Tag: Big Ten Football Power Rankings

Big Ten football power rankings after Week 5: A fourth team emerges

Ohio State was off this week, but there was still plenty of action to help us sort out the updated Big Ten Football power rankings after Week 5. #B1G

Now that we are five complete weeks into the college football season, we’re starting to see some separation in the Big Ten. And while we expected teams like Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State to be really good, there have been some surprises — both pleasant and not so pleasant.

Michigan State is having an awful time both on and off the field, Iowa can’t find offense yet again, and Wisconsin is kind of just hanging around. Still, we have a much better idea of which teams are going to have a say in the Big Ten race, and we have adjusted our weekly Big Ten power rankings accordingly.

Ohio State was off on Week 5 but the Wolverines, Nittany Lions, and yes — the Maryland Terrapins looked dominant again. With all that we saw after another week of the greatest game on Earth, here’s how our updated Big Ten football power rankings now look.

Ranking the Big Ten with the incoming Pac-12 schools through Week 4

The national polls won’t rank Ohio State above Michigan, but they obviously should after OSU beat Notre Dame.

College football rankings, as reflected in the national polls, are projections of how the teams will stack up at the end of the regular season. They are not, as currently practiced by voters, a measurement of what teams have achieved in the present moment.

If the polls were reflections of actual achievements and were not projections, Ohio State would very clearly be ranked above Michigan right now. The Buckeyes went into South Bend and beat Notre Dame. Michigan beat Rutgers and doesn’t have any high-end wins on its resume through four weeks of the season. It’s not even a close call, or at least, it shouldn’t be. Actual results, not future projections, should guide any weekly rankings effort in college football. That’s how we rank the 2024 Big Ten schools, with the four incoming Pac-12 schools — Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA — included.

Here we go:

Big Ten Power Rankings: Where do Spartans land after another blowout loss?

Michigan State was bad again this week, but the same can be said about most of the Big Ten…

There’s a clear cutoff in the Big Ten between the good teams and the bad ones. Right now, Michigan State is sadly in the bad tier — but how low should they rank compared to their peers?

Michigan State was blown out for a second straight week on Saturday in a 31-9 loss against Maryland. The Spartans made countless mistakes that ultimately cost them the game.

There was plenty of bad football elsewhere played in the conference so how low should we place the Spartans? See our updated weekly power rankings below:

Big Ten football power rankings after Week 4: Clear separation at the top.

What did this last week of football mean for our latest Big Ten football power rankings? Did Ohio State move up after its classic win vs. Notre Dame? #B1G

What another wild week of college football, especially in the Big Ten. Two games in the conference went to overtime, and Ohio State pulled out a classic thriller in South Bend, Indiana over a top ten Notre Dame squad.

Aside from that, some of the other results held form and that means that teams like Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State are still considered among the best in the league — especially as we sort through our power rankings after all the action from Week 4. Meanwhile, teams like Iowa, Minnesota, and Michigan State appear to be headed in the wrong direction.

Believe it or not, the college football season is moving right along as we look at our Big Ten college football power rankings after the 1/3 mile marker of the season.

Has there been a change at the top? Have any of the teams at the bottom moved up out of the cellar? Here’s how things look this time around.

Big Ten Power Rankings: Spartans drop after brutal showing vs. Washington

See how far the Spartans drop in our updated Big Ten power rankings

Michigan State football failed its first real test of 2023.

The Spartans opened the season with a pair of dominant performances against subpar competition, but that changed on Saturday when top-10 Washington came to town. The Huskies were the dominant team in this one en route to a 41-7 victory over Michigan State.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. ripped apart the Spartans defense to finish with more than 400 passing yards and four touchdowns. As a team, the Huskies racked up more than 700 yards. The Spartans’ offense was equally dreadful on Saturday, failing to find the scoreboard until the final minutes.

So how far should Michigan State drop in our weekly power rankings following this embarrassing performance? See where the Spartans and the rest of the Big Ten teams land below:

Big Ten football power rankings after Week 3: A familiar brand on the rise.

After another week, we get a chance to run through which Big Ten football teams are playing the best right now in our Week 3 Big Ten football power rankings. #GoBucks

Perhaps more than any year in recent memory, it looks like the Big Ten may have a few of the upper crust teams in all of college football. With SEC behemoths not named Georgia not showing well early, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State might just be three of the very best teams in the country this year.

Of course, that all has to be sorted out. Nobody should be thinking about engraving trophies just a few weeks into the 2023 college football season, but there’s little doubt that some heavy hitters are in the Midwest.

But it’s not just those three. Iowa has also looked very good — and yes — even Rutgers and Maryland seem to be thinking about being good at the American game of football in 2023.

But how do the Big Ten teams stack up against one another? There seems to be a clear top three, all from the East division, but how do they shake out in comparison to each other, and what teams line up behind that?

Well, we are sure glad you asked because we get paid to provide opinions on things just like this. In fact, after another set of games, we now have even more film to go by, scrutinize and criticize to come up with our Big Ten football power rankings after Week 3.

Let’s go through this little journey together, shall we?

Ranking the 2024 Big Ten with incoming Pac-12 schools through Week 2

If we included #USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington in the #B1G rankings, where would they stack up? Answer: Behind @HawkeyesWire.

Last week, we began our season-long rankings of the 2024 Big Ten football teams. This includes the four incoming Pac-12 schools: USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.

We wrote:

”

So much instability and change are flowing through college football and college sports right now. The conference landscape in 2023 is very different from what we will see in 2024. Next year, four new teams will join the Big Ten, and four new teams will join the Big 12. Two teams will leave the Big 12 and move to the SEC. The Pac-12 will cease to exist.

“It’s impossible to avoid comparisons of the current Big 12 with next year’s Big 12, with the current SEC and next year’s SEC, this year’s ACC with next year’s ACC, and so on. People who follow college sports are intensely interested in comparing the way things are with the way things will be one year from now.”

With that in mind, let’s go to the rankings board and see where teams in the Big Ten stack up through Week 2.

Remember: Rankings are based on results, not future projections or betting odds.

Big Ten Power Rankings: Spartans move up after taking care of business vs. Richmond

See where the Spartans land in our updated batch of Big Ten Power Rankings

Off the field, there’s uncertainty and controversy surrounding the Michigan State football program. On the field, the first two weeks have gone pretty smoothly for the Spartans.

Michigan State football took care of business with a 45-14 win over Richmond on Saturday, but it is the news surrounding Mel Tucker that is catching headlines nationally. Tucker has been suspended indefinitely due to sexual harassment allegations and there’s a chance he has coached his final game at Michigan State.

How does that impact the Big Ten power rankings for this week and where I have the Spartans? See where I have the Spartans listed amongst their appears in our updated batch of Big Ten power rankings below:

Big Ten football power rankings after Week 2: Early returns.

There’s a little bit of a shakeup after another week’s set of games in our updated Big Ten football power rankings. #GoBucks

We did our best to figure out how the teams in the Big Ten separated themselves after just one week of the regular season after Week 1. Now we have a little more film and game results to go by. However, it’s so early, it’s like forecasting a hurricane seven to 10 days out in the cone of uncertainty.

Still, we like a good challenge, and we at least feel pretty good about some things, so it’s time to revise our power rankings in the Big Ten.

Penn State looked good again. Michigan did what it needed to do, and Iowa had a statement win against rival Iowa State. Meanwhile, mixed results could be found in a win by Ohio State and poor outings from Wisconsin, Illinois and Nebraska.

We go through this exercise every week, and it’s really about which teams are playing the best at the moment, not a predictive or looking forward measure.

So, onward with our Week 2 Big Ten power rankings.

Big Ten Power Rankings: Where does MSU Football land after earning a season-opening win over CMU?

See where the Spartans land in our first edition of Big Ten Power Rankings for the 2023 football season

At long last, Big Ten football is officially back. And so is our weekly power rankings.

Big Ten football returned this week with all 14 teams making their season debuts from Thursday to Sunday. There were some mixed results across the board, with most teams taking care of business while some were upset — looking at you Purdue.

Michigan State was one of the teams that took care of business in earning a 31-7 victory over Central Michigan on Friday night. It was a sluggish start, but the Spartans pulled away in the second half for a comfortable win.

So where do the Spartans stack up compared to their conference peers? See below in our first batch of Big Ten football power rankings: