USC got the needed win in Lincoln, but was helped with Dylan Raiola going down—which we now know is season ending. Ooof Huskers. Otherwise lots of blowouts and Minnesota’s narrow win last week. This week should
be good with Indiana seeing if they can put down Penn State for good, Oregon heading to Iowa for a huge one, and Nebraska in the Rose Bowl to see if their backup QB can get them a win over UCLA.
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes (Previously #1)
The Buckeyes stay at #1 after toying with a depleted Penn State team for a half before then blowing them out in the second half en route to a 38-14 win. The Buckeyes outscored the Nittany Lions 21-0 in the second half and earned the top spot in here and the current #1 seed in the CFP rankings released on Tuesday night. They head to Purdue on Saturday and while the Boilermakers would love another Purdue Harboring of the Buckeyes, I just don’t see it. OSU is favored by 29.5.
#2 Indiana Hoosiers (Previously #2)
Indiana stays at #2 and earns the #2 seed in the current CFP rankings with their 55-10 demolishment of Maryland. The Hoosiers are back to smoking everyone on offense and are looking down the barrel of a 12-0 finish and a matchup vs Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game with the #1 CFP seed on the line. Indiana plays their toughest game left on the schedule this weekend when they head into Happy Valley to face a Penn State who are close to playing for their postseason lives. It won’t be easy, but with the way the Indiana offense is clicking—watch out. Hoosiers are 15.5 point favorites.
#3 Oregon Ducks (Previously #3)
Oregon remains at #3 off of their bye week. They get a tough game this Saturday when they head to Kinnick to face an Iowa team that still has minimal playoff hopes. Can the Ducks squash them for good? Oregon is just a 6.5 point favorite.
#4 USC Trojans (Previously #4)
USC stays at #4 after a hard fought 21-17 win in Lincoln over Nebraska. The Cornhuskers had the Trojans on the rocks, but a season ending injury to Dylan Raiola turned the tide and the Trojans picked up the win. They host Northwestern on Friday night as 14.5 point favorites before finishing with three tough games.
#5 Iowa Hawkeyes (Previously #6)
Iowa slides up a spot on their bye week as Michigan didn’t look very impressive last week. Their game this week against Oregon in Iowa City is huge and could propel them to big things, or send them looking at tough game against USC and Nebraska to get them to a Florida bowl game.
#6 Michigan Wolverines (Previously #5)
Michigan drops a spot after narrowly defeating Purdue at home 21-16. Michigan is at 7-2 and gets a bye this week and looks very likely to finish 9-3 with road games against Northwestern and Maryland ahead of The Game in Ann Arbor to close out the season.
#7 Washington Huskies (Previously #7)
Washington stays at #7 and head of Illinois because of their win over them. They sit at 6-2 and looks like they could make a run at at least nine wins with Wisconsin, Purdue, UCLA and Oregon still to come. They head to Madison this weekend as 11.5 point favorites.
#8 Illinois Fighting Illini (Previously #8)
Illinois stays at #8 despite their drubbing of Rutgers. But the Illini lost to Washington who isn’t going anywhere. They get a bye this week sitting at 6-3 and should be able to win out for a 9-3 tally with only Maryland, Wisconsin and Northwestern left.
#9 Minnesota Golden Gophers (Previously #10)
Minnesota jumps ahead of Nebraska this week and back into the #9 spot after they barely beat Michigan State at home in OT. But the Huskers are in a world of hurt with their QB now out for the season so the Gophers win over them actus as the tiebreaker this week. Minnesota is on bye before a trip to Eugene next Friday.
#10 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Previously #9)
Nebraska drops a slot after their close home loss to USC. If it was just that, they probably stay ahead of the Gophers, but with Dylan Raiola now out for the season, there is a very strong chance that the Cornhuskers lose out starting with their trip to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA on Saturday night. The Bruins are 1.5 point favorites and after UCLA Nebraska closes with a trip to Penn State and Iowa to end the season. Not an easy finish.
#11 Northwestern Wildcats (Previously #11)
Northwestern stays at #11 after a bye week. They get a huge chance to shock the conference with a Friday night game at USC this week. Trojans are favorited by 14.5 at home.
#12 UCLA Bruins (Previously #12)
UCLA took a week off to nurse their wounds that Indiana gave them and they stay at #12. They have a huge game this week hosting Nebraska desperately needing a win to keep their bowl possibilities alive. A loss this week and Ohio State stops out those dreams next weekend in Columbus.
#13 Penn State Nittany Lions (Previously #13)
Penn State played Ohio State great for 30 minutes. Unfortunately a game is 60 minute and the Buckeyes dominated the second half. The Nittany Lions are 3-5 and their season can be put on full life support with a loss to Indiana this weekend.
#14 Michigan State Spartans (Previously #16)
We give credit to the Spartans for almost picking up a win in Minneapolis. You can move up because you didn’t actually get blown out like several of the teams now below you did.
#15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Previously #15)
Rutgers should have dropped after getting boatraced by Illinois. But, they did just beat Purdue a week ago so I got to keep them above the Boilermakers for now. They host Maryland this week trying to pick up conference win #2 because with Penn State and Ohio State left, this is probably their last chance.
#16 Purdue Boilermakers (Previously #17)
The Boilermakers pop up one spot after giving Michigan a scare in the Big House. They still are looking for their first conference win and with a game against Ohio State, that’s probably not going to happen this week. In fact with Washington and Indiana to close, 2-0 is looking like the likely outcome for Purdue.
#17 Maryland Terrapins (Previously #14)
Maryland got beat so bad by Indiana that they fired Mike Locksley in November. 4-0 in September and now 0-4 in their last few. They close with Rutgers, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State, so if not a win this week Sparty may be the savior to end the year.
#18 Wisconsin Badgers (Previously #18)
Wisconsin is coming off of a bye. Did they get healthy enough to compete down the stretch? We shall see as the end run starts with Washington in town this Saturday. Can the Badgers find a way to get one? A loss and they join Purdue as Big Ten teams officially out of bowl contention.
