By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Fran McCaffery probably never envisioned his team being 1-5 in conference play, but the level of competition in the Big Ten is just what he envisioned.

“I expected what you’re seeing, which is some teams that people tend to dismiss playing really well because they knew how good they were,” McCaffery said Tuesday on a teleconference with the media. “And it’s funny for me, I hear a lot of people talk about the Big Ten this year is not what it was. Yes it is. It’s every bit of what it was. It’s just that we’re one of the few leagues where everybody is good.

“A lot of leagues, you have the top and the bottom. So the teams at the top appear to be better, but they’re not. It’s just that every night you better be ready in this league.”

Iowa hasn't been ready on every night and has paid a price for it as my first Big Ten power rankings that accompany this story will show.

Iowa finally won its first conference game last Thursday, defeating Illinois 104-97 in overtime in Champaign, Ill.

Up next for Iowa is another road game at Rutgers on Wednesday.

The Scarlets Knight are dangerous under second-year coach Steve Pikiell, especially at home, but beatable.

Rutgers’ lone Big Ten win came against struggling Wisconsin 64-60 on Jan. 5 in Piscataway, N.J. Four of Rutgers’ five Big Ten losses have been by at least 10 points, including a 31-point drubbing at Purdue on Jan. 3 and a 24-point thrashing against Ohio State this past Sunday at home.   

The exception was a 76-72 overtime loss at Michigan State last Wednesday.

Rutgers defeated nationally-ranked Seton Hall 71-65 on Dec. 16 at home, but then lost its next two games at home against Stony Brook and Hartford.

The Scarlets Knights have been similar to Iowa in that both have played well in spurts, but have failed to sustain success.

The Iowa guards will have their hands full with trying to contain 6-foot-2 Corey Sanders, who is one of the Big Ten’s top backcourt players. Sanders can get hot from 3-point range, but is also excels at getting to the basket and making acrobatic shots.

“He’s really fast and he’s a tremendous finisher,” McCaffery said. “He’s got a phenomenal pull-up game, and obviously, capable from three, but better attacking you.

“And he’s really good at ball screens and he’s also a guy that when he gets going, then he becomes almost unstoppable. You’ve got to really focus on him when you’re getting ready for Rutgers, making sure that everyone is locked in to where he is. And you’ve got to stay engaged at all times.”

Iowa hasn't won a game this season when scoring fewer than 80 points, while Rutgers leads the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing 62 points per game. Whichever team controls the tempo should be in position to win, unless one team has an incredibly good or bad shooting performance.

The game still comes down to making shots and both teams have players who are capable of scorling lots of points.

Iowa would gain some much-needed momentum and confidence with a victory on Wednesday because that would be back-to-back conference road wins, which is impressive under any circumstance.

Time is running out on both Iowa and Rutgers, so both teams should have a sense of urgency. The winner of Wednesday’s game still will be in trouble, but the loser will be in critical condition.

And with Iowa having to face Purdue on Saturday, a bad situation might only get worse.

As promished; my first Big Ten power rankings for men's basketball:

1. Purdue, 6-0, 17-2 – Purdue center Isaac Haas is listed at 7-foot-2 and says his biggest fear is heights. Yikes.

2. Ohio State, 6-0, 15-4 – Fair to say that Ohio State has had better luck than Iowa with hiring former Butler head coaches.

3. Michigan, 5-2, 16-4 – Jim Harbaugh should arrange a sleepover with John Beilein in order to learn Beilein’s secret for defeating Michigan State.

4. Michigan State, 4-2, 16-3 – In the last three games, the Spartans lost to Michigan by 10 points at home, defeated Rutgers by four points in overtime at home and lost at Ohio State by 16 points. So in other words, Tom Izzo has Michigan State on course to make another Final Four.

5. Indiana, 4-2, 11-7 – They should make a movie about this team defying the odds under a new head coach and call it "Hoosiers." Corey Feldman could play Archie Miller.

6. Nebraska, 4-3, 13-7 – Nebraska coach Tim Miles looks like the kind of person whose answers you would copy in order to pass an Algebra class. His team also looks pretty good and received a major boost when 6-11 sophomore center Jordy Tshimanga decided to return after leaving the team briefly last Thursday.

7. Maryland, 3-4, 14-6 – As punishment for taunting Iowa forward Tyler Cook, the Big Ten Conference should’ve forced Maryland center Bruno Fernando to listen to the song “Fernando” by Abba 100 times at top volume.

8. Northwestern, 2-4, 11-8 – The Wildcats are treating the NCAA Tournament like a camel treats water in that a little goes a long way.

9. Minnesota, 3-4, 14-6 – Minnesota’s performance under Richard Pitino has been disappointing, discouraging and embarrassing in so many ways this season. And his team hasn’t played very well, either.

10. Wisconsin, 2-3, 9-9 – Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard needs to be on the guard because Barry Alvarez is watching and believes he is fully capable of coaching hoops once he reads a manual or two.

11. Penn State, 3-4, 13-7 – The Nittany Lions should schedule their home game either immediately before or after Penn State wrestling matches in hopes of improving attendance.

12. Iowa, 1-5, 10-9 – Iowa should play all of its home games at Sanford Pentagon Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D., to create a real home-court advantage.

13. Rutgers, 1-5, 11-8 – The Rutgers players can use this ranking as bulletin-board material heading into Wednesday’s game against Iowa.

14. Illinois, 0-6, 10-9 – Ranking Illinois last feels like football season all over again.