Big Ten Power Rankings Week 7

[andrewhfine]

It pains me to put the Buckeyes back on top, but given their recent performance I think it has to be them. The Iowa loss was shocking to say the least and now I think the Big Ten West is entirely up for grabs.

1. Ohio State – The Buckeyes move back to the top spot after a bye week thanks to Iowa’s loss. They’ll get back at it Saturday night in Bloomington against an Indiana team that played them tough last year.
2. Michigan – Like the Buckeyes, Michigan moves up a spot after a bye week thanks to other teams losing. They’ll have what is hopefully just a tune up game vs Northwestern this weekend before a likely Top 10 matchup with MSU.
3. Michigan State – The Spartans slogged their way to a victory over Indiana 20-15 this weekend. It wasn’t impressive, but a win is a win and they are 7-0 heading into the bye week where they will likely install a brand new offense just to face Michigan.
4. Penn State – The big question mark in State College is still the health of QB Sean Clifford. The Nittany Lions had the week off and will likely try to rest Clifford another week as they host Illinois. They’ll need all hands on deck on 10/30 in Columbus.
5. Purdue – The Boilermakers shocked most of college football by heading into Kinnick and mostly dominating the #2 ranked Hawkeyes. They’ve given themselves the tiebreaker over the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten West, but they still have to play OSU and MSU. Plus, they host Wisconsin this weekend.
6. Iowa – A very surprising home loss by Iowa leaves the Big Ten West in flux. The Hawkeyes get a week off to regroup before a road game in Madison that they’ll need to win to stay ahead of the division.
7. Minnesota – After a 30-23 win over Nebraska, the Gophers may be in the best position of any team in the West as they don’t have any losses in the division. They host Maryland this weekend.
8. Wisconsin – The Badgers pulled back to .500 with a win over Army this weekend. They’ll get a chance that they are really on the rebound when they travel to play #25 ranked Purdue on Saturday.
9. Northwestern – The resurgent Wildcats rebounded from their drubbing at Nebraska two weeks ago to take down Rutgers at home 21-7. Life gets tougher as they travel to play unbeaten Michigan this weekend.
10. Maryland – Maryland had the week off last week to regroup from back to back blowout losses to Iowa and Ohio State. They travel to play a good Minnesota squad this weekend.
11. Indiana - The Hoosiers hung tough with Michigan State and might’ve even stolen the game if Michael Penix was healthy. Unfortunately life doesn’t get easier as they host #5 ranked Ohio State this weekend.
12. Illinois – The Fighting Illini were off last week after losing to Wisconsin to drop to 2-5. They travel to Penn State this weekend and still have road games at Minnesota and Iowa left. They’d need to pull a complete 180 to do anything other than play spoiler this the rest of this season.
13. Nebraska – The hangover from the Michigan loss extended into the following week as Nebraska fell 30-23 at Minnesota. They’ll have to win three of their last four (Purdue, @OSU, @Wisconsin, and Iowa) in order to get to a bowl and maybe save Scott Frost’s job.
14. Rutgers – The Scarlet Schiano’s fall to the Big Ten basement after their fourth straight loss – this one a somewhat surprising 21-7 loss to Northwestern. After a promising 3-0 start, Rutgers is going the wrong direction and is going to have to pull of an upset or two to get bowl eligible.