Quick Recap

There wasn't a whole lot going on in the Big Ten this week as winter break occurred. Most Big Ten teams are playing their tune up game before conference play starts back up on the 2nd.

1.) The Big Ten has a big offensive divide

When scrolling through the Kenpom offensive ratings, you'll find three teams within the top 5 (at least at the time of the writing, sometimes things can change marginally day to day). Purdue has the nubmer one offense in the country, and they have one of the best offenses we've seen in the Kenpom era. Illinois is elite at number 2, and Michigan falls in at number 5.

However, there's a pretty big jump to the fourth best offense in the Big Ten.

At the time of this writing, UCLA has the 4th best offense in the Big Ten, but it ranks as the 29th best in the country. There are currently 7 offenses ranked between 29 and 50 in the country that reside in the Big Ten - UCLA, Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska, USC, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. There are also three teams below 100 - Maryland, Minnesota, and Rutgers.

2.) Big Ten injuries

This very well could be recency bias, but it's felt like the Big Ten as a whole has been more injury plagued than it's been in the past. However, it's seemingly targeted specific teams. Washington and Maryland both dealt with a plethora of injuries in the off season and to start the year. Indiana and Oregon dealt with a lot in the off season, although they've largely become healthier again. USC lost Alijah Arenas to injury during the off season, and Rodney Rice has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Minnesota has been hit with injuries to two of their starters, including Chansey Willis who is done for the year. Whoever can figure out how to turn injuries off, that'd be great.

3.) Keaton Wagler looks like a first round draft pick

During the off-season, we heard from the Illinois camp that they thought Keaton Wagler was a first round pick type of player. I was pretty high on Wagler and thought he was vastly under ranked, but I couldn't quite get to that level.

Through the early part of the season, Wagler looks like his stay in Champaign may end up being pretty short. He's averaging 15.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 turnovers while shooting 43.3 % from three. As a versatile ball handler and scorer at his size, Wagler can work both on and off ball, and scouts are starting to notice. Wagler is starting to pop up on more NBA mock drafts, and some of them have him going pretty high. He seems poised to be one of the contenders for Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

4.) Big Ten Leaders

It's winter break and conference play hasn't started back up yet. No one is really playing meaningful games. I just don't have a ton to talk about this week for the Big Ten, so let's take a look at the leaders in the conference.

Note - stats as of 12/28/25

There are currently 4 players in the Big Ten averaging over 20 points a game, and Cade Tyson leads the way averaging 22.8 points a game.

Hannes Steinbach has dominated the glass and leads the Big Ten with 12.1 rebounds per game. Jaxon Kohler and Trey Kaufman-Renn are also both averaging 10+ rebounds per game.

Braden Smith is leading the conference in assists per game at 9.6, although this statistical category will be a two man race between Smith and Jeremy Fears as Fears is at 9.2 assists per game.

Kayden Mingo leads the conference in steals per game at 2.1, but there are a lot of guys right behind him. Aday Mara is leading in blocks per game at 2.6, and there are currently 6 players averaging over 2 blocks a game - Mara, Daniel Jacobsen, Franck Kepnang, Zvonimir Ivisic, Nate Bittle, and Jacob Cofie.

Based on the qualifications (40% minutes played and 2+ attempts per game), Skyy Clark leads the Big Ten in 3P% at 49.3% on the season. Cooper Koch, Tyler Bilodeau, Jaxon Kohler, and David Coit round out the top 5.

Based on those same qualifications, there are four players shooting over 75% from 2 - Zvonimir Ivisic (87.5%), Yaxel Lendeborg (80.4%), Brandon Noel (77.1%), Tomislav Ivisic (76.9%).

Based on those same qualifications, there are four players shooting over 90% from the free throw line - Tyler Bilodeau (92.9%), Fletcher Loyer (92.5%), David Coit (91.9%), Chad Baker-Mazara (90.8%).

5.) Conference play is here

Conference play starts up this week, after the new year. Let's do a quick recap of where everyone stands.

2-0 teams

  • Michigan Wolverines
  • Purdue Boilermakers
  • Michigan State Spartans
  • Nebraska Cornhuskers
  • UCLA Bruins

1-1 teams

  • Illinois Fighting Illini
  • Iowa Hawkeyes
  • Indiana Hoosiers
  • Ohio State Buckeyes
  • USC Trojans
  • Wisconsin Badgers
  • Washington Huskies
  • Minnesota Golden Gophers

0-2 teams

  • Northwestern Wildcats
  • Oregon Ducks
  • Maryland Terrapins
  • Penn State Nittany Lions
  • Rutgers Scarlet Knights

For the most part, the conference records indicate where these teams would fall in a power ranking. The few exceptions would probably be putting Illinois in the top group, UCLA to the middle group, and Minnesota to the bottom group.

All 18 Big Ten teams play a conference game on either the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th of January, and there's at least one conference game every day from the 2nd until the 11th of January.

Team of the Week

Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois dominated Missouri, and they were the only Big Ten team to play a meaningful game during the winter break. They get it by default, but they also get this award because of how dominant they were.

Player of the Week

Keaton Wagler - Illinois

vs Missouri

  • 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 2/5 2s (40%), 5/6 3s (83%), 3/4 FTs (75%)

vs Southern

  • 11 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 3/4 2s (75%), 1/4 3s (25%), 2/3 FTs (67%)

Week Schedule

Note - All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

Tuesday, December 30th

  • Northwestern vs Howard - 5:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Wisconsin vs Milwaukee - 7:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Nebraska vs New Hampshire - 9:00 - Big Ten Network

Friday, January 2nd

  • USC @ Michigan - 7:00 - Peacock
  • Oregon @ Maryland - 7:30 - Peacock
  • Ohio State @ Rutgers - 8:00 - Peacock
  • Michigan State @ Nebraska - 9:00 - Peacock

Saturday, January 3rd

  • Minnesota @ Northwestern - 5:00 - Big Ten Network
  • UCLA @ Iowa - 6:00 - Peacock
  • Illinois @ Penn State - 7:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Purdue @ Wisconsin - 8:00 - FOX

Sunday, January 4th

  • Washington @ Indiana - 8:00 - Big Ten Network