Big Ten Power Rankings: Buckle Up!

 

Hold on to your seat belts folks! Week 2 is over and after what looked to be a bland week in the power rankings we have some major shake ups. With the Buckeyes stunning loss to the Quack attack of the Oregon Ducks and the Wolverines grinding of a good Washington defense, parity may just be at a height not seen in the league since the early 2000's. Hopefully our eyes are not deceiving us and we are actually in for a wild ride of a Big Ten season. The coming weekend will give us a better sense of where we are headed as the conference faces off against three teams ranked inside the top ten and two others inside the top 25! Lets see where things stand heading into the madness.

1. Iowa (2-0)

    AP Ranking: #5

    Last Week: @#9 Iowa State (W 27-17)

    Next: Kent State

My God I thought I'd never see the day where my Iowa Hawkeyes sat atop the standings. And yet here we are! How? Thats a damn good question that requires a deeper dive into the Hawkeyes statistical analytics. Is it the offense? Hell no! Iowa has amassed a total of 476 yards of total offense through its first two contests. Yes it has been against defenses that are widely thought to be good to great this year but that is just putrid. Iowa is 2-0 right now because their defense and special teams are elite.

After back to back top 25 opponents who are known for high powered offenses, the Hawkeye defense is only allowing 286 yards per game. "But Alec, that is still almost 50 more yards that opponents are gaining against them..." 

(Enter punter Aussie golden child Tory Taylor).

This man is the absolute reason the Hawkeyes are 2-0. Yes one could point to the 6 turnovers resulting in 33 points as the main contributor which is absolutely a major factor, but at Iowa "punting is winning". Tylor has averaged 50.4 yards/punt in 14 kicks! Thats absurd! With the elite defense that DC Phil Parker can trot out this year, Taylor makes a difficult task damn near impossible for imposing offenses. So while total yards wise it may look like Iowa is being out gained significantly in a football game like this past weekend's CyHawk game (IA.ST 339 yards - Iowa 173), once punting and punt returning are added in you see where Iowa makes up the margin...

Iowa:

Punt Return: 53 yards

Punt Avg. * (6 Punts): 51.1*6 = 306.6 yards

"Hidden Yardage" =  359.6 yards

Net "Hidden Yardage = +94.8 yards

Iowa. St

Punt Return: 11 yards

Punt Avg. * (6 Punts) = 42.3*6= 253.8 yards

"Hidden Yardage" = 264.8 yards

Net "Hidden Yardage" = -94.8 yards

Iowa vs Iowa. St Total Net Yards:

Iowa: 267.8

Iowa. St: 244.2

......Punting is winning.

Tory Taylor definitely looks like a punter... but he's an assassin.

2. Penn. St (2-0)

    AP Ranking: #10

    Last Week: Ball State (W 44-13)

    Next: #22 Auburn

Penn. St faces Auburn in the Tigers first away Big Ten game in like 100 years! Its a white out and as much as I hate Penn. St, the white out is always sick. Hopefully they kick the bee's wax out of War Eagle and tomato can of quarter back Bo Nix.

3. Michigan (2-0)

    AP Ranking: #25

    Last Week: Washington (W 31-10)

    Next: Northern Illinois

This may be the most controversial ranking of the week and is sure to irk Buckeye fans, but if Michigan can run the ball like this.... look out. For all of the crap Washington's offense has received from the national media, their defense has several NFL players. Some may argue its going to be the best defense in the Pac 12. What did Michigan do? They put up a 30 burger on the scoreboard and ground down the Huskie defense to the tune of 343 yards! This is an identity Harbaugh and Co. can lean on moving forward. Watch out Ohio. St?

4. Ohio. St (1-1)

    AP Ranking: #9

    Last Week: #12 Oregon (L 35-28)

    Next: Tulsa

The Ducks walked into the Shoe on Saturday and punched the Buckeyes right in the nuts. You can be sure that after two weeks of struggling to simply contain the run that Ohio. St is going to get everybody's best punch. Unless this defense proves it can stop the run, this may be its ceiling.

Also, the only other team that lost this weekend was Illinois and any connection to Champaign automatically drops you one more spot.

5. Wisconsin (1-1)

    AP Ranking: #18

    Last Week: Eastern Michigan (W 34-7)

    Next: Bye

Maybe time out of the national spotlight will help this Badgers team. If Bo Nix is a tomato can then  Graham Mertz has been the equivalent of one of those shitty fruit cocktail cups you get in elementary school lunches. You know the ones that are all gloopy with the pre-skinned grapes? That's Graham Mertz They get the week off before heading to Chicago to face Notre Dame and another Wisconsin quarterback in Jack Coan. Two game manager quarterbacks playing in a stadium who's pro team sucks at offense... Let the under RIDE!

As appetizing as Graham Mertz's deep ball

6. Maryland (2-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Howard (W 62-0)

    Next: @Illinois

Major hesitation placing Maryland this high up in the rankings. We've seen this story before with an early win against a Big 12 opponent and a blasting of an HBCU. Their discipline will be tested with a Friday night road game against Illinois... actually no, they definitely won't.

Tagovailoa #2 may be on to something in college park

7. Indiana (1-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Idaho (W 56-14)

    Next: #8 Cincinnati

HUGE game this weekend vs #8 Cincinnati for the Hoosiers! After Saturday we will know if this team is for real. A lot will be asked of Micah Mcfadden and the Indiana defense. Thankfully for them they are coached by Tom Allen and not Archie Miller😂. Oops, was that to soon?

8. Michigan. St (2-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Youngstown. St (W 42-14)

    Next: @#24 Miami

Sparty is 2-0 thanks to a strong running game against lesser opponents. A win at Miami will probably vault them into the top 25.

9. Purdue (2-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: @UCONN (W 

    Next: @#12 Notre Dame

Purdue played a scrimmage against the football team formally known as UCONN. Not much else to be said except that ND isn't allowing the "Worlds Largest Drum" into the game this week. Its the first time since 1979 the drum will not attend a Purdue football game. Talk about petty!

Fun Fact: Purdue is tied with USC for the most wins against ranked Notre Dame teams. Will they take over first place this weekend?

The old people at ND games don't want it to be to loud this week

10. Minnesota (1-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Miami (OH) (W 31-26)

    Next: @Colorado

Played "J Crew-U" and still have hideous uniforms!

11. Rutgers: (2-0)

    AP Ranking: Only When The World is Burning

    Last Week: @Syracuse (W 17-7)

    Next: Delaware

The game was played at Syracuse, which means it was played in the Carrier Dome, which means football was played in an arena known for basketball by two teams from the former Big East who are no longer part of the Big East... nothing about this game made sense.

12. Northwestern (1-1)

    AP Ranking: Even Years Only

    Last Week: Indiana. St (W 24-6)

    Next: @Duke

Beating the Sycamores without Larry Bird doesn't count. Also, major nerd battle in Durham this week.

Larry would have yammed on Fatty Fitzgerald

13. Nebraska (2-1)

    AP Rank: 💩

    Last Week: Buffalo (W 28-3)

    Next: @#3 Oklahoma...😂😂😂

Shades of the Red Wedding?

Lincoln Riley sends his regards.

14. Illinois (1-2)

    AP Ranking: Are you kidding?

    Last Week: @Virginia (L 42-14)

    Next: Maryland

Much like the entire state of Illinois, the Illini have proven to be interesting for only one day.