Player of the Week
Johnny Davis, Wisconsin
The Badgers are out to a 8-1 record having taking down Big East leading Marquette as well as Big Ten opponent Indiana in back to back games. Davis has been Wisconsin’s superstar, leading them in ppg at 20.5 and rebounds at 6.0. He’s also doing it with great efficiency, knocking down 40% from three and 82% from the line. Over the past two games he recorded 25 points against Marquette and followed that up with 23 against Indiana. Davis has been a breakout star this year for Wisconsin, going from a 7 ppg player as a freshman to his current 20 plus ppg. After an incredible performance a week back in Las Vegas where he earned MVP of the Maui Invitational, he gets his due with a Player of the Week award here.
Who’s Hot:
Brad Davison, Wisconsin
In three straight victories with the Badgers this past week, senior Brad Davison played extraordinary averaging 18.3 PPG on 45% shooting from the field. In Wisconsin’s Big Ten/ACC challenge game versus Georgia Tech, Davison dropped a whopping 27 points (five of those being threes) in a 70-66 win over the Yellow Jackets. Following his stellar performance, not much changed as Davison dropped 20 points on 50% shooting from the field in a 89-76 win over Marquette. To sum up Davison’s hot week, Wisconsin opened up their Big Ten schedule at home beating Indiana 64-59 and even though Davison’s performance wasn’t that great, along with Davis, he’s been a key to the Badgers offense so far this season.
Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers may only have played one game last week beating Iowa 77-70, but that is not the only reason why they’re on this week’s “Who’s Hot” list. For the first time in history, Purdue finds itself #1 in the AP Top 25 Poll! Despite their last second buzzer beater loss to Rutgers on Thursday, they deserve credit for reaching the top spot in the country, for at least a week. Give credit where credit is due and with some help of some teams in the Top 10 losing, Purdue’s hot start to the season has shown voters why they deserved to be labeled as the best team in the country, as of Monday.
Who’s Not:
Nebraska
After three straight losses this week, two of them being in the Big Ten, the Cornhuskers find themselves at the top of the “Who’s not” list this week. The week started off long and tough for Nebraska losing in four overtimes to NC State in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. Following the loss to the Wolfpack, Nebraska fell to Indiana in their first Big Ten game of the season 68-55. Tuesday didn’t get any better, in matter of fact it got worse for the Cornhuskers as Michigan totaled 15 threes against them in a 35-point loss.
Iowa
Nothing too concerning but like Nebraska, Iowa has also started its Big Ten play with two straight losses. Luckily for Hawkeyes fans, both losses came from the top two teams in the Big Ten right now, Purdue and Illinois. Iowa should definitely find their way back up in the standings and avoid even surfacing this list as the season goes on.
Top 5 Coaches Currently in the Big Ten (no order):
Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
Since this list is in no order I won’t rank the all-time great Tom Izzo, but he’s been around long enough with the Spartans to arguably be in the category as one of the greatest coaches in Big Ten history. With one national championship, 8 final four appearances under his belt, and three Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, Izzo has displayed his dominance as a college basketball coach since his gig started back in 1995.
Matt Painter (Purdue)
Taking over the Boilermakers head coaching job in 2005, Matt Painter has made waves with Purdue carrying an overall record of 355-184. He’s led the Boilermakers to 13 March Madness appearances (five of them getting to the sweet sixteen) and one Big Ten tournament title back in 2009. Painter has arguably one of his best teams so far in his career this year and it’ll be interesting to see how far the Boilermakers will be able to go.
Juwan Howard (Michigan)
Even though Juwan Howard has basically just started his coaching career for the Wolverines, there should be no debate with Howard being on this list. Last year Howard led Michigan to their first Big Ten regular season title since 2013-14 and took the Wolverines to the Sweet 16. Howard also racked up some accolades last season winning the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the AP Coach of the Year. Michigan fans should definitely be excited for the future under Howard.
Fran McCaffery (Iowa)
I think Iowa’s performance last season shows exactly why Fran McCaffery deserves a spot on this list of Top 5 coaches in the Big Ten. McCaffery might not have any awards, final four appearances, or Big Ten championships, but six March Madness appearances, an overall record of 216-152 with Iowa, and a very promising team this season, should show viewers and fans a lot of long-term career success McCaffery has had in the Big Ten.
Greg Gard (Wisconsin)
There were definitely a couple options for who would be the last spot in on this list, but I think Wisconsin’s Greg Gard deserves it. Starting his head coaching tenure with the Badgers back in 2015, Gard has led Wisconsin to two sweet sixteen appearances, a Big Ten regular season championship, and won the Big Ten Coach of the Year back in 2020. Wisconsin seems to always remain a contender in the Big Ten and huge part of it is contributed to Gard’s success so far with the Badgers.