But both squads are hitting the heart of Big Ten scheduling. Illinois faces No. 23 Iowa on Thursday at home and then heads to No. 24 Wisconsin on Tuesday, where the Badgers have won 38 straight games, the nation's longest streak.
"Our guards are gonna have their hands full, and it should be a very exciting matchup," Illinois assistant coach Wayne McClain said about the Iowa game.
The Illini have now held the No. 1 ranking for seven weeks, using a balanced scoring attack and possibly the best lineup of guards in the league.
"Overall, our team is playing well. I think we have good team chemistry," McClain said. "We are off to one of the best starts in school history, and a lot of that is the fact the guys have done a good job this year really buying into the system and being a little more coachable."
U-M is on the road against Indiana tonight and faces Wisconsin on Saturday. Wolverines forward Chris Hunter is still out with a high ankle sprain, forward Lester Abram is out for the season and forward Brent Petway hurt his left shoulder but might play tonight.
But guard Daniel Horton and forward Graham Brown are back after injuries.
"We are feeling fairly good about ourselves with a few wins under our belts consecutively," head coach Tommy Amaker said. "But not thinking we're playing as well as we are capable of playing ? But the rest of the month is brutal for us."
Movin' on up
And don't look now, but four Big Ten teams are now ranked in The Associated Press poll after No. 24 Wisconsin joined No. 1 Illinois, No. 19 MSU and No. 23 Iowa.
That ties the conference with the ACC, Big 12 and the Big East, which all have four ranked teams. The SEC and Conference USA both have three.
Players of the week
Illinois guard Luther Head and Wisconsin forward Mike Wilkinson were named Co-Big Ten Players of the Week.
Head, who has helped No. 1 Illinois to a 18-0 start, scored a game-high 19 points against Penn State and a season-high 26 points at Northwestern.
Wilkinson scored a career-high 29 points while grabbing 10 rebounds in a win against Ohio State and added 12 points in a three-point win over MSU.
(As of Jan. 17)
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| School |
Record |
Overall |
| Illinois |
4-0 |
18-0 |
| Michigan |
3-0 |
12-5 |
| Wisconsin |
3-1 |
12-3 |
| MSU |
2-1 |
10-3 |
| Minnesota |
2-1 |
12-4 |
| Indiana |
2-1 |
7-7 |
| Ohio State |
1-2 |
12-5 |
| Iowa |
1-2 |
13-3 |
| Northwestern |
1-3 |
8-8 |
| Penn State |
0-4 |
6-11 |
| Purdue |
0-4 |
4-10 |
Source: Big Ten
