Week 3 Big Ten Power Rankings with a new team on top for the 3rd straight week. I went back and forth with MSU and Michigan but a road win vs Miami, even a flawed Miami, edges out Michigan's dominant victory over NIU.
- Penn State - With wins in Madison and now at home vs Auburn, Penn State has the two best victories of not only anyone in the Big Ten, but maybe the country. They get a bit of a break this week with Villanova.
- Iowa – The Hawkeyes started slow vs Kent State but eventually cruised to a 30-7 victory. They finish off their non-conference slate this week by hosting Colorado State and should move to 4-0.
- Michigan State – It is possible Miami was overrated to start the season, but MSU’s convincing victory moves them to a somewhat surprising 3-0 and a Top 25 rankings. The Spartans host Nebraska on Saturday night. MSU should be favored in every game until they host Michigan.
- Michigan – The Wolverines absolutely dominated Northern Illinois on Saturday. They start the Big Ten season by hosting an improved but flawed Rutgers team that will be down a couple of players after a "paintball" incident. The biggest challenge might be to not get caught looking ahead to Wisconsin in two weeks.
- Ohio State – The final score vs Tulsa made the win look better than it was. The Buckeyes struggled for most of the game and only lead 27-20 with 12 minutes left. They have one more chance to work out the kinks vs Akron this week before they get back to Big Ten play, but something seems off in Columbus.
- Wisconsin – The Badgers had the week off to prepare for Notre Dame at Soldier Field this weekend. It should be an exciting game, but barring a dominant victory by either team, it might be tough to glean too much.
- Rutgers – Rutgers moved to 3-0 with an easy victory over FCS Delaware. Life gets tougher this week as they travel to Ann Arbor to play a Michigan team firing on all cylinders before hosting OSU and MSU in back to back weeks.
- Maryland – The Terps dropped back a spot after needing a late FG to escape with a win at Illinois. But, a road win is a road win. They look to start the season at 4-0 for the first time since 2016 when they host Kent State this weekend.
- Minnesota – After a sluggish performance at home vs Miami (OH), the Gophers had a surprisingly dominant 30-0 win over Colorado in Boulder. That same Colorado team almost knocked of Texas A&M the week before. Minnesota will keep rowing this weekend vs BGSU and will likely get to 3-1.
- Purdue - The Boilermakers weren't all that competitive in their 27-13 loss at Notre Dame. They host a struggling Illinois team this week that they should be able to handle.
- Nebraska - Maybe the biggest surprise of the weekend is that Nebraska hung tough at Oklahoma and even had the ball with a chance to tie things late before falling 23-16. The Cornhuskers look better than they did to start the year but the schedule doesn't get an easier as they travel to MSU for a night game on Saturday.
- Indiana - The Hoosiers started strong vs Top 10 Cincinnati but four turnovers doomed them. The promise of last year has turned into a 1-2 start. They should move to .500 after traveling to Western Kentucky this weekend. If they don't, things could get ugly with PSU, MSU, and OSU in a row after that.
- Illinois – An opening night win over Nebraska has been the only bright spot of the season so far for the Fighting Illini. They have lost three straight after losing on a late field goal to Maryland and now travel to Purdue trying to avoid their 4th straight loss.
- Northwestern – The Wildcats fell behind 27-0 at Duke before climbing back to within 7, but they ran out of time and lost 30-23. They should get back into the win column vs Ohio this week.
