With Ohio State appearing in the College Football Playoff championship game, the Big Ten is finding itself in a plethora of headlines throughout the country.
The same can be said for the conference’s basketball teams.
Following No. 19 Michigan pulling off a 94-75 upset of then-No. 22 UCLA at Pauley Pavillon, a historically tough venue for a road team to win in, Bruins coach Mick Cronin went into a postgame rant, where he called his team “soft” and “delusional.” Vladislav Goldin finished with a career-high 36 points for the Wolverines in the win.
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Things wouldn’t improve for UCLA or Cronin by the end of the week. Cronin was ejected in the second half of the Bruins’ 79-61 loss to Maryland on the road after arguing a foul with one of the officials. UCLA has dropped three straight since beating No. 14 Gonzaga at the Intuit Dome on Dec. 28.
Illinois suffered its second setback in conference play on Saturday, after being upset at home at the State Farm Center 82-72 to USC. It’s the first signature win for Eric Musselman’s Trojans, while the Illini were without starting point guard Kasparas Jakucionis for the second straight game.
Michigan State experienced a stress-free week with convincing wins against Washington and Northwestern, moving up to No. 12. Tom Izzo’s squad sits atop the Big Ten standings undefeated at 5-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season. The Spartans have also won nine straight since their loss to Memphis in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26.
Elsewhere, Oregon and Wisconsin won both of their games on the week. The Ducks took down Ohio State and Penn State on the road, while the Badgers picks up wins against Rutgers and Minnesota.
Here’s how last week’s results in the Big Ten were reflected in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll:
College basketball rankings for Jan. 13
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Big Ten teams are bolded. First-place votes in parentheses.
- Auburn (25)
- Iowa State (5)
- Duke
- Florida
- Alabama
- Tennessee (1)
- Marquette
- Houston
- Kentucky
- Kansas
- Texas A&M
- Michigan State
- UConn
- Oregon
- Purdue
- Gonzaga
- Memphis
- Mississippi State
- Michigan
- Illinois
- Ole Miss
- Utah
- Georgia
- Baylor
- West Virginia
Others receiving votes: St. John’s 52; Wisconsin 29; Arizona 29; New Mexico 19; Oklahoma 14; UCLA 12; Maryland 8; Texas Tech 6; Clemson 5; Saint Mary’s 4; Louisville 3; Indiana 3; San Diego State 2; Missouri 2; UC Irvine 1;
AP Top 25
Big Ten teams are bolded. First-place votes in parentheses.
- Auburn (60)
- Iowa State
- Duke (1)
- Alabama
- Florida (1)
- Tennessee
- Marquette
- Kentucky
- Kansas
- Houston
- Texas A&M
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- UConn
- Mississippi State
- Gonzaga
- Purdue
- Memphis
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
- Utah State
- Georgia
- Wisconsin
- Baylor
Others receiving votes: St. John’s 83, Oklahoma 63, West Virginia 61, Arizona 26, Louisville 17, Texas Tech 12, Maryland 11, Clemson 8, Missouri 8, Cincinnati 4, San Diego State 4, Saint Mary’s 3, UC Irvine 2, New Mexico 2.
