Big Ten: Football Power Rankings After Week One
Every week here at Writing Illini, we’ll provide some serious #hottakes on the state of Big Ten football through our power rankings.
Week one was highlighted, stamped and sharpied in style by Wisconsin, taking down No. 5 LSU up at Lambeau. It’s always nice watching the SEC fail.
So, where did Bucky end up? Read on to find out.
(Editor’s note: If you’re in the top five, you get a picture. After that, I just get lazy.)
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (Last Week: 2 | ⇑1)
OSU and Michigan both had statistically impressive performances against inferior competition this week, so I’m bumping each of them up by one spot accordingly.
2. Michigan Wolverines (LW: 3 | ⇑1)
See above. Not much to take away, but nothing to hate. These are the top two teams in the Big Ten until further notice and expect more of the same next week.
3. Wisconsin Badgers (LW: 5 | ⇑2)
Even though it’s only two spots on this blog, Wisconsin made the biggest jump this week in perception. Beating a *cough contender *cough like LSU in a game where nobody gave them much of a chance was huge. That defensive effort should serve them well in conference play.
4. Iowa Hawkeyes (LW: 4 | ⇔)
Getting jumped in the rankings isn’t necessarily a bad indicator here. Iowa took care of business, though I wasn’t keen on them giving up three TDs to Miami (OH).
5. Michigan State Spartans (LW: 1 | ⇓4)
And this is what I get for believing in the guys in green?! To be fair, they won. And Dantonio’s teams tend to start off slowly. Still, uninspiring, to say the least.
6. Nebraska Cornhuskers (LW: 6 | ⇔)
Not enough yet to squeak into the Top 5, but they had the top moment of the week by honoring late punter Sam Foltz with a 10-men violation during a punt formation. Kudos to Fresno State for declining the penalty, too.
7. Minnesota Golden Gophers (LW: 9 | ⇑2)
It was a grind-it-out affair for Minnesota, which seems typical for them. Oregon State isn’t anything spectacular, but it was a Power 5 victory, which is more than most B1G teams could say this week.
8. Penn State Nittany Lions (LW: 7 | ⇓1)
I’m not trying to hate on Penn State, but they could have handled Kent State a little bit more thoroughly than they did. A 5-7 Illinois squad beat this team by 49 last year.
9. Illinois Fighting Illini (LW: 10 | ⇑1)
Illinois Fighting Illini
Speaking of, our boys in Orange and Blue put together a thorough dismantling of FCS foe Murray State. However, as I mentioned earlier, we saw a similar result in week one last year, so the jury’s still out on this group until they see some tougher competition.
10. Northwestern Wildcats (LW: 8 | ⇓2)
This week’s stinker, and I’m not even considering the score. I thought it would be tough for N’western to keep pace with 2015, but not this tough. Hat’s off to Western Michigan — they’ll be scary coming to Champaign in a couple weeks.
11. Maryland Terrapins (LW: 11 | ⇔)
Perry Hills was much more efficient and didn’t turn over the ball. Solid win against another overmatched opponent. Like the Illini, waiting to see more — but there could be some pleasantly surprising things in store.
12. Indiana Hoosiers (LW: 12 | ⇔)
Could there be a defense in Bloomington? Props for going on the road and holding an opponent to less than two touchdowns, but it took until a 4th-quarter burst to seal the deal at FIU.
13. Purdue Boilermakers (LW: 14 | ⇑1)
Out of the basement! (For now). I’m genuinely happy for Purdue. I can commiserate with how tough things have been the last few years, and the West Division would be all the better with a competitive Purdue squad.
Next: Game-by-Game Predictions of the 2016 Season
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (LW: 13 | ⇓1)
Traveling literally across the country, like as far as you can possibly go, to play a ranked team would be difficult for anybody — let alone a new coach trying to rebuild a program. Washington had the jump on them in the 1st quarter and never looked back.