Last month during Ohio State’s bye week, I put together my Big Ten power rankings. Since we are now at Ohio State’s second bye week and with just over a month of the regular season left, this is a good
time to see where things stand in the Big Ten.
The number after the team name represents where I had them ranked in my first power rankings.
1) Ohio State (1)
The Buckeyes are actually looking stronger than last season, which is an incredible feat after seeing 14 players drafted in April’s NFL Draft.
The defense has only allowed their opponents to reach double figures in scoring in just one game so far this season, with Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles establishing themselves as one of the top linebacker duos in the country. On the other side of the football, Julian Sayin is making a strong argument to be a Heisman Trophy finalist.
The only thing that could hold the Buckeyes back is their struggles running the football this year. Even though Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Carnell Tate are tormenting opposing defenses, Ryan Day knows he has to have an effective running game to complement his dangerous passing attack.
A relatively weak November schedule should give Ohio State some time for the backfield to build some confidence.
2) Indiana (7)
The Hoosiers have the most impressive win of the college football season so far, going out to Oregon and beating the Ducks at Autzen 30-20 earlier this month. Curt Cignetti is not only showing the rest of the country that last year wasn’t a fluke, he also put to rest any chatter about his future when he inked a big contract extension last week.
The combination of Fernando Mendoza and Elijah Sarratt has been lethal this year for Indiana, combining for nine touchdowns so far. Mendoza has tossed 21 touchdowns in his first season in Bloomington.
Much like Ohio State, Indiana doesn’t have much to be worried about on their remaining regular season schedule. If the Hoosiers don’t head into the Big Ten Championship Game undefeated, something really went wrong in a game.
After getting a taste of the playoff last season, Cignetti and company look like they have what it takes to make a deeper dive into this year’s CFP.
3) Oregon (4)
It has to be eating at Dan Lanning that Indiana was able to beat the Ducks at Autzen earlier this month. At least Lanning can sleep a little easier know that Oregon’s thrilling double overtime win at Penn State started the downfall of the Nittany Lions, eventually costing James Franklin his job.
In the win in State College, Dante Moore showed incredible poise, going into a hostile environment and leading his team to victory. After questions about his maturity early in his college career, Moore has established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
After what should be a layup this week against Wisconsin, the Ducks do have a couple tricky games left. Not only does Oregon have to travel to Iowa, they’ll also square off with USC and Washington to close out the regular season.
The Ducks will likely need some help to make the Big Ten Championship Game, but likely after last season they’ll be happy to host a first round playoff game and stay a little fresher, rather than having a first round bye which saw them come out flat against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
4) USC (6)
Despite have two losses, the Trojans are still a very dangerous team in the Big Ten. Imagine if USC had been able to beat Illinois a few weeks ago, and Lincoln Riley didn’t try an idiotic wide receiver reverse pass in the fourth quarter with the Trojans driving against Notre Dame.
Makai Lemon is doing everything he can to challenge Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate as the best wide receiver in the conference, while the defense is showing signs of improvement from what we have seen over the last few years from the group.
USC does have a couple road tests left, hitting the road to take on Nebraska and Oregon. It’s likely the Trojans will have to win the rest of their regular season games to stake a claim to a playoff spot, even though a three-loss USC team will be better than whatever three-loss teams make the playoff from the SEC.
At least it looks like Riley finally has the program headed in the right direction after a tough start to his time in Los Angeles.
5) Illinois (4)
Another team that can’t afford to lose another game this season is Illinois. The two losses for the Fighting Illini have come to the top two teams in the country, which makes it baffling that there isn’t more talk about Illinois being a possible playoff team right now.
While the Fighting Illini lost big to the Hoosiers and Buckeyes, a lot of other teams around the country would suffer the same fate this year against those two teams.
This week will go a long way in determining what the rest of the season will look like for Bret Bielema’s team, since Illinois has a tough road test at Washington on Saturday. Should the Fighting Illini leave Seattle with a victory, there’s no reason to think they won’t finish the regular season at 10-2 since the rest of their schedule is against very beatable teams in the Big Ten.
6) Michigan (5)
At least Michigan won’t have to struggle this year to even become bowl eligible, since their next win will be their sixth of the season. The Wolverines have won the games they were expected to win, and their two losses weren’t surprising since they came on the road against better teams.
Bryce Underwood is finding his footing in his freshman season. The Michigan starting quarterback has shown his incredible potential at times, all while being aided by a strong running game.
If you asked Sherrone Moore how he feels about his team’s progress this season he’d probably be ecstatic. The Wolverines are growing week by week and are at least staying within shouting distance of the playoff. Michigan should enter the Ohio State game with a 9-2 record.
If the Wolverines are able to shock the Buckeyes again this year, it will make for an interesting conversation on what to do with Michigan before the playoff field is announced.
7) Washington (8)
I feel like Washington and Michigan are pretty even teams, so it would have been odd to put the Huskies above the Wolverines after Michigan beat Washington 24-7 in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Then again, I could see the result being flipped if the game was played in Seattle. The Huskies have a better offense it feels like, and Michigan has a better defense. Demond Williams Jr. has shown he can take over a game, as evidenced by his incredible performance against Rutgers.
If Williams can find a way to do that on a more consistent basis, Washington will be even more a handful than they already are.
8) Iowa (10)
The Hawkeyes continue to be the weirdest team in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have won three of their last four games, with the only loss during that span being a 20-15 defeat at the hands of Indiana.
Over the last four games, quarterback Mark Gronowski has not thrown for a touchdown, while rushing for seven scores. Even though I shouldn’t be surprised by that stat, it still is incredible to think about considering Iowa scored at least 24 points in three of those games.
Kirk Ferentz has to be thinking best case scenario for the regular season is 8-9 wins. The Hawkeyes still have games against Minnesota, USC, Oregon, Michigan State, and Nebraska left. If Iowa can win at least three of those games, they’ll earn a spot in a solid bowl game.
It’s a shame the Hawkeyes didn’t have a lot more pop offensively, or they could be a real wild card in the Big Ten this year.
9) Minnesota (14)
The team Iowa plays this week slots just behind the Hawkeyes in my power rankings. Minnesota impressed last week with a dominant win over Nebraska. In a way, Minnesota is a bizarro Iowa. An opportunistic defense combined with an offense that can throw the football a little better than the Hawkeyes.
Drake Lindsey is a talented young quarterback who has the potential to make some noise in the Big Ten over the next couple seasons. What has hurt the Golden Gophers this year is their inability to stay healthy at running back.
Minnesota will likely have to navigate head coaching rumors surrounding P.J. Fleck the rest of the season, since the man in charge of the Golden Gophers will be a hot commodity with so many big jobs already open. The schedule the rest of the year is pretty friendly for Minnesota, so 8-9 wins isn’t out of the question.
Aside from a road trip to Oregon, the other four games for the Golden Gophers are winnable.
10) Nebraska (9)
We still have no idea on what Nebraska is. Matt Rhule looked like he had the Cornhuskers moving in the right direction before they laid an egg at Minnesota last time out. Now it seems like Rhule is a prime candidate for the Penn State job.
How the rumors effect Nebraska’s performance the rest of the regular season will be interesting to see. The November 22nd game at Penn State will be fun to watch and it has nothing to do with the football being played on the field since I’m guessing Nittany Nation will shower Rhule with love to try and persuade him to return to his alma mater.
11) Rutgers (12)
It’s probably pretty odd I have a team that hasn’t won a game in the Big Ten yet this year ranked this high. Rutgers has been competitive in most games, they just haven’t been able to close out any games in conference yet. The Scarlet Knights were leading at Washington and Minnesota early on and trading scores with Iowa a few weeks before that.
Bowl eligibility will be tough to come by for Rutgers, since they only have three wins so far this season. With games against Illinois and Ohio State still on the schedule, Greg Schiano’s team can’t afford to lose to Purdue, Maryland, and Penn State in their other games. If the Scarlet Knights can win those three games it will get them to six wins.
At least Rutgers has a veteran quarterback in Athan Kaliakmanis to try and lead them to bowl eligibility.
12) Maryland (13)
New year, same Maryland. Following a 4-0 start to the season, the Terrapins turned back into a pumpkin when October hit. Maryland has lost their three games in the month by a combined 10 points. Just imagine if a few bounces went their way in each of those games.
Would you have been ready to talk to your kids about 7-0 Maryland? Luckily you won’t have to. The Terps should be able to make it to six wins, although you know they’ll make it as hard as possible on themselves.
13) Northwestern (17)
You probably think I’m crazy for having a 3-1 team in the Big Ten ranked below an 0-4 team. I just don’t think the Wildcats are that good. Northwestern’s wins have come against UCLA, Penn State, and Purdue.
The Bruins fired a bunch of coaches prior to the game against the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions were in complete disarray and fired James Franklin after the 22-21 loss, and Purdue is Purdue. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Northwestern didn’t win another game this season.
14) UCLA (18)
Kudos to UCLA for not mailing in their season after firing so many coaches earlier in the season. The Bruins gave us one of the most hilarious moments of the college football season so far when they beat Penn State, kicking off a three-game winning streak for interim head coach Tim Skipper’s team.
UCLA will come back down to earth the next few weeks, starting with Saturday’s game at Indiana. Then again, we doubted the Bruins before and they surprised a lot of people with the win over the Nittany Lions.
15) Penn State (3)
To go from being ranked second in the country to firing their head coach in a month and a half is incredible work. Penn State has to be ready for the season to be over, especially with quarterback Drew Allar injured for the remainder of the season.
The Nittany Lions are 0-4 in the Big Ten this year, with a trip to Ohio State on tap for next Saturday, followed by a home game against Indiana. At this rate Penn State will have to close out their season with wins over Nebraska, Michigan State, and Rutgers just to become bowl eligible.
I was hoping the Nittany Lions season would be a failure, I just didn’t expect it to be this deliciously awful.
16) Michigan State (11)
Following a promising start to the season, things have gone off the rails for the Spartans. Along with losing their last four games, the injury list for Michigan State is lengthy.
Despite being in just his second season in East Lansing, there are already rumblings Spartan fans are unhappy with head coach Jonathan Smith. Those frustrations will likely grow on Saturday when rival Michigan comes to town.
The Spartans could find another win or two this year, but it’s hard to see them getting the six wins needed for bowl eligibility.
17) Purdue (15)
The Boilermakers had a promising start to the season, winning their first two games. Since then things have gotten progressively worse. After hanging around in games during their five-game losing streak, last week Purdue looked total inept in their 19-0 loss to Northwestern.
Barry Odom has at least doubled the win total for the Boilermakers from last season, so this year hasn’t been all bad. Although the worst could be yet to come with games against Michigan, Ohio State, Washington, and Indiana still on the schedule.
18) Wisconsin (16)
We all saw just how bad things are in Madison last week. As if watching Luke Fickell get shutout by his alma mater wasn’t tough enough, now the Badgers have to head out west to Eugene.
Earlier this week Fickell got the dreaded vote of confidence from Wisconsin’s athletic director. With so many other jobs around the country opening up, it will be interesting to see if Wisconsin wants to throw their hat into the coaching carousel.
At this point it’s not a question of if Fickell gets fired, but when since it’s hard to see the program recovering from the damage that has already been done.
