There’s finally some consistency in the power rankings. The top eight teams stayed in the same order as last week, and only Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern moved at all.
As the conference’s top teams start to play each other, there should be more and more separation. Or it could just remain a jumbled mess. Who knows.
Without further ado, the sixth edition of Inside the Hall’s Big Ten power rankings.
12. Penn State (10-12, 2-7) (LAST WEEK: 12)…The Nittany Lions are in the midst of the most difficult stretch on their schedule, and they haven’t fared well. After falling at Indiana and at Ohio State, Penn State now faces games against Wisconsin, at Iowa, and at Michigan State.
11. Northwestern (12-8, 2-6) (LAST WEEK: 10)…The slide continued with a home loss to Purdue on Saturday. The Wildcats have lost three consecutive games since upsetting Michigan State.
10. Iowa (11-11, 3-6) (LAST WEEK: 9)…The Hawkeyes surprised everybody with road wins against Wisconsin and Minnesota to begin the conference season, but they’ve lost five of six and are sinking fast.
9. Nebraska (11-9, 3-6) (LAST WEEK: 11)…They’re not flashy, but the Cornhuskers keep getting better. Their win at Iowa last week may have turned the Hawkeyes’ season in the wrong direction.
8. Illinois (15-6, 4-4) (LAST WEEK: 8)…The Fighting Illini were 4-1 after an upset of Ohio State, but they’ve dropped three straight with a game against Michigan State still to come on Tuesday.
Indiana’s wins against Kentucky and Ohio State remain the two best victories in the country this season.
With the midway point of the Big Ten season approaching, Inside the Hall takes a look at the sleepers, contenders and the favorite to take home the conference’s player of the year award: 
This is what Indiana-Purdue is all about
It’s been awhile since we’ve had this. Sure, there have been competitive games in football and basketball over the last few years, but Indiana has rarely had more than pride on the line. The Hoosiers competed, stayed in the game, and then lost.
It was hardly even still a rivalry.
But the Hoosiers are back, and Purdue still has plenty left to play for. The Boilermakers are the only Big Ten team without a win over a ranked opponent.
For Indiana, Saturday night’s game at Mackey Arena could be viewed as a “must-win.” With the Hoosiers’ struggles on the road in the Big Ten, a fifth consecutive loss away from Assembly Hall would all but kill this team’s confidence the rest of the way. They’ve still got winnable road games against Iowa and Minnesota left, but lose this one, and those two look a whole lot tougher.
Indiana’s incredibly slow start at Michigan on Wednesday gave it little chance to come back. The Hoosiers had a similarly slow start at Ohio State before playing a better second half.
If they want to beat Purdue and alter their recent fortunes away from Assembly Hall, they can’t afford to fall behind by double-digits before they find their rhythm.
“I feel like we just got rushed in the beginning,” junior Derek Elston said Friday. “A lot of the guys weren’t playing their game. We let the defense kind of dictate what was going on. After a TV timeout, coach just kept harping that we have to keep playing our game no matter what, don’t let them speed us up, keep playing IU basketball.
“I think in the beginning we were trying to make that home run play when we just needed to make the single.”
So what’s the key to starting faster?
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