Big Ten Power Rankings: Look to the East

The First Power Rankings are hot off the press and they are dominated by East Division teams. Penn States big win over Wisconsin drove that narrative this week but with HUGE matches ahead in the next two weeks for all Big Ten teams there will surely be shake ups in these standings. Except Nebraska who plays Oklahoma in two weeks.... Yikes.

1. Ohio. St (1-0)

    AP Ranking: #4

    Last Week: @Minnesota (W)

    Next: #12 Oregon

The country was anxious to see how CJ stroud would look in his first start as a Buckeye... Why? We've seen this damn story play out year after year. Ohio. St will always have a stud waiting in the ranks and honestly, they're entire quarterback room would probably be QB1 on just about every team in the Big Ten. If there is any silver lining for the rest of the conference its that Ohio. St look a little suspect against the run. If a team can run the ball like Minnesota did against the Buckeyes and get a little bit of luck, I think the Buckeyes can be beat. Until then Ryan Days Empirical rule will continue to dominate the galaxy of the Big Ten.    

2. Penn. St (1-0)

    AP Ranking: #11

    Last Week: @#12 Wisconsin (W 16-10)

    Next: Ball. St

The biggest win of the year so far in the conference belongs to the Nittany Lions and it may remain that way at the conclusion of the season. Even though they looked the lesser against the Badgers, the defense played hard, and they're star WR Jahan Dotson stepped up when big players are suppose to. His 49 yard touchdown to open the scoring in the third quarter finally got the offense into drive and from there Penn. St did just enough to hold on. From experience being a Hawkeye fan, I know that you never look into the stats when your team pulls out a rare W at Camp Randall. Penn. St is 1-0 and that is all that matters.

3. Iowa (1-0)

    AP Ranking: #10

    Last Week: Indiana (W 34-6)

    Next: @ #9 Iowa. St

Beer is now allowed to be sold inside Kinnick Stadium and my god was that apparent on Saturday. An absolutely bonkers crowd combined with another elite defense, knocked the Hoosiers out early. Two pick sixes by Senior Riley Moss make the score a little more deceptive than what it was in terms of points but does signify how much of a blowout this game was. This Iowa team is much like others of the Ferencz era in that defense will dominate, the running game will be solid and QB play will determine if they are a top ten team. So far Spencer Petras has not proved he is capable of being that guy but he gets a major opportunity this weekend in Ames in what is the biggest game in the entire history of the CyHawk game against Iowa State. Not only is it the first time both teams are ranked, they are both in the top ten! Gameday is in town, Hawkeye fan Ashton Kutcher is the guest picker, Busch Light is being brought in by the megaton, and Ames just may burn down on Saturday. Keep your schedule open at 4:30 on Saturday and tune into ABC to watch an absolute dogfight of a game.

Side Note: Zero Arrests at Kinnick this past Saturday. Connection to beer served in the stadium? Sure! Busch Light is a solution to everything!

Iowa has won the last 5 meetings in the CyHawk series and look to make it 6 on Saturday

4. Wisconsin (0-1)

    AP Ranking: #18

    Last Week: Penn. St (L 10-16)

    Next: Eastern Michigan

The Badgers stay ahead of the Wolverines because of previous meetings between the two as well as being a little bit unlucky this weekend. The Badgers out gained the Nittany Lions 365-297 including holding Penn. St to 64 total yards in the first half. Three trips to the red zone resulting in zero points as well as three turnovers however will rarely win you a game. The defense will continue to carry this team until the verdict on how good is QB Graham Mertz, is actually out.  At the moment, it doesn't look all that promising and with Notre Dame and Michigan on the schedule in the next three weeks, he better figure it out quick.

5. Michigan (1-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Western Michigan (W 47-14)

    Next: Washington

I know it was just a MAC team and I know Michigan has looked good before in the first game of the season but this just felt a little different. The overall camaraderie that was displayed by the players seems to be the missing ingredient that past Michigan teams have been missing. For he lacks in top shelf talent, Cade McNamara clearly relishes the role of being the quarterback at Michigan and has a competitiveness and fight that his teammates seem to feed off of. They lost Senior Ronnie Bell to a season ending leg injury which they will need to find an answer for. That player may just be Sophomore running back Blake Corum. I know it was a small sample size but here's a hot take, Corum's 111 yards on 14 carries were as explosive as they were smooth, bringing back memories of another great 5'8 Big Ten running back... JK Dobbins?

Interesting thoughts going forward. The last nine times Michigan crushed an opponent on opening day, four of those seasons saw the Wolverines finish outside the final rankings while the other five instances saw them finish no lower than 12th. Big game against Washington this week in a game that for reason feels like it belongs in the 90's. 

Even wears the same number as JK

6. Indiana (0-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: @ #18 Iowa (L 6-34)

    Next: Idaho

It took all of 2 minutes for the Hoosiers to come crashing back to reality in Iowa City on Saturday.  A long TD run by Iowa RB Tyler Goodson and an early pick six thrown by Micheal Penix put IU into an early 14-0 hole infant of 70,000 booze filled Iowa fans and the game was essentially over. Hoosier fans should still hold out hope though in this team as it still has weapons galore on offense and a defense that for the most played a stout game. They were knocked around in this one, but look for a rebound performance against Idaho in a tune up game before a true measuring stick game against Cincinnati. 

7. Maryland (1-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: West Virginia (W 30-24)

    Next: Howard

In one of the more underrated wins of the weekend, Maryland picked up a solid one against a quality West Virginia team. Tahlia Tagovailoa is still only ever going to be second fiddle to his older brother but the junior QB had a great day throwing for 332 yards, 3 Td's, and most important, 0 turnovers. As always though Maryland will never take the next step until its defense goes from bad to average as they're speedy spread attack usually gets bogged down against the more physical teams in the conference forcing them to get more defensive stops. There may have been glimpses of that on Saturday but not enough to push them to where they want to be. Jesus I wrote way to much about Maryland.

8. Minnesota (0-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: #4 Ohio. St (L 45-31)

    Next: Miami (Ohio)

Im giving Minnesota credit for showing some great spirit against the Buckeyes. The biggest story however coming out of this game though is the loss of star running back Mo Ibrahim. An already shaky offense losing the best back in the Big Ten is not a recipe for success moving forward and the defense still sucks. Maybe start breaking out the ice fishing gear if you're a Gopher fan.

9. Michigan. St (1-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: @ Northwestern (W 38-21)

    Next: Youngstown. St

Kenneth Walker III may be just what Sparty needed. He ran for 264 against a usually stingy Northwestern defense. We'll learn more about the Spartans Week 3 when the play Miami. Of course after Miami's game against Alabama last week... maybe we won't.

10. Purdue (1-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Oregon. St (W 30-21)

    Next: UConn

The Boilermakers looked good on Saturday night. Then I remembered they were playing Oregon. St. The only two real takeaways from the game are that how everybody in the stadium can stand those lights without having a seizure is beyond me, and Purdue Pete is back and creepier than ever.

 

Do You see a soul in those eyes!? Yeah me neither.

11. Rutgers (1-0)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Temple (W 61-14)

    Next: Syracuse

The fighting Schianos scored 61 points against Temple while only averaging .3 more yards per play than the Owls. Yeah I don't think thats sustainable either.

12. Northwestern (0-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: Michigan. St (L 21-38)

    Next: Indiana. St?

If I told you Hunter Johnson was going to throw for 283 yards with 3 TD's you would have thought the Wildcats killed the Spartans right? Wrong. They lost by 17. Doesn't matter though they'll still beat Iowa November 6. Up next is Indiana. St who I just found out has a football team. They're Quarterback looks oddly familiar though.

13. Illinois (1-1)

    AP Ranking: NR

    Last Week: UTSA (L 30-37)

    Next: @Virginia

Lost to a team called the Roadrunners. Illinois is the worst team in the league.

14. Nebraska

    AP Ranking: 😂

    Last Week: Fordham (W 52-7)

    Next: Buffalo

Lost to the team that lost to a team called the Roadrunners.