The Big Ten closed out the nonconference season with a 5-1 record on Saturday, highlighted by Wisconsin’s 80-43 win over Prairie View A&M. With the victory, the Badgers finished the nonconference slate with a perfect 13-0 record. 

Big Ten play is less than a week away, can you feel it?  That means it’s time for my latest and greatest Big Ten Power Rankings, presented by ArcelorMittal.  This week, Purdue made a big jump after an impressive win over West Virginia, while Indiana and Michigan fell in the rankings. 

The new year is fast approaching, which means that Big Ten play is just around the corner.  A total of six Big Ten teams will hit the hardwood on Saturday, highlighted by a quadruple-header of hoops in store on BTN. 

We sit mere days away from Big Ten play, so it seems a proper time to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the conference’s defenses.  Possibly the best way to do that is through detailed shot data.  The best defenses will limit open threes and shots at the rim while forcing opponents to take low value two-point jumpers. 

Did you miss something while you stepped away from your computer?  We’re tracking some of the best Big Ten social media happenings and posting them all right here.  Check out today’s edition, including a great shot of Michigan State’s Rose Bowl lounge. 

The headliner to the Big Ten’s wild weekend was Ohio State’s improbable comeback over Notre Dame.  The Irish held an 8-point lead with under a minute to play, but OSU’s frenzied press led to four Notre Dame turnovers, which fueled a 14-3 Buckeye run.  It was an unreal comeback, so hopefully you saw it, and weren’t like, trying to get a toddler to go to sleep.  That would have been unfortunate.