #112 Barttorvik: #135 BPI: #105
Significant wins this season: Yale (59-56) and Central Michigan (68-65)
Quad one, two, and three losses this season: Wichita State (66-68), Wake Forest (51-57) in the ESPN Events Invitational, North Texas (51-54), Michigan State (72-90), @ Indiana (67-82), and Purdue (61-81).
No. 17 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Overall Record: 8-6 Big Ten Record: 1-2
Team Rankings: Net: #84 KenPom: #76 EvanMiya: #75 Barttorvik: #88 BPI: #70
Significant wins this season: Notre Dame (85-84) in the Players Era Festival-Impact Tournament, Penn State (80-76), and Seton Hall (66-63).
Quad one, two, three losses this season: @ Ohio State (66-80), Texas A&M (77-81), and Alabama (90-95) in the Players Era Festival-Impact Tournament, as well as Princeton (82-83) and @ Indiana (74-84).
No. 16 USC Trojans
Overall Record: 9-4 Big Ten Record: 1-1
Team Rankings: NET: #91 KenPom: #79 EvanMiya: #64 Barttorvik: #69 BPI: #63
Significant wins this season: UT Arlington (98-95), @ Washington (85-61), and CSUN (90-69)
Quad one, two, three losses this season: Cal (74-78), Saint Mary’s (36-71), and New Mexico (73-83) in the Acrisure Classic, and Oregon (60-68).
No. 15 Washington Huskies
Overall Record: 10-4 Big Ten Record: 1-2
Team Rankings: NET: #95 KenPom: #90 EvanMiya: #90 Barttorvik: #109 BPI: #90
Significant wins this season: Colorado State (73-67) and Santa Clara (76-69) in the Acrisure Invitational, as well as Washington State (89-73) and Maryland (75-69).
Quad one, two, three losses this season: @ Nevada (53-63), @ UCLA (58-69), and USC (61-85).
No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers
Overall Record: 11-3 Big Ten Record: 2-1
Team Rankings: NET: #62 KenPom: #56 EvanMiya: #49 Barttorvik: #58 BPI: 58
Significant wins this season: South Carolina (87-71), Rutgers (84-74), UNC Greensboro (69-58), and Providence (89-73) in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis
Quad one, two, and three losses this season: Louisville (61-89) and Gonzaga (73-89) in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, as well as @ Nebraska (68-85).