The Big Ten woke up on Tuesday and chose chaos—and the Big 12 tagged along.
Not one, not two, but three teams ranked inside the top 10 were toppled on Tuesday night.
First, there was the back-and-forth, roller coaster ride of a top 15 affair between visiting No. 13 Purdue and seventh-ranked Nebraska, a thrilling contest that most closely resembled a seesaw. The Boilermakers buzzsawed through the Cornhuskers off the floor in the first half, taking a 40–24 lead into the locker room at halftime only to watch as the seemingly-insurmountable deficit was erased by Nebraska in the second half.
Trailing by 12 with 2:20 remaining in the second half, things looked bleak for the Cornhuskers—0.6% win probability from ESPN levels of bleak, to be exact. But that’s when Nebraska, spurred on by a raucous crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena, came up with some timely shots and a couple of huge stops on the defensive end to power yet another comeback, sending the game to overtime. Nebraska took its first lead of the game with 1:31 left in overtime.
Purdue slipped by Nebraska—literally—when Cornhuskers guard Jamarques Lawrence slipped on the court while bringing the ball up the court trailing by one point with four seconds left. Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball, was fouled, and drained both free throws to seal the victory.
Little did college basketball fans know: the Big Ten’s witching hour had only just begun.
Unranked Wisconsin, coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to Indiana, faced a tall task in attempting to defeat eighth-ranked Illinois, a team looking to get over an overtime defeat of its own. And the Fighting Illini were poised to do just that, riding red-hot shooting from freshman star Keaton Wagler to take a 12-point lead with 8:10 remaining in the game.
It was 71-59 with just over 8️⃣ minutes left.
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 11, 2026
Here's how @BadgerMBB rallied to force OT en route to an eventual 92-90 upset at No. 8 Illinois 👇 pic.twitter.com/9rV2iBpwoX
That’s when the Badgers, propelled by guards Nicholas Boyd and John Blackwell, went on a furious 22–10 run to send the game to overtime. Blackwell and Boyd, like a dependable Wisconsin law firm, combined to score nine of the Badgers’ 11 points in overtime to stun the Fighting Illini.
Wisconsin’s win was its second road victory of the season against a top-10 opponent, giving the Badgers a case for the NCAA tournament that is hard to argue with.
It was the first time since 1995–96 that multiple Big Ten teams recorded top-10 road wins on the same day.
But there was one more stunner to speak of on Tuesday night, this one out of the Big 12.
Iowa State, thanks to a December win over then-No. 1 Purdue, rose all the way to No. 2 in the rankings. But the normally-careful Cyclones became turnover-prone and vulnerable in losses to then-unranked Kansas and Cincinnati, a January swoon.
When the Cyclones rattled off five straight wins to end January and begin February, the ship seemed righted. But old habits reappeared during now-No. 5 Iowa State’s 62–55 loss to TCU on Tuesday, the Cyclones’ third defeat of the season—each to unranked programs. Errors, both forced and unforced, were the story of the night for Iowa State. Seventeen turnovers, the second-most in a game this season, including four in the last three minutes of regulation. Six missed free throws. Eighteen missed three-point attempts. Ultimately, it was the fast-paced Horned Frogs who prevailed, putting a bow on a wild night in college hoops.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wisconsin, Purdue Score Overtime Upsets, TCU Stuns Iowa State in Chaotic Night of College Hoops.
