Another week of college football, and we find ourselves further and further from the preseason expectations and rankings. That’s the beauty of college football, though. You never really know what’s to come. Last weekend, we saw a couple highly anticipated matchups in No. 9 Illinois vs. No. 19 Indiana and No. 21 Michigan vs. Nebraska, as well as a few other interesting games on the slate. And as always, some teams are contenders, others are pretenders and some have more questions marks than answers.
Let’s dive in.
1. Ohio State (-)
Still ranked as the top team in the country, it seems to be business as usual for Ryan Day and Ohio State. Despite a slight scare against Ohio in Week 3, the Buckeyes responded strongly in the second half to ultimately win by 28 points before heading into their bye this past weekend. Things could get interesting this weekend, though, with a trip to Seattle and a date with the Washington Huskies looming ahead.
2. Oregon (-)
After one of the most dominant wins of the college football season against Oklahoma State, Oregon was getting No. 1-level hype and Dante Moore looked like a frontrunner for the Heisman. A more underwhelming effort against Northwestern in which the Ducks gave up nearly 200 yards on the ground is slight cause for concern, but Oregon is still up there with the top national title contenders headed into a matchup with Penn State.
3. Penn State (-)
With many complaining that the Nittany Lions haven’t seen much of any real competition this season, head coach James Franklin gets possibly the biggest regular season game of his career. He has a home matchup against No. 6 Oregon, offering the opportunity to prove his team is legit while also getting the perennial “can’t win big games” moniker off his back.
4. Indiana (+1)
By far the most impressive performance of the week, Indiana absolutely silenced any doubt regarding its place in the Top 25, shooting up to No. 11 in the country after what can be described as nothing less than a beatdown in a 63-10 win over then-No. 9 Illinois on Saturday night in Bloomington. And a side note: quarterback Fernando Mendoza might be transforming into a second Heisman contender out of the Big Ten, alongside Moore.
5. Michigan (+1)
The Wolverines were in desperate needed of a victory to keep playoff hopes alive after suffering defeat against Oklahoma in Week Two. In what many considered to be a potential trap game against Nebraska, Michigan did what it does best — run the football. UMich rushed for 290 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 30-27 win in Lincoln.
6. USC (+1)
USC continues to climb up the ranks of the college football world, racking up win after win, most recently beating Michigan State by two scores in Los Angeles on late Saturday night. Led by QB Jayden Maiava on offense, this Trojans team has the potential to seriously compete in the B1G, but they’ll need to perform in their first real test of the season next week at No. 23 Illinois.
7. Illinois (-3)
Dropping 14 places after a shockingly lopsided defeat to cross-state Indiana, head coach Bret Bielema and the Fighting Illini are left reeling and need to right the ship sooner rather than later. All hope isn’t lost, but this coming week’s matchup against USC becomes season-defining. Will Illinois get back on track, or was its top-10 ranking fluky all along?
8. Iowa (-)
Iowa has performed exactly as expected up until this point, which is pretty on-brand for Kirk Ferentz football teams. After a somewhat run-of-the-mill 38-28 victory over Rutgers on Friday night, the Hawkeyes move to 3-1 on the season, still squarely in the top half of the conference.
9. Washington (+1)
Big props to the Huskies for coming in and handling business against in-state rival and former Pac-12 foe Washington State last weekend, moving them to 3-0 and one of just seven undefeated teams left in the B1G. The big test comes this week, as they welcome in the No. 1 Buckeyes with a chance at a major upset. And it’s not out of the question, either: behind only Georgia, Washington currently holds the second-longest active home win streak in CFB, with 22 straight wins.
10. Nebraska (-1)
Nebraska’s defeat to Michigan is more disheartening, not because it was favored to win, but more so because it is only a reminder of the continued inability of the Cornhuskers to win big games, especially against ranked opponents. What’s more, the Huskers looked better than the Wolverines in a lot of facets of the game at times, but just couldn’t cause any problems in the run game. It’s on to the next for Matt Rhule and Co.
11. Maryland (+3)
Maryland just continues to impress as the season goes on. Despite being picked 17th in our staff-wide Big Ten preseason rankings (they took that personally), the Terrapins have been a perfect 4-0 so far, most recently beating Wisconsin away from home in convincing fashion. A well-deserved bye week arrives at the right time for Malik Washington and the Terps.
12. Minnesota (-1)
After a bye week, Minnesota will return to action against Rutgers with hopes of snagging its first conference win of the season. And after falling to Cal two weeks ago, the Golden Gophers could use a win this weekend to maintain a realistic path towards the much-coveted six-win mark.
13. Michigan State (-1)
A third of the way into the season, it’s clear there is potential with this team. The Spartans have looked competitive in every game they’ve played and have even won in some big-time moments, such as a double-overtime victory over Boston College a few weeks ago. But a two-touchdown loss to USC was a reminder that MSU isn’t quite in the upper tier of teams in the B1G just yet.
14. Wisconsin (-1)
The loss of Billy Edwards Jr. is clearly affecting this team, and the fallout was evident on Saturday in a game against Maryland where the offense just simply couldn’t get going for any extended period of the game. While backup Danny O’Neil has been serviceable, the Badgers will need to solve some offensive issues, and quick, if they hope to be around for bowl season in December.
15. Northwestern (-)
A bye week for the ‘Cats arrived after a tough loss to Oregon in Evanston the weekend before. Preston Stone is just starting to look a little more like his advertised self, but the growth is taking time, coming game by game. Defensively, the ‘Cats haven’t looked quite physical enough for the conference they’re in, but a home game against UCLA should instill some confidence back into this team.
16. Rutgers (-)
Rutgers gave Iowa a run for its money, but the Scarlet Knights’ program continues to feel stuck in a purgatory of good, but not good enough. Wins will surely be hard to come by for this team as Big Ten play ramps up.
17. Purdue (-)
Scoring 30 against Notre Dame was nice. Giving up 56 was not. Not many expected the Boilermakers to ever really be in this one, but the defense looked like swiss cheese practically all game.
18. UCLA (-)
There isn’t much else to say about this Bruins team right now except for the obvious. UCLA looked even more out of sorts in a 25-point loss to New Mexico, almost immediately prompting the firing of head coach and former player DeShaun Foster. The biggest question for this team at this juncture is whether it wins a game at all this year.
