#HLMBB Power Rankings – Week 7(ish)

All good things must come to an end. However, the Power Rankings isn’t one of them. Though this is the last time I’ll be writing these (for a while, at least), you likely already know that the Power Rankings started with John Parker and will continue with Griffin Beers, who will be taking over at the start of 2026.

But given the space between the last game, which was Green Bay’s dismantling at the hands of Campbell on December 23^rd, and going full bore back into conference play on December 29^th, this seems like to good time to present to the Horizon League men’s basketball Power Rankings, which aren’t quite after Week 7, but not quite Week 8, either.

In any event, here they are:

Rank	Team	Last Week
1.	Oakland	6
2.	Purdue Fort Wayne	2
3.	Robert Morris	4
4.	Milwaukee	5
5.	Youngstown State	1
6.	Wright State	8
7.	Green Bay	9
8.	Northern Kentucky	3
9.	Detroit Mercy	7
10.	IU Indy	11
11.	Cleveland State	10

Road wins are big in conference play, and Oakland’s victoryover Northern Kentucky at Truist Arena, a place that’s always tough to play, doesn’t get much bigger. And while the Golden Grizzlies fell to No. 9 Michigan State, as many expected, the margin of victory for the Spartans (nine points) was indicative of how close the game was for most of the contest. When league play starts back up, it’s clear that Oakland can rely on a host of weapons up front, with Buru Naivalurua, Isaac Garrett and Michael Houge, as well as at the point, where Brody Robinson continues to settle in nicely for the Grizz.

While Milwaukee remains undefeated in conference play, when you beat a high major, like Purdue Fort Wayne did against Notre Dame, you’re going to be ranked higher. That’s how it goes this week. As previously noted elsewhere, the Mastodons only had to rely on four players, Corey Hadnot, Mikale Stevenson, DeAndre Craig and Maximus Nelson, to score to beat the Fighting Irish. Moving back into conference play, expect the rest of the Purdue Fort Wayne lineup to contribute on the score sheet again. More importantly, though, the trio of Hadnot, Stevenson and Craig have progressed to the point where it can be argued that the Mastodons, as they have in years past, once again have one of the best, if not the best, backcourts in the Horizon League.

Like Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris had a very successful week, although not to the scale of beating a high major, naturally. However, an overtime win against Youngstown State, even early in the conference slate, is a huge positive for them. The Colonials capped off their non-conference schedule with a win over former NEC rival St. Francis, and they’ll be back in conference action hosting Northern Kentucky. With the Norse eagerly looking for another league win, RMU will need to rely on its advantage in the frontcourt to prevail.

Injuries may hamper another team, but for some reason, Milwaukee has, at least for the time being, weathered the storm of losing John Lovelace, Jr. and Seth Hubbard for the season. With Stevie Elam also out as well, it’s become more important than ever for other Panthers to step up. This week, it’s been Elam’s freshman cohort Josh Dixon, who torched South Dakota State in the Milwaukee win at Fiserv Forum and again in a come-from-behind win at Cleveland State. It’s also been key that Faizon Fields and Danilo Jovanovich are terrorizing opponents on the glass as well. Both of these elements will be critical for the Panthers when they face Purdue Fort Wayne.

Youngstown State would certainly have retained the top spot in the Power Rankings if things had gone differently on the road at Robert Morris, especially with Cris Carroll exploding for 31 points in that contest. But that was not to be, and thanks to more notable performances but their conference rivals, the Penguins took a bit of a tumble in the Power Rankings. This may likely be a temporary situation for YSU, though, with Detroit Mercy coming to town, as well as a tough test against Oakland.

To be fair, Wright State’s chances against undefeated Miami (OH) were pretty grim, even though it was in the confines of the Nutter Center. A seven-point loss may not seem like something to crow about, but given how the game went, it could have been a lot worse for the Raiders. Luckily for Wright State, though, Eastern Michigan came to town, and the Raiders had a much better time against the Eagles, beating them in the last non-conference contest. Things don’t get easier for them when they return to conference play, though, as Oakland and Milwaukee are up next.

What a weird roller coaster it’s been for Green Bay the last couple of games. At the top of the hill was an impressive win over a very strong opponent in UC Santa Barbara, which was also notable because Doug Gottlieb announced after the game that he was stepping away from hosting his national radio show. Then the Phoenix careened downhill on the road against Campbell, where they were doomed to defeat, thanks to a second half in which nothing went right for them. Green Bay will be ringing in the New Year on the road, facing a Purdue Fort Wayne team that will prove to be a test of the progress the Phoenix have made in Gottlieb’s second season at the helm.

Northern Kentucky could have fared much better this week, but the Norse couldn’t find a way to get over the hump against Oakland, and they definitely couldn’t find an answer against the College of Charleston. NKU will need to find some answers and quickly, as the Norse’s next game is a road contest against Robert Morris, a team that will be eager to test their abilities, particularly in the paint.

There wasn’t much room for upward mobility in the Power Rankings for Detroit Mercy, given that the Titans’ only opponent was a non-D1 Siena Heights squad. The real opportunity for UDM will come in a return to league competition, when the Titans have two huge battles on the road against Youngstown State and Robert Morris.

IU Indy was always expected to beat Miami-Middletown. What wasn’t expected was the amount of points the Jaguars would put up, which turned out to be a Division I record for them. It was also expected that IU Indy’s trip to Grand Canyon would be a relatively rough one, although the Jags didn’t get run out of the gym. Still, IU Indy remains without a conference win, and that makes its next contest against Cleveland State critical if the Jaguars want to find some signs of progress in Ben Howlett’s inaugural season.

You have to wonder what happens to Cleveland State in the second half of games so far this season. A blowout loss at UAB, in which the Vikings were within striking distance at halftime, and a loss at home against Milwaukee, in which CSU was up by double digits in the first half, don’t really make that wondering go away. Nor do the questions of whether Josiah Harris or Dayan Nessah will be healthy and in the lineup for the Vikings’ game against IU Indy. If not, CSU will have to face a fast-paced Jaguars offense that they may not have the personnel to hold off.