Big Ten Basketball: Purdue gets slighted in latest Top 25 poll

Is Big Ten basketball too good for its own good? That might be the takeaway from the baffling way the Top 25 poll from the AP shook out on Monday.

While it’s true that Purdue and the rest of the Big Ten basketball teams have been duking it out quite viciously over the last few weeks, it seems a bit odd that a unit that spent so much time in first place in the polls is now stuck at number five. Purdue is stuck there while teams all around it are moving up and down the polls.

It turns out that the same kind of conundrum that faces Purdue might also be facing the Nebraska basketball team. The Huskers and Boilermakers and the rest of the Big Ten basketball crowd are simultaneously getting quite a bit and not enough credit for what they’ve managed to do this year.

Big Ten Basketball: Purdue gets slighted in latest Top 25 poll

Purdue got stuck at number five – seemingly outside of a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament – despite an undefeated week. Meanwhile, Kansas and Alabama both suffered losses this week to struggling programs, and managed to stay ahead of the Boilermakers.

The Houston Cougars needed a buzzer-beater to beat a bad Memphis team. They’re still number one.

Meanhwhile the Nebraska basketball program has had some serious success in the Big Ten basketball slate since the start of February – going 6-2 – and it seems like other teams might be getting punished for it. The Huskers did, after all, almost topple Purdue at one point this season.

Husker fans are trying to figure out why their recent run through Big Ten basketball still has them 94th in the NET ratings. Purdue fans are likely wondering why they’re still 5th when looking at the teams above them.

It feels as though the B1G is its own worst enemy. Of course, there’s a way to fix that. The conference needs to show out in the NCAA tournament.