It was a fairly calm week in the Big Ten with four teams on byes. Michigan State and Ohio State both won their games 56-17, Maryland looked strong and a major poll found Minnesota’s one-point win over Purdue very impressive for some reason. Here’s how that all shook it out in the rankings for eight of our voters.
1. No. 8 Michigan State (7 first place votes), 111 points
While the Spartan defense isn’t as strong as last year’s elite unit, the offensive side has more than made up for that. Their lowest scoring output of the year is 27 points, and junior quarterback Connor Cook is probably the best quarterback in the Big Ten. This team could very well drop at least 50 on Michigan this week.
2. No. 13 Ohio State (1), 104 points
The Buckeyes keep looking stronger, this time blowing the doors off Rutgers 56-17. In your latest “J.T. Barrett keeps improving” news, the redshirt freshman quarterback registered a 99.2 QBR against the Scarlet Knights, according to ESPN. It’s looking more and more like Ohio State will be the team to give Michigan State all they can handle Nov. 8.
3. No. 16 Nebraska, 97 points
It’s a little boring to predict the Huskers will win a weak West division and then lose in the championship game to Michigan State or Ohio State, but come on, it feels like that scenario has something like an 80 percent chance of playing out, doesn’t it? Also, fun fact— the four top rushers in the FBS are all in the Big Ten: Indiana’s Tevin Coleman, Melvin Gordon, Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah, and Minnesota’s David Cobb.
4. Wisconsin, 83 points
Not much to say about the Badgers after a bye week. The story of their Big Ten season will depend on how far Melvin Gordon can take them and how much the quarterback play can drag them back. While they have an easy schedule, the emergence of Rutgers and Maryland as not-awful teams means they no longer have that huge scheduling advantage.
5. Minnesota, 82 points
While we attach AP rankings to teams in our stories here, it’s worth noting the coaches poll has Minnesota ranked 24th. Why? I’m not so sure, considering they’re coming off a one-point win against a bottom-three Big Ten team in Purdue. That 6-1 record looks mighty attractive in the current landscape, but the Gophers’ best win is over Michigan and they were blown out in their one loss to No. 10 TCU. We still don’t know if Minnesota can pass the ball to pull out close games, so it is very possible the Gophers are at peak value at this point.
6. Maryland, 70 points
The Terrapins are a good win away from declaring themselves as the third-best team in the East, by virtue of a strong win over Iowa and Rutgers getting beaten down by Ohio State more than the Buckeyes did to the Terps. Stefon Diggs remains as scary as a greased-up rocket somehow capable of juking in mid-air.
7. Iowa, 68 points
Iowa seemed shaped up to be a dark horse to take the West thanks to a very easy schedule, but their loss to Maryland means they will probably have to beat two of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. I just don’t see that happening. They have a frustratingly inefficient offense and Kirk Ferentz isn’t the kind of coach known for engineering sudden offensive turnarounds.
8. Rutgers, 49 points
Rutgers looked solid until it ran into the Ohio State wall. Senior quarterback Gary Nova is 12th in the FBS in passer rating, but you have to wonder if that will matter if the Scarlet Knights defense can’t hold off top offenses, like this week against Nebraska.
9. Northwestern, 47 points
The Wildcats got crushed by Nebraska and only the running game looked like a competitive Big Ten unit. Now’s the time to just sit down and quietly contemplate on how Northwestern beat Mississippi State convincingly in the 2013 calendar year.
10. Penn State, 44 points
It was a bye week for the Nittany Lions, which should let a shallow team rest up for a huge matchup with Ohio State. That could be sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg’s last chance to resurrect his season, as he currently is sitting on a 59.0 percent completion rate and a 5-to-7 touchdown-interception ratio.
11. Michigan, 37 points
Rumor has it that if Michigan State breaks 40 in the first half against the Wolverines (which they are very capable of doing), the halftime show will be Brady Hoke getting fired out of a cannon. Conversely, the only way Hoke can be sure to keep his job until at least the end of the season will be a win over the Spartans. Good luck with that.
12. Indiana, 21 points
The Hoosiers beating a mid-tier SEC team on the road definitely happened and is an inspiring reminder that anything is possible (as long as you have a running back like Tevin Coleman). Indiana was never going to make any noise in the conference until it shows it can play defense and, well, they gave up a combined 101 points to Iowa and Michigan State in the last two weeks.
13. Purdue, 19 points
The Boilermakers led Minnesota late, but weren’t able to hold on. It’s still encouraging that the game was so close, the Boilermaker rushing offense went through the strong Gopher defense like a freight train. (Their logo is a train, get it? Nailed it.)
14. Illinois, 8 points
Hello, unanimous worst team in the Big Ten. Illinois is in the midst of a tough schedule stretch of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Iowa. It will be a shock if they come out of that stretch with even one win.
