Big Ten power rankings, week 9
Last week, I moved Penn State above Iowa for the top spot in the conference. While I felt justified last week to make the move based on the play of both schools, I feel even more justified this week to leave it that way. Penn State has averaged to win its past four conference games by 21 points, while Iowa has not played a wire-to-wire dominating game since early in the season. Yes, that’s the style of play Iowa uses, but it could catch up to them even with another trap game this week against Northwestern. Penn State is simply playing better than Iowa.
By way of bowl eligibility in the conference, four teams (Iowa, Penn St., Ohio St., and Wisconsin) are bowl eligible. Mathematically, all the other teams could still qualify. Minnesota, Northwestern and Michigan need just one win to make postseason play, while Indiana and Michigan State would need two wins plus some help from other teams to make a bowl. Purdue looked like a dark horse candidate for a bowl, but after last week’s shellacking, that looks unrealistic. Illinois would need to win out, and the Illini face No. 5 Cincinnati in two weeks.
On to the power rankings. Last week’s rank in parenthesis. I’ll keep my thoughts brief this week.
1. (1) Penn State (4-1, 8-1) – The Nittany Lions did what they needed to do in the weeks preceding Ohio State – dominated their Big Ten opponents. Now this week’s match up will determine their season.
2. (2) Iowa (5-0, 9-0) – Does Iowa find a way to win or play down to its opponent level? The Hawkeyes will serve as round two of Ohio State’s tough closing schedule in two weeks. There’s a possible trap game this week against a Northwestern team seeking a bowl berth.
3. (3) Ohio State (4-1, 7-2) – New Mexico State was the calm before the storm. Here comes Penn State, Iowa and the rivalry game with Michigan.
4. (4) Wisconsin (3-2, 6-2) – The Badgers quietly crept in to the AP top 25 this week. Wisconsin is definitely the “best of the rest” in the conference having dominated weaker opponents and losing to Ohio State and Iowa.
5. (8) Minnesota (3-3, 5-4) – Adam Weber proved (for one game) he didn’t need Eric Decker. The last three weeks, Weber threw for 74, 101, and 112 yards. This week, he goes for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns.
6. (5) Michigan State (3-3, 4-5) – Just when the Spartans started to play their way into the bowl picture, they drop two straight games. A favorable next two weeks (Western Michigan and Purdue) might help them get back into contention once again.
7. (9) Northwestern (2-3, 5-4) – The Wildcats are in the midst of a brutal two game stretch against Penn State and Iowa. And they may have to play Iowa without quarterback Mike Kafka who went down with a leg injury last week.
8. (6) Michigan (1-4, 5-4) – Was Michigan really ranked in the top 25 early this season? Since the beginning of October, the Wolverines have won one game – against Delaware State.
9. (7) Purdue (2-4, 3-6) – Like the Spartans, the Boilers were playing their way back into an outside possibility for a bowl. Back to square one following a 37-0 pasting by Wisconsin.
10. (10) Indiana (1-4, 4-5) – Do the close conference road losses (Michigan, Northwestern, Iowa) mean IU can compete with most teams in the Big Ten or does it mean they are incapable of finding ways to win?
11. (11) Illinois (1-5, 2-6) – The Illini could potentially win three of their next four games to finish a semi-respectable 5-7 record.
Nathan Hart has been with the IDS since Fall 2007. His previous beats include the Little 500, field hockey, men's tennis, women's swimming, and the club ice hockey team.
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