Indiana took it personally that UCLA was being called the hottest team in college football and put a stop to that immediately in Bloomington last Saturday. The Hoosiers are in great shape to finish 12-0.
Wisconsin actually gave Oregon a game, and Iowa just demolished the Gophers to move up a bit. We get a few interesting games this week—does Penn State have anything left or will it be a route at Ohio State. Can the Gophers bounce back and get a needed win over Michigan State at home? USC heads to Lincoln for the game of the week—should be a fun way to end the Big Ten Saturday.
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes (Previously #1)
Ohio State stays at the top after their bye week. Though honestly Indiana damn near deserves to jump over them for one week after what the did to UCLA, but head to head I’m still taking the Buckeyes. What was 6 weeks ago the game of the year in the Big Ten is just a game this Saturday as Penn State comes to the Shoe. Buckeyes are favored by 20.5. Still gets the Big Noon Saturday timeslot to piss off the OSU fans though.
#2 Indiana Hoosiers (Previously #2)
Indiana found their mojo again. Are they that good, or did UCLA finally turn back into a pumpkin? It’s probably a combination of the two, but still an absolute 56-6 demolition of what was the hottest team in the nation? Indiana wants that title back. The Hoosiers go to Maryland this week as 21.5 point road favorites, and if it was October I’d say take the Hoosiers and the points. Will November Maryland fair better?
#3 Oregon Ducks (Previously #3)
Can a 21-7 win be disappointing? Because it sure was on this end seeing Oregon not play great and allow Wisconsin to stay close on the road. You are supposed to be demoralizing the Badgers, Oregon…come on. The Ducks get a bye week this week.
#4 USC Trojans (Previously #5)
USC moves up one spot on their bye week after Illinois’ big loss to Washington. Big game this week as the Trojans head to Lincoln with one team gaining some significant momentum for the stretch run, and the other feeling less confident. USC is a 6.5 point favorite on the road, but expect that to come down as Huskers fans put heavy money on their team.
#5 Michigan Wolverines (Previously #6)
Michigan pops up a spot after a 31-20 rivalry win in East Lansing over Michigan State. The Wolverines could not pass on the Spartans but got their ground game going to run them to death. The Wolverines host Purdue as 20.5 point favorites this week in the Big House.
#6 Iowa Hawkeyes (Previously #7)
Iowa moves up to six after their absolute ass-kicking of the Gophers in Iowa City. They get a bye this week before a huge game when they host Oregon in Kinnick next week.
#7 Washington Huskies (Previously #10)
Washington leaps all the way up to #7 as they had to leapfrog the team they just beat 42-25 at home. The Huskies are 6-2 and get a bye this week, but could easily be looking at at worst a 9-3 finish as they end with road games at Wisconsin and Purdue and home games against UCLA and Oregon.
#8 Illinois Fighting Illini (Previously #4)
Illinois is the big slider this week dropping from #4 where they were very overrated down to #8 where they might be slightly underrated, but its really tough to tell. Washington beat them in all phases of their game in Seattle last week. They can get back on track this week when Rutgers comes to Champaign hot off the heels of their first conference win. The Illini are favored by 11.5. They still have a great chance to win out and go 9-3 with Rutgers, Maryland, at Wisconsin and Northwestern left on the schedule.
#9 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Previously #9)
Nebraska stays at #9 this week after squeaking out a 28-21 win over Northwestern at home. It tough to tell just how good this team is as well. They will be heading back to a bowl after last week’s win, but it will not be an easy game with USC coming to Lincoln this week. In fact, it won’t be easy at all the rest of the way with the Trojans, at UCLA, at Penn State and Iowa to close out the regular season.
#10 Minnesota Golden Gophers (Previously #8)
Frankly the Gophers probably deserve to drop even further after the abomination that was their game in Iowa City. But, with the possible exception of Northwestern the rest of the teams below them also crapped the bed last weekend. So #10 it is. Minnesota is back at home and hosts Joe Rossi and Michigan State on Saturday. It’s not a MUST win, but Minnesota really needs this one at home before closing out at Oregon, at Northwestern and home for the Badgers. 7-5 or 8-4 looks a hell of a lot better than 6-6. Gophers currently favorited by 3.5 over the Spartans.
#11 Northwestern Wildcats (Previously #12)
Northwestern pops up one spot despite their loss at Nebraska as they played well. Sitting at 5-3 the Wildcats get a bye this week before closing with four tough games at USC, vs Michigan and Minnesota at Wrigley Field and then at Illinois.
#12 UCLA Bruins (Previously #11)
UCLA is frankly lucky they only dropped one spot after Indiana’s thrashing of the Bruins. But again, the bottom of the Big Ten is not great right now. They get a bye to figure out how they can finish 3-1 to make a bowl game by beating three of Nebraska and Washington at home and at Ohio State and USC. Gonna be tough.
#13 Penn State Nittany Lions (Previously #13)
Penn State stays at #13 this week after a bye. But they have to go to Ohio State on Saturday for a game that could potentially get ugly. Did they get their heads right during the bye week to make this competitive? We shall see.
#14 Maryland Terrapins (Previously #14)
Good news for Maryland…it’s November. Bad new is the Terps have to host the steamroller that is Indiana this week. Even with a loss this week to drop them to 4-4 a bowl still looks definitely possible with road games at Rutgers and Illinois and home games against Michigan and Michigan State to close the season.
#15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Previously #16)
Rutgers picks up their first Big Ten win of the season thanks to an absolutely idiotic play by Purdue which allowed a last second game winning field goal for the Scarlet Knights. At 4-4 a bowl game possibility still exists but they need to likely win at Illinois this week before ending by hosting Maryland and Penn State sandwiched around a trip to Columbus.
#16 Michigan State Spartans (Previously #15)
The Spartans drop a spot after a 31-20 loss at home to Michigan drops them to 3-5 and 0-5 in the Big Ten. They could love to end that streak in Minneapolis on Saturday. Can the Gophers shut down Aiden Chiles? Lets hope so.
#17 Purdue Boilermakers (Previously #17)
Purdue had a chance for their first Big Ten win but their quarterback catching a battled down pass and then fumbling the ball to Rutgers with under a minute left in the game blew that. It’s a trip to the Big House this week which probably won’t end well and will officially eliminate the Boilers from bowl contention.
#18 Wisconsin Badgers (Previously #18)
Wisconsin showed up in Eugene, so we definitely need to give them credit for that. I don’t think anyone saw a 21-7 type game after the season the two teams have had, but the Badgers kept it close. Wisconsin get their bye this week to prepare for the stretch run, but with Washington, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota left, it won’t be much easier for the Badgers.
