THIS IS A WEEKLY BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS, by Luke Maiers.
What did we learn this weekend in the Big Ten? Wisconsin is the team to beat in the West, Michigan State is very overrated and Ohio State is better than Alabama. Time to get to the main dish, let’s get to this weeks rankings.
1. Ohio State: This team is every bit as good as Alabama, and if you were to ask me, they are better. In the Buckeyes last two weeks they have dismantled the Oklahoma Sooners, making them the “Oklahoma Laters”, and had a bye. If there were any injuries in this roster, they have disappeared. Ohio State opens up their Big Ten Play this weekend against Rutgers, but the Scarlet Knights will be without their best player, Janarion Grant. OSU wins this weekend by 30.
2. Michigan: As I predicted in last week’s rankings, the Wolverines handled Penn State, but this next game gets me excited. After their THRASHING of Michigan State last weekend, Wisconsin comes to town in a matchup of top ten teams. This would be a huge statement for the Big Ten West if the Badgers can pull it off. I haven’t been this excited about a non-Iowa game in a very long time. Defense versus defense. The way Big Ten play should be.
3. Wisconsin: See ya Spartans! Absolute domination this weekend by the Badgers, and they make the jump into the top three of my power rankings. As I said in the paragraph before, I am jacked for this game. This weekend can really define the way the conference will play out for the year, and just maybe the West will get some respect back. If Wisconsin beats Michigan on Saturday, I would bet money that they would jump into the top four of the AP Poll.
4. Nebraska: There is nothing special here. Nebraska defeated who they were supposed to. Nothing flashy, but it got the job done. The brainiacs from Illinois (Northwestern) continued their losing ways this past weekend, and after finishing with six wins last year, this Nebraska team is legit. The Cornhuskers have one of the top three quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Tommy Armstrong has a big arm, escapability and he is a veteran. I would not be shocked if they continue to ride their winning ways all the way to Indy.
5. Iowa: *Puts Iowa back in the top five and takes a lot of crap for it* Give me one good reason as to why Michigan State should be in front of Iowa? Iowa’s only loss came against North Dakota State, who is 4-0 against FBS opponents in their last four match-ups, and Michigan State has looked borderline miserable in two of their three games. Granted, Iowa only defeated Rutgers by seven, but the final score of the game was 14-7. I will take that defense any day of the week. Iowa should have another win this weekend versus Northwestern, but we will see.
6. Michigan State: I’m assuming one of my co-contributors, Chris Schneider, had plenty to drink this past weekend watching his Spartans play. If you are a Spartans fan, how are you feeling right now? You played bad against Furman, you got smoked by Wisconsin and your best win is Notre Dame who is now 1-2. The outlook for this team for the rest of this year does not look good. The Spartans take on Indiana this weekend, so let’s put the over under on yards for Redding this weekend at 120.
7. Minnesota: Mitch Leidner continues to not impress. ESPN “experts” predicted at the beginning of the year for Leidner to have an amazing year and for him to go in the first round of the draft. The Gophers defeated an extremely average Colorado State team this weekend, but one bright spot for this team has been their runningback, Rodney Smith. Minnesota takes on Penn State this weekend, so the rankings this week could look different come next week at this time.
8. Indiana: Indiana and Penn State both lost this past weekend, but no one behind them did anything to warrant a jump over them. The Wake Forest team that took down the Hoosiers on Saturday are now 4-0. They have a couple wins over Big Ten teams, plus a win over Duke. I do not think this a bad loss. It is one of those losses where you are pretty pissed at first, but then you look at the other teams’ record and realize they are a pretty quality opponent. Indiana still has Redding and they will be a middle-of-the pack Big Ten team for the rest of the year.
9. Penn State: Nittany Lions? More like the Cuddly Kittens. This James Franklin led team is nothing but hype, but what else is new. Every year, Penn State is supposed to be good, but ever since the end of the Joe Paterno era, this team has not been good. If Penn State wants to start being a factor in the East, they have to start by defeating a pretty mediocre Minnesota team on Saturday.
10. Illinois: Hey, we didn’t lose this weekend!” -Illinois fans everywhere. I have been preaching my love for Lovie Smith since he arrived in Champaign, but so far, his defense has not shown up. He doesn’t have his players their yet, but he should still manage to throw a halfway decent defense out there. Let’s see if Illinois can get some credit back this weekend with a possible upset over Nebraska.
11. Maryland: 3-0 coming out of the bye week, and the Terrapins are in a great position. Purdue rolls to Maryland this weekend, and don’t look now, but they could be 4-0 after this weekend.
12. Purdue: I said last weekend that if Purdue beat Nevada that it would be a quality win, and the Boilermakers won. This team has improved a lot in the last year, but I am not sure what they will do when Big Ten play starts for them. The Boilermakers next opponent is Maryland, and Purdue will be looking to make the Terrapins, scared turtles.
13. Rutgers: Iowa’s front four could not contain the Scarlet Knight’s tailbacks on Saturday, then again, everyone has been able to run the ball on Iowa this year. As I mentioned earlier, the Knights lost their best player in Janarion Grant this past weekend. Maybe Rutgers and Northwestern should have one, giant event where they get together and drink their pains away.
14. Northwestern: One thing I can say about Northwestern is that they will be ready if a tornado hits because they have been in the cellar of my rankings for a few weeks now. The Wildcats travel to Iowa this weekend, and after a few sluggish showings by Iowa, I expect new Kirk Ferentz to reappear and take down these geniuses.